The SPD, which was almost pushed aside a year ago, even pushed aside, can hardly keep up these days, to fill all the top positions that the republic offers an election winner. If the Greens do not discover that the next time the voters will run away if they have too little assertion power – if the “traffic light coalition” runs smoothly – then the party will be able to line up all in red.
Which brings us to Jens Weidmann, 53. After ten years he discovered that there are other jobs than at the highest German monetary authority. When I once portrayed the economist in his start-up phase, he was still full of optimism that he was working well with Mario Draghi, the then new President of the European Central Bank (ECB). Everything in the sense of the old German stability policy, without incurring a lot of debt.
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A “falcon” is a beautiful animal, it was said in the conversation – as opposed to “pigeons”, monetary policy hardliners are called “falcons”. As is well known, it turned out quite differently. In addition, the hope of becoming ECB President himself has recently vanished. All in all, Jens Weidmann has had a long “war of wear and tear” behind him, which he now ends long before the end of the contract in 2027 as a “lonely caller”.
In our cover story we unravel what constituted in the individual pasture man’s burden and pleasure.
- A clear separation of monetary and fiscal policy, as he envisions, is obviously a case for the museum in the Europe of crisis management, not for the mainstream.
- The concern is whether the PEPP pandemic emergency program will be extended beyond March 2022 in December – it offers the ECB very flexible opportunities to buy government bonds from debtor countries such as Italy.
- The risk of inflation – currently slightly over four percent in Germany – is underestimated, believes the Bundesbanker, who was leaving at the end of the year “for personal reasons”. Too much for that revolves around alleged deflationary risks.
A committed economist will not act as a counterbalance. Christian Lindner sees himself as a spiritual administrator – the FDP has a special responsibility, says the possible federal finance minister. One of the favorites for the Bundesbank job is ECB director Isabel Schnabel, 50. Arthur Schnitzler thinks of the Weidmann Decade: “In the end, only what we have done and lived – and not what we have longed for is what counts.”
Even worse than being stuck in a crisis is dealing badly with a crisis. Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Axel Springer, has to put up with questions. How did he react after the expulsion of the all too prominent “Bild” editor-in-chief Julian Reichelt?
Not in a conversation with another medium or in a press conference, but with a video message that was slogged down to the workforce, in the direction of: Traveled after dictation. It doesn’t matter that, according to the “New York Times”, women complained bitterly about the sex and fear climate at “Bild”. Instead of a “sorry” whisper comes from the informants:
“In the background, there were men who clearly organized the procedure,” it thunders – ex “Bild” people who wanted Reichelt to work. Yes, it was “a very threatening, sometimes almost blackmailing tone”. We experience “Axel against the rest of the world”. The victims are suddenly the “picture” makers and not the women exploited in the system. Conclusion: As the President of the Association of German Newspaper Publishers, Mathias Döpfner qualified with this video to be released from his duties.
The listed online payment service Paypal – currently valued at $ 320 billion – is facing a big deal. In the last few hours it has been leaked that you are looking very closely at Pinterest, a pin board for graphics and photographs on the Internet.
Apparently 70 dollars per share are under discussion, which means that the object of desire is valued at around 39 billion dollars. The stockbrokers quickly formed an opinion for whom such a deal would be good or bad: The Pinterest share gained 12.8 percent in the short term, while PayPal lost 4.9 percent.
The clock is ticking for the clammy Chinese real estate giant Evergrande. Yesterday, the management had to announce the failure of the emergency plan to sell 50.1 percent of the subsidiary Evergrande Property Service for 2.6 billion dollars to the smaller rival Hopson Development. The company, which has amassed $ 300 billion in debt, clearly lacks liquidity.
And at the end of this week there is an important deadline which, in the worst case, can push Evergrande into the abyss. There is definitely interest to be paid on a bond: the total is $ 83.5 million. If the bondholders are not satisfied, a formal default on payment would result. Then, if you will, there would be the phenomenon of collapsing new buildings.
And then there is the 101 year old show for the choice of “Miss France”facing tough resistance. A feminist group (“Osez le féminisme!”) And three failed applicants are suing the TV production company Endemol for discriminatory access rules. Reason: The “Miss France” participants are service providers and should therefore be protected from prejudice by French law. It is criticized that the candidates must have a minimum size and not be married or have children. Tattoos, hair extensions or smoking habits are also taboo. According to the regulations, women should best represent beauty and elegance.
The women’s rights activists complain that this competition has a negative impact on society as a whole. French fashion designer Coco Chanel once said: “We women need beauty so that men love us, stupidity so that we love men.”
I wish you a nice day with lovely people.
I warmly greet you
you
Hans-Jürgen Jakobs
Senior editor
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