The German farmer protests started 2024 off with a bang. Last week, irate farmers prevented Germany's Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck from getting off a ferry as he returned from vacation.  This week, German farmers are taking to the highways.  They have blocked Berlin's iconic Brandenburg Gate to protest the government's removal of the agricultural diesel subsidy.  The farmers and their supporters plan to continue protesting throughout the week of January 8. And they're not alone. Farmers in France are also protesting, and we saw last year farmers in the Netherlands protesting.

What started it all in Germany?

The controversy began with an argument over what to do with debt accumulated during Covid.  Germany's notoriously strict rules regarding debt creation were lifted during Covid, for the same reasons so many rules were suspended here in the US.  After the pandemic officially ended, the German government found itself with unused debt and decided to put the money toward its Climate and Transformation Fund.