France, Germany Face New Recession but Cheap Russian Energy Still Off the Table

Europe’s industrial giant Germany is among the countries hardest hit by the West’s sanctioning of Russia for its special military operation in Ukraine, with industrial production falling and the country sinking into a recession in early 2023 after losing access to cheap and reliable supplies of Russian hydrocarbons. German business, administration, and government leaders expressed widespread dissatisfaction with the government’s energy and global economic policy. They also expressed fears that the economy may be past its zenith, with its best days behind it. A survey for the German media by the Allensbach Institute for Public Opinion Research of 484 company…