What’s not to like? This isn’t rocket science for businesses here. For businesses that are still here, I should say.
Germany’s biggest sports retailer considers moving production to China – Intersport eyes spare Chinese manufacturing capacity as Nike and Adidas back away from the country amid trade war.
One of the world’s largest sporting goods retailers is considering shifting production to China, just as brands including Nike and Adidas move production out of the country in response to US tariffs.
It’s a Volkssport (national pastime) here. Over-taxed Germans get even with the government any and every chance they get. See Schwarzarbeit.
German shadow economy booms amid high taxes and state aid – While Germany’s economy falters, the country is experiencing a rise in undeclared work. What role do taxes and generous state aid for the poor play in the surge?
The highest healthcare and retirement costs, the highest energy costs, the highest regulation costs, then there’s the inflation, now the debt…
No, it’s a real mystery why Germans can’t afford to live on their wages anymore.
Why more Germans can’t afford life on their wages – German politicians are fond of saying, “Work must be worth it.” But ever more full-time workers need state benefits, and the new minimum wage hike is seen as disappointing.
Half of pet dogs in Berlin kept illegally as owners ‘boycott’ registration rules – Microchip implant with data has been required since 2022 but policy is unpopular because of expense and nuisance.
Free money for all: Germany’s basic income experiment – One of the world’s most extensive studies on unconditional basic income was held in Germany. What does the experiment reveal?
… It is seen as a redistribution of wealth through taxes. In the activists’ calculation, Germany’s top earners — 10% of the population — would end up contributing a part of their income to everyone else. They estimate that 83% of the population would thereby have access to more money. The remaining 7% mid-earners would be unaffected by the redistribution scheme.
In times of rising populism, the basic income activists believe that this is a way to combat the population’s dissatisfaction due to wealth inequality.
Vater Staat (Father State) has everything under control. Wie immer (as usual).
Germans fear rising cost of living – Inflation, migration, expensive housing — these are the things that most people in Germany are worried about, according to the latest study “Germans’ Fears 2024.”
Wir sind doch nicht blöd (we aren’t stupid). Somebody has to pay for this.
Germany debates tax breaks for skilled foreign workers – The German government wants to grant skilled foreign workers a tax rebate if they take up employment in Germany. But the idea has been met with resistance.
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.
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.
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.
Observing Hermann 