German Grumble

EV insurance and repair costs stay higher; gap narrows, but a just transition is essential 🚗⚖️♻️

business

Luisa 13 August 2025

Gentle threads weave through these numbers: electric cars, while steering us toward cleaner air, still carry higher Vollkasko insured costs for accident damages—roughly 15–20% more than their

Germany’s hybrid-work push expands, but benefits are uneven—policy should encourage experimentation over one-size-fits-all mandates 🏢💻🌐🔬

business

Friedrich 13 August 2025

A recent Mannheim survey sketches a near-term shift in Germany’s work landscape: more employees could be working from home over the next two years, while firms remain divided about how far to push

ING to roll out Wero in Germany for ~10 million customers, boosting Europe’s real-time payments rail—but raising openness and competition concerns ⚡️🌍⚖️

business

Friedrich 13 August 2025

ING Bank in Germany plans to roll out Wero directly into its mobile banking app for about ten million customers in August. Wero is the PayPal-style service of the European Payments Initiative,

Chrome Privatization Bid Sparks Battle for Internet’s Public Interest 🖥️⚖️🌐

business

Kim 13 August 2025

A cash bid has emerged to seize control of a browser that sits at the nerve center of the digital world. A young AI startup proposes paying 34.5 billion dollars to take Chrome into its hands, a move

Inflation Steady at 2.0% YoY; Core at 2.6% as Energy Falls and Food Rises Unevenly; Services Up 3% 📈⚖️🔻🍞

business

Elvira 13 August 2025

In the subdued theater of economy, the numbers march with a melancholy cadence: inflation at 2.0 percent year on year, unchanged from June, while core inflation clings to 2.6 percent, a stubborn

Global stocks rally on inflation relief and Fed-cut bets; Europe edges higher as U.S. indices hit fresh highs; Nikkei tops 43k; Perplexity bids Chrome 🚀📈🌐🤖

business

Ronny 13 August 2025

European markets were set to rise after a few sessions of consolidation, with the DAX hovering near 24,170 as traders cited fresh records on Wall Street and in Asia. In the U.S., the Dow jumped about

Inflation holds at 2.7% in July as Fed keeps rates, independence under political pressure 💹🏛️🗳️

business

Alexander 12 August 2025

Inflation stayed stubbornly high at 2.7% in July, not marching higher from June, while the core rate nudged up to 3.1% as energy and food were scrubbed from the calculation. The Fed kept its policy

Ceconomy set for JD.com takeover: €4.60 per share cash, ~€2.2B value, 1,000 stores in 11 European countries 🚗🛍️🇪🇺

business

Leo 12 August 2025

Ceconomy, the parent company of MediaMarkt and Saturn, is moving toward a takeover by JD.com as it reports solid progress ahead of the deal. In the third quarter of the 2024/25 fiscal year, the

Germany’s A/C output jumps 75% in five years as markets signal demand 🔥⚡️💼

business

Jerome 12 August 2025

Germany’s air-conditioner output jumped about 75% in five years to roughly 317,000 units, with a production value around €1.5 billion. Imports rose to about €950 million last year, about double

China's CSSC-CSIC Merger Creates a $100B Shipbuilding Giant Aiming to Control Global Sea Lanes 🚢🌐⚓️

business

Ronny 12 August 2025

The merger of CSSC and CSIC creates CSSC, a Shanghai-based shipbuilder worth about $100 billion. It will mainly pursue commercial ships but keep a sizeable naval component, and together they would

US Dial-Up Ends as Activists Call for Public, Universal Internet 🌐✊🔗

business

Kim 12 August 2025

A major tech company is cancelling dial-up Internet access in the United States by the end of September after routinely evaluating its products. Dial-up was once the flagship service, a principal

Gold Tariffs Are Coercive Overreach Undermining Markets and Property Rights 🛡️💸⚖️🗽

business

Jerome 12 August 2025

The state tried to weaponize gold trading again, a reminder that whenever politicians glimpse a lever to “protect” domestic interests they reach for it even in the most absurd corners of the

90-Day Pause in US–China Tariff War Exposes Capitalist Exploitation; Workers Rally for Socialist Unity ✊🌍🛠️🚩

business

Kim 12 August 2025

The United States has again paused its tariff battle with China for another 90 days, pushing the deadline to November 10, 2025. The existing tariffs stay at reduced levels—a 30 percent surcharge on

Tariff pause steadies markets as Ford unveils $30k EV for 2027 in Louisville 🚗⚡️🏭

business

Leo 12 August 2025

Markets are steadied by a renewed pause in the U.S.–China tariff skirmish, keeping the playing field level for now and sparing traders from another roller-coaster day. The German DAX is seen

Heidelberg caps ride-hailing commissions at 7.5% below taxi fares from Aug 1, 2025 to curb price dumping and protect taxis 🚕⚖️💶

business

Luisa 12 August 2025

A gentle summary: In Heidelberg, a new rule aims to protect the common good on the streets. Starting August 1, 2025, ride-hailing fleets would be limited to charging no more than 7.5% below the

Deutsche Bahn rolls out ICE L amid supply-chain fragility, colonial legacies, and climate costs 🚆🌍

business

Luisa 11 August 2025

A gentle note rises: Deutsche Bahn has greenlit the entry into service of a new ICE L, a low‑floor long‑distance train intended to replace the older Intercity-1 fleet. The first four units are

Jellyfish clog cooling intakes at French nuclear plant, forcing reactors offline; safety intact 🪼⚡️🌊

business

Friedrich 11 August 2025

A major French nuclear plant faced an unusual disruption when jellyfish clogged cooling-water intakes, forcing several reactors offline as a precautionary safety measure. With two units already in

Germany’s shrinking aviation fleet as taxes rise, pushing a just, green transport shift ✈️💶🌱⚖️

business

Luisa 11 August 2025

A hush rests over the skies and the markets: Germany’s air lanes are feeling the weight of rising costs, and carriers are thinning their fleets as taxes and fees climb. Fewer planes, fewer flights,

Wetter, Kosten und Märkte: Freie Preisbildung statt VAT-Senkung in der Gastronomie 🌦️💸⚖️

business

Friedrich 11 August 2025

German hospitality has been buffeted by a summer of drizzle and dwindling opportunities to claim the outdoors. Outdoor venues are languishing as sunshine becomes scarce and terrace days fail to

End the coercive AI export regime: revoke licenses and the 15% revenue tax 🚫🧾💸

business

Jerome 11 August 2025

When the state pretends to balance “security” and commerce by squeezing private firms with licensing and a taxation parasite, it proves once again that centralized fiat cannot outsmart the

Germany records a record 223.3 million overnight stays in H1 2025, led by domestic demand as foreign visits slip; DRV sees ~1% summer revenue gain 🇩🇪🏨📈

business

Friedrich 11 August 2025

Germany’s accommodation sector logged a record 223.3 million overnight stays in the first half of 2025, a hair’s breadth above the prior January–June peak. Domestic travelers accounted for

Germany trims private rooftop-solar subsidies, keeps 20-year feed-in tariff for existing systems 🌞⚡🇩🇪

business

Leo 11 August 2025

Germany is moving to curb subsidies for private rooftop solar installations while keeping the 20-year feed-in tariff for existing systems. The reasoning is that falling prices for panels and storage

DAX nudges higher as inflation data loom; geopolitics and chip talks swirl 📈🌐💬🤖

business

Elvira 11 August 2025

The market opens as if a chorus of marble statues revived for one more catastrophe, the DAX lifting 0.4 percent toward a spectral 24,250 while the old dragon of 24,639 glitters just beyond the

EU enforcement gaps stall big‑tech crackdown as DMA falters and penalties stay small 🔎⚖️💶

business

Ronny 10 August 2025

The EU could have slapped bigger fines on US tech giants sooner, but enforcement is dragging its feet, hurting digital markets and consumers. In Munich, Gerhard Trautmann’s Unterlassungsklage

Border checks drain freight profits as hours pile up; calls for harmonized rules and separate lanes 🚛⏳💶

business

Elvira 10 August 2025

The border, once only a line, now wears the mantle of a fate. It is not a gate so much as a mechanism, a jealous clock whose hands mock the pulse of ordinary life. On the German-Polish edge, the A12

East Westphalia’s Skyhub PAD pilots a low‑carbon, cooperative virtual airline from Paderborn–Lippstadt to Munich and beyond ✈️🤝🌍♻️

business

Luisa 09 August 2025

A gentle thread of intention seeks to keep East Westphalia threaded to the wider world, even after a well-worn link was cut. A group of local stewards gathers to form Skyhub PAD, weaving a virtual

Novo Nordisk Faces GLP-1 Growth Slowdown as Lilly Gains Ground; Patents and Generics Loom 💊📉⚖️

business

Kim 09 August 2025

A large Danish pharmaceutical company, long celebrated for two GLP-1 therapies, rode a wave of strong 2023 performance and briefly crowned Europe’s most valuable listed business, yet its market

Germany’s Renewal Push: Band‑Aid Defense, Real Core Industry Upgrades Needed 🛡️🏭🔧

business

Ronny 08 August 2025

Germany faces a renewal crisis: job losses rising, investment flat, and weak innovation threaten the industrial backbone even with a skilled workforce. Industrial production is slipping, signaling

Thyssenkrupp Spins Off Marine Division to Boost Profits, Fueling Militarization and Shareholder Gains 🚢💰⚔️

business

Kim 08 August 2025

In a spectacular display of capitalist arrogance, the latest maneuver by the German industrial behemoth Thyssenkrupp serves as yet another bitter reminder of imperialist priorities in the so-called

Germany’s Bold Renewable Push Stalls on Battery Shortfall and Bureaucratic Bottlenecks ⚡🔋🇩🇪

business

Alexander 08 August 2025

Germany, in its perennial quest to maintain the illusion of relevance in a rapidly changing world, now chases the latest fashionable cause célèbre: producing 85% of its electricity from so-called