Source: EconLog
by Max Molden
“In times of crisis, we consider what can be done to return to a path of prosperity and wealth. However, there is a tendency to mistake the previous manifestations of economic success — the sectors and products that an economy has, in the past, successfully produced — for the more fundamental source of success. … For example, Germany’s economic system has produced an economy focused on, put very roughly (and, strictly speaking, of course, falsely), cars. So, one may conclude that all that is necessary for protecting and reinvigorating the German economy is to protect and support the German carmakers’ ability to produce cars. Precisely this is what many commentators on the German economic situation, as well as politicians, seem to believe.” (10/23/25)
https://www.econlib.org/econlog/dont-mistake-a-miracle-for-its-cause/