And You Thought Your Government Wastes Money

September 30, 2015 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Humor, Hurt Feelings Tags: German, Germans, Germany, Government Waste, Spending, Studies, Waste 3 Comments

And it does. But the German state can burn the stuff up pretty good, too – at any level.

The German Federation of Tax Payers just came out with its latest “Black Book” of government waste, a breathtaking collection of 133 of the most impressive cases of abuse it found. Some are quite imaginative, I must say.

The city of Bergen on the island of Rügen, for instance, ordered 200,000 earthworms from a special firm in Holland for a sports field there – for over 7,000 euros. These special „Dutch Nightcrawlers“ were supposed to loosen up the hard playing field. They failed at that but made the field so “soiled” with worm Dreck (filth) that it couldn’t be used anymore.

Or how about the five manhole covers in Osnabrück with the colorful LED lamps on the side? They only cost 10,000 euros a shot. They sure are purty, though.

Then there’s the State Ministry for Culture boss who felt the need to have a “cemetery app” developed that would show its users where over 1,000 famous graves are located. It was called “Where They Rest” and all it did was redirect these users to the website with the same name. It only set tax payers back some 548,000 euros, however.

Nicht kleckern sondern klotzen, I say. Don’t take anything halfway.

Last Man Standing

August 2, 2015 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Home Cooking Tags: Angela Merkel, Austerity, Debt, EU, Euro, Europe, Eurozone, France, German, Germans, Germany, Greece, Josef Joffe, Majorities, Politics, Regulations, Rules, Spain, Spending, Women Leave a comment

Only she’s a girl.

You have called Angela Merkel the modern-day empress of the eurozone. What do you mean?

The title empress reflects, in my view, two realities of present-day Europe. First, the Germans look so strong because the others look so weak. The British are withdrawing from Europe. The French are down but not out. They’re unable to rev up their economy – same thing for the Italians, same thing for the Spaniards. So, when you add it all up, who is the last man – or in this case, the last woman – standing?

The second reason is more concrete – the Germans have been in the vanguard of driving home fealty to the eurozone’s foundational treaties. These conventions enjoined member states, like Greece, not to overspend and over-borrow and, at the same time, to make their economies more efficient. Merkel and her finance minister are not austerity mongers as everybody is harping on about. They are committed to the original treaties’ stated rules that require eurozone members to reform their economies and become more competitive.

Zum ersten Mal seit 2005 könnte die Union einer Umfrage zufolge die absolute Mehrheit erreichen. Die Partei wäre mit 43 Prozent der Stimmen stärker als all anderen Parteien zusammen.

Germany Celebrates 60th Year In NATO

June 29, 2015 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, History, Home Cooking, Hypocrisy Tags: Allies, Defense, German, Germans, Germany, Military, NATO, Responsibility, Spending Leave a comment

By maybe-possibly-perhaps increasing its current expenditure of 1.2 percent of German GDP on its military. Maybe, like I said. Hard to say for sure. They don’t want to overdo it or anything, just yet. Being newbies and all, I mean. And it’s not like Germany has ever gotten all that much out of being a NATO member or anything…

“I am speaking to all the allies. But as the biggest economy, Germany weighs more heavily than others. The USA spends four percent of GDP on defense, in Europe we’re closer to one percent. “That isn’t a fair distribution of the burden.”

Mass Numbers Of Germans Flee Country

March 4, 2015 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, High Art, Home Cooking, Hypocrisy Tags: German, Germans, Germany, Holidays, Humor, Spending, Tourism, Travel, Vacation 1 Comment

And then return again. Several times a year even. They call it Tourismus (tourism).

That’s right, when not moaning about capitalism and democracy itself, Germans like to spend their ample free time breaking new records in the World Travel Champions category. In 2014 they spent more than 67 billion euros traveling, for instance, five percent more than the year before. The next record for 2015 seems to be vorprogrammiert (preprogrammed), too.

Die Deutschen lassen sich ihren Urlaub so viel kosten wie nie. Mehr als 67 Milliarden Euro gaben sie im vergangenen Jahr für Urlaubsreisen von mindestens fünf Tagen aus, plus fünf Prozent zum Vorjahr.

Germans Worried That Germans Are Spending Too Much

March 11, 2014 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, High Art, Home Cooking, Humor Tags: Economy, Exports, German, Germans, Germany, Humor, Imports, Satire, Saving, Spending, Worry 1 Comment

Now that they can’t worry about Germans spending too little for once, I mean.

Everything is geared for disaster here and every German knows it: Exports, imports, consumption, employment. You name it, it’s all working way too splendidly. Das kann nicht gut gehen (that’s never going to work out). Like oh my God we are all going to die.

Ausfuhren, Importe und Konsum laufen prächtig.

PS: But a little more on the serious side, what the hell else are you going to do with your money these days except spend it?

L’Etat, C’est You

December 29, 2013 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helections, Helplessness, Hideology, High Art, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: Berlin, Debt, German, Germans, Germany, Government spending, Government Waste, National Debt, Politics, Public Sector Debt, Spending, Taxation Leave a comment

Or at least the national deficit is all yours, my German friends (and mine – I live and pay taxes here, too).

But there’s good news, at least. Sort of. It’s only going to get worse!

It’s a paradoxical situation: The economy is braving the euro crisis, tax revenue is making the coffers ring and the German state still goes further into debt. The public sector deficit climbed to 30 billion euros during the first nine months this year. First and foremost the federal government, but also social security and other benefits have gone into the red.

And economists fear that this is just the beginning. Billions of new burdens have been tucked away in the coalition agreement just signed between the Union and the SPD. Tax, social insurance and other contribution increases are right around the corner.

Hey, you voted this coalition government into office, Germany. Oh, that’s right. You didn’t.

Trotz guter Konjunktur und steigender Steuereinnahmen macht Deutschland Milliarden neue Schulden. Jetzt befürchten Ökonomen: Das wird die Bürger teuer zu stehen kommen – und zwar schon bald.

A Scrooge Issue?

November 12, 2013 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: Christmas, Consumers, Debt, Debt Crisis, EU, Europe, German, Germans, Germany, Spending Leave a comment

Or is it more of a squanderer one?

I don’t know what troubles me more here; a Germany that spends too little for Christmas or the weakest European economies that spend too much.

With almost 28 percent unemployment and a lingering recession that’s wiped out one-fourth of their country’s economic output, it makes sense that Greek consumers plan to trim their Christmas spending by 12.8 percent this year. What’s more surprising is that the average Greek budget for holiday gifts, food, and drink is €451 ($608)—more than the €399 average in Germany, the country that has borne much of the cost of a Greek bailout.

Residents of Ireland, another bailed-out economy, plan to outspend the Germans more than two to one this Christmas, with an average €894 budget. In Spain, where unemployment is at 26 percent, consumers expect to spend an average €567. In recession-hobbled Italy, meanwhile, the figure is €477.

“Differences between countries’ spending habits are linked to the culture of the countries.”

Germans Just Love The ECB’s New Bond-Buying Program

September 7, 2012 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Hate, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hurt Feelings, Hysteria Tags: Angst, Berlin, Debt, Fear, German, Germans, Germany, Humor, Polls, Satire, Spending, Surveys, The Euro Crisis, The Euro Zone, Waste Leave a comment

Not.

Which brings us to our next topic: The latest greatest German angst survey. A new study by R+V Versicherung (insurance) has just found out what Germans loved to be scared of most these days: The climbing cost of living (63 percent of those asked).

Außer den “Standard-Ängsten”, die die R+V Versicherung seit zwanzig Jahren bei 2500 Deutschen abfragt, stehen alljährlich auch aktuelle Themen zur Debatte.

Live a little!

July 11, 2010 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy Tags: Berlin, Economy, German, Germans, Germany, Humor, Satire, Spending 2 Comments

If you want to. But you don’t want to, so you won’t. Despite a falling inflation rate and all the coaxing from the outside you want, Germans “can’t get over their stingy ways and fiscal paranoia to boost spending” (they don’t seem to mind if everybody else out there does the spending for them though).

“Germany seems to be preparing instead to further cut back on spending. Unlike most Americans, Germans pay their credit card bills in full at the end of every month. Only 39% own their own houses or apartments, compared with two-thirds of Britons and Americans. Only about 10% of Germans invest in the stock market, compared with half of all Americans.

Last year, Germany expanded public spending meant to stimulate growth, but at the same time it imposed a constitutional requirement to bring the deficit down to below 0.35% of GDP by 2016, a goal critics describe as unrealistic and unnecessary.

All of this contributes to the impression, shared by Germans themselves, that a strong strain of frugality shapes the national psyche.”

Spend more, save less?

March 12, 2009 By Hermann Observer in Heconomy Tags: Spending 3 Comments

When it comes to Germany? Right. But I wish you a nice try though anyway, you G-20 finance minister folks meeting in London in three weeks.

“In asking the Germans to spend more and save less, for example, the United States is challenging not only the ingrained habits of a risk-averse people but the growth model upon which German industry is built and upon which millions of German jobs depend. The U.S. economy can’t generate enough demand by itself to pull the global economy out of the downturn, even with Mr. Obama’s stimulus — the recession has forced a dramatic and probably permanent increase in U.S. savings. Indeed, this is one reason that German exports are tanking. But Germany can’t just convert to a high-consumption model overnight. The same goes for Japan and much of Asia.”

That’s right, Germany. The big American spending party seems to finally be over at last (at least for now). Now it’s your turn. But don’t panic, it’s all about perception, remember (think Obama)? It can be the best of worlds if you want it, or it can be the worst of worlds. We all know which kind of world you have tended to lean to in the past, but these are exceptional times we are living in here, people. Make it happen (yes you can).

“Germany, Europe’s economic engine, ardently resists talk of a bailout for either old or new Europeans, fearing it will inevitably get stuck with the tab.”

Observing Hermann

“Was interessiert mich mein Geschwätz von gestern?”

Tag Archives: Spending