The 23 Billion Euro Story

From 2018, the German authorities came up yesterday and admitted that roughly 23 billion Euro went to some form of immigration, asylum, integration, or related-support.  It's a fair sum of money.

I sat and watched the two-minute piece off public TV.

Almost 8 billion Euro went to education and commerce-improvement projects in Africa.....to give them some hope of improvement and thus not make the attempt to cross the Med and become full-time asylum cases in Germany. 

The suggestion that the 8 billion Euro is having an affect?  Well....no one can show any statistical evidence.  I know....it's silly to throw that much money at a problem and not really be able to prove or sustain some argument that the money isn't being wasted or consumed by unethical individuals.

For the integration programs and living standards support in Germany for new migrants?  This bucket of money adds to 7.5 billion Euro, which is split among the sixteen states, and then rendered down to the cities/villages themselves. 

The rest of the money (from the 23 billion Euro to start with)?  Unknown....they don't really discuss that money.  My guess it's mostly money going to the EU, and shipped out to Turkey and a few countries....to prevent more migrants from coming in.

Here's the curious thing, if you think about it.  Prior to 2013, there were refugees and migrants who came into Germany each year.....to around 250,000 per year.  Most settled in, took some German classes, and eventually got some employment chances (mostly low-skill jobs).....so they were in the system and paying taxes along the way.  Since 2013, everything has expanded out....you have various migrants and immigrants who've entered the system....overwhelmed the normal pace of things....aren't part of any low-skill job situation (thus not paying taxes), and the nation has to take money from the tax revenue pot to correct measures because of a failure of leadership. 

This 23 billion Euro? It probably should be just 10-percent of that bucket-size.  The rest ought to be funneled into infrastructure, education, welfare reform, and a dozen other social projects for Germans.  Eventually, people will wake up and realize the money thrown down into this pit.  And remember, this is probably 23 billion Euro PER YEAR.  Imagine having 100 billion over a decade to put into railway upgrades and bridge replacements throughout Germany.