The Economist (September 6)
“Insurgents who want to smash the system often end up running it.” Europe’s hard right is a threat to the economy and leading or polling strong in Britain, France and Germany. “In Italy they are in power; in the Netherlands they briefly led a coalition; and in Poland in June their presidential candidate saw off the nominee from the centre. By 2027 the hard right could be in office in economies worth getting on for half of European GDP.” The best case scenario is ” stagnation, at worst a bond-market rout.”
Tags: Bond-market rout, Britain, Economy, Europe, European GDP, France, Germany, Hard right, Insurgents, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Polling, Power, Smash, Stagnation, Threat
Men’s Journal (July 1)
“For years, the U.S. has issued cautionary travel advisories to citizens heading overseas. But in a surprising twist, the roles have flipped. Several countries, including longtime allies like Australia, Canada, and the U.K., are now warning their citizens about traveling to the United States.” The warnings cite violence, mass shootings, detention, and other items. “Germany, France, Denmark, and Finland all issued warnings about new U.S. gender marker policies that may affect travelers who use ‘X’ or nonbinary identifiers.” Due in part to these warnings, the World Travel & Tourism Council is projecting a “$12.5 billion decline in international tourism revenue to the U.S. in 2025.”
Tags: $12.5 billion, Allies, Australia, Canada, Citizens, Denmark, Detention, Finland, France, Gender, Germany, Mass shootings, Nonbinary, Overseas, Travel advisories, U.K., U.S., Violence, Warnings
New York Times (June 30)
China now dominates “even clean energy industries the United States had once led. In 2008 the United States produced nearly half of the world’s polysilicon, a crucial material for solar panels. Today, China produces more than 90 percent. China’s auto industry is now widely seen as the most innovative in the world, besting the Japanese, the Germans and the Americans.”
Tags: Auto industry, China, Clean energy, Dominates, Germany, Innovative, Japan, Polysilicon, Solar panels, U.S.
Seeking Alpha (May 27)
“Japan has lost its status as the world’s top creditor nation for the first time in 34 years, even as the country has maintained a strong investment appetite abroad. While its overseas assets topped JPY 500T ($3.47T) for the first time ever in 2024, it still trailed Germany’s international investments,” which rose to JPY 569.65T ($3.96T).
Tags: 2024, 34 years, Germany, Investment appetite, Japan, JPY500T, JPY569.65T, Nation, Overseas assets, Status, Strong, Top creditor
IPE Real Assets (December Issue)
“There is now a virtual universal consensus amongst economists. The US has successfully navigated a soft landing and its growth outlook is the brightest of all the G7 economies. In December, the OECD published a forecast of 2.4% GDP growth for the US in 2025, versus 1.3% for the eurozone and just 0.7% for Germany. Some even suggest it is an underestimate.”
Tags: 2025, Consensus, Economists, eurozone, Forecast, G7 economies, GDP growth, Germany, Growth outlook, Navigated, OECD, Soft landing, U.S., Underestimate
Financial Times (October 10)
“Germany is facing its first two-year recession since the early 2000s as the government downgraded its 2024 growth forecast for the eurozone’s largest economy.” Hurdles have included “soaring inflation, high interest rates and energy costs driven higher by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine,” along with longer term “structural problems, such as Germany’s dire skills shortage, years of under-investment in infrastructure and excessive red tape.”
Tags: Economy, Energy costs, eurozone, Germany, Growth forecast, Hurdles, Inflation, Infrastructure, Interest rates, Recession, Russia, Skills shortage, Structural problems, Ukraine, Under-investment
Fortune (October 3)
“The boss of German carmaker Mercedes-Benz is bracing his company for a ‘Darwinian battle’ as Europe’s auto giants reel from falling demand and the onslaught of Chinese competitors.” CEO Ola Källenius and Mercedes-Benz are at “a pivotal moment of sink or swim.” As EV uptake slows in the Europe, “a similar demand glut in China and the emergence of cheap competitors from the region has left Europe’s carmakers fighting fires at home and overseas.”
Tags: Carmaker, CEO, China, Competitors, Darwinian battle, Europe, EVs, Falling demand, Germany, Glut, Källenius, Mercedes-Benz, Onslaught
The Guardian (September 1)
“Germany was once an economic model to emulate but its reliance on industries past their sell-by date is costing it dear.” The nation is increasingly “an analogue economy in a digital world.” Though “brutal,” the truth “is that Germany is no longer an appropriate role model for the UK (or indeed, any other country). It is a country where the threat to democracy posed by extremist parties is the result of economic failure.”
Tags: Analogue economy, Brutal, Democracy, Digital world, Economic failure, Economic model, Emulate, Extremist parties, Germany, Industries, Reliance, Threat, UK
New York Times (June 22)
“With billions of dollars in trade at stake, China and the European Union have agreed to engage in talks to try to resolve an escalating dispute over tariffs.” To block the threatened tariffs on electric vehicles, “Beijing would need to persuade a majority of European Union countries, representing at least 65 percent of the bloc’s population, to overrule the European Commission” and it is expected to strategically target Germany, France, Italy and other key countries.
Tags: China, Dispute, Escalating, EU, EVs, France, Germany, Overrule, Resolve, Target, Tariffs, Trade
Fortune (June 21)
“Nvidia became the world’s most valuable company” earlier this week. Moreover, Nvidia’s market cap of $3.35 trillion “single-handedly eclipses all of Europe’s stock markets in market capitalization.” According to Deutsche Bank, “the chipmaker’s valuation outstrips that of all listed stocks in Europe’s major business hubs—Germany, France, and the U.K.” Currently the “only markets whose listed shares are collectively larger than Nvidia’s are those of the U.S., India, China, and Japan”
Tags: $3.35 trillion, China, Chipmaker, Company, Deutsche Bank, Europe, France, Germany, India, Listed stocks, Market-cap, Nvidia, Outstrips, Stock markets, U.K., U.S., Valuable, Valuation
