For decades Germany was allergic to debt. But new chancellor Friedrich Merz has - unexpectedly - loosened the country’s constitutional debt brake, injecting hundreds of billions of euros into the armed forces and infrastructure. The move, he hopes, will revive Europe’s largest economy and build up its military as Donald Trump’s US administration dismantles the transatlantic relations that underpinned Germany’s postwar recovery. The FT travels to Frankfurt and Berlin to examine why investment in crumbling schools, roads and rail infrastructure - and defence - is needed and to ask if the spending gamble will kickstart Germany's economic engine. #germany #friedrichmerz #debt #economics #defence #infrastructure #debtbrake #borrowing #debt #donaldtrump #us #europe #industry #markets #investing #investment #companies #construction #schools #trains #bridges #roads #austerity #frankfurt #berlin #angelamerkel #cdu #christiandemocraticunion #afd #greenparty #greens #politics #europeanunion #eu #geopolitics #alternativeforgermany #alternativefürdeutschland #vladimirputin #russia #ukraine #warinukraine 00:00 - Introduction 01:16 - Germany’s spending gamble 02:32 - The "debt brake" 05:33 - Defence 09:14 - Trains 14:01 - Schools 18:17 - Roads 19:31 - The risks 21:08 - The politics 22:36 - Merz has no choice. He has to succeed ► Enjoying FT content? Get a daily slice of the very best FT journalism with FT Edit. Free for 30 days then just £4.99 a month See if you get the FT for free as a student (http://ft.com/schoolsarefree) or start a £1 trial: https://subs.ft.com/spa3_trial?segmentId=3d4ba81b-96bb-cef0-9ece-29efd6ef2132. ► Check out our Community tab for more stories: https://www.youtube.com/@FinancialTimes/community ► Listen to our podcasts: https://www.ft.com/podcasts ► Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/financialtimes ► Follow us on Instagram: https://www.tiktok.com/@financialtimes