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.
Always on the rise. For as long as I or anyone else here can remember, on the rise.
Right-wing extremism. It’s always on the rise. Everywhere, but in Germany in particular. Geez. You’d think they would have finally risen to the top by now already. Good thing these warnings are not a classic political/journalistic device used to generate alarm for votes and higher ratings.
Germany’s Scholz says dark neo-Nazi networks are on the rise – Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday voiced concern over the rise of extreme-right tendencies in his country 79 years after the Auschwitz extermination camp was liberated.
It’s not an “on the rise” problem in Germany. It’s an “on the run” problem. The established political parties are slowly getting choked to death. Or, more accurately, slowly choking themselves to death.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) said this months ago. He has always been ahead of his time, I guess.
That’s why the current fabricated frenzy about the AfD party allegedly planning the same thing doesn’t make much sense. But Scholz is a social democratic (socialist) goody-two-shoes kinda guy so the mass deportation he is demanding must be a nicer and more “social” kind. If he says “we have to deport people more often and faster,” nobody cares. That it’s all talk and no walk and none of these deportations will ever take place in Germany is another story altogether.
Funny what a few months and the continued success of of the AfD at the polls can make. But nothing has been orchestrated here, folks. Just move along please.
“Wir müssen endlich im großen Stil abschieben.”
In Germany? At the highest levels of government?
Yawn. Been there, done that. On a near daily basis even. Just look at the Banana Republic of Amerika if you need a role model.
German banker’s diaries add to Olaf Scholz’s political woes – Chancellor is facing questions over his term as Hamburg mayor, when city wrote off bank’s tax bill.
“It is pretty clear that a wealthy banker successfully influenced public decision making in his favour,” said Gerhard Schick, a former Green MP and head of Finanzwende, a financial reform lobby group, adding that policymakers later also tried to derail inquiries into the matter.
“What is at stake here is a very fundamental principle: the rule of law in a democratic society.” Scholz’s vast memory gaps were “implausible”, he added.
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.
“Germany has a president?”
“You, there! You look official. Drive down to the airport when you get a minute and welcome him.”
Germany’s Steinmeier left waiting on tarmac in Qatar – Standing with arms folded at the doors of the airplane was probably not how German President Steinmeier thought he would spend almost 30 minutes of his official 3-hour visit to Doha...
In Germany, Doha’s influence on the Israel-Hamas war is seen as somewhat controversial as Qatar is home to Hamas’ political wing. That led some to wonder if Wednesday’s apparent snub was a response to statements made recently by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock prior to Al Thani’s long-planned visit to Berlin back in October.
“We do not accept support for terror,” Baerbock told public broadcaster ZDF at the time. “To put an end to this terrorism,” she added, “countries like Qatar have a special responsibility.”
Put a positive spin on it, I say. Maybe Germany’s Steinmeier was just being überpunktlich. German diplomat-types can often be that way. If they ever arrive at all. They’re not always so punctual when it comes to leaving, however.
A government with Net Zero Honesty? Good luck with that.
The truth hurts too much.
Germany Faces the Green Fiscal Truth – The constitutional court rules Berlin will have to fund net zero honestly.
Things have gone from bad to worse in Germany this week after a court ruling that’s forcing the government to do something truly shocking: level with voters about how much the net-zero energy transition will cost. Please pass the smelling salts.
Wait and see. “Good” Germans never walk the walk.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz agrees ‘historic’ stricter migration policy – Move comes hours after Italy unveils plan to build asylum reception centres in Albania for those arriving by sea.
Stricter measures to deal with a large number of migrants arriving in Germany have been agreed by the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and state leaders, as NGOs criticised Italy’s plans to create centres in Albania to accommodate asylum seekers.
After a marathon session of talks in Berlin that continued into the early hours of Tuesday, Scholz said the measures would help speed up asylum procedures, restrict social benefits for migrants, and provide more federal funding for local communities.
That doesn’t seem fair to me.
Anti-Semites cannot be granted German citizenship under new law – minister.
A law under consideration by the German parliament would mean that people who have committed anti-Semitic acts can never be granted citizenship, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said on Wednesday.
“Our draft for the new citizenship law, which we will now discuss in the Bundestag, provides a clear exclusion of anti-Semites,” Faeser said in a statement issued after she met with Israeli ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor.
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 