Germans don’t yet grasp what’s coming. They live in a world that no longer exists. No one in the OECD works fewer hours than Germans.

Germans don’t yet grasp what’s coming. They live in a world that no longer exists. No one in the OECD works fewer hours than Germans. While other countries invest in new technologies and raise productivity, Germany’s has stagnated for years. Without productivity growth rising salaries make its products and services less competitive. Germany clings to last-century industries, structures, and regulations instead. More debt and government spending buy some time and paper over the decline for now, but one cannot work much less than others, be less productive, and expect government jobs replacing industrial ones to keep Germany wealthy and prosperous. If you think a bad situation cannot get worse, the far-left party won the recent Berlin elections with the slogan, “We should not work more, we should expropriate more.” Germany is cooked, the current wave of weekly bankruptcies and mass layoff announcements is a walk in the park compared to what’s coming.

— Michael A. Arouet (@MichaelAArouet) October 20, 2026