Tag: Germany

Germany Gets Honest About What Net Zero Will Cost
Health

Germany Gets Honest About What Net Zero Will Cost

If you had “net zero causing Germany’s government to collapse” on your 2023 bingo card, congratulations—you may end up a winner. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s administration is falling apart because it turns out someone will have to pay for decarbonizing the eurozone’s largest economy.This shocking and horrifying revelation is brought to you by Germany’s highest constitutional court, which ruled in mid-November that Berlin’s favorite budget gimmick violates the balanced-budget amendment. The amendment, known as the debt brake, limits the federal general-budget deficit to 0.35% of gross domestic product in any year unless Parliament declares an emergency.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Israel Plans to Kill Hamas Leaders Around the World After War
World

Israel Plans to Kill Hamas Leaders Around the World After War

Updated Dec. 1, 2023 12:06 am ETListen to article(2 minutes)TEL AVIV—Israel’s intelligence services are preparing to kill Hamas leaders around the world when the nation’s war in the Gaza Strip winds down, setting the stage for a yearslong campaign to hunt down militants responsible for the Oct. 7 massacres, Israeli officials said.With orders from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s top spy agencies are working on plans to hunt down Hamas leaders living in Lebanon, Turkey and Qatar, the small Gulf nation that has allowed the group to run a political office in Doha for a decade, the officials said.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Europe Is Short of Ammunition at a Bad Time
Business

Europe Is Short of Ammunition at a Bad Time

The European Union vowed it would provide Ukraine with one million artillery rounds by March of next year. But deliveries are lagging, and German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said this month that “we have to assume” this target “will not be achieved.” The lesson is that once defense production capacity atrophies, it’s not easy to restore.Ukraine fires some 6,000 to 8,000 shells a day. Its soldiers need large quantities of the 155mm artillery shells that are a NATO standard and can be used in howitzers from the U.S., France, Poland, Germany and Slovakia. Yet foreign-policy chief Josep Borrell said on Nov. 14 that the EU had reached only “30% of the overall objective” for ammo deliveries. Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8...
Amazon Faces Black Friday Strikes in US, Europe
World

Amazon Faces Black Friday Strikes in US, Europe

Updated Nov. 24, 2023 7:52 am ETAmazon.com faced strikes in the U.S. and Europe on Black Friday, hitting the e-commerce giant at the start of the busy holiday shopping weekend as labor unrest picks up on both sides of the Atlantic.Warehouse workers and drivers planned strikes Friday in the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Italy and Spain to demand better wages and working conditions, according to the UNI Global Union, a global union federation focused on the services sector with affiliated organizations from 150 countries. Further protests by climate activists and workers are planned in other countries, the UNI Global Union said.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Germany’s Economy Shrank in 3Q as Recession Looms
World

Germany’s Economy Shrank in 3Q as Recession Looms

Germany’s economy contracted 0.1% from July to September, confirming prior estimates, as the country languishes in a likely recession, according to data from the country’s statistics office Destatis released Friday.The fall in output in Europe’s largest economy matched expectations of economists polled by The Wall Street Journal, as well as the preliminary data published in October. GDP contracted 0.4% on year in 3Q, on a price and calendar adjusted basis.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Germany Faces the Green Fiscal Truth
World

Germany Faces the Green Fiscal Truth

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.The country’s highest constitutional court ruled this month that one of the coalition government’s main gimmicks for funding green projects violates Germany’s version of a balanced-budged amendment. That amendment, known as the debt brake, caps the government’s fiscal deficit at 0.35% of gross domestic product per year except in emergencies (as defined by special legislation passed with a majority in the Bundestag).Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
How One Major World Capital’s Bid to Boost Affordable Housing Backfired
World

How One Major World Capital’s Bid to Boost Affordable Housing Backfired

BERLIN—The German capital has long been a lab for daring experiments in tackling the crisis of affordable housing that is plaguing city dwellers from San Francisco to Hong Kong.Anti-gentrification rules are so strict that in some neighborhoods, luxury renovations such as walk-in showers, balconies or cement tiles are turned down. Airbnb is tightly restricted while rental caps have forced thousands of landlords to slash rents.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Unemployment Was the One Economic Problem Europe Didn’t Have. No Longer.
World

Unemployment Was the One Economic Problem Europe Didn’t Have. No Longer.

FRANKFURT—Europe’s labor markets are starting to crack. After a year of near-zero economic growth, job creation is slowing and surveys suggest that more businesses in the region are preparing to lay off workers, threatening to further damp growth and drain public coffers. Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Fall of the Wall – WSJ
Health

Fall of the Wall – WSJ

James Freeman is assistant editor of The Wall Street Journal's editorial page and author of the weekday Best of the Web column. He is the co-author of "Borrowed Time: Two Centuries of Booms, Busts and Bailouts at Citi," recognized as a New York Times Editors' Choice and a Financial Times Business Book of the Month. He is a contributor to the Fox News Channel and a host of "Deep Dive" on Fox Nation. Before joining the Journal in September 2007, James served as investor advocate at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, where he encouraged the transformation of financial reporting technology to benefit individual investors. He is a graduate of Yale.Follow James on Twitter @FreemanWSJ