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The Economist's preference would be to do away with the debt brake entirely, but we accept that may be a step too far for many voters. Instead, a Chancellor Merz would probably agree to ease the debt brake after the election in exchange for concessions from his coalition partners, perhaps on welfare or on immigration, as part of the give and take of coalition talks in Germany. The trouble is that, because the debt brake sits inside the constitution, amendments to it need two- thirds majorities in both houses of parliament. And polls suggest that when Germany votes next year, enough small parties could fall below the 5% threshold needed to enter the Bundestag to bestow a blocking minority on a pair of fringe parties- the hard-right Alternative for Germany and the new "left-conservative" Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance.