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‘Compelling’ Guardian

‘Eloquent and comprehensive deconstruction of the German model’ Financial Times

‘An eye-opener’ Gavin Esler

Until recently, Germany appeared to be a paragon of economic and political success. Angela Merkel was widely seen as the true ‘leader of the free world’, and Germany’s export-driven economic model seemed to deliver prosperity. But recent events – from Germany’s dependence on Russian gas to its car industry’s delays in the race to electric – have undermined this view.

In Kaput, Wolfgang Munchau argues that the weaknesses of Germany’s economy have, in fact, been brewing for decades. The neo-mercantilist policies of the German state, driven by close connections between the country’s industrial and political elite, have left Germany technologically behind over-reliant on authoritarian Russia and China – and with little sign of being able to adapt to the digital realities of the 21st century. It is an essential read for anyone interested in the future of Europe’s biggest economy.

Publisher Review

‘With vivid anecdote, telling detail and characteristically robust language, Wolfgang Munchau excoriates the failure of Germany’s corporate neo-mercantilism to prepare for the economic challenges of today and tomorrow’ – Timothy Garton Ash, author of Homelands: A Personal History

of Europe Wolfgang Munchau is one of the sharpest minds in British and European journalism. In Kaput he tells the compelling story of Germany’s economic wonder gone wrong – for now at least. For those of us who never under-estimate German ingenuity and competitiveness this is an eye-opener, an accessible account of the troubles and also the potential in Europe’s greatest economy’ – Gavin Esler ‘A compelling new book about the end of the German economic miracle’ – Larry Elliott, Guardian