Editorial

Germany’s heavy dependencies on China are once again shifting into focus following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In extreme cases, economic dependencies can do a lot of damage to a society, as the example of Russian gas currently demonstrates. But how costly would it be for Germany to become less dependent on China? The ifo Institute has calculated this question in several scenarios. Felix Lee spoke with the study’s co-author, Florian Dorn, about the high costs and which sectors would be particularly affected. The Ifo researcher advises German companies to further diversify their supply chains.