28 October, Berlin, the Außenwirtschaftstag forum

28 October, Berlin, the Außenwirtschaftstag forum. Germany's Minister for Economic Affairs, Katherina Reiche, declares with commendable frankness:

“With our structures, we are currently uncompetitive. Companies are suffering from bureaucracy, expensive energy and an overly generous welfare state.”

And how beautifully it all used to sound: “sustainable development, green energy, social justice”.

Now it turns out that this elegant edifice stood, quite sustainably, on cheap Russian gas.

So here we are: while we strike our principled poses, production becomes too expensive. Nor does this concern only “them”. Some grow gloomy, others grow ironical, while bureaucracy, in every country and at all times, remains firmly in the black: it is kept warm by the crisp state paper of happiness