The production losses in energy-intensive industries since the start of the Ukraine war are “probably largely permanent in nature,” write the Kiel researchers. This also applies to the automotive industry, whose production capacities are shrinking due to the switch to electric cars. You could also put it this way: Germany is sacrificing a large part of its production capacity on the altar of a climate protection policy that alone cannot protect the global climate because this is a global public good. Germany loses a lot, but the world gains nothing. There’s no more madness.
Also read: Where is the German economic miracle?
There are politicians and economists who don’t seem to care, the main thing is that you can show something about climate protection, even if it doesn’t work. But they should be warned about the consequences of the emerging growth crisis. If the cake no longer grows, around which more and more hungry people are gathering, a bitter fight breaks out for the scarce pieces. “Less growth always narrows the scope for distribution, and the number of people who are entitled to social benefits in old age increases,” warn the IfW economists.