Business · Economy · 4 hrs ago
Economist urges Germany to move faster on reform and AI
Economist Moritz Schularick is urging Germany to become more willing to change as it faces economic and structural problems.
He says the country has relied too long on past success and now has an inefficient public sector and a technology gap.
He argues Germany must invest more decisively in AI, including to help its machinery industry compete.
Schularick also wants less regulation and changes to job protections, including in the civil service, so employers can adapt and use AI.
He points to Denmark’s “flexicurity” model, which pairs greater flexibility at work with generous support for people who lose their jobs.
He says Germany’s focus on older people, including through pensions, comes at the expense of young people and investment in education.
The government has promised reforms and is counting on growth, but Schularick says technological progress is also needed to protect wages and living standards.
Economist Moritz Schularick urged Germany to move faster on structural reform and investment in artificial intelligence.
He said Germany had relied too long on past success and now faced an inefficient public sector and a significant technological lag.
Schularick argued that excessive regulation could hold back the development and use of AI.
He also called for changes to employment protections and public-sector rules, including limits on civil-service tenure.
He warned that Germany’s economic stagnation and underinvestment in young people could weaken its future prospects.
- Who
- Moritz Schularick, an economist at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
- What
- He urged Germany to pursue reforms, invest more decisively in AI and become more open to change.
- When
- The article was published on November 9, 2026.
- Where
- Germany.
- Why
- Schularick said Germany faced structural problems and a technological lag that could put wages and social benefits at risk.
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- Economist
- Moritz Schularick
- Affiliation
- Kiel Institute for the World Economy
- Publication date
- November 9, 2026
- AI
- Schularick said Germany should invest in AI to help its mechanical engineering sector
- Employment reform
- He proposed abolishing employment protection as a structural reform
- Public sector
- He called for restricting civil-service appointments
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What people are saying
If you want to save German mechanical engineering, you have to invest in AI.
We are the best in the technologies of the last century, but not the best in the technologies of this century.
No pension reform in the world will ensure that Volkswagen builds competitive cars.
We live in a country that massively redistributes from young to old, for example through the pension system and a lack of investment in education.