The German economy had been long hailed as the economic ‘engine’ of Europe. If so, it clearly needs a major ‘valve job’ and is running on only 5, or maybe 4, cylinders.
It is in recession that will no doubt deteriorate further. Politically, it is also becoming more unstable as the right wing Afd party, and the newly formed left party led by Susan Wagenacht, are about to register major gains within days in German regional elections now underway.
The ruling SPD Sholz coalition with Greens–both strong proponents of support of Ukraine with weapons and funding until recently–last week announced it would provide no further funds or weapons for Ukraine. The unpopularity for the SPD support for that war is widespread now, as is public opinion about Sholz’s handling of what can only be called the de-industrialization of Germany.
Recent German public revelations that German police investigations revealed Ukraine special forces, with NATO assistance, were responsible for blowing up Germany’s Nordstream pipeline in September 2022, and the fact Sholz’s government has remained silent about the matter–except to complain to Poland as one of the saboteurs of the pipeline’s destruction, a Ukrainian businessmen, successfully fled to Poland which allowed him to make his way back to Ukraine.
German public opinion is also complaining the Sholz government has also meekly addressed policies of the USA since 2022 responsible for Germany’s continuing economic decline as well. Not just the US direction of the sabotage of the Nordstream pipeline but subsequent economic policies of the USA that have been undermining Germany’s economy as well: in particular the USA’s oil companies’ charging natural gas imports to Germany costing 3X and 4X that formerly charged by Russia; the Biden administration announced tax and trade policies that have been now luring German business investments to the USA that otherwise might have been invested in Germany itself; and US convincing EU supra-elites in the EU Commission to join the US in sanctioning and raising tariffs on China imports to the EU.
The declining condition of Germany’s economy as the ‘economic engine’ of Europe reveals that perhaps the ‘Plan B’ purpose of Biden/US Russia sanctions on Russia has been to make Germany/EU more economically dependent on the USA. Even if those same sanctions haven’t proven successful with regard to ‘Plan A’ which was has been precipitating the economic instability of Russia!
The USA sanctions policy has thus succeeded re. making Europe more dependent on the USA–even if that policy has failed with regard to destabilizing Russia’s economy and the Putin regime.
A recent post by UK economist and political commentator, Michael Roberts, has gathered extensive data with charts revealing the depth and extent of the growing crisis in Germany’s economy and electoral alignments as of today.
My only ‘critique’, if it can even be called that, of Roberts’ data and data that show conclusively the serious condition of Germany as the engine of Europe is he perhaps might have discussed more how US economic policies have seriously contributed to the decline in Germany and the growing economic (and political) dependence of it, and Europe itself, on the USA as a result of those US policies.
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This article was originally published on the author’s blogsite, Jack Rasmus.
Dr. Rasmus is author of the books, ‘Central Bankers at the End of Their Ropes’, Clarity Press, 2017 and ‘Alexander Hamilton and the Origins of the Fed’, Lexington Books, 2020. Follow his commentary on the emerging banking crisis on his blog, https://jackrasmus.com; on twitter daily @drjackrasmus; and his weekly radio show, Alternative Visions on the Progressive Radio Network every Friday at 2pm eastern and at https://alternativevisions.podbean.com.
He is a regular contributor to Global Research.
Featured image is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Alexander Hamilton and the Origins of the Fed
By Jack Rasmus
Publisher: Lexington Books (February 28, 2019)
Hardcover: 146 pages
ISBN-10: 1498582842
ISBN-13: 978-1498582841
Alexander Hamilton and the Origins of the Fed describes how US federal governments, often in cooperation with the largest US private banks, introduced and expanded central banking functions from 1781 through the creation of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. Based on an analysis of the evolution of the US banking system – from pre-1781, through the 1787 US Constitutional Convention, Congressional debates on Hamilton’s reports to Congress, the rise and fall of the 1st and 2nd Banks of the United States, and through the long period of the National Banking System form 1862-1913, the book shows how central banking in the US evolved out of the private banking system, and how following the financial crash of 1907 big New York banks pushed through Congress the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, creating a central bank which they then managed for their interests.
