I never thought I would use this name: Friedrich Merz becomes Friedrich Merzel. But the longer Merz sits in the Chancellery, the more I get the impression that he is turning into Angela Merkel.

The announced reformer becomes the administrator. The beacon of hope for a change of course becomes the familiar face of “Keep it up.”

Einstein called what Merz is doing crazy

Merz took office to clear up the reform backlog and to blow away the mildew of the Merkel years. But instead it seems as if he is not just managing the legacy, but almost celebrating it. If a CEO in a company had brought the company into financial difficulties, his successor would hardly have the idea to regularly praise him and celebrate him on podiums.

All I can experience with Merz is: wait and see. Hope. And thus exactly what Albert Einstein described as madness: leaving everything as it is and still expecting different results.

In business, the following applies: whoever takes over sets their own tone – or becomes part of the problem. What is Merz doing? He invites his old enemy Angela Merkel to the CDU party conference – and everyone celebrates.

At the end of Merkel’s time, the federal eagle was exhausted

For me, the cover photo of the British “Economist” at the end of the Merkel era remains symbolic: an exhausted federal eagle, captioned “The Mess that Merkel left behind.”

This image was hard – but it hit a nerve. Germany seemed tired, bureaucratically overloaded and economically slowed down. Migration that overwhelmed the country, an energy transition that made the country dependent again on the whims of nature and drove industry out of the country and an economy that was subjected to one shackles after another, while the real offenses and capital crimes mostly remain without consequences.

Germany used to impress, but not anymore

And now? A few days ago, Merz gave a powerful speech at the Munich Security Conference. Germany must be taken seriously again, he said. I agree with him. But respect doesn’t come from pathos. Respect comes from economic strength.

Companies like Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Porsche and BASF used to impress the world. Then there was the medium-sized sector, where many of these companies were world market leaders in their niche without being widely trumpeted. Hence the term “hidden champion”.

Something like that impresses other nations. Broken escalators in train stations, large cities in which snow and ice are not removed for weeks, millions of transfer recipients, thousands of migrants where the government does not know where they are, do not impress anyone, but rather trigger a sympathetic shaking of the head.

What particularly irritates me about Merz

The truth is as simple as it is brutal. Bill Clinton once put it succinctly: “It’s the economy, stupid.” It’s the economy. Point. Without competitive companies, without investments, without unleashing bureaucracy, any foreign policy ambition remains rhetoric.

What particularly irritates me is that Merz himself comes from a business background and was always considered liberal, market-oriented and decisive. That’s precisely why I would have expected him to act like a CEO in a turnaround situation.

Maybe Merz believes the Germans don’t want change

In companies, this means: clear analysis, honestly naming losses, writing off legacy issues, rearranging structures, making tough decisions – and communicating them convincingly. “Tough choices”, as they call it in modern German. “Tough decisions.”

Maybe Merz believes that the Germans don’t want any real change. Maybe he fears the unrest that a clear cut will bring. But leadership does not mean managing moods. Leadership means taking responsibility – especially when it becomes uncomfortable.

Make Germany great again: Not through speeches, but through unleashed economics and visible reforms

Even if it costs you your much-loved position if necessary. As Martin Luther said so beautifully: “Here I stand, I can’t do anything else.” And Gerhard Schröder, who was often said to have a lust for power, often put his green coalition partner on the trail by threatening to resign. The country was more important than the position.

For companies, this hesitation means uncertainty. Anyone who is to invest needs clarity, speed and the courage to reform. For us citizens, it means standing still at a time when other countries have long since picked up the pace.

If Germany wants to be taken seriously again, then not through big speeches, but through an unleashed economy and visible reforms. Otherwise, Friedrich Merzel will end up being exactly that: a chancellor who came in to change – and who only manages.

And who didn’t become party leader in 2002 because Angela Merkel didn’t trust him to have that leadership strength. This was probably one of the moments where Angela Merkel got it right.