Tag Archives: Consumers

German Consumers Are An Odd Lot

June 6, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

They have this annoying tendency to not spend money they don’t have.

It has to do with something they call “debt.” Whatever that is.

Analysis: Spend the recession away? Not the thrifty Germans – A drop-off in spending by inflation-hit consumers was one of the main reasons Germany fell into recession in the first quarter, even as other countries in the region managed to avoid it.

What’s more, even with inflation starting to ease across Europe, the signs are that Germany’s famously thrifty shoppers are not ready to spend their way out of recession – meaning the region’s largest economy will have to look elsewhere for growth.

German Of The Day: Schlechte Laune

March 29, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

The good news? Germans still have schlechte Laune (they’re still in a bad mood).

The bad news? They’re not in as bad a mood as they ought to be.

German consumer morale slows down on path to recovery – German consumer sentiment is set to nudge up in April as energy prices have relented somewhat from record highs, though a full recovery is not in sight anytime soon, showed a GfK institute survey on Wednesday.

The institute forecast its consumer sentiment index to improve to -29.5 heading into April from a revised reading of -30.6 in March, slightly below the expectations of analysts polled by Reuters of -29.0.

What A Surprise!

February 2, 2023 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

When prices rise, people buy less. Who would have expected that?

German retail sales post surprise plunge in December amid rising prices – German retail sales unexpectedly fell in December as a Christmas shopping period weighed down by high inflation and the energy crisis revived fears of a more marked slowdown in Europe’s largest economy.

Retail sales decreased by 5.3% in December compared with the previous month, the federal statistics office said on Tuesday. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a 0.2% rise in price-adjusted terms.

German Of The Day: Energiepreis-Stoppschild

December 4, 2022 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Humor, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means energy price stop sign.

This is a brilliant new German invention (both the word and the concept) meaning that energy providers must first explain why they will be raising prices before going ahead and raising them anyway. Thanks German government (the ones who created this energy crisis in Germany in the first place), German citizens are most certainly saying, we wouldn’t be able to sleep soundly at night without you.

Germany to force energy providers to justify future price hikes – The German government plans to allow energy providers to raise prices next year only if objectively justified, the economy ministry said on Saturday, denying a media report that Berlin planned a ban on all energy price hikes for consumers.

German Of The Day: Allzeittief

October 6, 2022 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means all-time low.

Buying mood in Germany drops to all-time low – Consumer sentiment in Germany has reached an all-time low due to the high cost of living. The consumer barometer of the German Retail Association (HDE) fell for the third month in a row, reaching a value of 84.14 points in October, the association announced on Tuesday. The value had already fallen to 90.53 at the beginning of the Corona crisis in April 2020 but then temporarily rose again to more than 100.

Consumer pessimism is expected to have a “negative impact on private consumption in the coming months,” the association said.

German Of The Day: Tank-Rabatt

March 14, 2022 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means tank discount.

No. Not those kind of tanks. Like tanks of gas. Germans will soon only have to pay an arm for their gasoline. They can keep their legs. For now.

German finance minister plans gasoline discount – German Finance Minister Christian Lindner plans to introduce a discount on gasoline to help motorists cope with doaring prices, Bild daily reported on Sunday.

$1.5 Trillion?

June 11, 2020 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hysteria Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

There must be a better word than “stimulus” for that.

Stimulus

Wherever medication is given in huge and sudden doses, there’s a risk of unpleasant side effects. In Germany, and Europe generally, one of these may be a lasting shift in governing philosophy from market-friendly policies to state interventionism. That needn’t end in central planning. But even going part of the way would mean buying relief today at the price of misery tomorrow…

First, governments tend to confuse a company’s size with strength. Second, they’re usually worse than private investors at spotting winners, and always worse at pulling money out of losers. Third, they turn the economy into a big lobbying competition for businesses, which eventually hurts taxpayers and consumers.

No Lines, No Crowds

April 23, 2020 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hysteria Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

No customers, no purchases, no spend money, no make money, no business, no future.

Crisis

‘No lines, no crowds’ — Germans stay home as stores begin to reopen after coronavirus lockdown – German consumers are counting their pennies rather than returning to shop in large numbers as stores gradually reopen after being locked down during the coronavirus crisis, the national retailers association said on Wednesday.

“Consumers are in a crisis mode, consumer sentiment is in the doldrums.”

Less Choice Is Always Germany’s First Choice

December 22, 2019 By in Habeas Corpus, Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Hi-tech, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hostility, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

You can’t just go giving people the freedom to choose. Look at this Brexit mess, for example.

Uber

And this applies all the more when it comes to new business models in Germany. Especially if they come from US-Amerika. Then you would have Amerikanische Verhältnisse here in no time. And we certainly don’t want that. Once you start allowing customers to decide for themselves what services they prefer to use it’ll be Brexit all over again. Business Brexit. At least for the old overpriced, highly protected and monopolized business models so popular here in Germany, I mean.

Uber Hit With Fresh German Ban – After its core service was banned in 2015, Uber had begun offering rides through car-for-hire services

A regional court in Germany frustrated Uber Technologies Inc. UBER’s efforts to mount a comeback in the country, adding to regulatory pressure on the ride-hailing company, particularly in Europe.

Thursday’s ruling by a regional court in Frankfurt marks a fresh setback for the San Francisco-based transportation company, which is trying to repair its reputation among regulators after expanding rapidly and challenging local transport laws where it operated.

Among the countries that have been the most resistant to Uber is Germany, where the company had been experimenting with ways to overcome a nationwide ban imposed in 2015.

“Progress has been limited…”

May 14, 2019 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Higher Education, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Oh, I dunno. Depends upon how you look at it.

Progress

In 2011, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the country was turning away from nuclear energy in favor of a renewable future. Since then, however, progress has been limited. Berlin has wasted billions of euros and resistance is mounting…

But there’s been plenty of change here, although I wouldn’t call it progress. Lots of people can’t afford to pay their power bills in Germany – the country with the highest energy costs for consumers in Europe. Could there possibly be a connection to the “energy turnaround” here?

More than 340,000 electricity customers across Germany have their power cut off each year for failing to pay bills. A new proposal from one political party aims to change this.