Merz will likely unleash budgetary stimulus, which parsimonious Germany can uniquely afford, says Eoin Drea, senior researcher at the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies. “With debt to GDP [gross domestic product] at 64%, Germany can easily invest 1% to 2% per annum on infrastructure,” he argues. The country’s constitutional “debt brake” affords “all sorts of wiggle room,” he adds.