Why Germany Is Rich But Germans Are Poor and Angry: Chris Bryant

For much of its postwar history, Germany was a beacon of prosperity and political stability. Now its economy is stagnating, and social harmony has given way to acrimony and division.

Germany’s grossly unequal distribution of wealth is an underappreciated cause of this malaise: The top 10% of households have at least €725,000 ($793,000) of net assets and control more than half of the country’s wealth, while the bottom 40% of households have at most €44,000 of net assets, according to a Bundesbank survey in 2021.

Together with a pervasive sense that Germany is coming unstuck — think creaking infrastructure, inflation and ...