Final Word from Wednesday, July 31, 2024

Industrial production continues to weigh on the Czech economy, although it isn't always evident from the headlines. The Czech Statistical Office announced a preliminary y/y increase yesterday in second-quarter economic growth of 0.4% and attributed it mainly to higher consumer spending. In its press release the statistics bureau devoted just one sentence to industry: "The decline in industry continued." How big the decline was in the second quarter it didn't bother to say, but an earlier report revealed that real industrial output had fallen y/y by 3.2% in May. Editor-in-chief Ulf Poschardt of Die Welt wrote on Mon. that the deindustrialization of Germany is not only in full swing, but is even picking up speed. The decline of Germany is unprecedented, he said, and the bureaucracy from Berlin and Brussels keeps being piled on instead of being reduced. Germany has become a lousy place to do business, he said. His complaint, which has been voiced by others, is that there isn't much of a discussion about what's happening. It's the same just over the border. The goal in the CR is to ignore or trivialize the decline of Czech industry. [ Czech Republic GDP ]