It was an astonishing moment when, early in the evening on Tuesday, March 4, future chancellor Friedrich Merz − who until now had embraced 1990s economic dogma and budgetary discipline − uttered these words: "The rule for Germany's defense must be: 'Whatever it takes'." The Christian Democrat thereby adopted as his motto the famous words of former European Central Bank president Mario Draghi, who put an end to the euro crisis in 2012, announcing an accommodative monetary policy long reviled by German conservatives.

This belated tribute to the Italian has represented a historic break. Germany has recognized that its strict budgetary rules are no match for the double danger it faces: A significant threat to its security, at a time when the Americans no longer wish to guarantee European defense, and also a serious risk of economic collapse. Together with his likely future Social Democrat (SPD) coalition partners, Merz therefore announced a reform of the debt brake, eliminating this constitutional mechanism for limiting the deficit to 0.35% of gross domestic product (GDP) and exempting defense spending in excess of 1% of GDP from this rule.

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