Germans contemplate working Sundays to save their economy

Friedrich Merz, the chancellor of Germany, is looking to pull every lever at his disposal to kickstart Germany’s flagging economy, taking aim at everything from tax and red tape to welfare spending and sick leave.

Retailers are pushing to extend this reform blitz to the country’s century-old prohibition on Sunday trading, which once a week turns German high streets into ghost towns.

“Germany needs reforms to help its economy. So every stone is getting turned over, or should be. And we’re saying, ‘Don’t forget our stone,’” said Timo Weber, the boss of department store chain KaDeWe.

They face an uphill battle. Churches, trade unions and politicians from across the political spectrum stand in their way. And they’re fighting a tradition that goes back a long, long way.

Merz has leaned into this gradually opening door. His reform package will allow bakeries and confectioners to open for eight hours on a Sunday, rather than just three. Public libraries’ allowance will increase from three hours to six.

Churches and social groups argue that Sunday closing offers a respite from commerce and promotes social cohesion.

Retailers say that these days people shop online on Sundays anyway, so trade is taking place regardless.

Retailers also argue that Sunday shopping has become a leisure activity, so it should be on the same footing as other ways people might spend their day off.

The trade unions are opposed. They warn that relaxing Sunday trading will put employees at risk of being forced to work unsociable hours.

Retailers counter that Germany’s labour laws, which are stronger than Britain’s, ensure that staff working on a Sunday are paid extra and earn time in lieu.

Smaller businesses are less enthusiastic.

“We have trouble finding employees who are willing to work every Saturday, so how could we find employees for a Sunday?” says Catrin Schulz, a Berlin optician.

Busch-Petersen says nobody is suggesting shops should be forced to open. He characterises Sunday trading as a three-way pact between the business owner, the employees and the staff.

For Merz, the question is economic. Consumer confidence has been in the doldrums since the post-Covid cost of living crisis. Apart from an increase in May, retail sales have been sluggish for more than a year.

Whatever changes are made to SS, such as means-testing for higher income seniors, are current beneficiaries likely to be exempted? That’s been the case generally for changes made in the past to SS.

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US small and medium-sized business bankruptcies rose by 50%, Newsweek reports

A total of 1,663 small and medium-sized US companies filed for bankruptcy in the first quarter of this year. This represents a 50% increase year on year, according to the American magazine Newsweek.

This came amid a broader 12% year-on-year increase in bankruptcy filings across the United States.

Privately owned US companies are struggling with persistent economic difficulties and attempting to serve cash-strapped consumers amid rising inflation and problems in the labour market.

This is happening despite the fact that the health of America’s small and medium-sized businesses was a key priority for Donald Trump’s administration in implementing its broader economic agenda, Newsweek emphasises.

Released on 8 July.

Excellent work on the economy! We're all doing so much better now. :)

/s for my fan club.

“The rupture of the world order is going much better than expected,” Stephen Marche, a writer based in Toronto, says in a guest essay for Times Opinion. “At first there was rage at America’s betrayal, when President Trump called for the annexation of Canada, threatened Greenland, imposed tariffs on its friends and began his campaign to undercut NATO, which continued at its latest meeting this week, in Ankara, Turkey. Now, a strange feeling is emerging in some of the countries that used to be known as America’s allies: Optimistic determination.”

Total exports from Canada increased by almost 7 billion dollars last year. European equities outperformed American equities in 2025 and surged in the first two months of 2026. And American military threats have the same diminishing power. “Bureaucracies once defined by their lethargy are moving at surprising speed to limit their exposure to both the U.S. government and the companies that serve as outposts of American power,” Stephen writes. “As a geopolitical actor, the United States has become a kind of lumbering zombie — a beast that can be startled into reflexive actions but lacks higher functions.”

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