Sat1, the commercial German network....ran an unusual live show last night.....entitled: Price Explosion in Germany, Rent, Live, or Buy. You can view the piece here.
It was roughly two hours of chatter and interviews on inflation and a lot of grumbling by Germans about the cost of living.
If you asked me what the top three topics are in Germany today....I'd suggest the Russia-Ukraine war, inflation/housing, and public safety.
For a lot of working-class families.....it's reaching a point where every Euro that rolls in....has to be spent. There is no savings.
The government guy there? Kevin Kühnert, from the SPD Party. Kühnert is fairly smart and capable of top-class debate.
The problem with the show.....it covered everything that people have criticism over and you had the moderator....with various expert guests, and Kühnert....to suggest answers. Virtually answer.....means more taxation for someone to pay. I reached this realization by the mid-point of the 'show'.
Is there a true housing crisis? Well....you get to a point where you notice that the crisis mostly revolves around highly urbanized areas (Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, etc). You also start to notice the term 'affordable' is used a lot, and that a basic studio apartment (figure 25 sq meters) can now run in the 600 to 700 Euro range in these highly urbanized areas.
Yeah, it's a ridiculous amount of money for what amounts to 25 sq meters or 270 square ft.
If you drove 50 km beyond Frankfurt? You'd start to notice cheaper housing, and more apartments available. Same story for Hamburg or Munich.
The thing is that most Germans now talk about food prices, housing cost, energy, gas, and their limited lifestyles....on a daily basis. The government is in a fairly harsh position of promising things...but not having adequate funds to do much.
A lot of this tied to poor visionary strategy for the past twenty years? Well....yeah, this comes up a good bit. Tied to a Russia-only natural gas position....having the most expensive electrical rates in Europe....turning the nuke plants off.....adding layers of regulation on farm production, etc.
Accomplishment of the two-hour show? It just tighten the general public view of things.
No comments:
Post a Comment