Overview
- In a new Süddeutsche Zeitung interview, Clemens Fuest accuses Chancellor Friedrich Merz and the federal government of avoiding major economic challenges.
- Fuest criticizes a spending-first approach, arguing that trying to "cover everything with money" substitutes for necessary structural reforms.
- He warns Germany could slip into prolonged stagnation with no guarantee of a return to growth if policy does not change course.
- Citing security risks, Fuest urges a rapid shift toward defense production, calling for "something like a war economy" that accepts tighter budgets elsewhere.
- He points to pension policy and possible future tax and levy increases as strains on the private sector and labels recent campaign promises as unrealistic; no official government response was reported.