Crisis Leaves Britain Deeply Fractured

[scooterscot]

Der Spiegel, it's the daily wail Deutsch style. It's been a couple of year since I was in the UK, but really, are things improving or getting worse?

Economic Crisis and UKIP Leave Britain Deeply Divided - SPIEGEL ONLINE

[Troll]

Der Spiegel, it's the daily wail Deutsch style. It's been a couple of year since I was in the UK, but really, are things improving or getting worse?

Economic Crisis and UKIP Leave Britain Deeply Divided - SPIEGEL ONLINE

Fooked up beyond all recognition

[cojak]

A good, thoughtful article.

A bit over-simplified though. It said that the English were against Scottish independence; what it should have said was English politicians are against it.

Most of the the English population couldn't give a flying feck one way or the other (not that anyone has bothered to ask us, btw...)

[darmstadt]

Der Spiegel, it's the daily wail Deutsch style. It's been a couple of year since I was in the UK, but really, are things improving or getting worse?

Economic Crisis and UKIP Leave Britain Deeply Divided - SPIEGEL ONLINE

Not quite seeing as Der Spiegel is a weekly news magazine which is actually quite factual (has the biggest staff of fact checkers for a newspaper in the world.) It also investigates primarily politics and politicians at a slightly more intelligent level than the Mail which is why German politicians don't like it (Franz-Josef Strauß, a conservative called the journalists rats and the left wing Willy Brandt called it a tulip paper) having in its time brought down a number of them. It is a little bit different, maybe you're thinking of Die Stern (publishers of the Hitler Diaries?) Have a look at Titanic which is bit in the mould of Private Eye...

[sasguru]

Der Spiegel is a deeply sensationalist mag.
I remember the article they wrote before the Olympics, saying what a shambles it was going to be, how divided the populace were about holding it etc etc.
In reality one of the most successful Olympics of modern years in every way, with 3 volunteers for every 1 post.

They're right about the division of Britain though: it has split into the one of the richest parts of Europe, London and the home counties, and the rest. It's analogous to the split between West and East Germany.

[doodab]

Der Spiegel is a deeply sensationalist mag.
I remember the article they wrote before the Olympics, saying what a shambles it was going to be, how divided the populace were about holding it etc etc.
In reality one of the most successful Olympics of modern years in every way, with 3 volunteers for every 1 post.

They're right about the division of Britain though: it has split into the one of the richest parts of Europe, London and the home counties, and the rest. It's analogous to the split between West and East Germany.

Except the north south divide is somewhat more enduring than the Berlin wall.

[sasguru]

Except the north south divide is somewhat more enduring than the Berlin wall.

true.
I've noticed that the Germans are not as clever as they want to believe though*.
Most of their success in the last few years can be put down to wage freezes and the artifically low level of the Euro which is one factor in the Eruo crisis.
German manual skilled workers are not very well paid (although to be fair, their housing costs are low) and there is a debate in Germany about the level of poverty.
Also they seem to be as devoid of strategy as the UK is.
For example their insular and short-sighted energy policy (although that can be reversed).
Their lack of a clear vision and leadership for Europe - Merkel's policy seems to be just "muddle through", even if this has now resulted in 30's depression conditions for the PIIGS.
And Germany is about to suffer a demographic timebomb - in the next few years their workforce will be the reduced by the equivalent of the population of Bavaria. This will necessitate mass immigration to compensate. But Germany is not immigrant frendly especially in the rural areas where the Mittelstand are.
In any case, Germany will need to learn to become a country of immigration on a scale never before experienced.

*based on my annual visit to in-laws in Germany.

[Troll]

For example their insular and short-sighted energy policy (although that can be reversed).

Interesting that you say that as UK electricity prices almost twice as expensive as Germany within three years

[darmstadt]

true.
I've noticed that the Germans are not as clever as they want to believe though*.
Most of their success in the last few years can be put down to wage freezes and the artifically low level of the Euro which is one factor in the Eruo crisis.
German manual skilled workers are not very well paid (although to be fair, their housing costs are low) and there is a debate in Germany about the level of poverty.
Also they seem to be as devoid of strategy as the UK is.
For example their insular and short-sighted energy policy (although that can be reversed).
Their lack of a clear vision and leadership for Europe - Merkel's policy seems to be just "muddle through", even if this has now resulted in 30's depression conditions for the PIIGS.
And Germany is about to suffer a demographic timebomb - in the next few years their workforce will be the reduced by the equivalent of the population of Bavaria. This will necessitate mass immigration to compensate. But Germany is not immigrant frendly especially in the rural areas where the Mittelstand are.
In any case, Germany will need to learn to become a country of immigration on a scale never before experienced.

*based on my annual visit to in-laws in Germany.

Like old Nigel?

As for the rest, somewhat true but:

Housing costs - not quite true, they're not low but it then depends where you live. The Ruhrpott will be cheaper than Munich but its still more expensive than the UK depending upon who's figures you use. Remember most people rent here, its not a nation of house owners. I pay a heck of a lot yet if I moved 30km I could get somewhere a lot larger for a lot less.

Immigrant friendly - well thats changing quite rapidly with many 'Mittelstand' companies now advertising for workers in Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal, etc. There is a concerted drive to employ people from these countries but yes, there is a real problem with the birth rate here. If you're interested, they make it nice and easy here: BAMF - Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge - Migration to Germany

Some more information:

The German Bundesbank central bank has released a detailed analysis of wealth distribution in Germany just weeks after a European Central Bank study found that Germans were on average poorer than their European neighbours.

The analysis, which looks at household and individual income, savings and debts by region, age group, profession and education, also briefly explores the discrepancy between the incomes of German and non-German residents.

Looking at average incomes, Germans earn €10,000 more than foreign nationals working here, taking home an average €44,000 a year as opposed to €34,000 for the average foreigner, wrote Die Welt newspaper on Saturday.

If the median (middle point of a set of numbers) is taken, the difference is even more apparent (€78,000 for Germans and €24,000 for foreigners).

This suggests, unsurprisingly perhaps, that not only are high paying jobs overwhelmingly in German hands, but that there are far more low-paid foreigners in the country than low-paid Germans.

Other findings further supported accepted wisdom about wealth concentration in Germany, with the richest people to be found in the south and west and the poorest in the east.

Seventy-three percent of all households own a car, for example, but in eastern Germany this figure drops to 61 percent and leaps up to 82 percent in the south.

Figures show that most of the south's privately-held wealth, however, appears to be tied up in property, which is also worth more there.

Yet in general, home-ownership remains much rarer in Germany than elsewhere in Europe and is a privilege reserved for the very rich. Whereas under half (44 percent) of Germans own their own home, this figure soars to 91 percent among the richest ten percent of the population.

Germans' lack of property is the biggest reason why they appear in European figures to be on average worse off than much of Europe, wrote the paper. By comparison, 83 percent of Spaniards own their own home.

[scooterscot]

Perhaps we'd be better staying out here. Then plan was always to return home to Edinburgh at some point, but the opportunity never seems to present itself.

We've already begun looking a schools for the little one out here (who already speaks more Deutsch than I do), buying a property becomes increasingly likely, which is probably on par with London prices but then annual turnover is about 1/3 or a 1/2 of our ideal home - remember those days? So yes Munich is expensive, but wages are on par if your skills are valued. There's so many things going for it, a good social network, not as transient as you might think. Could I give up beer gardens?

Using my 1st 25% Bahn-card, I visit clients in hanover and Vienna, usually €120 return trip. I look forward to the day when the ICE train pulls into London! (It'll probably be on time too :O)