FT.com / World - German unemployment falls sharply
German unemployment falls sharply
By Bertrand Benoit in Berlin
Published: January 31 2008 11:06 | Last updated: January 31 2008 11:06
The German economy continued to create jobs at a brisk rate in January, according to fresh statistics released by the Federal Labour Agency on Thursday showing a seasonally adjust fall of 89,000 in the number of jobseekers.
The drop was more than twice as large as economists had anticipated. According to internationally comparable figures, which were only available for December, the unemployment rate in Germany stood at 8.1 per cent last month, with a total of 3.52m jobseekers.
Separate figures from the Federal Statistical Office, which also lag a month behind the national unemployment data, showed 30,000 new jobs had been created last month.
The Labour Agency said the healthy figures might have been flattered by the relatively mild weather and a change in benefits for the short-term unemployed, which could lead to an upwards correction in unemployment figures in the coming months.
“This is nonetheless a strong report as indicated by the continuing strong growth in employment,” said Dirk Schumacher, economist at Goldman Sachs. “From December 2007 to 2008, more than half a million jobs were created.”
While they underline the resilience of Europe’s largest economy in the face of a more challenging environment at the end of last year, the unemployment statistics are backward-looking in nature as hiring and firing decisions by companies lag behind developments in the business cycle.
The absence of a rebound in domestic consumption – as evidenced by weak retail sales figures also released on Thursday – despite the robust health of the labour market has left economists perplex and may reflect widespread concern among consumers about the relatively high rate of inflation.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Bund - Politik - FAZ.NET - Ernennung Hitlers zum Reichskanzler: „Menetekel für die Risiken einer freiheitlich verfassten Gesellschaft“
Bund - Politik - FAZ.NET - Ernennung Hitlers zum Reichskanzler: „Menetekel für die Risiken einer freiheitlich verfassten Gesellschaft“
30. Januar 2008 Bundestagspräsident Norbert Lammert (CDU) hat am 75. Jahrestag der Ernennung Adolf Hitlers zum Reichskanzler zu aktivem Engagement für die Demokratie und Wachsamkeit im Kampf gegen politischen Extremismus aufgerufen.
30. Januar 2008 Bundestagspräsident Norbert Lammert (CDU) hat am 75. Jahrestag der Ernennung Adolf Hitlers zum Reichskanzler zu aktivem Engagement für die Demokratie und Wachsamkeit im Kampf gegen politischen Extremismus aufgerufen.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Nach den Landtagswahlen Die Linke im Praxistest - Wirtschaft - sueddeutsche.de
Nach den Landtagswahlen Die Linke im Praxistest - Wirtschaft - sueddeutsche.de
Der Wahlerfolg der Linken in Niedersachsen und Hessen alarmiert die Wirtschaft - sie bangt um Wachstum und Beschäftigung. In Berlin hat sich die Partei bereits dem wirtschaftspolitischen Praxistest unterzogen.
Von Philip Grassmann
Der Wahlerfolg der Linken in Niedersachsen und Hessen alarmiert die Wirtschaft - sie bangt um Wachstum und Beschäftigung. In Berlin hat sich die Partei bereits dem wirtschaftspolitischen Praxistest unterzogen.
Von Philip Grassmann
Landtagswahlen 2008 - Politik - FAZ.NET - Nach der Wahl in Hessen: Alle Staatsgewalt geht von der Zeit aus
Landtagswahlen 2008 - Politik - FAZ.NET - Nach der Wahl in Hessen: Alle Staatsgewalt geht von der Zeit aus
29. Januar 2008 Der Pulverdampf des hart geführten hessischen Wahlkampfs verraucht seit Sonntag langsam, aber die Kombattanten beider Lager sitzen immer noch in ihren Schützengräben. Doch immerhin werden nun erste Gesprächssignale gesendet, um einen Ausweg aus der Patt-Situation zwischen Rot-Grün und Schwarz-Gelb zu finden.
29. Januar 2008 Der Pulverdampf des hart geführten hessischen Wahlkampfs verraucht seit Sonntag langsam, aber die Kombattanten beider Lager sitzen immer noch in ihren Schützengräben. Doch immerhin werden nun erste Gesprächssignale gesendet, um einen Ausweg aus der Patt-Situation zwischen Rot-Grün und Schwarz-Gelb zu finden.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Unternehmen - Wirtschaft - FAZ.NET - Mobiltelefone: Nokia steigert Gewinn um 67 Prozent
Unternehmen - Wirtschaft - FAZ.NET - Mobiltelefone: Nokia steigert Gewinn um 67 Prozent
24. Januar 2008 Der finnische Nokia-Konzern hat seine Gewinne 2007 stark gesteigert und die Handy-Konkurrenten in allen Bereichen weit hinter sich gelassen. Wie das Unternehmen am Donnerstag in Helsinki mitteilte, stieg der Nettogewinn im vergangenen Jahr um 67 Prozent auf 7,2 Milliarden Euro.
24. Januar 2008 Der finnische Nokia-Konzern hat seine Gewinne 2007 stark gesteigert und die Handy-Konkurrenten in allen Bereichen weit hinter sich gelassen. Wie das Unternehmen am Donnerstag in Helsinki mitteilte, stieg der Nettogewinn im vergangenen Jahr um 67 Prozent auf 7,2 Milliarden Euro.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Hintergründe - Politik - FAZ.NET - Entsendegesetz: Bahnbranche soll Mindestlohn bekommen
Hintergründe - Politik - FAZ.NET - Entsendegesetz: Bahnbranche soll Mindestlohn bekommen
23. Januar 2008 Die Bahn-Tarifpartner liebäugeln mit einem Mindestlohn. Nach Informationen der F.A.Z. fordern die Bahngewerkschaften Transnet und GDBA eine solche Regelung jetzt im Schienenverkehr. Nach dem Beispiel der Postbranche soll auch die Bahnbranche in das Entsendegesetz aufgenommen werden. Dies haben die Vorstände beider Gewerkschaften in einer gemeinsamen Sitzung beschlossen, wie ein Transnet-Sprecher der F.A.Z. am Mittwoch in Berlin bestätigte. Motiv für den Vorstoß sei der wachsende Wettbewerbsdruck in der Branche, durch den sie zu einer Niedriglohnbranche zu werden drohe.
23. Januar 2008 Die Bahn-Tarifpartner liebäugeln mit einem Mindestlohn. Nach Informationen der F.A.Z. fordern die Bahngewerkschaften Transnet und GDBA eine solche Regelung jetzt im Schienenverkehr. Nach dem Beispiel der Postbranche soll auch die Bahnbranche in das Entsendegesetz aufgenommen werden. Dies haben die Vorstände beider Gewerkschaften in einer gemeinsamen Sitzung beschlossen, wie ein Transnet-Sprecher der F.A.Z. am Mittwoch in Berlin bestätigte. Motiv für den Vorstoß sei der wachsende Wettbewerbsdruck in der Branche, durch den sie zu einer Niedriglohnbranche zu werden drohe.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
FTD.de - Deutschland - Nachrichten - Fischer heizt den Grünen ein
FTD.de - Deutschland - Nachrichten - Fischer heizt den Grünen ein
Polit-Rentner Joschka Fischer hat sein Handwerk nicht verlernt. Bei Fischers einzigem Wahlkampfauftritt im Kurhaus von Wiesbaden toben die rund 1000 Grünen-Anhänger schon nach wenigen Minuten.
Polit-Rentner Joschka Fischer hat sein Handwerk nicht verlernt. Bei Fischers einzigem Wahlkampfauftritt im Kurhaus von Wiesbaden toben die rund 1000 Grünen-Anhänger schon nach wenigen Minuten.
Nokia-Spitze führt erstmals Gespräche mit Bochumer Betriebsräten - Job + Karriere - computerwoche.de
Nokia-Spitze führt erstmals Gespräche mit Bochumer Betriebsräten - Job + Karriere - computerwoche.de
Erstmals nach der Ankündigung der Werksschließung in Bochum vor rund einer Woche hat sich die Nokia-Führung in Finnland mit Betriebsräten des Standortes und IG Metall-Vertretern getroffen - allerdings ohne greifbare Ergebnisse.
Erstmals nach der Ankündigung der Werksschließung in Bochum vor rund einer Woche hat sich die Nokia-Führung in Finnland mit Betriebsräten des Standortes und IG Metall-Vertretern getroffen - allerdings ohne greifbare Ergebnisse.
Monday, January 21, 2008
FT.com / Home UK / UK - Germany steps up Nokia protests
FT.com / Home UK / UK - Germany steps up Nokia protests
Germany steps up Nokia protests
By Hugh Williamson in Berlin
Published: January 19 2008 02:00 | Last updated: January 19 2008 02:00
German politicians yesterday declared that they were ditching their Nokia mobile phones as anger grew over the Finnish company's decision to move a factory from Germany to Romania at the cost of 2,000 jobs.
Peer Steinbrück, finance minister, accused Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone maker, of "caravan capitalism" while a spokesman for Angela Merkel, the chancellor, said that she was expecting "more information" on Nokia's motives.
Many Germans appeared shocked at Nokia's announcement earlier this week that it was moving its plant from the western city of Bochum. The company has often been praised for keeping Germany's last mobile phone plant long after others shifted production abroad.
The agriculture minister, Horst Seehofer, said he was switching to another brand of phone "because I don't like the way they are doing this".
Economists, meanwhile, shook their heads at the fuss.
"The decision is not really surprising. said Christoph Schmidt, head of the RWI economic think-tank in Essen.
"It was a matter of time before this shift occurred. It's a necessary - but painful - adaptation process for Germany."
Christian Dreger of Berlin's DIW economic institute added: "Most producers of textiles and consumer electronics moved out of Germany to eastern Europe and elsewhere in the 1990s or before. Nokia's decision is completely understandable".
Nokia said labour costs in Romania were only a tenth of those in Germany.
Editorial Comment, Page 6
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
Germany steps up Nokia protests
By Hugh Williamson in Berlin
Published: January 19 2008 02:00 | Last updated: January 19 2008 02:00
German politicians yesterday declared that they were ditching their Nokia mobile phones as anger grew over the Finnish company's decision to move a factory from Germany to Romania at the cost of 2,000 jobs.
Peer Steinbrück, finance minister, accused Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone maker, of "caravan capitalism" while a spokesman for Angela Merkel, the chancellor, said that she was expecting "more information" on Nokia's motives.
Many Germans appeared shocked at Nokia's announcement earlier this week that it was moving its plant from the western city of Bochum. The company has often been praised for keeping Germany's last mobile phone plant long after others shifted production abroad.
The agriculture minister, Horst Seehofer, said he was switching to another brand of phone "because I don't like the way they are doing this".
Economists, meanwhile, shook their heads at the fuss.
"The decision is not really surprising. said Christoph Schmidt, head of the RWI economic think-tank in Essen.
"It was a matter of time before this shift occurred. It's a necessary - but painful - adaptation process for Germany."
Christian Dreger of Berlin's DIW economic institute added: "Most producers of textiles and consumer electronics moved out of Germany to eastern Europe and elsewhere in the 1990s or before. Nokia's decision is completely understandable".
Nokia said labour costs in Romania were only a tenth of those in Germany.
Editorial Comment, Page 6
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
FTD.de - IT+Telekommunikation - Nachrichten - Nokia ringt sich zu Gespräch durch
FTD.de - IT+Telekommunikation - Nachrichten - Nokia ringt sich zu Gespräch durch
Noch in dieser Woche wollen die Bundesregierung und die nordrhein-westfälische Landesregierung mit Topmanagern von Nokia verhandeln. Die Politiker wollen das Bochumer Werk des finnischen Handyherstellers doch noch retten.
Noch in dieser Woche wollen die Bundesregierung und die nordrhein-westfälische Landesregierung mit Topmanagern von Nokia verhandeln. Die Politiker wollen das Bochumer Werk des finnischen Handyherstellers doch noch retten.
FTD.de - Kommentare - Kommentar - Falsche Debatte über Nokia
FTD.de - Kommentare - Kommentar - Falsche Debatte über Nokia
Jürgen Rüttgers, der Ministerpräsident von Nordrhein-Westfalen, steckt in einem Dilemma. Er muss dem Volkszorn Ausdruck verleihen, den der finnische Nokia-Konzern mit der geplanten Schließung seiner Handy-Fertigung in Bochum entfacht hat.
Jürgen Rüttgers, der Ministerpräsident von Nordrhein-Westfalen, steckt in einem Dilemma. Er muss dem Volkszorn Ausdruck verleihen, den der finnische Nokia-Konzern mit der geplanten Schließung seiner Handy-Fertigung in Bochum entfacht hat.
FTD.de - Kommentare - Kommentar - Primitiver Populismus gegen Nokia
FTD.de - Kommentare - Kommentar - Primitiver Populismus gegen Nokia
Der Fall Nokia regt auf. Hilflos müssen Tausende Menschen mit ansehen, wie der finnische Konzern sein Werk in Bochum schließt. Doch jetzt handeln Politiker, entschlossen, beinhart und schnell - sie geben ihre Nokia-Handys zurück.
Der Fall Nokia regt auf. Hilflos müssen Tausende Menschen mit ansehen, wie der finnische Konzern sein Werk in Bochum schließt. Doch jetzt handeln Politiker, entschlossen, beinhart und schnell - sie geben ihre Nokia-Handys zurück.
FTD.de - Deutschland - Nachrichten - Deutsche bauen Nokia-Werk in Rumänien
FTD.de - Deutschland - Nachrichten - Deutsche bauen Nokia-Werk in Rumänien
Die politische Empörung über den finnischen Handyhersteller Nokia könnte sich noch vergrößern: Nokias neues Werk in Rumänien wird ausgerechnet von einem deutschen Unternehmen errichtet. Der Auftrag dafür wurde bereits im Sommer 2007 vergeben.
Die politische Empörung über den finnischen Handyhersteller Nokia könnte sich noch vergrößern: Nokias neues Werk in Rumänien wird ausgerechnet von einem deutschen Unternehmen errichtet. Der Auftrag dafür wurde bereits im Sommer 2007 vergeben.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
FT.com / Columnists / European View - Tragicomic tale of three German men in a boat
FT.com / Columnists / European View - Tragicomic tale of three German men in a boat
Tragicomic tale of three German men in a boat
By Paul Betts
Published: January 17 2008 00:17 | Last updated: January 17 2008 00:17
Jerome K. Jerome’s classic story Three Men in a Boat recounts the comic misadventures of three chums who set off on an eccentric rowing escapade up the Thames. It is quintessentially English.
But three of Germany’s top bosses may be feeling they are paddling in an equally unpredictable if somewhat more serious journey in the same boat.
The trio are: Hartmut Mehdorn, head of Deutsche Bahn, the German railways; Klaus Zumwinkel, Deutsche Post chief;, and René Obermann, chief executive of Deutsche Telekom. They all differ in management style and performance but share the task of turning former federal bureaucracies into competitive, profitable companies.
They also share a problem. The government remains their biggest shareholder and calls the shots, even though two have been privatised and the Bahn still hopes to be.
Mr Mehdorn has done a great job restructuring the railways and making them profitable. For the past decade he has been working towards the Bahn’s privatisation. He hopes to achieve this in the next 12 months but his ambitions could be derailed as a result of his temperamental character.
The Bahn has just agreed to give railway engine drivers an 11 per cent pay rise. It successfully negotiated a far more moderate 4.5 per cent increase with the rest of its workforce last year.
But the engine drivers, rather like airline pilots, put a gun to Mr Mehdorn’s head by holding out for 30 per cent. Mr Mehdorn is furious, all the more so because the Bahn’s other unions are clamouring for a similar increase.
Rather than quietly licking his wounds, Mr Mehdorn could not resist an outburst, warning that the Bahn would be forced to make massive job cuts to compensate for the wage rises. The transport minister immediately rapped him on the knuckles and said the Bahn had no need to cut jobs.
Sure, the latest wage concessions are hardly going to make the Bahn a more attractive privatisation prospect. But by provoking a public controversy with an impetuous slip of the tongue, Mr Mehdorn could delay privatisation for another decade.
Mr Zumwinkel may not have performed as impressively as Mr Mehdorn at the postal group but he has shown more political skill.
His main preoccupation has been to preserve Deutsche Post’s letter monopoly, which is threatened by the European Union’s decision to open up all national postal markets by 2011.
Mr Zumwinkel’s wheeze was to propose a high minimum wage for all postal workers to undermine his private sector competitors. Left-wing politicians in the grand coalition and unions were delighted and have since adopted the minimum wage idea as their own.
The wages move drove up his company’s share price. The trouble is that Mr Zumwinkel chose this moment to sell some of his options, picking up a sizeable windfall in the process. This provoked an inevitable public outcry, and the politicians were not amused. Mr Zumwinkel had to apologise publicly. He no longer looks so secure at the helm of the post office in spite of his clever ploy.
Mr Obermann, in contrast, has sought to keep himself out of the headlines, except for his liaison with a television chat show hostess. Although he has managed more successfully than his predecessors to keep the government at bay, he still needs its approval for the unpleasant medicine he must continue to administer in Deutsche Telekom’s domestic operations.
Among these is to persuade persuade Berlin to take back all those high-cost civil servants employed at DT, much as France Telecom has managed to do with Paris – and agree another 25,000-30,000 job cuts in the next four years as the company embraces an internet-based network.
With elections next year, let alone the gloomy economic outlook, life can only get more complicated for these three. So much so that they may be tempted to recall a remark by one of Jerome’s characters: “I don’t understand German myself.
“I learnt it at school, but forgot every word of it two years after I had left, and have felt much better ever since.”
Fasten your seat belts
It is that time of year when the world’s two big civil aircraft manufacturers, Boeing and Airbus, seek to upstage each other with statistics of how many new aircraft orders they have booked and how many airliners they have delivered the previous year.
Since they both command roughly 50 per cent of the market, the numbers competition is pretty meaningless. Boeing last year booked more net orders than Airbus, 1,413 versus 1,341, but Airbus booked more gross orders, 1,458 versus 1,423. As for deliveries, Airbus did better than the US group with 453 deliveries last year compared with 441.
What these numbers say is that airlines have continued to order a surprisingly high level of new aircraft. The question is: have they once again ordered more aircraft than they can chew? If so, fasten your seat belts. The cycle will turn and the bubble will soon burst in the sector.
european.view@ft.com
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
Tragicomic tale of three German men in a boat
By Paul Betts
Published: January 17 2008 00:17 | Last updated: January 17 2008 00:17
Jerome K. Jerome’s classic story Three Men in a Boat recounts the comic misadventures of three chums who set off on an eccentric rowing escapade up the Thames. It is quintessentially English.
But three of Germany’s top bosses may be feeling they are paddling in an equally unpredictable if somewhat more serious journey in the same boat.
The trio are: Hartmut Mehdorn, head of Deutsche Bahn, the German railways; Klaus Zumwinkel, Deutsche Post chief;, and René Obermann, chief executive of Deutsche Telekom. They all differ in management style and performance but share the task of turning former federal bureaucracies into competitive, profitable companies.
They also share a problem. The government remains their biggest shareholder and calls the shots, even though two have been privatised and the Bahn still hopes to be.
Mr Mehdorn has done a great job restructuring the railways and making them profitable. For the past decade he has been working towards the Bahn’s privatisation. He hopes to achieve this in the next 12 months but his ambitions could be derailed as a result of his temperamental character.
The Bahn has just agreed to give railway engine drivers an 11 per cent pay rise. It successfully negotiated a far more moderate 4.5 per cent increase with the rest of its workforce last year.
But the engine drivers, rather like airline pilots, put a gun to Mr Mehdorn’s head by holding out for 30 per cent. Mr Mehdorn is furious, all the more so because the Bahn’s other unions are clamouring for a similar increase.
Rather than quietly licking his wounds, Mr Mehdorn could not resist an outburst, warning that the Bahn would be forced to make massive job cuts to compensate for the wage rises. The transport minister immediately rapped him on the knuckles and said the Bahn had no need to cut jobs.
Sure, the latest wage concessions are hardly going to make the Bahn a more attractive privatisation prospect. But by provoking a public controversy with an impetuous slip of the tongue, Mr Mehdorn could delay privatisation for another decade.
Mr Zumwinkel may not have performed as impressively as Mr Mehdorn at the postal group but he has shown more political skill.
His main preoccupation has been to preserve Deutsche Post’s letter monopoly, which is threatened by the European Union’s decision to open up all national postal markets by 2011.
Mr Zumwinkel’s wheeze was to propose a high minimum wage for all postal workers to undermine his private sector competitors. Left-wing politicians in the grand coalition and unions were delighted and have since adopted the minimum wage idea as their own.
The wages move drove up his company’s share price. The trouble is that Mr Zumwinkel chose this moment to sell some of his options, picking up a sizeable windfall in the process. This provoked an inevitable public outcry, and the politicians were not amused. Mr Zumwinkel had to apologise publicly. He no longer looks so secure at the helm of the post office in spite of his clever ploy.
Mr Obermann, in contrast, has sought to keep himself out of the headlines, except for his liaison with a television chat show hostess. Although he has managed more successfully than his predecessors to keep the government at bay, he still needs its approval for the unpleasant medicine he must continue to administer in Deutsche Telekom’s domestic operations.
Among these is to persuade persuade Berlin to take back all those high-cost civil servants employed at DT, much as France Telecom has managed to do with Paris – and agree another 25,000-30,000 job cuts in the next four years as the company embraces an internet-based network.
With elections next year, let alone the gloomy economic outlook, life can only get more complicated for these three. So much so that they may be tempted to recall a remark by one of Jerome’s characters: “I don’t understand German myself.
“I learnt it at school, but forgot every word of it two years after I had left, and have felt much better ever since.”
Fasten your seat belts
It is that time of year when the world’s two big civil aircraft manufacturers, Boeing and Airbus, seek to upstage each other with statistics of how many new aircraft orders they have booked and how many airliners they have delivered the previous year.
Since they both command roughly 50 per cent of the market, the numbers competition is pretty meaningless. Boeing last year booked more net orders than Airbus, 1,413 versus 1,341, but Airbus booked more gross orders, 1,458 versus 1,423. As for deliveries, Airbus did better than the US group with 453 deliveries last year compared with 441.
What these numbers say is that airlines have continued to order a surprisingly high level of new aircraft. The question is: have they once again ordered more aircraft than they can chew? If so, fasten your seat belts. The cycle will turn and the bubble will soon burst in the sector.
european.view@ft.com
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
FT.com / Comment & analysis / Editorial comment - Germany grows
FT.com / Comment & analysis / Editorial comment - Germany grows
Germany grows
Published: January 17 2008 02:00 | Last updated: January 17 2008 02:00
Hard as it was to imagine during the 1990s, as unemployment soared and unification sucked money out of the federal coffers, Germany's budget is now balanced and the enduring virtues of its economic model are shining through. The progress has been impressive. The mistake would be to reverse or abandon important reforms.
The German state collected as much in tax as it spent in 2007. Despite doom-laden predictions of consumer woe, the rise in value-added tax at the start of 2007 has not only increased revenues, it has also produced a helpful structural shift towards indirect taxation. But more important was 2.5 per cent economic growth, which created 650,000 jobs. Corporate and income tax revenues went up; the cost of unemployment benefits went down.
The strengths of Germany's economy are once again on show. Highly productive workers in high-value industries that are helped, as well as threatened, by globalisation have produced strong export growth. Germany's famously cordial labour relations have made adjustment to low-cost competition easier than in other European countries.
Yet other reasons for today's recovery must be remembered. One is that a lengthy period of stagnation and low inflation has increased Germany's competitiveness within the eurozone. Another is the so-called Hartz I-IV labour market reforms in the last years of Gerhard Schröder's government. Two lessons about labour market reforms are sometimes forgotten: one is that they work, and the other is that the effects take time to show up.
The result is a German economy that is strong - an example to others in Europe, including the UK - but still vulnerable. It is vulnerable to a fall in external demand, whether due to the credit squeeze or a rising euro, that hits exports. Faster growth in consumer spending is needed to sustain expansion, and further labour market reform is needed to prevent unemployment surging again in a slowdown.
But the German economy's biggest vulnerabilities are complacency and coalition politics. Chancellor Angela Merkel's commitment to fiscal rigour is welcome. But the recent minimum wage specifically for the postal sector, which is already responsible for thousands of job losses, is not. Nor is the recent decision to lengthen the period that elderly jobseekers can spend on premium unemployment benefits. Germany is on the cusp of a sustained expansion that could make it one of the world's most admired economies once again. To throw that away through reluctance to reform would be a pity.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
Germany grows
Published: January 17 2008 02:00 | Last updated: January 17 2008 02:00
Hard as it was to imagine during the 1990s, as unemployment soared and unification sucked money out of the federal coffers, Germany's budget is now balanced and the enduring virtues of its economic model are shining through. The progress has been impressive. The mistake would be to reverse or abandon important reforms.
The German state collected as much in tax as it spent in 2007. Despite doom-laden predictions of consumer woe, the rise in value-added tax at the start of 2007 has not only increased revenues, it has also produced a helpful structural shift towards indirect taxation. But more important was 2.5 per cent economic growth, which created 650,000 jobs. Corporate and income tax revenues went up; the cost of unemployment benefits went down.
The strengths of Germany's economy are once again on show. Highly productive workers in high-value industries that are helped, as well as threatened, by globalisation have produced strong export growth. Germany's famously cordial labour relations have made adjustment to low-cost competition easier than in other European countries.
Yet other reasons for today's recovery must be remembered. One is that a lengthy period of stagnation and low inflation has increased Germany's competitiveness within the eurozone. Another is the so-called Hartz I-IV labour market reforms in the last years of Gerhard Schröder's government. Two lessons about labour market reforms are sometimes forgotten: one is that they work, and the other is that the effects take time to show up.
The result is a German economy that is strong - an example to others in Europe, including the UK - but still vulnerable. It is vulnerable to a fall in external demand, whether due to the credit squeeze or a rising euro, that hits exports. Faster growth in consumer spending is needed to sustain expansion, and further labour market reform is needed to prevent unemployment surging again in a slowdown.
But the German economy's biggest vulnerabilities are complacency and coalition politics. Chancellor Angela Merkel's commitment to fiscal rigour is welcome. But the recent minimum wage specifically for the postal sector, which is already responsible for thousands of job losses, is not. Nor is the recent decision to lengthen the period that elderly jobseekers can spend on premium unemployment benefits. Germany is on the cusp of a sustained expansion that could make it one of the world's most admired economies once again. To throw that away through reluctance to reform would be a pity.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
Nokia-Werksschließung Rüttgers ruft den mündigen Verbraucher an - Wirtschaft - sueddeutsche.de
Nokia-Werksschließung Rüttgers ruft den mündigen Verbraucher an - Wirtschaft - sueddeutsche.de
NRW-Ministerpräsident Rüttgers hat Nokia davor gewarnt, das Werk in Bochum dicht zu machen. Dies könne wirtschaftliche Auswirkungen haben. Die Menschen an Rhein und Ruhr hätten ein "gutes Gespür für Fairness und Gerechtigkeit".
NRW-Ministerpräsident Rüttgers hat Nokia davor gewarnt, das Werk in Bochum dicht zu machen. Dies könne wirtschaftliche Auswirkungen haben. Die Menschen an Rhein und Ruhr hätten ein "gutes Gespür für Fairness und Gerechtigkeit".
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Nokia verlässt Deutschland Wo die Sonne verstaubt - Wirtschaft - sueddeutsche.de
Nokia verlässt Deutschland Wo die Sonne verstaubt - Wirtschaft - sueddeutsche.de
Als der finnische Handybauer ins Ruhrgebiet kam, war das ein Erfolg für Bochum. Denn Nokia bot Arbeitsplätze, von denen Opel der Stadt nicht mehr genug geben konnte. Mit welchen Gefühlen Mitarbeiter des Bochumer Werks nach der Hiobsbotschaft zu kämpfen haben.
Als der finnische Handybauer ins Ruhrgebiet kam, war das ein Erfolg für Bochum. Denn Nokia bot Arbeitsplätze, von denen Opel der Stadt nicht mehr genug geben konnte. Mit welchen Gefühlen Mitarbeiter des Bochumer Werks nach der Hiobsbotschaft zu kämpfen haben.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
FT.com / Companies / Telecoms - Nokia to shift 2,300 German jobs to Romania
FT.com / Companies / Telecoms - Nokia to shift 2,300 German jobs to Romania
Nokia to shift 2,300 German jobs to Romania
By Robert Anderson in Stockholm and Hugh Williamson in Berlin
Published: January 15 2008 10:49 | Last updated: January 16 2008 01:47
Nokia, the world’s largest manufacturer of mobile phone handsets, is to close its German plant with the loss of up to 2,300 jobs and move production to Romania in one of the biggest one-off shifts of jobs from western to eastern Europe.
“Due to market changes and increasing requirements for cost-effectiveness, production of mobile devices in Germany is no longer feasible for Nokia,” said Veli Sundbäck, executive vice-president.
The closure of Bochum in North Rhine-Westphalia, planned for the middle of this year, demonstrates the cost pressures Nokia is under to hold operating margins as handset prices fall.
Nokia said last month that it would try to achieve operating margins in its new devices and services division of 20 per cent over the next one to two years.
In the first three quarters of last year Nokia, headed by chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, achieved an operating margin of 19 in the comparable units, even though the average selling price of its handsets fell to €82 ($122) in the third quarter from €90 in the second quarter.
Bochum’s closure illustrates the shift of manufacturing from western Europe to lower-cost countries in central and eastern Europe. Outside Finland – where Nokia makes high-end E-series and N-series handsets at Salo – the company will now only produce handsets in Europe in Komarom in Hungary and Cluj in Romania, where wages are one-tenth of those in Germany.
Mr Sundbäck said on Tuesday that Nokia had tried to reduce costs sufficiently to keep the plant open but had failed. “We are the last (mobile phone) producer to use Germany as a production base,” he said.
German trade unions said that they would fight the closure. Oliver Burkhard, regional head of the IG Metall engineering union, said that Bochum was being closed “not because it is making losses but because Nokia’s thirst for profits is not quenched”.
Christa Thoben, economics minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, said that Nokia had received €88m in subsidies for its Bochum plant and research projects and that the state would “hold Nokia responsible for the financial costs” of retraining and job-search programmes.
Nokia – which has been expanding production in emerging markets to cope with soaring demand there – said that Bochum required additional investments that would still not have made it competitive. The Finnish company will also sell its German automotive mobile products business and a software research unit.
Nokia’s new €60m plant in Romania will start production within the next two months with about 500 workers. It will eventually employ 3,500.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
Nokia to shift 2,300 German jobs to Romania
By Robert Anderson in Stockholm and Hugh Williamson in Berlin
Published: January 15 2008 10:49 | Last updated: January 16 2008 01:47
Nokia, the world’s largest manufacturer of mobile phone handsets, is to close its German plant with the loss of up to 2,300 jobs and move production to Romania in one of the biggest one-off shifts of jobs from western to eastern Europe.
“Due to market changes and increasing requirements for cost-effectiveness, production of mobile devices in Germany is no longer feasible for Nokia,” said Veli Sundbäck, executive vice-president.
The closure of Bochum in North Rhine-Westphalia, planned for the middle of this year, demonstrates the cost pressures Nokia is under to hold operating margins as handset prices fall.
Nokia said last month that it would try to achieve operating margins in its new devices and services division of 20 per cent over the next one to two years.
In the first three quarters of last year Nokia, headed by chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, achieved an operating margin of 19 in the comparable units, even though the average selling price of its handsets fell to €82 ($122) in the third quarter from €90 in the second quarter.
Bochum’s closure illustrates the shift of manufacturing from western Europe to lower-cost countries in central and eastern Europe. Outside Finland – where Nokia makes high-end E-series and N-series handsets at Salo – the company will now only produce handsets in Europe in Komarom in Hungary and Cluj in Romania, where wages are one-tenth of those in Germany.
Mr Sundbäck said on Tuesday that Nokia had tried to reduce costs sufficiently to keep the plant open but had failed. “We are the last (mobile phone) producer to use Germany as a production base,” he said.
German trade unions said that they would fight the closure. Oliver Burkhard, regional head of the IG Metall engineering union, said that Bochum was being closed “not because it is making losses but because Nokia’s thirst for profits is not quenched”.
Christa Thoben, economics minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, said that Nokia had received €88m in subsidies for its Bochum plant and research projects and that the state would “hold Nokia responsible for the financial costs” of retraining and job-search programmes.
Nokia – which has been expanding production in emerging markets to cope with soaring demand there – said that Bochum required additional investments that would still not have made it competitive. The Finnish company will also sell its German automotive mobile products business and a software research unit.
Nokia’s new €60m plant in Romania will start production within the next two months with about 500 workers. It will eventually employ 3,500.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
Monday, January 07, 2008
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