Growth through a faster state
Wildberger is not the economy minister. His economic role runs through bureaucracy reduction, digital infrastructure and AI — framed by the government as levers for growth.
An economy under pressure
Verified factGermany's price-adjusted GDP fell by 0.3% in 2023 and 0.2% in 2024, according to the Federal Statistical Office. The Merz government took office in May 2025 with economic revival as a central promise.
AnalysisThe debate about German competitiveness centres on energy costs, investment, skills, digitalisation and bureaucracy. The digital ministry's mandate addresses the last two directly: it took over the bureaucracy-reduction and better-regulation units from the Justice and Economy ministries, as well as responsibility for the National Regulatory Control Council (Normenkontrollrat).
In July 2026 SME Commissioner Gitta Connemann became a Parliamentary State Secretary in the BMDS, and the office of the federal government's SME Commissioner moved with her — linking the Mittelstand portfolio to state modernisation.
Interim review, 7 October 2026
These are the federal government's own figures, presented by the ministry; independent verification is not yet available.
His documented economic perspective
He presents bureaucracy as a structural brake: an Augsburger Allgemeine interview in November 2025 was headlined with his words “Bureaucracy has created its own industry” (translated).
Political positionHe links digital capacity to prosperity: “This will decide prosperity in the 21st century” (web.de, April 2026, translated headline quote, on AI).
Documented statementCriticism“Powerful, sovereign and resilient telecommunications networks are a location factor in the digital world.”
In the Bundestag's May 2026 debate, the AfD described his approach as a “strategy of short-term showcase successes”, while the coalition partner SPD called for far larger investment — €100 billion over ten years — in digital security and resilient infrastructure. Full criticism page →
- Destatis, GDP 2024: destatis.de
- netzpolitik.org on the ministry's competences: netzpolitik.org
- BMDS, Gitta Connemann appointment: bmds.bund.de
- Federal Government, modernisation agenda: bundesregierung.de
- BMDS interim review, 7 Oct 2026: bmds.bund.de
- Bundestag, topical debate, 7 May 2026: bundestag.de