Five German News Stories

 1.  There was an event early this AM with the German Federal Minister of Economics (Robert Habeck, Green Party, and vice-Chancellor), who noted the approaching issue of the economy.  

The chief quote here? "The transformation is taking place." 

In simple terms, he says the Russian natural gas situation isn't coming back and a whole new world is opening up.  Then he says bluntly: "It won't come back either."

At the same early meeting....the EU President Ursula von der Leyen got up and said that the electricity 'market' needs a reform and it'll occur by mid-2023.  What this means?  Unknown.

What all this means?  The day of Europe being a major customer of Russian natural gas is ending and it's going to be a strange era to survive.  I would suggest the next five years will be chaotic for the political parties.

2.  Pretty report over at N-TV this morning.....discussing the public TV network NDR (NW Germany network).  Various journalists have signed a letter to ask for removal of the management because they are suggested to be mouth-pieces of the CDU Party.  

I would imagine around the other dozen public networks....others would state the case that their management have become mouth-pieces of the SPD or Green Party.  

If you tried to measure public TV political chatter from the 1980s to today.....I think the general public (over the age of 60) would say there's twice as much political talk today on public TV networks....as in the 1980s.  Its hard to say if this is a positive or negative.

3.  A poll over at RTL asked if the government relief measures were enough to help with the increasing inflation issue.  Roughly 60-percent of Germans said 'no', and were blunt.....they have seen nothing to suggest an improvement.

4.  The topic of the public forum show on ARD last night (Hart Aber Fair)?  Drought of the future, are we living our future now?

If you were looking for an optimistic feeling....that show last night was NOT the one to view.  You can watch it here at this site.

I think about half-way through it...I found something else to watch.  On my doom-and-gloom scale (1-10)....it was maxing out at a eleven.  

5.  German economist/energy expert Manuel Frondel did a talk yesterday.....suggesting there's massive electrical pricing to be on the horizon.  He avoided saying the precise amount, but it wouldn't surprise me if the grid price was 30-percent higher by December.