1. Focus ran a piece this AM, discussing a fairly well-known German baker in the Koln region....on the verge of financial collapse. To survive, he'd have to take all his products and quadruple the pricing. He ran two shops, and had 35 people working for him.
As the guy admits, first....there was the wheat escalation problem. But the electrical/natural gas issue just adds to the burden.
2. Yesterday was a Friday, and like you'd expect....the 'Fridays for the Future' kids were on a demonstration frenzy....leaving classes. According to Focus, a number of kids at a Freiburg school weren't that enthusiastic and didn't want to participate. So the hyped-up kids went back into the school....to disrupt things, and attempted to hype-up the remainder kids.
3. From news reports (Focus), a huge blockage at the Russia-Georgia border yesterday.....10 km of traffic lined up.....young men leaving the country made up the bulk of this.
Even if you were unaffected by the reservist call-up....folks aren't that sure about where things will go in the next couple of months. This group is probably made up of university male students who worry about their status in six to twelve months.
4. Fair amount of protest rallies in Lower Saxony (the German state). State election to occur on 9 October and with hyped-up feelings about natural gas and electricity.....folks are aggravated.
Protest actions mostly against Greens, SPD and FDP.
How things appear for the election? SPD likely wins at around 32-percent, with the CDU close behind at 28-percent. Greens appear near 17-percent. AfD at 10-percent. FDP and Linke.....might fail to reach 5-percent.
If you were asking me about a 'shock' here? No.....it's mostly a repeat of the 2017 election....along the same lines. The only thing I do see on trends....the Greens are losing a half-point a week for the past month.
5. WELT had a discussion with economists, and they wrote a piece for this AM.....mostly saying that everyone in Germany will lose 'something' during this financial crisis. In their assessment, the nation will emerge....with lasting damage (meaning years and years) done to the overall stability of the country.
Yeah, it's a pretty dismal prediction, but you can see housing/apartment/condo construction sliding fast right now, and will stall for the foreseeable future.
6. Finally, there's a bit of aggravation brewing on health insurance rates. A 17-billion Euro 'hole' exists.....meaning they are lacking the 17-billion and need to make up for the trend.
What this leads to? Whatever rate you had for public health insurance....it'll go up by .3-percent. But that doesn't really cover the bulk of the requirement. So the Health Ministry intends to take the rest via taxation....meaning you will pay the full amount....in some way. One discussed item is that the Pharmacy industry will pay into this pot....meaning the drugs you require.....will go up in some form.
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