Germany's Economic Déjà Vu: A Look Back and a Leap Forward

Has anything changed over the past two decades?

The current economic situation and the public debate in Germany feel eerily familiar to that of 20 years ago. Back then, the country was going through the five stages of grief, or, in an economic context, the five stages of change: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. From being called ‘The sick man of the euro’ by The Economist in 1999 and early 2000s (which created an outcry of denial and anger) to endless discussions and TV debates (which revelled in melancholy and self-pity) to an eventual plan for structural reform in 2003 known as the 'Agenda 2010', introduced by then-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. It took several years before international media outlets were actually applauding the new German Wirtschaftswunder in the 2010s.

In the early 2000s, the trigger for Germany to move into the final stage of change management – 'acceptance' (and solutions) – was record-high unemployment. The structural reforms implemented back then were, therefore, mainly aimed at the labour market. At the current juncture, it is hard to see this single trigger point. Generally speaking, the current situation is worse and better than the one in the early 2000s.

It is better because 20 years ago Germany breached European fiscal rules, while it currently has one of the most solid public finances of all eurozone countries, leaving sufficient fiscal space to react. What is worse is that there is currently a long list of other problems.

Finally, low unemployment is a bit of a blessing in disguise. While positive for the economy and very different from 20 years ago, low unemployment also seems to have reduced the sense of urgency for policymakers. Given the multifaceted challenges, it will be harder than it was in the early Noughties to find and then politically agree on a policy answer.

Another important difference between the current situation and two decades ago is the external environment. Back then, Germany had some good luck, or put differently, the economic reforms coincided with a favourable macro environment. Think of EU enlargement, which enabled many German corporates to outsource production to much cheaper-wage countries in Eastern Europe. The rise of China on the global stage also brought an almost symbiotic trade partner. China had a strong appetite for German investment goods and at the same time flooded world markets with deflationary policies.

Finally, Germany actually benefitted from the euro crisis and the ECB’s "whatever it takes" approach as interest rates were artificially low and the euro artificially weak. None of these factors will sugarcoat any reform efforts at the current juncture. If anything, China has become a rival and competitor and the ECB needs to fight inflation. This lack of any sugarcoating makes the need for reform even more pressing, but will probably also make these reforms initially more painful.