Kaput

Until recently, Germany appeared to be a paragon of economic and political success. Angela Merkel was widely seen as the true 'leader of the free world', and Germany's export-driven economic model seemed to deliver prosperity. But recent events - from Germany's dependence on Russian gas to its car industry's delays in the race to electric - have undermined this view. In 'Kaput', Wolfgang Münchau argues that the weaknesses of Germany's economy have, in fact, been brewing for decades.