Once the “sick man of Europe,” Germany seems to be under the weather once again. That might be putting it mildly: much as it did in the late 1990s, Germany is staring down the barrel of “stagflation” – high inflation and unemployment combined with stagnant demand and low growth. A lack of effective political leadership further darkens the outlook for Germany – and for the European Union that depends on it. France might be the EU’s second-largest economy, a nuclear power, and the only member state with a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, but Germany is its economic powerhou…