German online weekly FOCUS writes Germany is turning into “Europe’s economic sick man” – due in large part to high energy prices and fierce environmental radicalism.
The German weekly reports how German industrial production has been falling, citing figures from the automotive, chemicals and pharmaceutical industries, all of which need large quantities of energy.
German industrial production in freefall
German economic output, now bordering on a recession, has been slowing down markedly since early 2018 and is now lagging behind the Eurozone average.
FOCUS cites a chart provided by Global Insight, Commerzbank-Research, which shows the 3-month moving average for industrial production, with 2015 equaling 100:
While the Eurozone industrial production has been holding steady since 2015, Germany has been falling since the end of 2017. Source: Global Insight, Commerzbank-Research.
The same trend is observed for the automotive industry. Car production by German automakers has been cut back domestically while the rest of Europe has seen greater car production by German automakers. Germany is no longer a production friendly location to do business.
High energy prices, hostile environmentalism taking a toll
FOCUS reports that the quality of Germany as a industry-friendly location “is deteriorating” and that the country has been “moving environmentally burdensome production” beyond its borders and notes how “German companies pay the highest electricity prices in Europe by a wide margin.”
“That particularly burdens the chemical industry,” FOCUS writes.
Under attack by radical environmentalism
Recently Germany has come under massive fire from a concerted campaign by environmental groups for not taking the fight against climate change seriously enough and moving too slowly in converting its energy supply to one that is green.
The Fridays for Future and Extinction Rebellion protests have been widespread in Germany and spooked politicians.
Sights on combustion engines and conventional power plants
Now the pressure is mounting to ban internal combustion engines altogether and to shut down the remaining nuclear power plants and to exit coal fired power. Analysts warn, however, that such power plant shutdowns will only make German electricity even more expensive, and make the country even less attractive as a place to do business.
German farmers block streets nationwide
Environmentalists and government regulators have also targeted agriculture in Germany. Today, farmers shut down streets in a nationwide protest and “are calling on Federal Ministers Klöckner and Schulze to discuss current agricultural and climate plans with them so they can have their say.”
Juggernaut Turkey
Already Europe is in turmoil as at times violent protests rage in Spain, France, Netherlands and Belgium. In addition, Britain is pressing ahead with its exit out of the European Union while millions of refugees threaten to make their way to Europe from the war-ravaged Middle East, Turkey and North Africa. Refugee camps in Italy and Greece are horrendously overfilled.
The last thing Europe needs now are more insane, industry-destroying, jobs-killing policies. Hard economic times, energy poverty and millions of refugees would lead to a highly explosive situation in Europe.
It’s time for Europe’s leaders to finally sober the hell up and admit their policies are naive pipe dreams.
I am not convinced those policies are merely naive pipe-dreams.
If you wished to wreck European civilisation, how might you do it differently?
stay tuned…US now leaving it up to Europe to defend themselves.
All this madness with catastrophic consequences to counteract a gas that as no discernable effect on the temperatures’ increase :
– see Murry Salby’s cross-correlation diagram (based on 40 years of satellite data temps and Mauna Loa CO2 concentrations measurements) which shows that it’s the global mean T that drives the CO2 concentration with a lag of 9-10 months, and that, looking at the left part of the diagram, if anything, there is a negative correlation between CO2 and global mean T … so that the CO2 acts as a negative feedback with respect to global mean T variations.
Not only there is no problem at all with the CO2, but this molecule is climate friendly 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g9WGcW_Z58
that Has …
“and to shut down the remaining nuclear power plants and to exit coal fired power. Analysts warn, however, that such power plant shutdowns will only make German electricity even more expensive, and make the country even less attractive as a place to do business.”
It is much worse than just the expense. Shutting down nuclear and coal would reduce inertia and governor controlled generation to physically unmanageable levels and the power will go off, with no way of doing a black start. Sheer destructive madness.
Or at least pay more, Pierre.
Whoever thought that Germans were such virtuous virtue signalers? 🙂
Is there anything that woman CAN’T screw up?
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/10/after-admitting-over-one-million-migrants-into-germany-merkel-admits-the-multicultural-society-has-failed/
The Germans are afraid that the ghost of Hitler still lurks in the German psyche, waiting to rise and seize power again. All it needs is a suitable host.
Right in the middle of this long awaited show of unrest, AKK (Defense Min.) proposes a “safe zone” in Syria without telling Maas (foreign Min.), or even Söder of the CSU nor Damascus. She does propose working with Russia, a major turnaround for her. She has been politely informed that the Bundeswehr has absolutely no spare capacity.
Meanwhile Ursula cannot complete her EU cabinet, and if she decides EU finance, it’s for sure Mark Carney’s Green Finance Initiative, and the end of industrial Germany.
Much better is to link up with China’s Belt and Road Initiative, think outside of the EU box.
As far as the EU “defending” itself – note very carefully EU Commissioner-elect Ursula van der Leyen’s outspoken talk of a European Defense Union, with out-of-Nato capability, meaning Africa, meaning Libya of course. Likely using refugees as an excuse. Has AKK’s “safe-zone” anything to do with this, I wonder?
There is a slight problem – it would be a Brussels chain-of-command invoking out-of-area deployments.
Add to that the other slight problem – Britain remains in exactly that Defense Union, despite Brexit.
So who needs the EU if a European Empire (Verhofstadt’s term) is in the making? It should last a 1000 years, again?
If Canada is an indicator, don’t expect any reversal in these policies.
If an insane policy isn’t working, it is only because you are not doing enough of it.
The Soviet Union lasted 75 years.
“Outlook Bleak”
At the moment, the way forward appears to be wind power.
Who makes the cement and steel for wind towers?
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