Monday, June 17, 2024

Is Germany Suffering The Same Economic Spiral As The US?

This is a personal essay and carries the weight of my opinion.  

The answer here?  NO.

First, if you asked most all Germans....they readily cite increasing grocery cost, energy increasing since the Ukraine-Russia war started, and various major industries having cut some manpower.  These are all factual and you can see evidence across urbanized communities and into rural regions.  

If you were in my shoes....you'd likely have a twice-a-month schedule to eat out, and it used to be (before Covid) a 50-Euro experience for two people at a sit-down restaurant.  Presently, I'd put the cost closer  to 65-Euro.  The wife and I had a premium-burger 'stop' last Friday.....spending near 32-Euro (burger-plate and a bottled water each).  

Government statistics being given?  I can look at GDP, unemployment, inflation....with monthly numbers given, and readily trust what the German gov't gives out.  It would turn into a crisis rather quickly if the SPD-coalition were giving fake numbers.  Looking at the US....I'd say more than two-thirds of the public no longer believe the numbers given there.

Housing sales stalled like in the US?  Not really.  You see....to have any real opportunity here....you need to convince the bank that you will put down a minimum of 25-percent.  Locally in Hessen for the mortgage rate?  4.17-percent for a 20-year loan.  

Insurance rates in Germany getting inflated?  Well....both car and home insurance have gone up in the past year.  Car insurance probably popped more than 5-percent in 2024.  Home insurance nudged up just a notch or two.

Germans grumbling?  If you indexed woes....at the very top is migration/asylum complaints....finding affordable housing (especially in high urban areas)....the war....political extremes (both left and right), and economic instability (like this travel agency bankruptcy that appeared out of nowhere in the past 2 weeks....stranding Germans).  

So I'm not really convinced that economic woes measure to the same level for the two.

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