A stronger work ethic won’t fix advanced economies

[BIRMINGHAM] German Chancellor Friedrich Merz returned from his recent visit to China visibly rattled.

After touring Unitree Robotics in Hangzhou, where quadruped robots performed martial arts, he conceded that Germany is “simply no longer productive enough” and warned that prosperity cannot be maintained with “work-life balance and a four-day week”.

Germans, he declared, “will simply have to do a little more”.