Germany Is Losing Its Mojo. Finding It Again Won’t Be Easy.
Europe’s biggest economy is sliding into stagnation, and a weakening political system is struggling to find an answer
Category Archives: Heconomy
Step One: Do everything you can to make it difficult to build new housing…
Step two: Once rent prices explode due to step one, introduce a rent freeze to end the few meager building projects still in operation.
Go Social Democracy!
Germany’s ruling party plans to curb rent increases – SPD set to unveil measures to tackle soaring costs facing tenants, says senior lawmaker.
Germany’s ruling Social Democratic party is set to propose a three-year rent break across the country, as tenants struggle to cope with the soaring cost of housing in Europe’s largest economy.
“We need to create breathing room — we need a rent freeze for the next three years,” senior SPD lawmaker Verena Hubertz told Bild am Sonntag, adding that Chancellor Olaf Scholz would outline measures on Monday to tackle the country’s cost of living crisis.
Englisch of the Day: Guarantee
This is an assurance that another’s obligation will be fulfilled, or something presented as such security; guaranty. In this case, they mean with taxpayer money.
And the guarantee is that the Germany economy is guaranteed to fall flat on its face if the German government continues its odd obsession with remaining dependent on China as a business partner. It’s recent dependency on Russan gas was just that much fun, I guess.
German guarantees for China investments plummet -document.
The volume of investment guarantees provided by the German government to companies investing in China has collapsed this year, a government document showed, highlighting the impact of Berlin’s efforts to end over-reliance on the country.
Only 51.9 million euros ($56.26 million) in guarantees have been issued so far this year, according to the document seen by Reuters, less than a tenth of the 745.9 million euros in guarantees issued over the whole of last year.
Go Green, Go Broke
I know, it doesn’t ryhme as well as with “woke” but it’s OK. They’re woke too.
We’ll see for how much longer, though.
Nearly two-thirds of Germans want new government, poll says – A survey shows nearly two-thirds of voters want to pull the plug on Germany’s ruling coalition. The poll comes immediately after figures that show most Germans are unhappy with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his government.
As many as 64% of Germans who answered in the survey released on Saturday said a change of government would make the country a better place…
Pollsters also asked about the so-called “traffic light” coalition of center-left Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens, and the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP). Voters were asked how it measured up against Chancellor Angela Merkel’s “Grand Coalition” of conservative Christian Democrats/Christian Socialists (CDU/CSU) and the SPD.
German of the day: Unschlagbar
That means unbeatable.
Like Germany itself. Germany is unbeatable when it comes to beating Germany. Take German bureaucracy, for example. Please.
Germany is becoming expert at defeating itself – Bureaucracy and strategic blunders are starting to pile up.
In “the twelve tasks of asterix”, an animated film from 1976, one of the feats the diminutive Gaul must perform is to secure a government permit. To do so he must visit a vast office called The Place That Sends You Mad. In a recent open letter Wolfram Axthelm, the head of the German Wind Energy Association, likened modern Germany’s infuriating bureaucracy to Asterix’s challenge. A particular gripe was the 150-odd permits demanded by Autobahn GmbH, a state-owned firm that runs Germany’s vaunted motorways, for transporting outsize components of wind turbines, such as blades. Between byzantine rules on load dimensions, faulty software, perennial roadworks and a lack of personnel to process complaints, a backlog of some 20,000 applications has built up. A company that recently trucked a turbine from the port of Bremen to a site in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein found that although the distance is barely 100km (62 miles), road restrictions made the journey five times that long…
But everyone is underpaid in Germany
Why should refugees be treated any different?
And every German I’ve ever known is overqualified too. So, like, what’s the problem?
Refugees overqualified and underpaid in Germany – A new study has found that refugees in Germany have overall integrated well into the workforce. But many are overqualified for the jobs that they do.
Berlin doing everything it can to prevent war escalation by sending more German tanks to Ukraine
These are tanks of peace or something.
Well, tanks for nothing.
Germany pursues a responsible policy in providing military aid to Ukraine and ensures that the war remains the one between Ukraine and Russia. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said this on Thursday as he spoke with residents of Erfurt, Thuringia, Ukrinform reports.
“With all the decisions we make, we prevent escalation, the war between Russia and NATO; we make sure that the war remains the one between Russia and Ukraine. But we support Ukraine, which is defending itself,” said Scholz.
Second-Hand Tanks 4 Sale
Never been used.
They’re a real steel, I’m sure.
Deal struck to send German-made Leopard 1 tanks from Belgium to Ukraine – Dozens of second-hand Leopard 1 tanks that once belonged to Belgium have been bought by another European country for Ukrainian forces fighting Russia’s invasion, the arms trader who did the deal said Tuesday.
Inflation hasn’t dropped in my neighborhood…
And if has dropped elsewhere in Germany it’s because Germans have stopped buying things they otherwise would have bought.
German inflation eases to 6.5% in July – German inflation eased in July, the federal statistics office said on Tuesday, confirming preliminary data.
German consumer prices, harmonised to compare with other European Union countries, increased by 6.5% on the year in July.
This follows a 6.8% increase in June.
Slowcession?
Is that like shrinkflation?
Because Germany is definitely suffering from that.
Is Germany’s great economy sinking into ‘slowcession’? Key data this week will offer a hint as to whether the eurozone’s powerhouse can shake off recent stagnation.
Engine of the eurozone, industrial powerhouse, export world champion – just some of the ways Germany’s economy has been described over the years.
However, recent figures have indicated that the good times have come to an end, with Europe’s largest economy stuck in recession.
Observing Hermann 