A taboo is finally falling apart in Germany. Whereas the dominant narrative in politics and in the mainstream media has been to avoid addressing the dramatic worsening of the economic situation, Clemens Fuest, president of the Munich-based Ifo Institute for Economic Research, admitted in a FAZ-TV interview that “we are indeed seeing an economic downturn.” No more misleading talk about so-called “recession.” Fuest’s institute is one of the six that form the official economic advisory council of the German government.
“Economic downturn” translates into “accelerating de-industrialization.” The automobile sector in general reported an 18% decrease of sales, and in the category of heavy trucks and construction vehicles it is a 24% decrease. The latter figure relates to the drop in the construction of homes, commercial buildings, and infrastructure. With the automobile sector being the main client of steel production, that implies a drop of output there as well.
