That means shadow or underground economy.
It’s a Volkssport (national pastime) here. Over-taxed Germans get even with the government any and every chance they get. See Schwarzarbeit.
German shadow economy booms amid high taxes and state aid – While Germany’s economy falters, the country is experiencing a rise in undeclared work. What role do taxes and generous state aid for the poor play in the surge?
“Debt and precarious stagnation in the EU and Germany” sounds like a good read too.
Europe faces mounting fiscal strain as Germany pivots toward debt-financed spending to maintain political support…
The public has now lost faith in traditional muddling through and demands drastic changes.
This report focuses on Europe, where the economic situation has worsened considerably in recent years. Several countries on the old continent have become more vulnerable to shocks, and imbalances have piled up. Moreover, leaders have demonstrated an inability or unwillingness to address structural problems, yet they are all too eager to haughtily break their electoral promises, swim with the tide and gather consensus through frantic lawmaking in the name of emergencies, fairness and social justice.
Or the shortest number of hours (days) worked in any industrialized country. Or the most restrictive bureaucracy of any G7 nation. Or even that we continue to miss the boat when it comes to embracing new technological developments. To name just a few.
No. Germany’s economy continues to fail (for the third year now) because of Donald Trump.
Germany sees zero growth in 2025, blames Trump tariffs – Germany was the only G7 economy that failed to grow for the last two years, and is on track for a third year without growth in 2025.
The German government cut its economic growth forecast to zero citing the impact of US President Donald Trump’s trade policies .
“There is above all one reason for this, namely Donald Trump’s trade policy and the effects of the trade policy on Germany,” outgoing Economy Minister Robert Habeck said.
That means unemployment.
Germany: Number of unemployed highest in 10 years – The number of unemployed people in Germany has risen to its highest in a decade. The rise comes as the weakness of Europe’s largest economy took its toll on the labor market.
It pitches, reels and staggers too.
Talk about having a gross domestic product.
Germany slashes growth outlook in ‘serious’ diagnosis of Europe’s largest economy – The German government on Wednesday slashed its gross domestic product forecast to just 0.3% growth in 2025.
This is down from a previous forecast of 1.1% growth, but broadly in line with estimates from bodies like the International Monetary Fund.
“The diagnosis is serious,” Robert Habeck, Germany’s Economy and Climate Minister, said during a press conference.
Just burning to surpass Germany’s GDP per capita.
Poorest US state rivals Germany: GDP per capita in US and Europe – Mississippi, the poorest state in the United States, is close to surpassing Europe’s largest economy Germany’s GDP per capita. Euronews Business compares US states with European countries.
Not if you live in Germany.
It’s the cost of enertgy, stupid.
German industrial output unexpectedly falls in October – German industrial production unexpectedly fell in October, owing mainly to declines in energy production and in the automotive industry, the federal statistics office said on Friday.
Production was down by 1.0% in October from the previous month, the office said.
But somebody has to do it.
Germany’s loveless coalition teeters on brink of break-up – Chancellor Olaf Scholz snubs partners, fuelling speculation of early elections in spring.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz held a much-vaunted “industrial summit” on Tuesday, sitting down with business leaders and union bosses to figure out how to pull Germany out its current malaise. Pointedly left off the guest list: his own finance and economy ministers.
Robert Habeck, the economy minister, responded by unveiling plans for a multibillion-euro, debt-financed investment fund — an idea not previously discussed with cabinet colleagues — while finance minister Christian Lindner simply scheduled his own, rival business summit on the same day…
Speculation is growing in Berlin that the alliance could soon collapse, pulled apart by its own internal contradictions. Several German media outlets have even named a possible date for snap elections — March 9, more than six months ahead of schedule.
Other than that though, alles ist in Ordnung (everything’s OK).
Germany’s lost decade: How the Fortune 500 Europe giant is flirting with long-term irrelevance – There is an elephant in the room of the 2024 edition of the Fortune 500 Europe. It’s not a crisis-riddled company or scandal-hit CEO. Rather, it’s the whole German economy.
For most of the 21st century, economists and neighboring countries have looked to Germany with admiration and envy as it managed to weather economic storms with relative ease, capitalizing on trade with growing economies and expanding the power of its industrial giants in the process.
However, a shifting world order has pulled the carpet out from underneath Germany. The industrial quirks that once helped it outgrow its European peers are fast becoming a burden, and crisis after crisis has exposed a lack of planning at the top of government.
I wonder why.
It costs over four thousand euros for a commercial aircraft to leave a German airport. In other European countries it costs as little as 500 euros. Some say this has to do with German regulation and “green kerosene” madness but I’m sure there must be a more… reasonable explanation.
Lufthansa CEO concerned more airlines will cut German routes – After airlines such as Eurowings and Ryanair have cut back their connections in Germany due to excessive fees and costs, Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr fears a negative impact on Germany as a place to do business.
Observing Hermann 