An economic downturn is one thing.
Such slumps hurt, but voices can also be heard in the economy that regard an economic slump as a temporary phenomenon that an essentially healthy economy survives.
However, long-term studies of the global economy have come to the conclusion that many national economies will by no means return to their old growth path as a matter of course after an economic slump.
But it is true: a long-term transformation of the German economy represents a far greater challenge. The current warnings from the economy about the consequences of high gas and electricity prices should also be understood in this light.
Although companies are currently getting into difficulties, the high prices for gas and electricity do not affect all sectors of the economy equally.
Some sectors of the economy are benefiting from high order backlogs, others from declining prices for other commodities, still others from supply chains that are gradually becoming better functioning again.
You have to face the truth
But in the long term, high gas and electricity prices could cause noticeable damage to Germany as an industrial location.
Small and medium-sized companies that cannot simply relocate production abroad would be hit harder than global corporations.
But you have to face the truth here: the sins of the past – above all an unfortunate energy policy in connection with a disastrous dependence on Russian gas – are casting long shadows.
Not all errors can be corrected in a short time.
The Federal Minister of Economics is currently upset about high gas prices and would like to see solidarity from suppliers.
Meanwhile, not only in Asia, emerging countries are complaining about the buyer Germany, which has been buying gas with deep pockets for months, while the poorer countries can certainly not pay the high prices.
When it comes to electricity policy, too, Germany is taking a path that hardly anyone abroad can understand.