Germany enters a recession due to their horrible energy policy. Sadly, Minnesota is following its lead.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Germany has entered into a recession as households cut spending in response to sharply higher prices for energy and food. Energy prices rose due to Germany’s horrible decision to close down its coal and nuclear plants and become increasingly reliant upon wind, solar, and Russian natural gas.

Unfortunately, Minnesota is repeating many of these errors.

Recession

Germany’s statistics agency said Thursday that gross domestic product — a broad measure of the goods and services produced by an economy — was 0.3 percent lower in the three months through March than in the final quarter of last year when the economy shrunk by 0.5 percent.

The agency said a 1.2 percent fall in household consumption was the main reason for the contraction, as households saw their spending power eroded by a surge in food prices. In March, German families were paying 21.2 percent more for their food purchases than a year earlier.

Germany subsidizes industrial energy costs

One reason for Germany’s recession is a sharp downturn in the nation’s manufacturing sector, with German factory orders falling by 10.7 percent the most since the pandemic. Manufacturing continued to fare worse than other parts of Europe’s largest economy. 

One reason for the fall in German manufacturing output is high energy prices. Industrial energy prices are so high that Germany is proposing to subsidize industrial energy users to the tune of around 25 to 30 billion euros over the next several years.

“If we don’t pay this price, we may no longer have future industrial sectors in these energy-intensive areas in Germany, and that would be a loss,” Germany’s Economy and Climate Protection Minister, Robert Habeck, stated.

Minnesota mimics Germany

For years, Minnesotans have been told how we should emulate Germany’s energy policies.

Several taxpayer-funded junkets have sent state legislators and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flannagan to Germany to learn more about Germany’s experiment in wind and solar, but it was obvious that Germany’s energy policy was a disaster even back in 2019.

But instead of observing Germany’s current energy crisis and correcting course, the Minnesota legislature has doubled down on Deutschland’s failed experiment and passed the Blackout Bill, a law mandating that 100 percent of Minnesota’s electricity come from carbon-free resources.

The law will make electricity more expensive and less reliable. We are repeating Germany’s mistakes and hoping for different results.