A business that is “purely profit-oriented?”

April 26, 2026 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: Airlines, Berlin, Bureaucracy, Business, Germany, Profit, Regulation, Ryanair, Taxation, Taxes Leave a comment

Oh, the horror.

It sure is a good thing that German businesses are never run that way.

Ryanair to shut Berlin base as it blames rise in German aviation tax – Trade union criticises airline’s plan to halve passenger numbers to the city as ‘purely profit-oriented…’

“German aviation is broken. The government admits that it is uncompetitive, yet there is no strategy to cut aviation taxes or high airport fees – despite Ryanair warning that Germany would lose traffic, connectivity, jobs and trade.

“Since 2019, Ryanair has been forced to close its bases in Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and Stuttgart … in addition to stopping all flights to Dresden, Leipzig and Dortmund.” It said the closures had led to the loss of 13 aircraft from those bases.

The German trade union Verdi criticised Ryanair’s plans as a “purely profit-oriented corporate strategy”.

Now do highest taxes, highest energy costs, most bureaucracy…

April 23, 2026 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Helplessness Tags: Bureaucracy, Countries, Energy, France, Germany, Riches, Taxation, Wealth Leave a comment

Germany can’t be beat.

Richest countries in 2026: New measure of wealth pushes France and Germany out of top ten – Europe dominates global wealth rankings, but what it actually means to be a “rich country” depends heavily on how prosperity is measured and who benefits from it.

You can use any new measure you want, Germany will always be number one.

Gas prices are always higher here

April 10, 2026 By Hermann Observer in Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hard Facts, Hurt Feelings, Hideology Tags: Gas, Iran, Germany, Taxation, Energy, Regulation, War, Gasoline, Fuel Leave a comment

It’s the taxation, stupid.

Germany news: Gas price hike higher than other EU countries – Fueled by the Middle East war, German petrol prices have risen more sharply than in neighboring EU countries.

Crazy high energy costs, crippling taxation, ever-growing red tape, ineffective government…

August 4, 2025 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: Bureaucracy, Business, China, Costs, Energy, Germany, Industry, Production, Taxation Leave a comment

In Germany.

What’s not to like? This isn’t rocket science for businesses here. For businesses that are still here, I should say.

Germany’s biggest sports retailer considers moving production to China – Intersport eyes spare Chinese manufacturing capacity as Nike and Adidas back away from the country amid trade war.

One of the world’s largest sporting goods retailers is considering shifting production to China, just as brands including Nike and Adidas move production out of the country in response to US tariffs.

German of the day: Schattenwirtschaft

July 23, 2025 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: Black Market, Economy, German, Germans, Germany, Government, Language, Shadow Economy, Taxation Leave a comment

That means shadow or underground economy.

It’s a Volkssport (national pastime) here. Over-taxed Germans get even with the government any and every chance they get. See Schwarzarbeit.

German shadow economy booms amid high taxes and state aid – While Germany’s economy falters, the country is experiencing a rise in undeclared work. What role do taxes and generous state aid for the poor play in the surge?

The highest taxation in Europe…

June 28, 2025 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: Energy, Germans, Germany, Inflation, Salaries, Taxation, Wages Leave a comment

The highest healthcare and retirement costs, the highest energy costs, the highest regulation costs, then there’s the inflation, now the debt…

No, it’s a real mystery why Germans can’t afford to live on their wages anymore.

Why more Germans can’t afford life on their wages – German politicians are fond of saying, “Work must be worth it.” But ever more full-time workers need state benefits, and the new minimum wage hike is seen as disappointing.

Dogs are not “illegal!”

May 2, 2025 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: Berlin, Bureaucracy, Dogs, Germany, Government, Illegals, Microchips, Pets, Regulation, Taxation Leave a comment

Except in Berlin.

Lock ’em up. Toss ’em out. ICE, ICE, baby.

Half of pet dogs in Berlin kept illegally as owners ‘boycott’ registration rules – Microchip implant with data has been required since 2022 but policy is unpopular because of expense and nuisance.

“Free money”

April 15, 2025 By Hermann Observer in Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hypocrisy Tags: Communism, Employment, Experiments, Government, Income, Jobs, Redistribution, Socialism, Taxation, Theft, Waste Leave a comment

Brilliant. This is better than free lunch!

Why didn’t anyone ever think of this before?

Free money for all: Germany’s basic income experiment – One of the world’s most extensive studies on unconditional basic income was held in Germany. What does the experiment reveal?

… It is seen as a redistribution of wealth through taxes. In the activists’ calculation, Germany’s top earners — 10% of the population — would end up contributing a part of their income to everyone else. They estimate that 83% of the population would thereby have access to more money. The remaining 7% mid-earners would be unaffected by the redistribution scheme.

In times of rising populism, the basic income activists believe that this is a way to combat the population’s dissatisfaction due to wealth inequality.

Worry about the cost of living?

October 12, 2024 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: Business, Cost of Living, Costs, Fees, German, Germans, Germany, Inflation, Language, Regulations, Taxation, Taxes Leave a comment

Why should Germans worry about that?

Vater Staat (Father State) has everything under control. Wie immer (as usual).

Germans fear rising cost of living – Inflation, migration, expensive housing — these are the things that most people in Germany are worried about, according to the latest study “Germans’ Fears 2024.”

And tax breaks for skilled German workers?

July 10, 2024 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: Foreigners, German, Germany, Government, Language, Spending, Taxation, Taxes, Waste Leave a comment

Out of the question.

Wir sind doch nicht blöd (we aren’t stupid). Somebody has to pay for this.

Germany debates tax breaks for skilled foreign workers – The German government wants to grant skilled foreign workers a tax rebate if they take up employment in Germany. But the idea has been met with resistance.

Observing Hermann

“Was interessiert mich mein Geschwätz von gestern?”

Tag Archives: Taxation