More Debt Is The New Normal

September 8, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hurt Feelings Tags: Berlin, Corona, COVID-19, Debt, Euro, Eurozone, German, Germans, Germany, Government, Government Waste, Spending Leave a comment

In Germany too.

The govenment might not directly admit it but the days when they at least strove to reach a balanced budget (black zero) are over.

Germany’s spending to counter the coronavirus crisis and modernize its economy means the country shouldn’t return to a balanced budget anytime soon, according to a senior Finance Ministry official…

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government abandoned its balanced-budget policy this year and is set to borrow about 218 billion euros ($258 billion). A deficit of more than 80 billion euros is set for next year to fight the fallout from the pandemic, people familiar with the matter have said…

Germany’s constitutional debt brake obliges the government to keep debt under control. In good times, the rule allows for a structural deficit of 0.35% of gross domestic product. In times of recession, new borrowing can go up in proportion with the economic decline.

“A balanced budget isn’t obligatory.”

Save The Trees – And The German Automobile Industry!

September 3, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: Automobiles, Berlin, Electric Cars, Elon Musk, Factories, German, Germans, Germany, Industry, Tesla, Tesla Berlin Plant Leave a comment

Too late for the later, I think.

Germany Promises Elon Musk Whatever He Needs For Tesla Berlin Plant – The factory, under construction, would be Tesla’s first European car plant, and could employ an estimated 12,000 people, making as many as 500,000 cars a year. The factory is slated to start production in summer 2021, an aggressive timetable for a car plant…

Locals have complained that trees were cut down for the factory and that it’s being built in a region with scarce water resources, but construction has progressed relatively smoothly so far.

“We are very proud of your car plant in Brandenburg and we wish you good luck with that. You’ll have every assistance you need.”

Berlin Cancels Protest By Protestors Who “Question Democracy”

August 27, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Health, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy, Hysteria Tags: Berlin, Corona, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Democracy, Demonstrations, Face Masks, Free speech, German, Germans, Germany, Masks, Protests Leave a comment

By, well, cancelling Democracy itself.

Berlin bans large weekend protests against coronavirus restrictions, citing health grounds – The city government of Berlin has called off several planned weekend protests, the largest of which on Saturday expected to draw 20,000 people or more. The organizers plan to challenge the move in court.

Anyone who does not conform to the red-redder-green party line is immediately labeled a right-wing extremist. Works every time.

Achieved?

August 25, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Higher Education, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: Angela Merkel, Asylum Seekers, Crime, Integration, Migrants, Migration, Refugees, Terror Leave a comment

Germany has took on more than it can handle. And is continuing to do so (400+ per day). That’s what it has achieved.

Germany: Five years after the refugee crisis, what’s been achieved? – Five years ago, as hundreds of thousands of refugees came to Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel maintained: “We can do it.” How has Germany — and those who sought asylum — managed since then?

…The initial “welcome culture” that Merkel advocated dissipated on New Year’s Eve 2015/16, when women were assaulted by migrants in Cologne’s main railway station.

And then came the Berlin terror attack, foiled terror attacks, all the other crime, disappointment and daily conflicts the German media does its best to ignore. And most Germans just keep on pretending that none of this is really happening. Why? Because Germany is a Moral Superpower? Are Germans that good at denial (see WWII and Communist East Germany)? Maybe it isn’t really happening. If you don’t see it in the news and no one is allowed to express an uncomfortable opinion or inconvenient truth about it maybe it didn’t happen, right? You don’t even need a Big Brother in Germany. Everybody does this voluntarily.

No Way Back

August 24, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hysteria Tags: Budgets, Common Debt, Corona, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Debt, EU, Government spending, Government Waste, Joint Debt, Recovery, SPD, Spending Leave a comment

No way out. No doubt about it.

Spending other people’s money is so exciting. Joint debt is the bestest kind of debt there is. It’s free. Somebody else will pay it back. In this case, the Germans. Germans who haven’t even been born yet, but still.

Germany’s Scholz (SPD) sees ‘no way back’ from EU joint debt – German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said Sunday (23 August) that the European Union’s recovery package financed by joint borrowing was a long-term measure rather than a short-term coronavirus crisis fix, contradicting Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“The Recovery Fund is a real step forward for Germany and for Europe, one we won’t go back on,” Scholz, who is also the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) candidate to succeed Merkel in 2021 elections, told the Funke newspaper group.

Germany Would Be So Much Poorer Without Berlin

August 23, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: Berlin, Debt, Economy, Germans, Germany, Government Waste, Greens, SPD, Spending, The Left Party Leave a comment

Not. Not according to this latest study.

Normally, the per capita economic output (GDP) in capital cities in Europe is higher than in the rest of the given country. There is one big exception, however. Germany would be wealthier without Berlin.

“Poor but sexy” is out. Now Berlin is just poor. Actually, it’s been that way for ages but nobody seems inclined to do anything about it. See the current red-redder-green city government.

Jeder Deutsche wäre ohne Berlin knapp 80 Euro reicher. Every German would be about 80 euros richer without it.

When You Wash Money In Germany

August 19, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: Crime, Criminals, Finance, German, Germans, Germany, Investments, Law, Money, Money Laundering, Organized Crime, Property, Real Estate, Terror, Terrorists 1 Comment

You know it’s going to get washed properly. Germans have this squeaky-clean reputation to live up to, after all.

It’s the easiest place in Europe to do this kind of thing and everybody who’s anybody in the crime and terror world knows it. I’m sure that will soon change though. Not.

Germany sees record spike in money laundering cases – Germany’s Financial Intelligence Unit says suspected cases of money laundering and terrorist financing jumped by 50% in 2019. The real estate market is especially vulnerable when it comes to suspicious transactions.

“One problem for us is that the prosecution of money laundering in Germany isn’t traditionally well established.”

Wouldn’t A 3-Day Work Week Save Even More Jobs?

August 17, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: Automobile Industry, Corona, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Employment, German, Germans, Germany, Jobs, Recession, Unions Leave a comment

Personally, I think it’s time to start talking about the 2-day work week. But that’s just me. I’m a visionary or something.

Germany’s biggest union calls for 4-day week to save thousands of jobs – Germany’s automotive and industrial sectors were already undergoing huge structural changes before the pandemic struck. The IG Metall union thinks a shorter working week could now help prevent mass layoffs.

In the upcoming union talks, Hoffman said IG Metall would call for a wage increase for workers, despite the recession.

The Russians Are Crazy To Release A COVID-19 Vaccine So Soon

August 14, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy, Hysteria Tags: Corona, Coronavirus, COVID-19, German, Germans, Germany, Russia, Vaccines Leave a comment

The Germans say. This is a process that normally takes eight years or longer.

But Germany will have a vaccine “in the next months” and that’s OK. OK.

Germany ‘optimistic’ about having coronavirus vaccine soon – Germany’s health minister has said he is “optimistic” the country will have a vaccine “in the next months, and certainly in the next year.” However, he warned the number of new infections among young people was rising.

Spahn warned Russia had not carried out sufficient broad testing and said that there was relatively little data available on the vaccine.

Number Of Germans Continues To Shrink

August 12, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Higher Education, Home Cooking, Hypocrisy Tags: Asylum Seekers, Demographics, German, Germans, Germany, International Youth Day, Migrants, Population, Refugees, Young People, Youth Leave a comment

But at least the number of migrants coming to Germany continues to rise. Up to 400 per day now. And they tend to have really big families.

So, do the math or whatever.

Number of young people in Germany continues to fall – The proportion of youth and young adults in the German population is growing ever smaller.

The number of people between 15 and 24 years old in Germany continues to sink, with just 8.5 million in this age group living in the country at the end of 2019, figures released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) showed on Tuesday.

That makes up just 10.3% percent of Germany’s population of 83.2 million people, Destatis said.

The German figures were released ahead of International Youth Day on Wednesday.

Observing Hermann

“Was interessiert mich mein Geschwätz von gestern?”

Category Archives: Heconomy