The Mittelstand will redeem German innovation

TALK TO GERMAN bosses these days and sooner or later one will bring up “Buddenbrooks”. Thomas Mann’s epic tale of the eponymous clan of grain merchants and their demise is required reading in Germany’s business circles, as well as its schools. Today it serves as a convenient metaphor for the country’s perceived economic decline. GDP may contract this year. Inflation remains stubbornly high. The anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party is second in some opinion polls, imperilling Germany’s reputation for openness to skilled foreigners. Iconic companies are fleeing abroad. bASF, the world’s largest chemicals firm, is building its $10bn state-of-the-art factory in China. Linde, an industrial-gas group, delisted from the stock exchange in Frankfurt to escape its cumbersome rules but kept its listing in New York. BioNTech, which helped develop one of the world’s first covid-19 vaccines, is setting up its cancer-research operations in Britain.