The U.S. economy continues to soar while American politics craters

Looking around, one sees problems in most major economies. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is about to leave office after 16 years of steady, wise leadership. In an age of populist drama, anger, emotion and invective, she has been an oasis of calm. But she let many of Germany’s economic problems fester. The country has been starved of public investment, leading to a decay of its infrastructure in almost every area. Germany’s pension system sits unreformed and in danger of a real crisis. Its energy policies are a strange patchwork of new and old, banning nuclear and thus getting 44 percent of its electricity from fossil fuels — one of the highest in the European Union.