Once dominant, Germany is now desperate

THE FINANCE ministry of the southern German state of Baden-Württemberg, home to giants like Bosch, Mercedes and zf Friedrichshafen, is not a bad spot from which to probe Germany’s anxieties. The country is gripped by fears of deindustrialisation as it heads into an election that seems certain to throw its chancellor, Olaf Scholz, out of his job if his party does not dump him first. That ministry’s occupant, Danyal Bayaz, frets that Germany has squandered the “globalisation dividend” of the past 15 years, underfunding the public realm in an era of low interest rates. Now, facing an energy squeeze, growing competition from China and the prospect of Donald Trump’s America slapping 10-20% tariffs on imports, the country’s business model, fears the minister, is “collapsing”.