Germany – Dr Oliver Hartwich

Europe’s directionless leader

people walking on brown concrete building

Thirty years after unification, Germany remains a big, little country. A powerless hegemon. A directionless leader. Then again, that may not be such a bad outcome. Had Thatcher and Mitterrand been right, it might have been worse. [...]

Europe’s lockdown lessons

Europe has left the early stage of the pandemic behind. With more information at hand, European countries are managing Covid-19 in a controlled way. It is a step towards normality on a long road ahead. [...]

The vexing issue of Damien Grant’s ‘career-ending’ convictions

Should a convicted fraudster be allowed to work as an insolvency practitioner? It ought to depend on how many years have passed since his conviction. [...]

Don’t mention the ‘r’ word

When legal anti-racism becomes seen as racist, something has gone horribly wrong. [...]

The end of a beautiful friendship

If at some point this crisis is no longer acute, then the Franco-German axis will feature only in history books – and the EU will not be able to find a replacement for it anytime soon. [...]

How to wreck a political system

When Merkel finally leaves the political stage at the end of her chancellorship, her party and country will need a long time to recover. [...]

30 Years after the Wall: Socialism 2.0

I am celebrating the anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Even though it is unnerving to realise that the 30 years that have passed have turned me into a political dinosaur at 44. [...]

Lessons from Thuringia

To prevent the rise of polarisation, politicians must listen to people who think unlike themselves. [...]

Debt-financed infrastructure spending won’t solve Germany’s problems

It must indeed be tempting to binge on infrastructure spending as Berlin can now borrow for 30 years at a negative interest rate of 0.11 percent. But should the Germans do so? [...]

The next Euro crisis could be made in Germany

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. [...]