For all the talk about the profligacy of the Southern European nations, Germany itself falls short of euro area standards, calling for budget deficits of less than 3% and government debt below 60% of gross domestic product. The latest figures from Germany are 3.3% and 73%, according to Eurostat.
“If Germany weren’t in the euro area today, it wouldn’t be able to get in, because it violates both the debt and the deficit criteria,” Buiter said.
Word is out that every fourth baby born in Germany is born of foreign parents. You know what that means, don’t you?
Three quarters of the babies born here have German parents! Holy Scheiße, this has got to stop.
Von den rund 683.000 Neugeborenen des Jahres 2008 hatten rund 159.000 oder 23 Prozent zumindest eine Mutter oder einen Vater ohne deutschen Pass.
Although it’s about the same size. Tempelhof was a pretty cool airport though.
But the bulldozers aren’t finished with Tempelhof just yet. Starting in 2013, the new park will undergo a four-year, 60-million-euro ($48 million) facelift to become the home of the 2017 International Garden Exhibition. By then, it should look a lot more like its storied New York counterpart.
Or maybe it hasn’t. Let’s see.
If Angie Merkel’s CDU loses today’s big regional election in big North North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) big time, it would mean an end to her coalition’s majority in the upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat.
This would threaten long-promised tax cuts and health system reforms. And you know how it is; a long-promised promise is a long-promised promise.
And that would be the “change has come to Germany” part, see? It wouldn’t really change much of anything, in other words.
With the economic crisis dominating the campaign, Mrs Merkel tried to delay a decision on the hugely unpopular rescue package for Greece until after the poll, but failed. Meanwhile, local councils are sinking into debt. Kindergarten fees have gone up, libraries and swimming-pools are closing.
Happy Tag der Befreiung (Liberation Day), Berlin! Tomorrow, I mean.
“For many others it took a long time for the certainty to come through: It was a day of liberation for all.”
The new “Topography of Terror” documentation center opened in town today.
Who exactly were the men who planned and administered the Nazi crimes?
The index cards cover an entire wall, several hundred of them in pink, beige or green, containing names, dates of birth and handwritten notes. They are the details of some of the 7,000 former employees of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt, the amalgamation of the feared SS paramilitary group and Gestapo secret police force — the men who worked at the very epicenter of the Nazi terror regime.
So what if most Americans don’t know how to speak German.
Most of us know what German means. So like, there.
Hey, the Europeans learn fast: If you’re going to abandon your economic principles, you might as well do it in a big way.
European governments and the International Monetary Fund have agreed to provide Greece with €110 billion ($145 billion) in loans over the next three years and, in the process, accept junk bonds from Greece as collateral for the humongous aid.
Gee, I could have done that. I sure hope this doesn’t affect the national debt(s) or anything.
As the largest state among the 16 countries belonging to the euro zone, Germany’s contribution to the bailout package will be the biggest.
In case you were wondering, and of course you weren’t, let Der Spiegel clear things up for you: “The Oil Catastrophe Will Be BP’s Katrina, Not Obama’s.”
At stake is not only President Barack Obama’s energy strategy, which only recently called for increased oil drilling on America’s East Coast and in the Gulf. The president’s entire climate plan could be at risk as well.
The euros, I mean. And the nerves? Be the first kid on your block to book the maiden Lufthansa Super Airbus A380 flight from Germany to Japan and tell your grandchildren about it later (you could tell them about it beforehand but they probably wouldn’t believe you).
The “Frankfurt am Main” will be taking off from Frankfurt for Tokyo on June 11. Hope the Japanese don’t mistake the thing for Godzilla or Mothra or something.
Personally, I’m not quite “there in my head” just yet. This baby’s just too damned big and “if it’s not a Boeing I’m not going” and all that. Give me a little time though and I’ll be just fine.
Die Maschine ersetzt die bislang eingesetzte Boeing 747-400.
Observing Hermann 