Why Germany's economic fortunes changed | DW News

During Angela Merkel's sixteen years in office, economic growth was steady, unemployment came down dramatically and exports rose. And yet, her decisions are now being blamed for some of Germany’s gravest economic problems. DW Business breaks down her economic legacy in four areas: energy, public spending, migration and trade with China and asks: to what extent did her policies contribute to Germany’s current economic woes?

#Germany #AngelaMerkel #Economy

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[BudFox]

Turning off 25 nuclear power stations was absolute madness and stupidity.

[pdballerina]

Imagine knowing you need cheap energy to run your economy and intentionally cutting yourself off from it.

[YN-otjk]

Closing nuclear plants was a disastrous decision. Even if Germany still had great relationships with Russia and get cheap gas it would impact diversification of the energy sources and electric grid stability. Also note that gas and oil prices can vary wildly while uranium contracts are usually fixed long-term. That should've been obvious even 15 years ago.

[ribe]

The real big problem is that politicians are not held accountable for bad decisions.

[Spieel]

is that not the tradition. Destroy Europe every 50 to 100 years?

[baronvonjo]

There is a lot more to it, but she relied way too heavily on the US for the military.

She relied way too heavily on Russia for energy.

She relied way too heavily on China as a means to help the German economy.

She should have made Germany much more self-sufficient

[anasttau]

She did not just ruined Germany as well as the rest of Europe. Then came another german - Ursula and did the rest. I am almost 70, I never, never saw Europe in the state it is, nor have I seen europeans so angry.

[Ratinevo]

Yes, she shut down nuclear energy and took on Russia’s gas, that is what spiralled into this industrial death. Energy is a core economy and industrial driver.

[richatlarge]

Never mind that, she broke German society.

[RTOneZer]

Trump was right on Germany's energy dependencies on Russia and on the foolishness of the open border policy.

[jerrycaughman]

But I thought those millions of cheap workers were going to power Germany into the next century. They couldn’t be having a detrimental effect could they….

[ibg.recife]

Becoming energy self-sufficient is the ultimate goal for every country. The more you rely on others, the more dangerous your future is.

[HuyHTX]

Merklenomic means taking advantage of cheap gas from Russia.

[jpf]

Its the same in Sweden.

Closed down power plants has increased electricity costs with 800% at occasions.

Plus uncontrolled mass immigration has ruined the economy of all western europe.

[PunkDogCreations]

Her policies also harmed the safety of the German and European people, especially women and girls.

[thryce]

Baltic states told them and told them doing deals with Russians was dumb. Americans told them. Became reliant anyways. Instead of solving their issues with nuclear power expansion they are closing them. Wish Germans well and all but this was a pretty huge own goal.

[richardcrighton]

i am british and have lived in cologne for 13 years. germany and the germans have a major fundamental flaw: they can't get out of their own way.
this has been true for decades but now their jewel in the crown - the engineering industry - is not performing as it once did. in fact, it's in trouble.
the germans have a fundamental problem: their inability to get out of their own way, which now extends into their getting into everybody else's way through the medium of pointless red tape and endless paperwork. (i suppose if everyone looks busy, then they are busy; busy producing nothing).
for example, recently, stadt cologne has effectively shut my business down (which was doing quite well thank you) and there is no comeback.
i am now officially unemployed at the jobcentre and relying on the state to feed me as opposed to me feeding myself. there is no sense here, just more endless bureaucracy.
the whole state is monstrously top-heavy and no-one (apart from a foreigner such as myself) can see this. and as a result, the germans have become lazy, unimaginative, unmotivated, entitled, and basically dull. they give nothing and expect everything. it's about time the germans woke up and realised the good old days are gone and they have replaced it with a forest of pointless paperwork.
the answer is simple: the state needs to strip back the state and invest in business development. invest in the energy of its people and the natural enterprise of the freedom of creative business thinking.

[Drganguli]

Germany had a big competitive advantage due to cheap gas and oil from Russia which is gone now. China is also targeting Germany’s engineering products for years.

[AspectRatioPolice]

She destroyed not only the economy, she destroyed the fabric of German society.
in 2010 she stated: "We failed miserably at integration ( of the Turkish population)" in 2015 she bypassed the Dublin agreements to bring in 2 million people who don't share the German values. and claimed:" We can do it" No, not possible.

[kennie]

Don’t try to find excuses. You know Your biggest problem is not realizing your biggest ally is your worst enemy