A complex mixture of factors led to the malaise exposed in the chancellor’s speech this week
Olaf Scholtz took to the pulpit of Germany’s parliament this week to paint a picture of a country stuck in “gridlock” that is falling behind its peers.
Himself the worse for wear after a running accident, the 64-year-old chancellor said his country was afflicted by a “blight” of timidity and risk aversion that only an “act of national strength” can heal.
“While we discuss extending a single metro line or building a skyscraper, other countries have long since finished entire projects,” he said. “The people of our country are sick of the gridlock and so am I.”
It was a far cry from the braggadocio of only six months ago when Mr Scholz predicted investments in green energies would soon kick off boom years to rival those seen in the Wirtschaftswunder of the 1950s and 1960s.