We all need to understand that the debt brake needs to go. We also need a plan to bring forth the kind of New Green Deal the Biden government tried to implement, then rebuild our ageold infrastructure (and with infrastructure I also mean investment in schools, hospitals and a well-paid-for care work system to free exactly those ppl up to take on more work who cannot find any decent, affordable childcare or any practical help with their elderly parents. This needs to be provided for by the state) to be able to take in more and not less migrants from many professions (the average German age right now is roughly mine - I am 48; hell would it help us to have some young families here) to make our economy whir again (and of course this serves the rest of Germany as well).
We also really need a good European defense concept (I am all for a strong Die Linke but the Greens understand Ukraine's needs and the imperative to stand up against "strongmen" better than most and I am very grateful they do) and with the global shift towards a pressing need for European self-sustainability (and in this increasingly challenging, rapidly changing, global political environment) we do need to invest money in our German army too. Frankly I for one never understood why we abolished the compulsory military service (back then, if you did not wish to join the military forces you could always serve a substitutional social endeavour). I have two older brothers who both served in the Bundeswehr, one even continued whilst finishing his Law studies (both usually vote for the Greens or the SPD) who rightly said that it is important that all of society is a part of the Bundeswehr because otherwise you will get parallel structures full of nazis and the worst kind of stiff conservatives (btw I wish we had more voters of Die Linke, the German left party in our police force - who else could bring about the change needed?! That's just as clear as the fact that more female engineers and craftsmen and more male nurses and teachers are a win/win.)
We cannot abdicate our very own responsibilities anymore... And btw: having watched how the shitshow of the way we Europeans "solved" the Greek debt crisis evolved makes clear that the only way to get to sustainable results for the big whole that is Europe, is to centralise more, to integrate these separate, national entities into a common economy one day... And to know when this goal is to be fulfilled - no pie in the sky thinking anymore. We need to think about a genuine political AND economic integration of the whole Eurozone.
My god this makes my blood boil and it makes me write much too long comments when I should be working on my translations 😉.
I am grateful we have such a mover and shaker (so ein wissenschaftliches "Schwergewicht") such as Adam Tooze on our side. Thanks! Let us hope they will listen and if they don't then we might become a little louder, right?! 😃 I am all in!
Wouldn't it be cheaper to start serious diplomatic discussions with Russia on a new security architecture in Europe? What is so wrong in having kept Ukraine neutral?
I hold classes to explain current events in Europe. I am going to use your comment-if I may- in one of my upcoming sessions together with Adam Tooze’s article. Needless to say I am in full agreement. ( full disclosure: I am a dual citizen of the Bundesrepublik and the USofA).
I just reacted very impulsively (and probably thus stylistically not at my very best 😉) to Adam Tooze's ever-brilliant analysis. I think everybody who followed the news and knows all about our journey from "sick man of Europe" via "Agenda 2010" and the subsequent growth of low level job sectors (plus overall depressed wages) and the resulting overexaggerated export "miracle" at the expense of our European neighbours to, finally, the shameful, obnoxious spirit of the "Schäuble-Krise" (one does not speak badly of the deceased but well - it was his job and he failed so badly - with the most tragical consequences for whole countries and for our shared so-called values...) know exactly that it is immensely important that Germany leads with cooperative concepts (leading always sounds strange to "us lefties" but the whole political spectrum of Germany should know by now that a country so big has to act responsibly i.e. to walk the walk and talk the talk - the EU is really a gift for all of us but without really accepting the responsibility that comes with it i.e. actually paying for the things we want to share and providing the mutual solidarity to build an economically strong and sustainable zone is paramount)... I am just a humble translator with a long-standing interest in politics (I have to shamefully confess up until now only from the sidelines - like one of the million sofa-football-coaches; and I was so proud of the Greens in the last coalition but the odds were so skewered against them...) but to make this shorter (I could go on and on 😆) if you wish to use this rambunctious rambling of mine as a quote (it is after all just the result of an emotional, political outburst) then I can only slightly blush ☺️ and say: yes, that would be great -😊 to be heard. Thank you very much!!!
The pivot that needs to be made is the same one as the old Eisenhower "Defense Highways." Invest in infrastructure for the military. Invest in education for the military. Invest in healthcare for the military. Invest in cultural programs that relieve tensions for the military. It's not hard to talk like this, it just takes a minimal level of political savvy, something surprisingly lacking in leadership across the Western world right now.
Germany and really Europe as a whole seems to think that debt is an optional choice, not a critical requirement in an ever changing world. A business that doesn't invest in itself during times of flux is simply outcompeted. Similarly, a country that does nothing but try to make itself an attractive place to park wealth will surely fall behind countries that are willing to claw money back from the ultrawealthy and sink it into their competitive edge. Also, it's stratospherically naive to think that just because you lower taxes on the wealthiest, that they will in turn reinvest that wealth in any positive way. As we've seen in America, you give the rich an inch and they will invest in corrupting the media landscape, store their money offshore anyways, and gut the country regardless. Oligarchy is a self fulfilling situation.
Ich habe sehr selten einen so guten Artikel gelesen, der die politische Landschaft der Bundesrepublik klar und bündig beschreibt und damit die Probleme des Landes beleuchtet.
Sure! Remember the Second World War? After the bloodbath that was the first half of the last century, the victors wisely decided to prevent reoccurrences by proclaiming National borders were inviolate. Good idea, no? An autocracy has brutally invaded a sovereign democracy in Europe. Sound familiar? If the founding principle of the UN Charter is dead, so are we.
You mean by force? Explain to me why you seem to support Putin’s invasion of a sovereign free nation? While you are at it, present any evidence that EU nations have in any way threatened Russia.
Yes, by force: Serbia's, Sudan's, Morocco's (addition of West Sahara), never mind Israel... All due to US interference.
US has threatened Russia with the promise to install missiles in Ukraine (Blinken to Lavrov in Jan 2022). The only thing left for debate was the number of missiles. What do you think triggered the Russian attack?!
Yes, child, borders have chanbged by force. And have you listened to, for example, the leaders of the various Baltic satrapies calling for the breakup of Russia?
The idea that Ukraine was free or soverdign is a joke. I suppose you'll tell me that East Germany was sovereign or South Vietnam, or, since we're talking about post WWII changes of borders by force, the "Republic of Northern Cyprus".
Of course, if "free and sovereign" Ukraine really wanted to avoid war, they could have simply complied with Minsk-2, after immediately breaking the original Minsk Accord at American command.
Well finster, you should be able to tell from my picture that I am an adult, just like I can tell from yours that you are a cat. If you think Putin is the good guy trashing his neighbor then I suggest you lay off the catnip.
I’m a citizen of the country that developed atomic weapons for use against Nazi Germany. Lucky for the German people Hitler. didn’t come up with that wunderwaffen. Not so lucky for the empire of Japan. Lucky for the rest of us nuclear deterrence has prevented further use of these weapons since. Are you really implying that stopping Russia from starting a full on war in Europe will lead to a nuclear war? I would argue that NOT stopping aggression would make us a lot less secure, especially since abandonment of the UN charter will lead to nuclear proliferation as every smaller country would race to nuke up.
Although Tooze seems to imply that there is something undemocratic about jamming the changes to the debt brake through a lame duck parliament, a recent poll shows that 55 percent of Germans think the debt brake should be reformed to allow Berlin to raise more debt to finance higher investment spending or be cancelled all together, and only 41 percent want to keep the debt brake unchanged.
We all need to understand that the debt brake needs to go. We also need a plan to bring forth the kind of New Green Deal the Biden government tried to implement, then rebuild our ageold infrastructure (and with infrastructure I also mean investment in schools, hospitals and a well-paid-for care work system to free exactly those ppl up to take on more work who cannot find any decent, affordable childcare or any practical help with their elderly parents. This needs to be provided for by the state) to be able to take in more and not less migrants from many professions (the average German age right now is roughly mine - I am 48; hell would it help us to have some young families here) to make our economy whir again (and of course this serves the rest of Germany as well).
We also really need a good European defense concept (I am all for a strong Die Linke but the Greens understand Ukraine's needs and the imperative to stand up against "strongmen" better than most and I am very grateful they do) and with the global shift towards a pressing need for European self-sustainability (and in this increasingly challenging, rapidly changing, global political environment) we do need to invest money in our German army too. Frankly I for one never understood why we abolished the compulsory military service (back then, if you did not wish to join the military forces you could always serve a substitutional social endeavour). I have two older brothers who both served in the Bundeswehr, one even continued whilst finishing his Law studies (both usually vote for the Greens or the SPD) who rightly said that it is important that all of society is a part of the Bundeswehr because otherwise you will get parallel structures full of nazis and the worst kind of stiff conservatives (btw I wish we had more voters of Die Linke, the German left party in our police force - who else could bring about the change needed?! That's just as clear as the fact that more female engineers and craftsmen and more male nurses and teachers are a win/win.)
We cannot abdicate our very own responsibilities anymore... And btw: having watched how the shitshow of the way we Europeans "solved" the Greek debt crisis evolved makes clear that the only way to get to sustainable results for the big whole that is Europe, is to centralise more, to integrate these separate, national entities into a common economy one day... And to know when this goal is to be fulfilled - no pie in the sky thinking anymore. We need to think about a genuine political AND economic integration of the whole Eurozone.
My god this makes my blood boil and it makes me write much too long comments when I should be working on my translations 😉.
I am grateful we have such a mover and shaker (so ein wissenschaftliches "Schwergewicht") such as Adam Tooze on our side. Thanks! Let us hope they will listen and if they don't then we might become a little louder, right?! 😃 I am all in!
Wouldn't it be cheaper to start serious diplomatic discussions with Russia on a new security architecture in Europe? What is so wrong in having kept Ukraine neutral?
I hold classes to explain current events in Europe. I am going to use your comment-if I may- in one of my upcoming sessions together with Adam Tooze’s article. Needless to say I am in full agreement. ( full disclosure: I am a dual citizen of the Bundesrepublik and the USofA).
I also appreciate Rob steffes comments (below).
I just reacted very impulsively (and probably thus stylistically not at my very best 😉) to Adam Tooze's ever-brilliant analysis. I think everybody who followed the news and knows all about our journey from "sick man of Europe" via "Agenda 2010" and the subsequent growth of low level job sectors (plus overall depressed wages) and the resulting overexaggerated export "miracle" at the expense of our European neighbours to, finally, the shameful, obnoxious spirit of the "Schäuble-Krise" (one does not speak badly of the deceased but well - it was his job and he failed so badly - with the most tragical consequences for whole countries and for our shared so-called values...) know exactly that it is immensely important that Germany leads with cooperative concepts (leading always sounds strange to "us lefties" but the whole political spectrum of Germany should know by now that a country so big has to act responsibly i.e. to walk the walk and talk the talk - the EU is really a gift for all of us but without really accepting the responsibility that comes with it i.e. actually paying for the things we want to share and providing the mutual solidarity to build an economically strong and sustainable zone is paramount)... I am just a humble translator with a long-standing interest in politics (I have to shamefully confess up until now only from the sidelines - like one of the million sofa-football-coaches; and I was so proud of the Greens in the last coalition but the odds were so skewered against them...) but to make this shorter (I could go on and on 😆) if you wish to use this rambunctious rambling of mine as a quote (it is after all just the result of an emotional, political outburst) then I can only slightly blush ☺️ and say: yes, that would be great -😊 to be heard. Thank you very much!!!
The only reason the EU or germany will remove any debt brake is for the War On Russia.
Or rather Russia’s war on Europe
Do tell us about the Russian munitions hitting germany.
Why limit it to munitions? And not include misinformation, spying, undersea cable mischief, the tomfoolery with gas while NS was still running.
Munitions themselves are an act of war. As was the US' destruction of NS.
Well, plenty of european leaders have made it plain that they seek the destruction and subjugation of Russia.
The pivot that needs to be made is the same one as the old Eisenhower "Defense Highways." Invest in infrastructure for the military. Invest in education for the military. Invest in healthcare for the military. Invest in cultural programs that relieve tensions for the military. It's not hard to talk like this, it just takes a minimal level of political savvy, something surprisingly lacking in leadership across the Western world right now.
Germany and really Europe as a whole seems to think that debt is an optional choice, not a critical requirement in an ever changing world. A business that doesn't invest in itself during times of flux is simply outcompeted. Similarly, a country that does nothing but try to make itself an attractive place to park wealth will surely fall behind countries that are willing to claw money back from the ultrawealthy and sink it into their competitive edge. Also, it's stratospherically naive to think that just because you lower taxes on the wealthiest, that they will in turn reinvest that wealth in any positive way. As we've seen in America, you give the rich an inch and they will invest in corrupting the media landscape, store their money offshore anyways, and gut the country regardless. Oligarchy is a self fulfilling situation.
Ich habe sehr selten einen so guten Artikel gelesen, der die politische Landschaft der Bundesrepublik klar und bündig beschreibt und damit die Probleme des Landes beleuchtet.
Great article – Thank you !
Sure! Remember the Second World War? After the bloodbath that was the first half of the last century, the victors wisely decided to prevent reoccurrences by proclaiming National borders were inviolate. Good idea, no? An autocracy has brutally invaded a sovereign democracy in Europe. Sound familiar? If the founding principle of the UN Charter is dead, so are we.
Do you know how many national borders have changed since WWII?
You mean by force? Explain to me why you seem to support Putin’s invasion of a sovereign free nation? While you are at it, present any evidence that EU nations have in any way threatened Russia.
Yes, by force: Serbia's, Sudan's, Morocco's (addition of West Sahara), never mind Israel... All due to US interference.
US has threatened Russia with the promise to install missiles in Ukraine (Blinken to Lavrov in Jan 2022). The only thing left for debate was the number of missiles. What do you think triggered the Russian attack?!
Yes, child, borders have chanbged by force. And have you listened to, for example, the leaders of the various Baltic satrapies calling for the breakup of Russia?
The idea that Ukraine was free or soverdign is a joke. I suppose you'll tell me that East Germany was sovereign or South Vietnam, or, since we're talking about post WWII changes of borders by force, the "Republic of Northern Cyprus".
Of course, if "free and sovereign" Ukraine really wanted to avoid war, they could have simply complied with Minsk-2, after immediately breaking the original Minsk Accord at American command.
Well finster, you should be able to tell from my picture that I am an adult, just like I can tell from yours that you are a cat. If you think Putin is the good guy trashing his neighbor then I suggest you lay off the catnip.
Thank you for confirming that you have nothing substantive to add.
Meow!
atomwaffen?ja,danke
I’m a citizen of the country that developed atomic weapons for use against Nazi Germany. Lucky for the German people Hitler. didn’t come up with that wunderwaffen. Not so lucky for the empire of Japan. Lucky for the rest of us nuclear deterrence has prevented further use of these weapons since. Are you really implying that stopping Russia from starting a full on war in Europe will lead to a nuclear war? I would argue that NOT stopping aggression would make us a lot less secure, especially since abandonment of the UN charter will lead to nuclear proliferation as every smaller country would race to nuke up.
Aren't there any CDU and SPD deputies, outgoing or not, who would object to such maneuvering on principle?
Speaking of democracy, now do Romania...
Although Tooze seems to imply that there is something undemocratic about jamming the changes to the debt brake through a lame duck parliament, a recent poll shows that 55 percent of Germans think the debt brake should be reformed to allow Berlin to raise more debt to finance higher investment spending or be cancelled all together, and only 41 percent want to keep the debt brake unchanged.
Sounds like the Greens have quite a lot of leverage to "green" the proposed borrow and spend/invest provisions. Let's hope they use it.
Tacit acknowledgement of MMT coming in europe this decade ?