Is Germany The Sick Man of Europe?

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SOURCES:

I've linked all other sources in the blog that goes along with this video. Links are in the text.

Timestamps:
0:00 - introduction
1:21 - sick in 1998
4:29 - sick today
7:30 - sponsor
8:50 - not sick today
13:32 - discussion

Attribution:
Narrated, edited and produced by Dr. Joeri Schasfoort

Is Germany the Sick Man of Europe Again?

[belnonaodh]

In November of last year it was the UK, then it was Italy, a couple of months ago it was France, and now Germany? At this point, which European economies AREN'T the sick man of Europe?

[Medievalguy]

I'm one of those "highly skilled immigrants" that moved to Germany, I've also started my own small business. The bureaucracy is indeed a pain and extremely outdated. It took several months to start my own business. Everything is done by paper and through the mail. I've also been going through the process of getting citizenship and it's taken many years. The test on civic knowledge is done with paper and pencil, despite the practice test being digitized and online. Heck, even some official government apps for your phone will send you your PIN though the mail... I love it here, but the bureaucracy is a joke.

[xornxenophon]

Well, journalists in 1985 told us that Japan will rule the world forever and that the US is doomed to fail. Ten years later, everyone was convinced that the US will rule the world forever while Japan is doomed to fail. In 2020, journalists told us that China will rule the world forever while the US is doomed. Today, journalists have again changed their mind. So maybe listening to journalists is not that good an idea?

[jebbo-cl]

Germany needs to digitialise badly, its crazy how far behind they are compared to UK, Denmark, Estonia, Sweden, etc. Clearly holding back their economic potential

[cuauhtemocricardoorlandosa]

calling it the sick man of europe is a bit too harsh but the burocracy and failing infrastructure surely is a shame. just like you pointed out

[prembagui]

Germany is not the Sick man of Europe but it is also not going to show high growth in terms of developed economies

[kungfudildo]

It's really important to remember that Germany was completely dependent on Russia for Natural Gas, Coal and Energy in total. When the sanctions following Russia's attack on Ukraine were set ready it was expected that the german GDP would shrink about 6% or more because of price shocks and expensive energy costs.
That massive shrinking of the economy was luckily prehibited and regarding, that Germany was so dependent it is doing quiet well in my opinion.

Also you have to consider the fact, that many businesses are also closing because they have been kept artificially alive during covid by gonvernmental financial support. They were supposed to die off way earlier and some even had problems facing them even before the covid pandemic really hit. Now that the artificial life support is fading they are naturally dying off.

What Germany really needs to do is becoming more attractive again for middle to large businesses by lowering bureaucracy, even taxes in some places and pushing digitalisation, investment in research and so on.

[rfmckean]

Good overview. Nice to be reminded that Germany was pro austerity when bunds had a negative yield.

[breabanm]

I have been living in Germany for the last 11 years. I am exceptionally pessimistic about the future of this country. Germans were known for pragmatism, well there is little of it left as big political decisions in the last years were mostly taken on ideological grounds with little if any consideration of market economy principles. The population is ageing, taxes are currently some of the highest in Europe while government services have been continuously falling in quality.

[xelaxander]

As a German with a few „skilled immigrant“ friends I must say the bureaucracy is a pain. In theory renewing a visa should quite easy, but getting an appointment at the foreigners office is an absolute pain.

Housing is also a massive issue that’s holding back growth. Unless you work in a high paying job it’s not economically feasible to move to cities with better economic outlooks. And if you do, much of your income will be eaten up by rent and taxes. The recent rise in interest rate put additional pressure on the rent market since a lot of people who would have previously bought are now priced out of owning a home. OTOH if you can get sufficient liquidity, it’s now worth buying a home.

[TheCrackbinge]

I have a friend that fled Ukraine as her house was blown up. She’s got a masters degree and she’s working in a German warehouse because she speaks three languages but none of them are German. Perhaps highly skilled immigrants will head to German as its close perhaps not.

[cacapichi]

Anyone who has taken recently a train or a flight in Germany knows that their reputation for punctuality is in the gutter. I believe now that their reputation for productivity is also a sham

[conconmc]

Not a sick man but shot their own foot off by not securing energy production. France invested heavily in nuclear and has a stable energy supply, Germany has been closing their power plants for years (now burning coal and having higher inflation)

[ianshaver]

Here are the reasons I see for Germany’s economic downturn.

1. Dependence upon cheap Russian oil and gas, which is no longer available.

2. Dependence upon the Chinese consumer market, which has shrunk drastically in the past few years.

3. Shutting down their nuclear power plants, which pushes their energy costs even higher.

[junkbucket]

Germany performing worse than the UK somehow. Amazing it takes an epic amount of incompetence and mismanagement to somehow beat us for this, Germany should be proud. But I'm sure the UK will somehow be able to take back the crown

[alexmanzer]

Europe is just sick. I don't think you can say there's any one sick man.

[thieskardel]

I am German and observe the problems with sustancial concerns, and yes, also I am worried about Germany is losing their technological leading position e. g. in the car industry and its lag of digitisation. Hower, Germany CAN change and has proven it serveral times. We (still) have great engineers and well educated workforce and the strong motivation to succeed in anything we are doing. Other countrys e. g. France and Italy struggle more in modernizing the public sector nore it had had technological leadership in core-industrys. I beleive in Germany and I am confident that Germany is able to adapt to world's changing economy despite from overexceeding buerocracy, aging population accompanied by shortage of productive labour such as a rotten infrastructure. Germany has remarkable problem-solving capabilities which it has proven - especialy in the early 2000's years. Don't underestimate the Germans ;-)

[shudheshvelusamy]

Nice analysis! I appreciate that you went through each side's arguments point-by-point before presenting your own.

[SimonTmte]

Issue with bad politics is that what could've been greatness instead is mediocrity, and where does it go from there

[herminator]

Thanks for presenting your discussion and analysis into Germany's economy. I've learned lots from this! Keep up the great work!