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.
Just say no. When not in doubt, sowieso (anyhow).
“Expansion” is a scary word. It sounds too much like growth, increase, prosperity, success. We vote no! Because you can never know, unless it’s no.
Tesla in Germany: Locals vote against factory expansion plan – Residents of Grünheide near Berlin have voted against expansion plans for the large Tesla facility there. But the vote is not binding and local authorities can still decide. Turnout was high, though, indicating interest.
A fourth straight quarter of zero or negative growth.
Germany likely in recession, Bundesbank says – Germany is likely in recession now as external demand is weak, consumers remain cautious and domestic investment is held back by high borrowing costs, the Bundesbank said in a regular monthly report on Monday about Europe’s biggest economy.
Germany has struggled since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine pushed up energy costs, and its vast, industry-heavy economy is now in its fourth straight quarter of zero or negative growth, weighing on all of the euro zone.
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.
Without you not being here – about 20 sick days a year.
A study says that in 2023, 5.5 percent of German employees were absent every day due to illness. Sickness-related absences caused 26 billion euros of damage in 2023. Without them, Germany would not be in recession.
“At least for 2023, Germany will be the ‘sick man’ in the truest sense of the word, whose economic performance will be significantly more affected by the wave of illness than in other countries.”
That means collapse.
German homebuilding collapse threatens wider economic damage – Once-thriving residential construction industry has slumped, posing drag on EU’s largest economy.
Across Germany, homebuilders are facing such a sharp reversal in their fortunes that the downturn in residential construction is threatening to have broader repercussions across Europe’s largest economy.
Many have declared themselves insolvent, dampening Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s target of building 400,000 new homes a year to tackle a housing affordability crisis in several of the country’s largest cities.
Damn. That’s a big drop.
Oh. Since the year 2000. But still.
German housing prices show sharpest drop since 2000 year over year, statistics office says – German housing prices fell by the most since records began in the second quarter as high interest rates and rising materials costs took their toll on the property market in Europe’s largest economy, government data showed on Friday.
Residential property prices fell by 9.9% year-on-year, the steepest decline since the start of data collection in 2000, the federal statistics office said. Prices fell by 1.5% on the quarter, with steeper declines in larger cities than in more sparsely populated areas.
Actually, go ahead.
Go ahead and cry for me, Argentina. We can cry together, if you want.
Germany Joins Argentina as Only G-20 Member Facing GDP Drop – Germany faces the only contraction in any Group of 20 economy aside from Argentina this year, according to the OECD, which cut its outlook through 2024.
The euro-zone country will suffer a 0.2% drop in gross domestic product in 2023 — down from a previous projection for stagnation, the Paris-based organization said in new forecasts published Tuesday. It will then grow only 0.9% in 2024, down from 1.3% anticipated in June.
What a novel idea!
Let’s give it a try.
Scholz’s Dream of Climate Revolution to Revive Germany Is Dying – Chancellor’s ambition for economic miracle is floundering.
Coalition is reeling from months of infighting over green plan…
Another big brake on growth and investment is energy costs. Although lower than last year’s records, gas and power prices are still between two to three times the level compared with before the war in Ukraine.
Observing Hermann 