Three-body problem: Malaise in Germany

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  This episode of Editor's Picks is supported by IDA Ireland.

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  Hi there, it's Jason Palmer here,

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  co-host of The Intelligence, our daily news and current affairs podcast.

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  This is Editor's Picks.

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  You're about to hear an article from the latest edition of The Economist Read Aloud.

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  Enjoy.

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  But there is no misreading the mood in Germany today.

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  A deep malaise has settled on the country.

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  Four-fifths of Germans tell pollsters they are unhappy with their rulers,

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  and a series of upcoming political and electoral trials could test the government to breaking point.

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  In December 2021, after an election delivered a fragmented parliament,

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  the Social Democrats, SPD, Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats,

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  FDP,

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  yoked themselves together in Germany's first three-party coalition for more than 60 years.

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  After 16 stable but uninspired years under Angela Merkel,

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  the parties in the Ampel coalition,

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  so named because their colours mimic a traffic light,

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