Receding Recession, Inflation Deflating
As you know Germans have a cultural sensitivity towards inflation due to historical experiences and prefer stability and low inflation rates. At the same time, we are used to (slow) economic growth. A recession might therefore be of less concern.
This is exactly what below chart shows: Search interest for inflation is almost always higher than for recession. There are, however, three abnormal periods, in which interest in a recession is higher or almost as high as in inflation:
– The peak of the financial crisis at the end of 2008
– The outbreak of COVI-19 in Germany in March 2020
– The war on Ukraine, inflation, the energy crisis and a multitude of other risks culminating in September 2022
It is, however, also apparent that Germans‘ concern about recession is almost back to normal, while fear of inflation is also reduced, but still at a much elevated level.