The mood in Germany is lousy. Bad news has been raining down on us for years. We might as well write off the whole 2020s … or can we? Anyone who looks at economic data beyond the fast-moving monthly business-cycle figures will find that things are not that bad after all. Living standards and life expectancy are improving, and so are some environmental issues. Let’s get into the data.

When a German woman explains Austria’s economy … brave, I know. I’m doing it anyway, because nowhere are Weltschmerz and the good life cultivated side by side with such devotion as in my favourite Alpine republic. We push the cloud of negative news aside and get into the data. After all, the 2020s are not the decade in which Expressionism should make its comeback …

War in Ukraine, high inflation, trade wars and Trump, over and over. Whichever nation you look at, economically things have not been running smoothly for the industrialised countries for a long time. Everyone looks back to the good old days … but deep down we know they never really existed. It is time to get into the data and take off the rose-tinted glasses.

Want a say in the economic debate? Start with the big picture. That is exactly what this keynote is for. We look at where Germany stands economically, compared with other industrialised countries and without the headline noise. Whether labour market, inflation, monetary or fiscal policy: we put the figures in context, so that afterwards you can argue with facts rather than gut feeling.

Keynotes on the Austrian economy? There are far too few, if you ask me. So I’m simply changing that myself now. Here you get the big picture of Austria’s economy, from economic growth to the labour market and inflation, so that the next time the economy comes up in conversation, you can shine with real data instead of relying on newspaper headlines.

Inflation, monetary policy, Trump’s geopolitics, China’s consumer slump or sluggish growth in Europe: there is no shortage of topics to talk about in the world economy. We don’t get stuck on one country but take on the big questions that matter right now, always up to date and guaranteed without jargon.