Walking in Mid-town

 Went walking in mid-town Wiesbaden today.....in the shopping district.

Best weather day since October (20 C - 68 F).....sunny.

Shopping district?  Dead....except for coffee shops, bakeries, pharmacies, and medical clinics....nothing else is open (Covid-ban-rules).

It's been that way for the most part since early November, and absolutely that way since early December.

The economy?  It's hard to say how it's alive and suriving.  The government does run 'short-work' which pays around 65-percent of your normal pay to sit at home, and after around 60-to-90 days....will pay around 85-percent of your normal pay.  If you survived before....off normal pay and sales?  Well....zero on the sales part and you are probably marginally surviving.

My wife discussed real estate with a German real estate sales guy in the past few days.  He and the majority of people that he works with....all see some economic downfall approaching by the fall, with companies downsizing their work-force and bankruptcies starting up. He thinks a lot of Germans will be collapsing on their mortgages, and a surplus of homes will be on the market by early 2022.  He also hinted that mortgage banks will be in serious trouble....similar to what happened in 2008. 

Bold world coming in six to twelve months.