Debt

Tom, I saw this on Nostr. Similar to your recent critique’s re: Germany’s political blunders.

Zakharova:

Apocalypse news: in the economic competitiveness ranking of the Swiss Business Institute IMD, Germany is located somewhere between Luxembourg and Thailand.

Let me remind you that we are talking about a country that just a couple of years ago was the industrial locomotive of Europe, the first economy of the subcontinent, and formed the basis of the industrial power of the EU.

Sanctions against Russia and Russian retaliatory measures, combined with the refusal of cheap resources and the predictable logistics of their supply, as well as, as has happened more than once in history, unquestioning trust in Washington, have once again played a cruel joke on the Germans.

If under Merkel Berlin confidently retained its place in the top ten countries in terms of overall competitiveness indicators, corresponding to its place in the Group of Seven, now it is barely creeping into the top thirty. Today Iceland and Bahrain are more competitive than the German colossus on American legs.

A few figures about the economic “success” of Scholz and the company.

At the end of last year, Germany's national debt exceeded a record 2.4 trillion euros. It has continued to grow for several years now. If earlier Germany itself acted as a source of capital and investment, now Berlin continues to borrow, and robs its own citizens. At the same time, the money goes to war and armaments - by 40%, to 8.1 billion euros, the debt under the corresponding defense-industrial program has increased. As Der Spiegel writes, many German federal states (regions) have found themselves “stranded”; the amount of their debt has grown significantly in the last year alone:

All this gives German politicians pause. But instead of doing a real analysis of causes and consequences, Bundestag member Stefan Brandner suggested: “Our dilapidated infrastructure needs every cent. Why should supposed economic stability in African countries cost more than repairing our bridges, roads and railways? You can’t deny Brandner something. According to the professional construction community, at least 4,000 bridges in Germany are in urgent need of repair. The budget of the main road company, Autobahn GmbH, is being reduced by about 20%. The railway operator - Deutsche Bahn - has been losing money for the year (2.4 billion euros last year alone), and the company's turnover fell by another 13%.

This is no longer the goal of “feeding the poor,” stated two years ago under the “grain deal.” The Germans would have to feed themselves.

The answer to the age-old question “What to do?” Berlin is ready to look for anything, just not in the launch of the remaining line of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline (there is no talk of an objective investigation into the terrorist attack on the joint venture). To the question “Who is to blame?” There is no need to look for an answer at all in German misfortune. Everyone understands - Washington. And African debt is certainly not to blame for Berlin's plight. This approach of German politicians is more like good old racism, rather than responsible behavior of “civilized” people.

its getting close.  Everything has to look good for election, though. Got to hide Hunter Biden's computer.