Tag Archives: germany

Business/Economics, International

Global Economic War: German government spliting up, growing numbers of leaders criticize Merkel’s economic policies

Recently, the President of Germany criticized German Chancellor Angela Merkel for going along with the European Central Bank in bailing out Greece, and other countries in economic trouble.

“That is asking for trouble in the long run and can only be tolerated in the interim.” and “I consider the sizeable purchase of individual states’ bonds by the European Central Bank to be legally questionable.”-Christian Wulff, German President

The statements were made to a group of economists.  What’s unusual about Wulff’s statements is, for one the office of President in Germany is ceremonial, and secondly Wulff is a member of the same political party as Angela Merkel (Christian Democratic Union).

Wulff is not the only Christian Democratic Union member upset with current policies.  Fellow CDU member, and head of the parliamentary Home Affairs Committee, Wolfgang Bosbach, said: “We should take the president’s comments seriously, it’s also a question of being fair to generations of people.”

Also, former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, Merkel’s mentor, has blasted Merkel’s policies: “We must take care not to gamble everything away. We must urgently return to our former dependability.”

German politicians are starting to mirror public polls, which show many Germans do not want their government bailing out anymore countries.

 

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? German Auto Makers making big profits, but economists say the party is over

The Germany auto industry has seen skyrocketing sales this year, mainly in China and India.  But a Center Automotive Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, study predicts dire sales in the near future.

CAR boss Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, says the growing debt problems of Europe, United States, and even Japan, will eventually drag down the world economy.  He predicts a “significant fall in growth” for the German auto industry.

Germany has the strongest performing car makers in the world.  According to the Center of Automotive Management, VW holds 1st place, Daimler 2nd, and BMW holds 4th place (Korea’s Hyundai holds 3rd).

However, Center of Automotive Management predicts German car sales in China will soon drop off.  So far Germany has seen 20% to 30% sales gains year after year.  CAM analysts believe that in the near future German car makers will be lucky to see 5% sales growth in China and India.

5% sales growth will not be enough to make up for predicted loses in other markets (like the U.S.): “The gains that will be made in China and India won’t be able to compensate for the slight losses in other markets.”-Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, Center Automotive Research

 

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Original Lager Beer Yeast came from South America, not Germany! Proof that Vikings made it all the way to South America?

Researchers from around the world have been looking for the source yeast used in Lager beers.  They found it, in Argentina!

Germany has laid claim as the creator of lager beers, more than 600 years ago.  But scientists realized that the yeast used, Saccharomyces Pastorianus, is not native to Bavaria.

Scientists combed five continents, and found only one source of origin: Patagonia, Argentina.

Now the question is how did Europeans get the yeast?  After all the first German Lagers were created decades before Columbus sailed the ocean blue.   Could it be those daring Vikings who got to North America 400 years before Columbus, made it all the way to South America, then back to Europe?

Business/Economics, International

Sweden’s King & Queen kicked out of German restaurant

“Whether you’re a street sweeper or queen, we just didn’t have a table or enough manpower in the kitchen at that time and our hands were tied.”-Nadine Schellenberger, restaurant Zum Gueldenen Stern

Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf, and German-born Queen Silvia, were refused service at one of Germany’s oldest restaurants, the Zum Gueldenen Stern founded in the 16th century.

The hostess said they were busy hosting a wedding party, and she just didn’t recognize the royals: “I didn’t recognize them, I mean without crowns and scepters…I am just not up on royal families and I don’t have time for glossy magazines.”

A letter of apology will be sent.  As far as finding something to eat that night, the Swedish royals had to settle for…a lowly pizza!

Business/Economics, International, Technology, U.S.

Germany to ban “like” button on Facebook, because it’s a spy tool for the United States

“Whoever visits Facebook.com or uses a plug-in must expect that he or she will be tracked by the company for two years.”-Thilo Weichert, privacy commissioner

German officials, in the state of  Schleswig-Holstein, have discovered that every time the Facebook ‘like’ button is clicked, it sends your private info back to several U.S. databases.  This violates European privacy laws.

Website owners are ordered to remove ‘like’ buttons, and other similar buttons, from their websites, or face a U.S.$72,000 fine.

 

Business/Economics, International

Global Economic War: Germany Burning, a week of car fires in Berlin, now Hamburg is on fire

For the past couple of weeks Berlin has been plagued with car fires.  At first police thought it was the usual anti-elitists targeting the cars of wealthy people, but many cars were not owned by the rich.

Now, hundreds of Germans are rioting in Hamburg. It started during a street festival.  People began attacking and burning banks.

2,500 police are on the streets, using water cannons. Police don’t relate this to the increasing number of poor people in Germany. Police say these Hamburg riots happen every year.

Business/Economics, International

What Economic Recovery? Germany & France pushing for tax on stock market deals, taking steps to turn the EU into a single economic & political entity

August 16, France and Germany decided against creating and selling Euro Bonds, and came up with another way to help raise money for EU governments; a stock market transaction tax.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Euro Bonds would come later, when the economic situation was more stable.  Instead he, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, are pushing for a new tax (as if Europeans didn’t have to deal with enough taxes).

The new financial transaction tax would affect the purchases made on stock markets.

Merkel and Sarkozy are also calling for more economic and political unity for the EU.  They want EU members to modify their constitutions to reflect commitment to building a strong, more united European Union, and, they want to create a new EU council to oversea efforts to create a more unified EU.  That council will meet twice a year, and have a president who serves a two year term.

Business/Economics, International

Global Economic War: EU officials say they want economic sanctions against other EU countries

“We are in complete agreement in the Dutch cabinet that imposing automatic sanctions as much as possible against countries who do not stick to the rules is the only way to ensure the euro’s long-term success.”-Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of Netherlands

Officials in Netherlands, an economically stable member of the European Union, is pushing other EU members to impose economic sanctions against EU countries that don’t meet the EU standards.

The Dutch claim that for far too long there are some EU countries that have not been playing by EU rules, and they’re the ones dragging down the EU economy.  They want sanctions placed against those member countries, or they want them expelled.

Many citizens of Netherlands, and Germany, would like to see Greece, Ireland and Portugal kicked out of the European Union.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Government slight of hand & Media Incompetence: GDP numbers continue to get revised donward, after being publicly reported, U.S. no better off than EU

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis says the GDP for the second quarter of 2011 was a stagnant 1.3%.  But what some media outlets didn’t report was that the previous quarter was revised downward from 1.95% to 0.4%!

This kind of slight of hand has been going on for years now.  It turns out that real GDP has been much lower during this whole recession/recovery BS.  Don’t be surprised that the second quarter GDP numbers get revised downward when the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reports the 3rd quarter results.

The revision of the 1st quarter, down to 0.4%, shows that the United States is no better off than the European Union, which is in real big trouble.

Germany hit a surprising low of 0.1% GDP.  France, the second biggest EU economic powerhouse after Germany, flatlined at 0% GDP!  For the whole of the EU Gross Domestic Product was only 0.2% for the second quarter.

 

 

 

Business/Economics, International

What Economic Recovery? Europe continues to stagnate, media still calls it ‘slow growth’, Germany hit hard

The European economy is still stagnating, a GDP (gross domestic product) of 0.2% for this past quarter.  That’s a drop from 0.8% in the first quarter of 2011.

Mainstream media continues to call such numbers “growth”.

Europe reports their GDP as a quarterly average.  The U.S. reports GDP as a yearly average.

Germany, the economic powerhouse of the European Union, got slammed.  Their GDP fell to 0.1% for the second quarter 2011!

German officials blamed, as usual, German shoppers, but, they also blamed investors.  Not only are shoppers shopping less in German stores, but investors are investing less into German companies.