The Eco-Socialist Dream Is Going to End Ugly |
The German government has shifted into hyper-mode to defend its green patronage economy. To pay for it, heirs, high performers, and savers are being drafted into service. The end of the eco-socialist nightmare will be convulsive and chaotic.
On Friday, the federal cabinet agreed to introduce a new EV subsidy. Roughly three billion euros are set to flow into this bloodless market segment over the coming years -- a drop in the bucket compared to the vast sums used to artificially keep the green patronage complex alive. But it is a signal.
A negatively sloped learning curve
The decision joins a long list of political misfires in recent months -- a list unlikely to end with subsidized industrial electricity, heat pumps, or refinancing packages for wind turbines. The state simply has too much money at its disposal to be forced to abandon its wasteful, destructive project.
For Bavaria’s minister-president Markus Söder, the revival of this failed subsidy instrument was cause for a small celebration. He promised a “huge boost” for the domestic market, claiming state intervention would secure value creation and jobs -- a thoroughly “Söderized” view of reality.
Once again, Söder proved that his personal learning curve has flattened into a downward-sloping line -- a phenomenon broadly visible across European politics.
Debt union and professional manipulators
Germany’s EV subsidy stands pars pro toto for the broader European situation. Public debt is exploding across nearly all EU member states. Next year, Germany will post net new debt of around 5.6% of GDP -- placing it among Europe’s top debt creators.
This figure is honest -- and shows the true fiscal position once the government’s accounting tricks, exemptions, “special funds,” and skyrocketing municipal debts are properly added back in.
France and the UK look equally grim. Even once-disciplined Finland is stumbling toward 90% debt-to-GDP with a similarly large deficit. It can........