A book by the French journalist Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber, which was then eagerly discussed, dates back to 1967 and was published in Germany with the title "The American Challenge".

In it, Servan-Schreiber described the danger that productive and financially strong American corporations could have far-reaching influence on European companies.

The Frenchman warned the Europeans against a primitive, resentment-driven anti-Americanism, which was not only evident on the political left in France and Germany at the time and which is rearing its ugly head again today.

Instead, he called on the Europeans to join forces and enter into fruitful competition with the Americans with a productive and efficient economy.

Today, numerous politicians in Europe see themselves challenged by the American "Inflation Reduction Act", under which Washington is providing grants and tax breaks of over 369 billion dollars for energy security and climate protection.

The fear that European companies could delay investments at home and shift production to the United States because of the "Inflation Reduction Act" may be exaggerated.

The Kiel Institute for the World Economy warns against panic.

But concerns about the unwelcome consequences of the "Inflation Reduction Act" for the European economy come at a time of rising energy prices, which according to many experts favors America more than Europe.

busyness with little use

In Brussels, as in many national capitals, the new American challenge is leading to a kind of activity that promises little benefit.

Powerful forces in the Commission see the time to set up further joint funds to support the European economy after the European Union's recovery fund.

Those skeptics in Germany who showed understanding for the reconstruction fund in view of the pandemic but warned against generalizing such an instrument should see themselves confirmed.

Above all, member states that believe they are close to the limit of their national debt leeway are calling for more debt-financed EU funds - be it to ward off the new American challenge, be it to secure Europe's energy supply or to secure European sovereignty in strategic sectors of the economy.

In Germany, such ideas find support among ghosts whose economic policy imagination does not go beyond the abolition of the national debt brake and the easing of European debt rules.

So far, not even all national governments have succeeded in using all of the funds from the reconstruction fund for meaningful projects.

State money distribution with the watering can usually just as little leads to a competitive and productive economy as the plans of Brussels or national bureaucracies.

Germany's influence should not be overestimated

The German influence on these developments should not be overestimated.

While government officials in Berlin believe they are in a European leadership role, the Financial Times echoed an impression shared abroad in a lengthy piece evocatively titled "Germany Faces a Broken Business Model."

This impression may be exaggerated – German industry has done better in dealing with significantly higher energy prices than some representatives and lobbyists feared, and its flexibility should not be underestimated.

But respect for the German economy has waned in other European countries in particular.

Long praised as an elusive role model, envied and occasionally eyed with suspicion, today her former fame seems tarnished.

Hardly any German group can be found in a ranking of the leading companies by market value or in rankings of leading high-tech companies.

Politics is even more sobering – regardless of the composition of the government coalition.

For many years, the preferences of an aging society were expressed in the development of social benefits, but a reluctance to invest in infrastructure.

The challenges of our time, which do not only come from America, will force Germany to undertake a fundamental renewal.