© AP Photo/Markus Schreiber/TASS
Forget about Germany’s being the economic engine of Europe and the European Union’s political leader. Long gone are the days when it was the case, just as Europe’s relative independence, as it saw itself nearly an equal partner to the United States both within NATO and globally. There is no more Europe that initiated discussions about the need to establish an armed force of its own. Today there is only one "big boss" in Washington, with Europeans being his subordinates ordered to support the West’s proxy war in Ukraine against Russia tooth and nail.
It is highly unlikely that the German leadership does not apprehend that US plans not only aim to inflict maximum damage to Russia and China, but also to deprive Europe of the economic potential enabling it to compete with the United States. Who really needs enemies with friends like these? However, it's not the right time to talk about what the government in Berlin does or does not understand. Olaf Scholz and his cabinet have embarked on a suicidal path by supplying the Kiev regime with tanks, armored personnel carriers, anti-aircraft self-propelled guns and various ammunition. Also, they promise to send another hundred Leopard tanks with Wehrmacht crosses on their armor. Meanwhile, for Germany, who decided to "defeat Russia on the battlefield," things are even worse than for other European countries.
When concern arouse foreshadowing Germany’s economic collapse over the rupture of long-term mutually beneficial ties with the Russian Federation and the growing domestic energy crisis, Chancellor Scholz defied it as fearmongering. But now, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) quite officially reported that the country’s economy shrank by 0.3% in the first quarter of 2023 as compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. Thus, the Federal Republic’s GDP is down for the second quarter in a row, because in October-December 2022 the figure was 0.5% against the previous quarter. A decline in GDP for two consecutive quarters means economic recession, Reuters reminds.
German statistics recorded a decrease in household spending by 1.2% due to spiraling prices, as well as consumer spending collapse, particularly on food, clothing and shoes, furniture and household goods. Car sales fell, too. Government consumption spending decreased by 4.9%. The mainstream media of Germany refrained from in-depth study of Destatis figures, unlike the low-circulation left-wing Junge Welt (JW) newspaper. It reveals "dramatic failures" in the construction and other energy-intensive industries like the chemicals sector and metalworking. The "German government’s belligerent rhetoric" is to be blamed here, as it led to an eight-fold electricity cost increase in the peak months.
It is in these sectors that Germany's deindustrialization is particularly well underway. Ask unemployed miners in North Rhine-Westphalia (Western Germany) or in the mining region of Lausitz (Eastern Germany), writes JW. Along with industrial production electricity cost, the second key recession factor is the decline in consumer consumption. Thus, Germany’s inflation rate amounted to 6.9% in 2022, while with no regard to growing electricity and food prices it would only be 3.8%. And these prices have risen rapidly "because of the incredible aggressiveness of German leaders towards Russia." Thus, electricity and basic foodstuff costs for Germany’s households are 29.7% and 13.4%, respectively.
JW directly blames the current government for the ongoing deindustrialization, inflation and lower living standards of people, citing as examples other EU countries like France, Italy, and Spain, whose leaders are not only obsessed with the well-being of Washington’s powerful circles, but also feel bad for their own population, limiting electricity prices and super-profits. They did not go insane and cut all the government spending just to invest in weaponry and equip the Ukrainian military, JW stresses. As a result, the whole of EU experiences a slight increase, not recession.
The NachDenkSeiten internet portal known for its alternative stance believes that anti-Russian sanctions have become "a shot in the foot." By the way, it suggests studying the history of similar failed sanctions against Cuba, Iran or North Korea. At the same time, the portal refers to an IMF forecast saying that Russia's GDP will grow this year, while Britain’s is going to decline. Some German economists predict GDP issues for the United States in the latter half of the year. The portal is pessimistic when assessing Western willingness to introduce the so-called "secondary sanctions" against countries that support Russia — China, India or the Arab Emirates.
Citing a study by the American Gallup-Gruppe, the website also notes that Western sanctions and war against Moscow have not only failed to bring down Vladimir Putin's popularity in Russia, but rallied the country's population around him to an even greater extent, which is more than Biden, Scholz et al. can hope for, NachDenkSeiten writes, predicting that "regime change in the USA or Germany has become more likely than a color revolution in Russia."
