Two decades ago, Germany revived its moribund economy and became a manufacturing powerhouse of an era of globalization. Times changed. Germany didn’t keep up. Now Europe’s biggest economy has to reinvent itself again. But its fractured political class is struggling to find answers to a dizzying conjunction of long-term headaches and short-term crises, leading to a growing sense of malaise, the Wall Street Journal reported. Germany will be the world’s only major economy to contract in 2023, with even sanctioned Russia experiencing growth, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Germany's rail workers will not go on open-ended strikes after less than 50% of union members voted in favor, German news agency dpa reported Monday. A vote of 75% in favor would have been necessary for all-out strike action, the Associated Press reported. A majority of workers also voted in favor of a recommendation that emerged from arbitration between EVG and the rail operator, Deutsche Bahn. The compromise deal includes a pay increase of 410 euros ($443) per month in two stages over a period of 25 months.

Germany's economy stagnated in the second quarter from the previous three months, showing no sign of recovery from a winter recession and cementing its position as one of the world's weakest major economies, Reuters reported. The figure of zero growth for the second quarter was in line with a first estimate published in late July. Year on year, adjusted GDP contracted by 0.2% in the second quarter. Quarter on quarter, economic activity had fallen by 0.4% in the fourth quarter of 2022 and by 0.1% in the first quarter of 2023.

German business activity contracted at the fastest pace for more than three years in August, a preliminary survey showed on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The HCOB German Flash Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), compiled by S&P Global, fell to 44.7 from July's 48.5, hitting its lowest since May 2020 and confounding analysts' expectations for a reading of 48.3. The indicator was below the 50 level denoting growth in activity for the second consecutive month.

The U.S. Commerce Department on Thursday said it will set preliminary anti-dumping duties on tin-plated steel from Canada, Germany and China, in a move to shield domestic steelmakers that will prompt warnings of higher prices for cans made from the steel and the foods, paint and other products they contain, Reuters reported. The department said it will propose preliminary anti-dumping duties of 122.5% on tin mill steel imported from China, 7.02% on imports from Germany and 5.29% on imports from Canada. A formal Federal Register notice is expected later on Thursday.

Deutsche Bank has settled the loans it extended to Go Airlines out of court with its promoters Wadia Group, people aware of the development said. Go Airlines, which operated Go First Airlines, is undergoing voluntary liquidation, the Economic Times of India reported. Last week, Deutsche Bank conveyed to its resolution professional Shailendra Ajmera and lenders that it wants to relinquish itself as a member of the committee of creditors (CoC) since it has separately settled its debt with the promoter.

A Munich-based property developer said on Friday that it had filed to open insolvency proceedings with a local court, in the latest sign of stress in Germany's real estate sector, Reuters reported. Euroboden GmbH, with 115 million euros ($126 million) in bonds outstanding and facing possible downgrades in its credit rating, said in a statement that negotiations for property sales had fallen through, hurting its finances. It also cancelled a meeting with bondholders later this month, where it had hoped to restructure its debt.

Germany's largest real estate group Vonovia slipped to a 2 billion euro ($2.19 billion) second quarter loss and wrote down the value of its properties by 3 billion euros on Thursday in the latest sign of stress in the country's property sector, Reuters reported. After a decade-long property boom, Germany is undergoing a sharp reversal of fortune after an era of cheap money ended. Vonovia's quarterly loss compared to a profit of 1.8 billion euros a year earlier, and Germany's biggest landlord confirmed its forecast for a 2023 drop in a key profit measure.

A German data watchdog has been investigating OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's Worldcoin project since late last year due to concerns over its large-scale processing of sensitive biometric data, the regulator's president told Reuters. Worldcoin, which launched last week, requires users to give their iris scans in exchange for a digital ID and, in some countries, free cryptocurrency as part of plans to create a new "identity and financial network".

Steinhoff International Holdings NV shareholders had little choice but to vote to dissolve the shell of the scandal-hit global retailer on Wednesday, drawing a line under a 5-1/2 year saga that turned into a windfall for lawyers and advisers, Bloomberg News reported. Those who have held stock via listings in Frankfurt or Johannesburg stand to gain little after the creditors who control the company get paid. But outside parties have received €447 million ($495 million) since late 2017, according to annual reports, and managers have also continued to be remunerated.