Newsroom

At the beginning of the century, The Economist famously called Germany the “sick man of Europe”. The way things are going, we are likely to read similar headlines again soon.

Unless you have a mortgage or you are the Minister of Finance, it is a world you would not want to inhabit. But for millions of Europeans, that may soon be reality. We can only hope that even after the RBNZ’s next cut, New Zealanders will not contemplate going into the topsy-turvy world the Germans are about to enter.

All’s well that ends well. There is a temptation to sum up the resolution of the European Union’s personnel-finding troubles in such a Shakespearean way.

Denmark last Wednesday elected a Social Democrat-led government – so what else is new?

If you are a New Zealander watching this strange post-EU elections process with a sense of disbelief from afar, do not be too puzzled: Most Europeans do not understand it either.

May’s abject failure to deliver Brexit would always pulverise her party and the political system with it. Somewhat naively, I thought she and her party would not let it come to that. How wrong I was.

While the German and European economies are slowing, while Brexit remains unresolved, and while challenges aplenty wait for the EU, Berlin will be absorbed by domestic issues.

While the EU has been gazing into the timeless Brexit black hole, the next crisis could thus be just as severe. We can already see it on the event horizon.