Can Germany cope without Russian gas?

OLAF SCHOLZ reacted on March 27th with unusually harsh words to a question by Anne Will, a popular Sunday talk-show host, about studies by economists that suggest an immediate stop of imports of Russian energy would reduce German economic growth by only a modest amount. “Their view is wrong,” said Mr Scholz, adding that it was “irresponsible” to feed numbers into mathematical models to arrive at this conclusion.For several weeks prominent economists have argued passionately among themselves and with Mr Scholz’s ministers about the possible consequences of banning Russian energy. The government, as well as industrial lobby groups and think-tanks close either to it or to trade unions, argue that a ban would lead to high unemployment, mass poverty and a recession. But some independent economists, as well as a number of opposition politicians, insist that the consequences would be manageable, if substantial.