Skip to content
Does Germany need to reinvent itself? episode artwork

Dec 10, 2024 23 min

Does Germany need to reinvent itself?

from The Inquiry Hosted by BBC World Service

When Chancellor Olaf Scholz fired his finance minister, Christian Lindner last month, Germany’s ‘traffic light’ government collapsed, an uneasy coalition between parties with differing perspectives and strained relations, the Social Democrats, the Greens and the Free Democrats. At the heart of the political dispute lie deeply opposing views about spending plans, and how to fund much needed investment in infrastructure projects such as transport, education, green energy and digital technology, in order to boost Germany’s international competitiveness. Falling demand both domestically and overseas for manufacturing goods, the pandemic, war in Ukraine and high energy costs have weakened Germany’s economy. So how can Germany reinvigorate its exports and economic growth? On this episode of The Inquiry, we’re asking: Does Germany need to reinvent itself? Contributors Michaela Kuefner, Chief Political Editor, DW Deutsche Welle. Marcel Fratzscher, President, German Institute for Economic Research & Professor of Macroeconomics, Humboldt University. Julian Hinz, Professor of International Economics, Bielefeld University & Director, Trade Policy Research Group, Kiel Institute for the World Economy. Monika Schnitzer of Economics & Chairwoman of the German Council of Economic Experts. Presenter: Tanya Beckett Production: Diane Richardson and Matt Toulson Production Co-ordinator: Liam Morrey Technical Producer: Matthew Dempsey Editor: Tara McDermott Image credit - Reuters via BBC Images

Episode details come from the podcast's RSS feed.

Embed this episode

Ready to play

Does Germany need to reinvent itself?

0:00 23:00

No transcript yet.

Requests help us decide what to transcribe next.

Frequently asked questions

How long is this episode of The Inquiry?

This episode is 23 minutes long.

When was this The Inquiry episode published?

This episode was published on December 10, 2024.

Can I download this The Inquiry episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.