“I don’t see any particular value in keeping the money and not spending it,” Germany’s new finance minister said following the unveiling of his first budget.

With the presentation of his first draft budget, the Social Democrat has already managed to make history: he will become the finance minister who oversees the largest accrual of debt in any post-war budget, if it is passed as drafted.

The proposal would see Germany take some €850 billion in new debt over the current term, which runs until 2029. That would boost the current national debt of roughly €1.6 trillion, accumulated over decades, by more than half, to €2.5 trillion.

All of it is underpinned by the government parties’ seminal decision to bid adieu to Germany’s strict constitutional deficit limit, the debt brake, that had been in place since the financial crisis.

Here is what is known about what Germany will actually spend its record budget on:

https://www.euractiv.com/news/how-germany-will-spend-its-record-e850-billion-in-debt/

https://x.com/MyLordBebo/status/1984907035352388061

AND

Germany does not want to send Syrian refugees back and gives €40 million for now.

https://x.com/MyLordBebo/status/1984716391501668456

Comment section: Forty million euros to prove virtue at home, not to fix reality abroad. Refugees are currency in Europe’s moral economy

 

Germany once was the “economic engine” of Europe — does it have any resilience left??