Friedrich Merz’s Shadow Cabinet Reshuffle Signals Strategic Shift in CDU Leadership

The guy from Reuters is a waste of time. For foreign viewers he's useless.

Leadership style?? What leadership style? What does he have? 15% approval?

only AfD can save Germany…. i don't like Musk but he is right about this

Really not impressed by the German political class. Imo, this is the main reason for the growth of AfD, not their own strength, but the ruling elites weakness. Pastorius is the only one I know now.

The two vital countries in Europe, Germany and France, seem to suffer from the same malaise, ruling politic elites that are unable to communicate convincingly with their voters and their fellow politicians. UK has managed to find a good leader, France and Germany must do the same.

You can shuffle and reshuffle as much as you want, Michaela can report and re-report from all over the world – the root cause of the problem is Germany's vassality to US, Israel, and, more recently, Ukraine.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz freak out after visit China unitree robotics.
😅He discovered that the founders and designers of Unitree Robotics were half his age.

Not a fan of AFD , but ..

Germany's decline is primarily attributed to the loss of "common sense" in its governance.

germany will be face total destruction , KARMA heats back😂

Hypocrisy doesnt work in Social Media age. Germany just followed the wrong strategy.

As long as German and EU keep this kind of ideology driven thinking, German and EU can not stop their decline.

From a Chinese TikToker :
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The "myth" of German manufacturing is not collapsing because Germany has forgotten how to engineer or build high-quality products. Rather, the structural foundations that made its industrial model highly profitable and globally dominant are disappearing. German manufacturing is being "repriced" due to the simultaneous erosion of its three historical pillars: cheap energy, open global markets, and a stable, efficiency-driven global order. The result is not an overnight collapse, but a slow, systemic thinning of Germany’s industrial ecosystem.

The Three Eroding Pillars of German Industry

Germany’s past industrial miracle was built on a highly favorable global setup, which is now unraveling:

1. Cheap and Stable Energy (The Cost Crisis)

Past: Germany’s energy-intensive industries (chemicals, steel, glass, machinery) thrived on cheap, stable Russian pipeline gas (Nord Stream), giving them a massive cost advantage.

Present: The 2022 rupture of this energy relationship forced Germany to switch to more expensive alternatives like LNG and renewables. Energy is a direct manufacturing cost, and higher bills destroy profit margins.

Result: A slow erosion of domestic capacity. Companies are not shutting down overnight, but new expansions and energy-heavy production are being relocated to the US, the Middle East, or Southeast Asia.

2. Open Global Markets (The Geopolitical Shift)
Past: With a domestic market of only 80 million, Germany relied on exporting high-end goods globally, assuming the world would always buy based on quality, efficiency, and price.

Present: The world is shifting from "efficiency-first" to "security-first." The US is actively reshoring manufacturing through massive subsidies, pulling European investment away. The EU is also pivoting toward protectionism and supply chain localization.

Result: The German export machine is "stuttering" as global trade fragments into competing blocs.

3. Stable Global Order (The End of the "Free Ride")

Past: Germany benefited from a perfect storm: Russian energy, globalized supply chains, a multilateral trade system, and security provided by the US (allowing Germany to underinvest in defense and focus on industry). The Euro also provided a more competitive export currency than the old Deutsche Mark.

Present: This "package deal" or "coupon" of globalization has expired. Germany now faces higher defense pressures, fragmented trade, and the heavy financial burden of the green transition.

The China Dilemma: From Customer to Competitor

China represents the most complex structural challenge to German industry.

The Old Dynamic: For two decades, the relationship was highly complementary. Germany sold high-end machinery, industrial equipment, and luxury cars; China provided the factory, the market, and the growth. German profits in China subsidized domestic R&D and jobs.

The New Dynamic: China is aggressively upgrading its own manufacturing. It is no longer just a customer; it is a direct competitor in Germany’s most vital future industries: Electric Vehicles (EVs), batteries, solar power, and industrial automation.

The Catch-22: Chinese EVs, forged in a hyper-competitive domestic market, are now entering Europe with lower prices and advanced software. If the EU protects its market with tariffs, it risks Chinese retaliation against German automakers' massive operations in China. If it doesn’t, German industry is exposed to relentless, scaled competition.

The Nuance: Germany is Not "Finished"

The analysis explicitly warns against the simplistic conclusion that "Germany is collapsing." Germany retains formidable, hard-to-replicate strengths:

A world-class vocational training and engineering education system.

The Mittelstand (hidden champions) that dominate niche global supply chains (e.g., precision instruments, specialized valves).

Deep brand trust and the enduring premium of "Made in Germany."

Leading capabilities in industrial software, precision manufacturing, and machine tools.

The problem is structural, not a lack of capability. The terrain, rules, and costs have changed, making it harder to leverage these strengths profitably.

The Real Threat: The Loss of Industrial "Thickness"

Germany is unlikely to experience a sudden, dramatic deindustrialization. Instead, it faces a gradual loss of manufacturing "thickness."

What is thickness? It is the depth of a domestic supply chain, from raw materials and intermediate parts to final assembly.

The Danger: When companies stop building new factories at home due to high energy, labor, and regulatory costs, the supply chain thins out layer by layer. Germany risks transitioning from a comprehensive, full-spectrum manufacturing powerhouse into a narrower "high-end R&D and services node."

The Consequence: A thinner industrial base means fewer jobs, less retention of practical technical knowledge, and a weaker foundation to capitalize on future technological breakthroughs.

Core Conclusion: Manufacturing is an Ecosystem, Not a Legacy

The ultimate takeaway is that manufacturing is not a spiritual legacy that can survive on "artisan spirit" or historical reputation alone. It is a living, complex ecosystem that requires continuous feeding: cheap energy, market access, capital investment, and supportive policy.

The German industrial myth is not being shattered by a single catastrophic event, but by a thousand small cuts: heavier energy bills, shifting orders, capital flight, and the quiet corporate decisions to build the next factory somewhere else. Germany’s struggle is a microcosm of a broader global shift, serving as a warning to all export-dependent, highly specialized industrial economies: the old rules of globalization are gone, and the new industrial logic is still being written.
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My own comments :
So, like Britain's, Germany's ongoing political problems have actually been reflecting her own long-accumulated economic problems.
I always think economics should resume her good old name prevalent in the 19th century—political economy.
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