The German economy has pulled and continues to pull the European economy down. In 2022, in many of the countries surrounding Germany GDP growth rates were higher. In the rest of the euro area, GDP rose by 4.1 percent year-on-year, while Germany only reported 1.8 percent. Prognos Chief Economist Dr Michael Böhmer asks the question: Since when have we been satisfied with our economic development just because it could have been worse? And this comes from the perspective of what we thought was a post-Covid upswing where we were looking forward to growth of up to 4 percent. For the whole of Dr Michael Böhmer’s article, in German, see page 10 of the WirtschaftsWoche (issue dated 7.7.2023). Go to the e-paper (wiwo.de in German) Last update: 07.07.2023 Do you have questions? Your contact at Prognos Dr Michael Böhmer Chief Economist, Head of Corporate Services View profile