What? Balanced trade is inherently sustainable. If Germany exported for the last few decades then it is going to import for a few decades at some point. That is how balanced trade works.
not necessarily. A situation like this could easily and quickly spiral out of control. High inflation could wipe out decades of trade surpluses and germany cant even control their own inflation, because its using €, which is controlled by the European Central Bank.
As a german citizen I'm hopeful that its only temporary however and that our economy recovers at least somewhat over the next few years.
why does there have to be balanced trade? I don't believe balanced trade just happens naturally in a free market.