Category Archives: Heconomy

A self-inflicted hostage-taking situation?

June 14, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Why is it that big German automakers are worried about Chinese retaliation?

Because they voluntarily put themselves in the position to be retaliated against. Think Germany’s voluntary dependency on Russian gas recently. That didn’t work out very well either. But for whatever reason, this is what Germans do.

Germany launches 11th-hour bid to avert trade war with China – Germany wants the EU to set tariffs on electric vehicles at a low level to avoid severe retaliation from Beijing…

Germany’s position was “problematic,” he said: While big German automakers still entertain good ties with Beijing, that’s not necessarily the case for smaller businesses, meaning “the German economy as a whole has an interest in a more assertive policy towards China.”

German of the day: Büroschlaf ist am gesündesten

May 17, 2024 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means sleeping in the office is the most healthy kind of sleep.

Have the Germans become lazy at work?

Germans have long been known for their diligence, sense of duty, reliability and productivity. Recent data suggests that Germans are working fewer hours. But that doesn’t tell the whole story.

A glance at current OECD labor figures can be startling. In 2022, the average American worked over 1,800 hours per year, while the average German worked only 1,340 hours. However, labor market researcher Enzo Weber from the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) in Nuremberg, Germany, dismisses suggestions of the once-industrious Germans now only wanting to enjoy their sweet lives.

“Germany has a very high female labor force participation rate compared to most other countries,” Weber told DW, noting that the main difference to other countries was that about every second woman works part-time, which mathematically lowers the average annual working hours.

These antisemitic protestors are getting out of control

May 11, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Now they’re attacking Tesla. Itself.

Protesters attempt to storm Germany’s Tesla factory – Hundreds of climate protesters have clashed with police in Germany after attempting to storm the Tesla factory near Berlin.

Several people were injured, including three police officers, during Friday’s demonstration against the proposed expansion of the electric car giant’s only European plant.

The Empire of Evil overtakes the Empire of Evil

May 10, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

As Germany’s top trading partner.

US overtakes China as Germany’s top trading partner – The United States overtook China as Germany’s most important trading partner in the first quarter of this year, according to Reuters’ calculations based on official data from the German statistics office.

Germany’s trade with the United States – exports and imports combined – totalled 63 billion euros ($68 billion) from January to March, while the figure for China was just under 60 billion euros, the data showed.

I don’t think Indian students deserve this

April 23, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Higher Education, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

They didn’t do anything wrong.

Why can’t we just learn to live in peace?

Germany targets Indian students to address labor shortages – Germany looks to tap into international student talent to keep its engineering and IT sectors afloat.

Germany is grappling with a critical labor shortage and aging population, with projections indicating a deficit of seven million skilled workers by 2035.

With some 700,000 vacancies currently unfilled, Germany’s economic growth potential has dropped to about 0.7% now from around 2% in the 1980s, and is set to fall further to 0.5% if the country fails to resolve this problem, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck has said, stressing the importance of migration in bridging this widening gap.

Engaging Germany’s Indian student population in the workforce may be part of the solution.

The urge to urge

April 16, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Urged once again. Due to the urgency, I guess.

Well, I’m sure this urge will finally do the trick.

German chancellor urges Chinese industry bosses to play fair in EU market – Olaf Scholz says European cars should have equal access to Chinese customers.

“The only thing that always needs to be clear is that the competition is fair,” he said during a discussion with students at Tongji University in Shanghai. “That means there can be no dumping, no overproduction and that intellectual property rights are not violated,” he said.

Other than that, though…

February 12, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

Germany’s economy is doing just fine.

Germany’s economy is on shaky ground and glimmers of hope are few and far between – Good news has been sparse for the German economy. And the latest economic data has not done much to change this.

A few key 2023 data points, namely factory orders, exports and industrial production, were out last week and indicated a weak end to the year that saw questions about Germany being the “sick man of Europe” resurface.

“Persistent weakness” sounds bad

February 8, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

But not as bad as “greatest real estate crisis since the financial crisis.”

The fun just never seems to end these days.

German bank alerts the market on exposure to commercial real estate – The troubles in the US commercial property market, which have already hit banks in New York and Japan, moved to Europe this week, elevating fears about broader contagion.

The latest victim was Germany’s Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG, which saw its bonds slump on concern about its exposure to the sector. It responded by issuing an unscheduled statement Wednesday that it had increased provisions because of the “persistent weakness of the real estate markets.”

It described the current turmoil as the “greatest real estate crisis since the financial crisis.”