Industry is running at full steam: The uncanny strength of the German economy

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Often criticized (rightly), but currently the backbone of the German economy: the car manufacturers

Photo: Germann / Eibner-Pressefoto / picture alliance

The state of the German economy can be followed in real time: one drive on the autobahn is enough to get an impression.

Do columns of trucks slide into the right lane?

Are all rest areas occupied by tired truckers?

This not only annoys every driver, it is also an unmistakable sign that German factories are booming.

Large parts of the economy are routinely purring through shutdown number two.

Motorways are the lifelines of the German economy.

They are still the most important transport route for getting components in factories and goods to customers.

Researchers have developed an economic index from this.

The Federal Statistical Office publishes the figures for this truck toll mileage index every day.

In the corona crisis, he shows how much the consequences of the two shutdowns differ.

Politicians have turned down life in Germany twice, with very similar measures.

In the economy, however, this triggered developments that could hardly be more different.

In the spring of 2020, truck traffic fell abruptly, with almost 20 percent fewer trucks on the roads.

The first shutdown had caused panic.

Factory lines were stopped.

Some economists warned of the "mother of all recessions".

Never since the Second World War had the economy slumped so badly, minus ten percent compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

Typically hundreds of thousands of cars roll off the production line every month.

In April, however, it was practically zero.

More than six million people went on short-time work.

For the first time since 2013, the federal government had to incur new debts, 130 billion euros.

The number of unemployed rose by more than 25 percent to 2.9 million.

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