In my opinion this editorial titled "Germany Needs to Get Its Act Together. Under Him, It Won’t." in the NYT from 2025 hits the nail about Friedrich Merz.
Quote:
Germany needs to get its act together, fast. The far-right Alternative for Germany, exploiting a
shrinking economy and a widespread sense of malaise, came in second, winning 20 percent of the vote. The extreme right is now the strongest it has been since the end of World War II. President Trump’s
rapprochement with Russia and castigation of Europe, meanwhile, threaten to upend the international order and Germany’s place in it. In the face of both tests, the country must at once renew and reorient itself.
The task calls for a leader with a fresh vision of the future. Unfortunately, that’s not Mr. Merz. Committed to tax breaks for the wealthy, harsh restrictions for migrants and cuts for welfare recipients, he is a throwback figure. His
program amounts to an effort to turn back the clock to a time when the country could depend on cheap energy and plentiful exports to propel it on the world stage. Today, Germany is in urgent need of change. Instead it’s getting Mr. Merz: yesterday’s man, with yesterday’s ideas.
[...]
The problem is that the conditions for Germany’s past competitive edge — cheap Russian gas, a huge low-wage sector and booming exports — no longer exist. There are things Mr. Merz could do to recharge the economy: back renewable energy; make targeted investments in public
infrastructure, the care sector and technology; and, above all, bring about a comprehensive
investment push. But he remains committed to Germany’s debt brake, which ensures strict limits on spending, and refuses to tax large fortunes and inheritances more heavily. The result is a program both inadequate and underfunded.
It’s not just the economy Mr. Merz would like to take Germany back to the past. He plans to undo the few moderate social reforms of the previous government — for example, on
cannabis legalization and legislation enabling easier
gender self-identification — and to intensify the hostile environment for migrants. He won’t entirely get his way, of course. He’s likely to form a coalition with the Social Democrats, another throwback to the so-called grand coalitions that dominated the country’s politics for much of the Merkel era. How much they challenge him is another question.
In many ways, Mr. Merz embodies the dilemma of contemporary conservatism. He maintains a professed opposition to far-right parties and autocratic regimes while engaging in the anti-migrant fearmongering favored by the far right. He wants to restore a bygone social and economic order but refuses to countenance the progressive reforms that might achieve a better settlement. The Christian Democrats’ campaign slogan was “
Forward again.” But under Mr. Merz, they’re just looking backward.
thenewworld.substack.com
