Politicians in Germany are demanding more from the electorate while expecting more for themselves
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is on a mission, accompanied by other European leaders, to support Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. These days, it seems our head of government is more concerned with foreign affairs than with domestic challenges. It seems he would like to see himself in the tradition of great Chancellors like Helmut Kohl and Helmut Schmidt. What he fears is being compared to Franz von Papen. In the imagination of Germany’s mainstream media, Merz is cast as the chancellor who could enable the AfD’s rise, much like Papen once aided the Nazis. Small wonder then that he has embraced foreign policy over domestic politics, earning him the mocking nickname of Außenkanzler (“foreign chancellor”).
During the election campaign, Merz repeatedly promised to reduce the size of government. Yet, once in office, he almost immediately created 200 new civil service jobs in Berlin. Despite pledging to uphold the debt brake, he soon went on a spending spree — approving nearly one trillion euros in new borrowing, framed as “investment” in the military, infrastructure, and climate.
In his absence, the Finance Minister and Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil (of the Left-wing SPD) is now scrambling to close a €172 billion budget gap for the coming years. True to socialist form, his solution is to tax the rich. The meaning of the Laffer curve seems to be lost on Berlin’s politicians. At the same time, record numbers of young Germans are leaving the country. They are joined, for the first time in over three decades, by young Poles returning to their now more prosperous and secure homeland. To many, Germany increasingly feels like a sinking ship.
Merz’s first 100 days in office ended with record-low approval ratings at just 29 per cent. This comes after his controversial attempt to appoint a radical left-wing judge to the Constitutional Court and his refusal to cut electricity taxes or address the outrageous spending on NGOs. His ratings are lower than those of prior Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the same stage, and indeed lower than any of the last four chancellors.
Part of the problem is growing public awareness of political extravagance. Economy Minister Katharina Reiche (CDU) flew her personal stylist to America in business class, costing taxpayers thousands. Former foreign minister Annalena Baerbock spent €136,500 a year on her stylist, more than the annual salary of a British MP. Meanwhile, President Steinmeier is moving into a temporary residence during renovations at his official residence Bellevue Palace, with costs projected at €200 million. For a political class who disparage the monarchy that ended in 1918, their spending habits make them look far less frugal than historical monarchs. Frederick William I of Prussia, “the Soldier King”, imposed strict austerity on his kingdom, firing palace staff and even making the Queen and princess wash their own dishes.
This is especially damning when set against the backdrop of Germany’s stagnant economy, with years without real growth, record insolvencies, and massive job losses in the car and chemical industries, which in turn ripple through other sectors. Membership in unions such as IG Metall is collapsing. Ironically, this same union championed policies like Net Zero, the nuclear phase-out, mass migration, and diversity campaigns. Unsurprisingly, workers now find themselves worse off, as secure, well-paid jobs vanish thanks to climate policies championed across the political elite.
And Germany’s troubles may only start to fully unfold: China is cutting imports and squeezing German industry out of more markets, especially in the field of electric vehicles, which German automakers were pressured into by politics, rather than markets. On the backdrop of this disastrous leadership, our MPs increased their salaries this year by 600€ a month. Perhaps it is logical that the German equivalent of the uni-party (CDU, SPD, Greens and die Linke) are holding onto the self service gravy train by all means necessary.
Germany’s political and judicial system cannot keep on increasing the burden on the private sector, while expanding the state
Whether the AfD would govern more responsibly remains uncertain, but the temptation to spend taxpayers’ money is plainly too great. This could be addressed by tying parliamentary salaries to economic performance, as Singapore does by linking pay to GDP growth, or by making politicians more liable for wasteful spending. That should include their disastrous immigration policies, which continue to bring hundreds of thousands of economically unproductive people and refugees to Germany.
Politicians have been aided in this reckless spending by the Supreme Court. It allowed MPs to increase their salaries while forbidding them from cutting benefits by 30 per cent if people were unwilling to fill out an application or to work. Apparently it breached their constitutional right to human existence. Germany’s political and judicial system cannot keep on increasing the burden on the private sector, while expanding the state and rewarding themselves for ruling over a failing economy. Lee Kwan Yew called his book about Singapore From Third World to First. German politicians should be worried they are currently reversing the title.
