The key message from the International Monetary Fund annual meeting in October 2022 was that Germany would fall into recession in 2023 with the worst ecomomic growth among the major countries. This did not come as a surprise. It showed how difficult it would be for the world’s leading export country to preserve its international competitiveness without access to cheap Russian … [Read more...] about Dragging Down Europe
Germany
Heat Pump Fiasco
Berlin’s focus has shifted. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s “tank battle” and the insufficient German military support for Ukraine’s defense against the Russian invaders are no longer the major issues. Germany’s new defense minister, Boris Pistorius, is now the country’s most-liked politician. And Germanyapproved a new €2.7 billion worth of arms for Kyiv—the largest amount so … [Read more...] about Heat Pump Fiasco
Energy Idiocy
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has exposed Germany as Europe’s largest, strongest, and most globally connected economy in its dangerous dependence on the flow of Russian gas. Russia reduced gas supplies in June for the main pipeline Nord Stream 1 to below 40 percent, before cutting them altogether on July 11 to allow for routine annual ten-day … [Read more...] about Energy Idiocy
Germany´s Wirecard scandal – the largest accounting fraud in the country´s postwar history
While all of Europe is still in the grip of the worst pandemic in a century, Germany’s political and financial establishments are also haunted by the Wirecard AG scandal. It is turning out to be the largest case of accounting fraud in the country’s post-war history. According to its promotion material, Wirecard authorized and processed payments for about 280,000 merchants, … [Read more...] about Germany´s Wirecard scandal – the largest accounting fraud in the country´s postwar history
Europe´s Covid-19 Battle
Faced with the monstrosity of the global Corona crisis, the editors of the International Economy (TIE) thought it advisable to have the impact, implications, reactions, failures and prospects relating to Europe covered by its decade-long German contributor in a “Letter from Berlin” on “Europe´s Covid-19 Battle” - As it turned out the letter had a surprisingly … [Read more...] about Europe´s Covid-19 Battle