, Columnist
Volkswagen's $17 Billion Change of Direction
The car giant is finally putting its faith in the wonders of the capital markets with its Traton trucks IPO. If only Germany’s citizens would do the same.
Sharp turn.
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Friedrich Merz, the conservative politician who has a shot at becoming Germany’s next chancellor, published an article this week that urged his country to get more of its citizens to invest in the stock market.
His intervention seemed a touch self-interested: Merz chairs the German arm of fund manager BlackRock Inc. He does have a point though. Only one out of six Germans owns shares. Most prefer to put their money in savings accounts, which have generated next to nothing in returns for a decade.