Are criminal gangs behind it?

July 5, 2025 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: Crime, Europe, Food, Germany, Government spending, Inflation, Shoplifting Leave a comment

No. Well, yes. The criminal gangs known as “politicians.”

The old and the poor are doing the shoplifting because they can’t afford the food.

Shoplifting hits record high in Germany: Are criminal gangs behind it?

Shoplifting cost the German retail sector nearly €3 billion in 2024, a new record that was partially driven by organised crime. The federal government is also missing out on millions of euros in tax revenue.

German retailers noticed a gaping hole of missing merchandise worth €4.95bn when they completed their inventories in 2024. That’s according to a new publication by the country’s EHI Retail Institute, based on a survey they carry out each year.

English of the day: Debt overhall

March 5, 2025 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Home Cooking Tags: Budgets, Debt, Friedrich Merz, Germany, Government spending, Government Waste, Infrastructure, Military Leave a comment

That means to go bat shit crazy further into debt. Unnecessarily.

German taxpayers “contribute” a billion euros a year now. German politicians burn most of it. They have all the money they need. They just refuse to cut spending à la DOGE. This is a “conservative” planning to do this, mind you.

German parties agree on historic debt overhaul to revamp military and economy – The parties hoping to form Germany’s next government on Tuesday agreed to create a 500 billion euro infrastructure fund and overhaul borrowing rules in a tectonic spending shift to revamp the military and revive growth in Europe’s largest economy.

Friedrich Merz’s conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD), who are in negotiations to form a coalition after a national election last month, will put their proposals to the German parliament next week.

We must destroy the economy in order to save the economy

December 10, 2024 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: Debt, Germany, Government spending, Unions Leave a comment

It’s the economic science, stupid.

German union boss urges Berlin to scrap borrowing cap to safeguard economy – IG Metall chair Christiane Benner addresses thousands of VW workers striking over planned closure of several plants.

The head of Germany’s most powerful trade union has called on Berlin to drop its cap on new borrowing to safeguard the future of Europe’s largest economy.

IG Metall chair Christiane Benner said the country should follow the example of the US and China, which are heavily supporting their domestic industries, meaning the borrowing limit had to “stop — immediately, not after the elections”.

Well, if there was ever any doubt…

November 26, 2024 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: Angela Merkel, Budgets, Christian Lindner, Debt, FDP, Germany, Government spending, Government Waste, Spending Leave a comment

You must NEVER relax the debt brake, Germany.

Relax Germany’s debt brake, says Angela Merkel – Former chancellor’s memoirs back reform of borrowing cap that she introduced into constitution.

Former chancellor Angela Merkel has called for Germany to relax its “debt brake”, in a sign of the growing political pressure to overhaul a borrowing cap that many economists say is too inflexible.

Merkel, who served as chancellor between 2005 and 2021 and introduced the debt brake into Germany’s constitution, made the proposal for change in her autobiography Freedom: Memories 1954-2021.

German of the day: Fehlbetrag

January 21, 2024 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness Tags: Budgets, German, Germany, Government spending, Language, Taxation, Waste Leave a comment

That means shortfall, deficit, missing amount.

You know, like when a government can’t burn the money it wants to burn because it already turned it to ashes?

Shortfalls could challenge Germany’s generosity – Germany has been one of the biggest spenders in the world on everything from social welfare to foreign aid. But national income has fallen and Germany’s government is dealing with a budget shortfall.

Your can hardly get any customers to visit your restaurant now?

December 28, 2023 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: Budgets, Germany, Government, Government spending, Government Waste, Restaurants, Taxation, Taxes, VAT Leave a comment

I know! We’ll increase the sales tax so nobody comes to your restaurant at all anymore.

No need to thank us. We’re from the government and we’re here to help.

German budget woes trigger disaster warnings for restaurants – Owners who oppose return to higher pre-pandemic VAT rate are dismissed as scaremongers by economists.

Kemal Üres, owner of a tapas bar in Hamburg, has spent the past year telling his social media followers that thousands of businesses like his will be destroyed by a planned tax increase.

The man who calls himself the “Gastroflüsterer”, or restaurant whisperer, is campaigning to make the pandemic-era cut in value added tax on restaurant meals permanent. Otherwise, the German government’s decision to raise VAT from the 7 per cent rate in place since 2020 back up to 19 per cent in January would lead to higher prices, job cuts and as many as 30,000 bankruptcies, he said.

We did it!

December 14, 2023 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hypocrisy Tags: Budgets, Courts, Debt, Germany, Government spending, Government Waste, Greens, Olaf Scholz, SPD, Spending Leave a comment

My back is starting to hurt from all the patting I’ve been giving it.

We’ll just get around that old debt brake six months from now by declaring another “unforseen emergency” for more debt our high court can’t stop us from making. We’ve even announced what that unforeseen emergency will most likely be: Ukraine.

Germany clinches last-minute 2024 budget deal, keeps debt brake – Germany’s government clinched a last-minute deal on its 2024 budget on Wednesday that will see Berlin return to its self-imposed limits on new debt despite warnings this could hamper growth in Europe’s top economy and its green transition.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party coalition was faced with either suspending what is known as the debt brake or finding some 17 billion euros ($18.3 billion) in savings and tax hikes after a Nov. 15 constitutional court ruling threw its plans into disarray…

Others said the deal simply delayed a necessary decision on how to fund investments in an economy that has already suffered years of chronic underinvestment. Last month’s court ruling has made clear the government will not be able to resort as easily to off-budget funds going forwards.

Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle…

November 21, 2023 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: Budgets, Debt, Germany, Government spending, Government Waste, Greens, Socialists, Waste Leave a comment

Let’s watch them squirm.

We… must… spend… more… money we don’t have! There just has to be a way around this debt brake!

Germany freezes spending as budget crisis deepens – As Germany’s financial woes grow more acute, there are growing calls to suspend the country’s damned debt brake.

Germany’s finance ministry has imposed a spending freeze on all federal ministries, deepening a budget crisis that has rocked the ruling coalition since a bombshell ruling by the country’s top court last week.

The finance ministry decision, which halts most new spending authorizations, followed a ruling by the constitutional court last week that blew a €60 billion hole in the government’s coffers.

“A Limit To Fiscal Capacity?”

June 13, 2022 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: Budgets, German, Germans, Germany, Government spending, Government Waste, Inflation, Spending, Taxation Leave a comment

Is there really such a thing? Someone should inform the Biden administration immediately.

Germany’s federal government has reached the limit of its fiscal capacity, its finance minister said, with extra financing to cope with the coronavirus pandemic, the impact of the war in Ukraine and a climate fund having exhausted government coffers.

“There are no reserves in the 2022 federal budget,” Christian Lindner was quoted by news website t-online as saying on Saturday, Reuters reported.

He warned against granting further financial support before the autumn to citizens to offset the impact of rising inflation. “I advise letting the measures taken so far take effect,” he said.

Observing Hermann

“Was interessiert mich mein Geschwätz von gestern?”

Tag Archives: Government spending