In Search of Reforms
Why Merz is Struggling to Put Germany on a Growth Path Those who expected the Merz government to quickly fix Germany’s sluggish economy have good reasons to be disappointed. So …
Episode 146: European Manufacturing and Global Trade
German industry is facing headwinds: a sluggish domestic economy, instability in the transatlantic trade relationship, and unfair global trade practices. Bertram Kawlath, the president of Europe’s largest industrial association (VDMA), joins The Zeitgeist to assess trends in the global …
AGI Asks: Assessing the First Year of the Merz Government
Friedrich Merz was sworn in as Germany’s chancellor on May 6, 2025. The country faces its biggest challenges in a generation: a sluggish economy, Russia’s ongoing aggression in Ukraine, a …
Can a Critical Minerals Pact Compartmentalize Transatlantic Trade?
On April 24, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and EU Trade and Economic Security Commissioner Maros Šefčovič agreed to an Action Plan for Critical Minerals Supply Chain Resilience, committing the …
Public Debt: From a Stopgap to a Threat?
Public debt is in the spotlight. According to the IMF, global public debt stands at 93 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP). By the end of the decade, IMF …
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Support Our WorkEpisode 144: Economic Resilience as Economic Security
The world’s leading economies are putting economic security at the top of their policy concerns. Among them, the European Union is taking a risk-based approach that seeks to deter weaponizable …
Tariffs, Germany, and South Carolina
Bavaria West German business loves South Carolina, and South Carolina loves German business. Currently, there are over 270 German companies employing over 44,000 people based in South Carolina. They have …
Germany’s Economy in 2026
Turnaround or another year of gloom? Will 2026 mark the turnaround for the German economy? While many international investors seem to believe in a debt-fueled comeback, fiscally conservative German authorities …
The Transatlantic Relationship and the Future Global Trading System
Today’s challenges to the global trading system are exacerbating a dynamic that is at least a decade old. Since the failure of the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations to …
Episode 140: The Transatlantic Relationship in a Transforming Global Trading System
How have increased geopolitical competition and changing trade policy objectives affected the transatlantic relationship, and what are the shared priorities for German and U.S. business? On this episode of The Zeitgeist, CEO of DHL …
The United States and WTO Reform
While the Trump administration’s trade policy has gained attention for the series of bilateral tariff-raising deals it orchestrated in 2025, at the end of last year, the United States also …
Beyond the Antichrist and the Kill Switch
The real political economy of U.S. tech statecraft and what it means for Europe One of the many remarkable features of the second Trump presidency has been the highly public …
It’s the Single Market, Stupid
James Carville, President Bill Clinton’s campaign strategist, famously quipped about the 1992 U.S. election that, “it’s the economy, stupid.” That kind of simple—but not simplistic—communication about political priorities will be …
The Debate over a Digital Euro
At a recent hearing before the European Parliament, Piero Cipollone, the Executive Board Member of the European Central Bank (ECB) in charge of the digital euro project, reminded his audience …
