It is therefore not yet certain that the economy will grow by 1.4 percent next year, as the institutes are predicting. It would be nothing short of a spectacular boom. The institutes estimate the rate at which the economy can grow in the next few years with normal capacity utilization at just 0.5 percent. From 1997 to 2023 the rate was 1.3 percent, almost three times as high. In addition to weak investment activity, the decline in the long-term growth trend is due to the declining willingness to work among citizens, a growing number of whom prefer to work part-time rather than full-time. The institutes expect that, on average, working hours per employed person will fall by 0.2 percent per year in the next few years.
The institutions are wobbling when it comes to the debt brake. That’s not a good sign
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