That means not satisfactory or unsatisfactory.
Year number two. Germany is on a roll.
Germany expects economy to shrink after cutting 2024 forecast – Government predicts rebound in 2025 after 0.2% decline this year.
Germany is facing its first two-year recession since the early 2000s, as the government downgraded its growth forecast for 2024, predicting a contraction of 0.2 per cent.
“The situation is not satisfactory,” Robert Habeck, economy minister, said on Wednesday.
Oh, sorry. Green energy already turned the lights off for you.
Germany in crisis: Intel and Volkswagen mull a multibillion-dollar withdrawal from the country.
For the first time in its 87-year history, Volkswagen is considering shutting down plants in Germany, where it employs around 300,000 people, as the company ramps up efforts to save €10 billion in costs…
Reuters reports that Intel will consider pausing or halting plans for its €30 billion ($33 billion) factory in the east German city of Magdeburg as the semiconductor manufacturer looks for cost savings. Germany had committed €9.9 billion ($10.9 billion) to the project when it was announced in June last year.
No, not China. US-Amerika itself.
US tops China as Germany’s biggest trading partner – The United States overtook China as Germany’s biggest trading partner in the first half of 2024, according to preliminary German statistics office data, as Berlin’s drive to reduce dependency on Beijing takes shape amid a resilient U.S. economy.
German imports and exports to the world’s largest economy totalled around 127 billion euros ($139 billion) from January to June, while for China the figure was 122 billion euros, according to Reuters’ calculations based on the data.
Sounds just like back home in US-Amerika. What’s not to like?
German economy unexpectedly shrinks, inflation ticks higher – The German economy unexpectedly contracted in the second quarter after skirting a recession at the beginning of the year and July’s inflation rose, showing the continuing struggles of the euro zone’s biggest economy.
Germany’s gross domestic product contracted by 0.1% in the second quarter compared with the previous three-month period, preliminary data from the statistics office showed on Tuesday.
To find a job in a country that has…
some of the lowest salaries in Europe,
the highest taxes in Europe (if not in the world),
the highest social “contributions” (taxes) in Europe,
some of the lowest retirement pensions in Europe (unless you’re a civil servant),
the highest energy prices in Europe,
the highest water and sewage costs in Europe,
some of the highest real estate taxes and related bureaucratic costs in Europe,
some of the highest rents and real estate prices in Europe and
a catastrophic lack of available apartments.
I’ll stop there. For now.
So don’t miss out on this opportunity, millennials!
Desperate for millennial talent, Germany launches ‘Opportunity Card’ giving migrants a year to look for a job – Between an aging population and an economy in seemingly perennial stagnation, Germany faces some major challenges. Could a visa aimed at attracting more young, hungry workers be the answer?
Germany is set to launch an “Opportunity Card” just in time for the summer, aimed at young foreign workers hoping either to eventually secure a long-term job or simply work in the country for a while.
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.
That means to shrink.
German Industrial Production Falls for First Time This Year – March measure falls 0.4%; economist est. 0.7% decrease.
Backup German of the day: Stagnieren. That means to stagnate.
That means unlikely. As in “a recovery of German industry to the level before the war in Ukraine is unlikely.”
Go Green, go… lean.
Germany set to permanently pay for reliance on Russian gas—as power chief says ‘significant structural demand destruction’ means it will never fully recover from energy crisis.
German industry got rich, thanks partly to its close energy trading relationship with political and economic rival Russia. The past few years have shown just how misguided that relationship was, as Russia invaded Ukraine and cut off Germany’s cheap, vital gas supply.
Now, one of Germany’s leading renewable-power bosses has suggested it’s a mistake the country could rue forever, as the fallout from the energy crisis is set to permanently damage its industry.
0.1% is still growth, right?
German economic institutes cut 2024 growth forecast to 0.1% – A combined report from leading economic think tanks in Germany has revised 2024 growth forecasts from 1.2% down to 0.1%. The country is also expected to dip into a technical recession after the first quarter.
Why should Germany’s?
They are all brilliant systems and they all work the same way: You pay into it your entire working life while your government pumps in ever more money to prop it up and thus burden future generations with massive growing debt (interest rates rock). This Ponzi scheme only works if parents have way more children (at least three on average). It stopped working a long, long time ago, in other words.
Germany struggles to fix its pension system – German society is aging fast and the working-age population is shrinking. There are new plans to make the pension system fit for the future, but critics have said they won’t work.
Observing Hermann 