The warring parties’ plans for Germany’s economy are full of holes

As Germans prepare to go to the polls on September 26th, recovery is glinting. Mr Quint says he could have “cried with joy” in July when the Messe reopened for its first physical exhibition, a trade fair for bike-part manufacturers. Bigger shows are in the works, including a return of the famous Frankfurt Book Fair next month.

Yet the threat from covid-19 has not evaporated. In the Messe’s case, border restrictions and quarantine rules make it near-impossible for what was once a large contingent of Asian and American visitors to attend the shows. Other businesses fear the return of some contact restrictions amid a fourth wave of infections and Germany’s worryingly low vaccination rate.

Hiccups in supply chains present a more serious drag on Germany’s recovery, says Clemens Fuest of the Ifo Institute in Munich. The global semiconductor shortage is crippling Germany’s mighty carmakers. Fully 70% of all German manufacturers say they are running low on everything from aluminium to paper. Highly globalised Germany—its total trade was equivalent to 88% ofin 2019—is particularly exposed.

No wonder German firms are watching the election campaign with keen interest—and in some cases grave concern. Jürgen Vormann,of Infraserv Höchst, a chemicals-service provider based in Frankfurt, says he fears that the next government will be zealous about climate change and so wrap business in red tape. Germany’s electricity prices, Europe’s highest, are a huge burden on industry. Some of Germany’s influential family businesses fear tax raids.

In consensus-oriented Germany, none of the likely coalition configurations will bring economic rupture. But differences between the party platforms will make for tricky post-election negotiations, especially as polls suggest that only ideologically muddled three-way coalitions will be viable. The pro-business Free Democrats and the conservative Christian Democratic bloc (

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