The Russian Energy Elephant in the Room

Berlin is still far from getting realistic about how to save the German economy

The German government has presented its “Annual Report on the Economy” (“Jahreswirtschaftsbericht”) for 2026. Considering the topic, it is not a long document – 136 pages – and if you expect exciting ideas, you will be disappointed. That’s because this is, of course, a thoroughly political work, in the worst sense of the term: It is produced by a plethora of German bureaucrats from various agencies, collaborating and compromising under the leadership of the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. If “written by committee” stands for anodyne, this is written by whole ministries.

And yet: Look closely, and – badly politicized as it is – Berlin’s Annual Economy Report and the way it was spun for the public can tell you a lot about Germany as it really is now, and why that is a rather sad picture with little hope for quick improvement. The report also – spoiler alert – demonstrates once again that the current hyper-Centrist coalition government of mainstream pseudo-conservatives (CDU/CSU) and mainstream pseudo-social-democrats (SPD) has no idea how to turn things around.