For many years Germany was allergic to debt. But new chancellor Friedrich Merz has – unexpectedly – loosened the nation’s constitutional debt brake, injecting a whole bunch of billions of euros into the armed forces and infrastructure. The transfer, he hopes, will revive Europe’s largest economic system and construct up its army as Donald Trump’s US administration dismantles the transatlantic relations that underpinned Germany’s postwar restoration. The FT travels to Frankfurt and Berlin to look at why funding in crumbling colleges, roads and rail infrastructure – and defence – is required and to ask if the spending gamble will kickstart Germany’s financial engine.
#germany #friedrichmerz #debt #economics #defence #infrastructure #debtbrake #borrowing #debt #donaldtrump #us #europe #business #markets #investing #funding #corporations #building #colleges #trains #bridges #roads #austerity #frankfurt #berlin #angelamerkel #cdu Christian Democratic Union, AfD, Green Party, Greens, politics, European Union, EU, geopolitics, Alternative for #germany #alternativefürdeutschland #vladimirputin #russia #ukraine #warinukraine
00:00 – Introduction
01:16 – Germany’s spending gamble
02:32 – The "debt brake"
05:33 – Defence
09:14 – Trains
14:01 – Schools
18:17 – Roads
19:31 – The dangers
21:08 – The politics
22:36 – Merz has no selection. He has to succeed
► Enjoying FT content material? Get a day by day slice of the perfect FT journalism with FT Edit. Free for 30 days then simply £4.99 a month
See in case you get the FT without spending a dime as a pupil (http://ft.com/schoolsarefree) or begin a £1 trial: https://subs.ft.com/spa3_trial?segmentId=3d4ba81b-96bb-cef0-9ece-29efd6ef2132.
► Check out our Community tab for extra tales: https://www.youtube.com/@FinancialTimes/community
► Listen to our podcasts: https://www.ft.com/podcasts
► Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/financialtimes
► Follow us on Instagram: https://www.tiktok.com/@financialtimes
