For leaders of a country that is so good at this globalisation business, Germany’s political class is not exactly embracing the idea: raving about locusts, monsters, mutants, caravan capitalists and, most recently, monsters once again. Presumably the Jabberwock is next. Yet despite the depredations of this fearsome menagerie, Germany’s prowess as an exporter is enviable – a looking-glass puzzle indeed.

Germany’s economy is a conundrum in other ways. The obvious successes are likely to be fleeting, while the real triumphs have gone unappreciated. This is a mysterious and risky combination.