Germany’s Economy Is Spiraling. Can War Fix It?
5/5/202619 min
After years of industrial decline, the Germany economy is stagnant. Government officials now hope an audacious plan, to pivot from consumer goods to weapons, will kickstart growth again. WSJ’s Bojan Pancevski explains how the same factories built to make German car parts are now gearing up to supply the defense industry. Jessica Mendoza hosts. Further Listening:
- The Global Scramble for Patriot Missiles - Germany’s Economy Is Broken. There’s No Plan B. Sign up for WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Clips
Showing 10 of 11Transcript preview
First 90 secondsJessica Mendoza· Host0:00
[music] Germany is well-known for producing high-quality vehicles. Its luxury car companies are the crown jewel of the country's manufacturing sector. [music] But recently, those companies have been flashing warning signs.
Speaker 10:20
After years of roaring down the autobahn, a speed bump for Porsche.
Speaker 20:24
Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz posting year-on-year declines of over 40% in net profits.
Speaker 10:31
The iconic sports car maker notched up a spectacular third-quarter loss of almost one billion euros.
Bojan Pancevski· Guest0:36
[music] There is a sort of a creeping sense of panic.
Jessica Mendoza· Host0:41
Our colleague Boyan Panchevski covers Europe, and he's been reporting on the pain being felt throughout Germany's economy.
Bojan Pancevski· Guest0:49
Germany's basically losing roughly 15,000 jobs from manufacturing each month.
Jessica Mendoza· Host0:56
Wow. Wow.
Bojan Pancevski· Guest0:57
This is a striking figure.
Jessica Mendoza· Host0:58
Per month.
Bojan Pancevski· Guest0:59
Yeah, it's a striking figure. It's a bloodbath.
Jessica Mendoza· Host1:02
Yeah.
Bojan Pancevski· Guest1:03
And obviously it's, it's a situation that requires urgent action, both on behalf of the businesses, on the enterprises, and the government, who is, like- Right ... desperate to help them and stop the bleed.
Jessica Mendoza· Host1:14
[music] German officials and companies have been feverishly looking for a way to inject life into the economy, and that led to a big aha moment. While luxury car brands have suffered, another kind of precision