The real turning point for Germany: Economic and security implications of the Merz chancellorship

By changing its constitution, Germany has broken with its "debt brake" and embarked on a new path of fiscal expansion in the areas of defense and infrastructure. The likely new chancellor Friedrich Merz now has the financial means to shape Europe’s economic future and rearm Germany.

Moritz Schularick, president of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and one of the architects of the recent policy shift, discusses the prospects for the German economy with Kori Schake, senior fellow and director of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.

A discussion with the audience moderated by PIIE president Adam S. Posen follows.