TO HER many fans, Angela Merkel is the hero who stands up to Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, and who generously opened her country to refugees. To others, she is the villain whose ill-thought-out gamble on immigration is “ruining Germany”, as Mr Trump once put it, and whose austerity policies laid waste to southern Europe.

The fans are closer to the truth. Her country has indeed done well under her leadership and the world been better for her steady hand. But during three terms in office, Mrs Merkel has not done enough to prepare Germany for the future. If her many years at the top are to be viewed as more than merely sufficient, she must use her fourth term to bring about change.

A steady hand in a turbulent world

There is little doubt that Mrs Merkel and her Christian Democratic Union are coasting towards victory when Germany votes on September 24th. That is partly owing to the lacklustre Martin Schulz, her Social Democratic Party (SPD) rival. His party’s domestic policy is undistinctive and his foreign policy barely credible. He has also failed to put the chancellor on the spot. Their debate on September 3rd was more like the negotiation of a new “grand coalition” than a clash of ideas.

But her imminent victory also reflects how Germany has prospered since 2005, when Mrs Merkel took office (see Briefing). Unemployment has fallen from 11.2% to 3.8%; wages are rising; consumer confidence is at a high. The chancellor has stood by the labour-market reforms introduced by Gerhard Schröder, her SPD predecessor—though she has not extended them. She has provided stable and unideological political leadership. German society has become more open and relaxed on her watch; she allowed, for instance, a vote on gay marriage even though she personally opposed it.

And in trying to cope with the euro crisis and the influx of refugees from the Middle East and north Africa, Mrs Merkel has proved to be the indispensable European. Beyond that, she persuaded Germans that their country should take on more of the responsibilities its size demands but its history makes difficult. At summits she is a calm, well-informed presence, helping to broker European sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, and the Paris climate accord. Germany is also taking on international burdens, with troops in Afghanistan, Mali and Lithuania, a scale of deployment unthinkable a decade ago. Her commitment to NATO’s target for defence spending of 2% of GDP speaks of a country growing up in the world.

Yet, for all this, Mrs Merkel has often governed on the “easy” setting, especially in her policies at home. She has enjoyed a host of advantages. Mr Schröder’s reforms made German workers competitive. The euro, raw materials and borrowing have all been cheap for much of her chancellorship, too. Emerging economies such as China cannot yet make the things Germany does (like luxury cars), so they import them. Germany has the second-oldest population in the world, but its baby-boomer bulge is largely still of working age. The country has been living through a golden age.

The trouble is that none of the factors that brought this about is permanent. Mrs Merkel had a chance to prepare the country for the future. She has squandered it. Her government’s obsession with balanced books has led it to invest too little. The net value of German infrastructure has fallen since 2012. Since 2010 the country’s broadband speed has fallen from 12th to 29th in the world. New industries like the internet of things and electric cars are underdeveloped. The mighty German automotive industry took a bad gamble on diesel engines, and is now mired in allegations of faked emissions tests.

Little has been done to prepare Germany for its demographic crunch. Mrs Merkel’s outgoing government not only reversed a raise in the retirement age, but cut it to 63 for some workers and introduced a “mothers’ pension” for women who took time off to care for children before 1992, benefiting a generation that was already well-catered for. At the same time she did little for those Germans left behind. Inequality and the use of food-banks have both risen on her watch.

When she does take big decisions, Mrs Merkel has a habit of ducking the consequences. The switch to renewable energy is proving so slow and expensive that Germany’s coal usage and carbon emissions are rising—her sudden decision to shut the country’s nuclear plants after a meltdown in Japan only made the transition harder. Having helped to hold the euro zone together through a series of weekend crises, Mrs Merkel (along with Wolfgang Schäuble, her finance minister) has stood in the way of reforms that would mitigate the next crisis. The task of integrating legions of refugees has been left primarily to cash-strapped state governments and citizens. The chancellor barely talks about them these days, having reduced arrival numbers using a murky repatriation deal with Turkey.

In the election campaign Mrs Merkel has said little to confront her compatriots with the need to reform governance of the euro, to raise investment and to prepare the economy for a revolution in the nature of work. Instead, her manifesto is vague, and her public appearances have been banal.

Action needed in Act IV

And yet Mrs Merkel could accomplish a lot in her next—and possibly last—term. She could use Germany’s budget surplus, of €26bn ($31bn) last year and rising, to invest more in human and physical capital. She could look to Emmanuel Macron of France for ideas to strengthen institutions that govern the euro and for a sense of urgency about high-tech. She could cement Germany’s foreign-policy credentials, by pressing on towards NATO’s 2% goal. Her legacy depends on it.

Success will partly depend on Mrs Merkel picking the right partners in government. A continuation of the present grand coalition with the SPD threatens yet more sleepy stasis. Instead she should team up with the free-market Free Democratic Party and the Greens—who are wise on Europe and tougher on Russia. Such a coalition would stand a chance of shaking the country up. As its leader, the hesitant Mrs Merkel might even become the chancellor who surprised everybody.