Why Germany Will Soon Be Worse Than Mississippi

YouTube ^ | 07/22/2026 | ECONOMY HISTORIAN

[SmokingJoe]

This macroeconomic documentary argues that Germany is experiencing a structural, irreversible deindustrialization due to a combination of self-imposed policy failures, high energy costs, and bureaucratic paralysis. The creator posits that Germany is essentially executing a modern version of the 1944 Morgenthau Plan (0:00–1:15), resulting in a collapsing middle class and a declining standard of living that may soon fall below that of Mississippi (1:23–3:45).

Key themes include:

The Breakdown of the German Business Model: Germany’s economy previously relied on a "geopolitical arbitrage" of cheap Russian natural gas and high-end manufacturing exports to China. With these pillars compromised, the nation is losing its competitive edge to cheaper, more innovative international alternatives (5:33–8:11).

The Volkswagen Crisis: The closure of the Dresden "Transparent Factory" (8:41–9:20) and the violation of a 30-year labor protection agreement (11:04–11:42) serve as a "sovereign default" signal for the broader German industrial sector.

Bureaucratic and Fiscal Stagnation: The video highlights the Schuldenbremse (Debt Brake) as an "economic straightjacket" (14:39–15:07) that prevents necessary infrastructure investment. This, combined with an "analog empire" mentality—such as the reliance on fax machines in government offices (16:52–17:29) and 5–10 year permitting timelines for green energy (17:38–18:07)—is causing capital to flee the country (18:33–19:26).

The Mississippi Comparison: The American South is identified as the beneficiary of this shift, as it offers the exact components Germany has abandoned: secure, affordable baseline energy and a regulatory environment that facilitates industrial development (19:48–20:45).

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TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: degrowth; deindustrialization; germany

[FLT-bird]

The Germans have sacrificed their economy to Gaia. Somebody tried to warn them several years ago, but this was their reaction:

In the words of Nigel Farage....well they're not laughing now are they?

German car industry sheds 42,300 jobs in a year amid Chinese competition

https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/german-car-industry-sheds-42300-jobs-year-amid-chinese-competition

German chemicals giant BASF says 7,000 jobs cut since January 2024

https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/german-chemicals-giant-basf-says-094827675.html

"German industry faces a profound structural downturn. Industrial output has fallen roughly 10% below 2018 levels, driven by permanently higher energy costs....."

"Germany’s long industrial decline. Since 2021, industrial production has followed a negative trend, declining by an average of 2.3 index points per year. Germany’s industrial sector is therefore no longer merely stagnating; it is contracting at a rapid pace. In fact, German industrial output is today at the same level as in 2005. Overall, there has been no growth in industrial production over more than two decades."

One important factor has been energy policy. For decades, German industry benefited from reliable and comparatively affordable energy supplies. This advantage gradually weakened as policymakers pursued the Energiewende, Germany’s ambitious transition to renewable energy sources. A second factor has been the cumulative impact of regulation and climate policy. Over the past two decades, German policymakers increasingly prioritized environmental and social objectives alongside economic growth. Yet their cumulative effect was to increase the cost and complexity of doing business. Firms faced rising compliance costs, lengthy permitting procedures, extensive reporting requirements and persistent uncertainty about future regulatory changes."

Environmental regulations and carbon pricing schemes placed additional burdens on industrial sectors already facing intense international competition. While each individual measure may have appeared manageable on its own, together they reduced Germany’s attractiveness as a destination for industrial investment. The result was a gradual decline in competitiveness that was more visible after each economic crisis.

In other words, Gaia Worship. They did this to themselves. Nobody forced them. Its entirely their own stupidity.

https://www.gisreportsonline.com/r/germany-industrial-decline/

[SmokingJoe]

Europe Is Failing…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBDgTXNyS3c

This documentary, Europe Is Failing…, explores the significant economic and technological divergence between the European Union and the United States over the past two decades. The video argues that Europe has fallen behind due to a series of strategic choices that prioritized social welfare, leisure, and caution over output, speed, and innovation.

Key themes include:

Economic Stagnation: The documentary highlights how the Eurozone failed to adapt to economic shocks compared to the U.S., leading to a massive GDP gap of $10 trillion by 2024 (2:40-3:12).
Energy Policy: The reliance on cheap Russian gas and the phase-out of nuclear power left Europe vulnerable when the conflict in Ukraine began in 2022, causing energy prices to surge and impacting industrial manufacturing (11:02-13:58).
Technological Lag: A primary argument is that Europe has failed to produce major new tech companies in the last 50 years, often stifling innovation through strict regulations like GDPR, the Digital Markets Act, and the AI Act (14:38-19:22, 37:00-37:36).
Demographics and Immigration: The continent faces a shrinking, aging workforce, and the documentary contrasts the U.S. model of attracting high-skilled immigrants with Europe's focus on humanitarian migration, which it argues has created fiscal challenges rather than economic growth (22:46-24:50, 34:19-34:56).
Cultural Factors: The video contrasts American “hustle culture,” venture capital, and bankruptcy tolerance with the European preference for shorter work weeks, job security, and risk aversion (28:30-29:10).

The documentary concludes that while Europe remains wealthy, its future hinges on difficult political decisions regarding structural reform, which leaders like Mario Draghi have outlined in recent reports, though implementation remains uncertain (37:37-40:52).

[srmanuel]

Over the next few days, if you come across an uppity Canadian lecturing Americans about Donald Trump, remind them that in terms of per capita GDP, Canada is already behind Mississippi and that was before the current trade war that appears to have started.

Now it looks like Germany in headed in that direction as well.

[FLT-bird]

All of Europe is headed in that direction. There is an exception here or there like Norway (which has a lot of oil and gas and which has not allowed Gaia Worship to prevent them from developing it) and Poland, but as a whole, Germany is the industrial heart of the continent and as it declines, everybody else will decline with it since they’re all providing key inputs to it in one way or another. See everything I said about Germany above? Energy prices are just as high if not higher in the UK. Ed Milliband and the Just Stop Oil nutters are doing all they can to drive Brits into the poorhouse.

[ComputerGuy]

...policymakers increasingly prioritized environmental and social objectives alongside economic growth...

When the Greenies get involved, you're playing a zero-sum game

[chajin]

Some of the German Gaia worship is metaphysical, meaning leftists like spitting in God’s eye. But some of it has been an attempt to deal with the truth that Germany has no realistic sources for oil or coal or gas, and so they either have to import it or they have to find an alternative. That’s why Hitler went after Norway and Ukraine for their oil fields, which stretched the Wehrmacht too thin and led to the eventual Nazi demise. The contemporary German error is that they completely eschewed atomic power for electricity, which would have made the need for foreign oil much more reasonable.

[Bonemaker]

Germans make wonderful Anericans but lousy Germans. It’s been said.

[Bonemaker]

As long as they keep electing a bunch of John Kerrys and Elizabeth Warrens while remaining in the EU they are ūberhosed.

[Pontiac]

...policymakers increasingly prioritized environmental and social objectives alongside instead of economic growth...

There, I fixed it.

[fortes fortuna juvat]

Germans make wonderful Americans but lousy Germans. It’s been said.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
My own family exemplifies exactly that!

[Jolla]

“Germans make wonderful Americans”

My father-in-law Mueller is 84 and still an active farmer.

[Gay State Conservative]

Worse than Mississippi? Germany still produces Mercedes...Porsche...BMW...and Audi. Mississippi doesn’t.

[GMMC0987]

The folks in Mississippi must love all the free publicity their state has been getting lately.

[delta7]

....that Germany is experiencing a structural, irreversible deindustrialization due to a combination of self-imposed policy....

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When the West blew up their cheap energy source , the Nordstream Pipeline, it was the beginning of the end of their manufacturing industry and destroyed what was left of the citizen’s disposable income....paying 4-5x more for energy has drained the Germans pocketbooks.

Kaput comes to mind.

[delta7]

Germans make wonderful Anericans but lousy Germans. It’s been said.

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I know half a dozen in my area that left Germany. They have all started small businesss here and have said they never want to return to Germany.

That said, I know a dozen Russians that have left the US and went back to Russia....they all stated it is to expensive to live here.

Think about that.

[montag813]

Is astounds me how Angela Merkel has avoided prosecution of treason.

[Empire_of_Liberty]

I keep half-expecting the Europeans to awaken from their spell and realize the value of old-school national borders. Brussels needs to stick to making chocolate and chasing after children.

[PerConPat]

I don't know, but I've been told von Goethe made the following observation:

I have often felt a bitter sorrow at the thought of the German people, which is so estimable in the individual and so wretched in the generality. A comparison of the German people with other peoples arouses a painful feeling, which I try to overcome in every possible way....Goethes Gespraeche (December 13, 1813)

[trebb]

I’ve been living on the Mississippi Gulf Coast since 1985 - don’t confuse Mississippi with the Delta area that’s being kept from progress by the leftists who need poverty and anger to justify their own miserable existence.