FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Germany hasn’t seen significant economic growth in five years. It’s a stunning turnaround for Europe’s biggest economy, which for much of this century had expanded exports and dominated world trade in engineered products like industrial machinery and luxury cars.
So what happened?
Here are five reasons for Germany’s ongoing economic slump:
Energy shock from Russia
Moscow’s decision to cut off natural gas supplies to Germany in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine dealt a severe blow. For years, Germany’s business model was based on cheap energy fueling production of industrial goods for export.
In 2011, then-Chancellor Angela Merkel decided to hasten the end of nuclear
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