“I’m afraid that we will actually miss out on the future, because we’re taking too little risks.”

Verena Pausder is a successful German entrepreneur who is clear about where she thinks the economy is going wrong.

This week, it was confirmed that Europe’s biggest economy shrank by 0.3% last year.

Whilst the country avoided recession - thanks to a statistical quirk - most economists think Germany will be in that position when the numbers for the first part of this year are published.

Germany’s growth is being held back by the twin shocks of the energy crisis, caused by the war in Ukraine, and higher interest rates.

There are also long-term structural issues such as ageing infrastructure, a labour shortage and the cost of tackling climate change.