Category Archives: Heconomy

We Germans work the fewest hours

October 31, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

That’s why we desperately need a four-day work week.

To, uh, increase the hours worked each week? I don’t get it.

Germans work fewer hours over their lifetime than their European neighbours – In comparison to their European neighbours, people in Germany work fewer hours throughout their lifetime, a new study has revealed, but there is still a big appetite for a four-day week in the federal republic.

Germans work an average of 52.662 hours throughout their lives.

A new study from the Roman Herzog Institute has laid out the working habits of people in European countries. In comparison to their neighbours, Germans are on the clock for fewer hours throughout their lives, clocking in an estimated 52.662 hours of work, which means 39,3 years of their lives are solely occupied by work.

Human robots don’t cut it in Germany anymore

October 29, 2023 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hi-tech Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

They’re just not as, well, robotic as their parents and grandparents used to be.

It’s time to replace them with the real thing.

As baby boomers retire, German businesses turn to robots – At machine parts producer S&D Blech, the head of the grinding unit is retiring. With Germany’s acute labour shortage leaving few candidates to take on the skilled but dirty and hazardous manual work, the company will replace him with a robot.

Other small and medium-sized companies are also turning to automation as the gradual exit from the workplace of Germany’s post-war “baby boom” generation tightens the labour squeeze.

Largest housing price drop in 2000 years?

September 23, 2023 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Damn. That’s a big drop.

Oh. Since the year 2000. But still.

German housing prices show sharpest drop since 2000 year over year, statistics office says – German housing prices fell by the most since records began in the second quarter as high interest rates and rising materials costs took their toll on the property market in Europe’s largest economy, government data showed on Friday.

Residential property prices fell by 9.9% year-on-year, the steepest decline since the start of data collection in 2000, the federal statistics office said. Prices fell by 1.5% on the quarter, with steeper declines in larger cities than in more sparsely populated areas.

Green Germany looks more black to me

September 22, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Black as night when you turn off the light.

The Green obsession with doing without is in full nighttime bloom.

Germany passes law to make energy savings compulsory – Germany’s lower house of parliament on Thursday passed a bill to make saving energy compulsory in all economic sectors, a move intended to help fight climate change and curb use of imported fossil fuels.

The Energy Efficiency Act, introduced by the Greens-led economy ministry, includes regulation for energy savings in public buildings, industry and fast-growing data centres across Germany, with the goal of a 26.5% cut by 2030 from 2008.

Spurred by fears that persistently low Russian gas supplies could lead to shortages, the German government introduced some initial energy-saving measures last year, including banning heating for private swimming pools and encouraging people to work from home.

Don’t cry for me, Argentina

September 21, 2023 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Actually, go ahead.

Go ahead and cry for me, Argentina. We can cry together, if you want.

Germany Joins Argentina as Only G-20 Member Facing GDP Drop – Germany faces the only contraction in any Group of 20 economy aside from Argentina this year, according to the OECD, which cut its outlook through 2024.

The euro-zone country will suffer a 0.2% drop in gross domestic product in 2023 — down from a previous projection for stagnation, the Paris-based organization said in new forecasts published Tuesday. It will then grow only 0.9% in 2024, down from 1.3% anticipated in June.

What happened?

September 20, 2023 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

The Greens happened.

Now it’s US-Amerika‘s turn (some call it The Banana Republic).

Germany went from envy of the world to the worst-performing major developed economy. What happened?

For most of this century, Germany racked up one economic success after another, dominating global markets for high-end products like luxury cars and industrial machinery, selling so much to the rest of the world that half the economy ran on exports.

Jobs were plentiful, the government’s financial coffers grew as other European countries drowned in debt, and books were written about what other countries could learn from Germany.

No longer. Now, Germany is the world’s worst-performing major developed economy, with both the International Monetary Fund and European Union expecting it to shrink this year.

Revive Germany by strangling it?

September 16, 2023 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

What a novel idea!

Let’s give it a try.

Scholz’s Dream of Climate Revolution to Revive Germany Is Dying – Chancellor’s ambition for economic miracle is floundering.

Coalition is reeling from months of infighting over green plan…

Another big brake on growth and investment is energy costs. Although lower than last year’s records, gas and power prices are still between two to three times the level compared with before the war in Ukraine.

It’s the energy, stupid

September 13, 2023 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

They may beat them in footbal (2-1 last night, without a manager) but…

German economic weakness belies France’s outperformance – Germany’s economic weakness is casting a flattering light on France’s relative resilience that belies the otherwise middling performance of the euro zone’s second-biggest economy, economists say…

Germany’s manufacturing-focused economy is struggling to adapt to being cutoff from cheap Russian gas and the rise of the electric vehicle, said Charles-Henri Colombier with the Rexecode economics think tank in Paris.

Germany’s gas-hungry chemical industry has seen production fall 18% from 2019 levels while in France it is only 8%, Colombier said. Meanwhile, German motor vehicle production is down 26% and only 6% in France.

We’re number one!

September 12, 2023 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

At saving the planet.

Too bad we’re destroying ourselves in the process.

Strike one: Germany’s nuclear phase-out.
Strike two: Its self-inflicted energy dependency on Russia.
Strike three: Still believing that renewable energy can run an industrialized country.

Green energy prices are killing German industry right before our very eyes.

Germany predicted to be the only major European economy to contract this year as recession lingers – The German economy has struggled in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with Berlin having to, very quickly, end years of energy dependency on the Kremlin. The International Monetary Fund said in July that Germany would likely contract by 0.3% this year.

German of the day: alles bestens

September 8, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means everything is fine, cool, hunky-dory.

Falling industrial output for three straight months ain’t no big deal, says German Green Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck. And “not everything is bad,” he added. Wow. That’s actually unbridled optimism for a Green.

Habeck defends German economy as output drops – Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said Germany remains a “highly attractive location” for investors. But the statistics agency said industrial output fell for a third straight month, and that wasn’t the only negative news.