ZeroHedge: German Government Collapses As Mass Strikes Grind Economy To A Halt

by Tyler Durden - Nov 07, 2024

"It's not a good day for the establishment. Just hours after Kamala Harris - and the Democrats - staggering loss which ushered in Trump as president for the third time and gave Republicans a sweep of Congress, Germany's three-party ruling coalition which had been on the verge of collapse for months, imploded on Wednesday evening after Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced he will fire Finance Minister Christian Lindner over persistent rifts on spending and economic reforms, a move that paves the way for a snap election at the end of March.

"The firing ejects Lindner's fiscally conservative Free Democratic Party (FDP) from the troubled coalition,..."

"The collapse of Germany's government came just hours after Donald Trump's clear win in the U.S. election, a result that stunned German political leaders, who depend on American military might for their country's defense and fear Trump's tariff policies will hobble German industry."

"...Scholz said he had offered Lindner a deal to create an emergency fund to aid Ukraine that would exist outside Germany's regular budget, but Lindner refused to participate in such fiscal gimmicks that saw the UK recently redefine the nature of "debt." "

German Government Collapses As Mass Strikes Grind Economy To A Halt https://t.co/e0SiOhFUei

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) November 7, 2024

"Lindner's recent policy paper, leaked to the media last week, called for tax cuts and a scaling back of climate policies in order to stimulate economic growth both positions that put the party at odds with his coalition partners." ** ZeroHedge bold **

"...The government crisis comes at the worst possible time: Trump's victory, which anticipates imposing significant tariffs on German exports, is expected to put heavy pressure on Europe's largest economy. An analysis from the German Economic Institute (IW) estimates that a new trade war could cost Germany 180 billion over Trump's four years in office.

"Many in Germany had hoped that the victory of Donald Trump in the U.S. election earlier in the day would force the coalition to hold together over fears that the incoming president would give Europe's biggest economy a hard ride, targeting its all-important car industry in a trade war.

Ultimately, however, not even the looming threat of Trump proved enough for the fractious parties to put aside their differences."

"...The mass strikes come as Volkswagen announced on Monday it would close "at least" three of its ten plants in Germany, lay off tens of thousands of staff and downsize remaining plants in the country.

"The German Association of the Automotive Industry warned last year that the country was "dramatically losing its international competitiveness" due to soaring energy costs."

The Green New Energy dreams meet reality. The Germans unfortunately really come off like educated idiots.

- their heavy industry demands reliable, modest energy prices / supply
- in September of 2022, an unknown entity blew up 3 of 4 Nordstream pipelines from Russia to Germany.
- writer Seymour Hersh claims the US blew up the pipelines; President Biden and Anthony Blinken made statements that seem to support that claim.
- in 2023, Germanh shut down their last three nuclear power plants (zero CO2), leading to more use of natural gas and lignite (coal)
- in 2021, energy prices increased by 10.4%.
- in 2022, energy prices increased by 34.7%, four times the overall inflation rate.
- heating oil increased by 87%
- natural gas increased by 64.8%

The comments section is telling.