FTD.de - Finanzdienstleister - Nachrichten - Experte rechnet mit Milliarden-Abschreibung bei Merrill Lynch
Der US-Investmentbank Merrill Lynch droht nach Ansicht eines Analysten von Goldman Sachs im dritten Quartal ein Verlust im Anleihegeschäft in Höhe von 1,5 Mrd. $. Schuld daran ist auch die Subprime-Krise.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
FTD.de - Deutschland - Nachrichten - Was in Deutschland teurer wird
FTD.de - Deutschland - Nachrichten - Was in Deutschland teurer wird
Nicht nur die niedrigen Nettolöhne schränken den finanziellen Spielraum vieler Bundesbürger ein. Die Ausgaben des täglichen Lebens steigen derzeit deutlich. Das gilt nicht nur fürs Einkaufen und Bahnfahren.
Nicht nur die niedrigen Nettolöhne schränken den finanziellen Spielraum vieler Bundesbürger ein. Die Ausgaben des täglichen Lebens steigen derzeit deutlich. Das gilt nicht nur fürs Einkaufen und Bahnfahren.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
FT.com / Companies / Europe - Berlin takes slow train
FT.com / Companies / Europe - Berlin takes slow train
Berlin takes slow train
By Paul Betts
Published: September 26 2007 03:00 | Last updated: September 26 2007 03:00
Deutsche Bahn set off towards privatisation a decade or so ago. It has been a long and tiring journey. But this summer it looked as if the German railway was reaching its destination when the cabinet approved the bill to sell off up to 49 per cent of the state company.
Yet like autumn leaves on the lines, politicians from left and right are creating obstructions that risk derailing the process.
Parliament has started debating the bill partially to privatise the train operator and giving it the right to operate the rail network, but the final vote will only take place next year.
Some socialist members of Angela Merkel's grand coalition are raising objections to the partial sale to institutional investors. They are suggesting that if the sale does take place it should be directed entirely to small German shareholders. They would be granted non-voting shares paying a hefty coupon. This would keep the railway firmly in state hands.
Some members of Ms Merkel's rightwing CDU party are rallying behind their leftwing coalition partners, for reasons of their own. They are not so much opposed to the partial sale, but do not like the idea of privatising the train operator as well as the rail network. The problem is that splitting the operator and the network, which would remain wholly state-owned, would make any sale difficult, given that what attracts international funds and infrastructure companies is the idea of investing in an integrated railway group.
A number of regions have joined the debate, making it clear they do not like the sell-off and will do all they can to block it.
Ms Merkel has so far remained on the fence. But she can hardly keep quiet over such an important policy decision designed to show Germany's free-market credentials. Allowing the politicians, after all these years, to sabotage this partial privatisation would send an uncomfortable signal to the international investment community and Germany's European partners.
It would make other future privatisations - the government's remaining 32 per cent in Deutsche Telekom, its 30 per cent stake in the post office, airports, eventually even motorways - more complicated. Worse, it would highlight the country's continued protectionist instincts and doubtless undermine Ms Merkel's own position.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Berlin takes slow train
By Paul Betts
Published: September 26 2007 03:00 | Last updated: September 26 2007 03:00
Deutsche Bahn set off towards privatisation a decade or so ago. It has been a long and tiring journey. But this summer it looked as if the German railway was reaching its destination when the cabinet approved the bill to sell off up to 49 per cent of the state company.
Yet like autumn leaves on the lines, politicians from left and right are creating obstructions that risk derailing the process.
Parliament has started debating the bill partially to privatise the train operator and giving it the right to operate the rail network, but the final vote will only take place next year.
Some socialist members of Angela Merkel's grand coalition are raising objections to the partial sale to institutional investors. They are suggesting that if the sale does take place it should be directed entirely to small German shareholders. They would be granted non-voting shares paying a hefty coupon. This would keep the railway firmly in state hands.
Some members of Ms Merkel's rightwing CDU party are rallying behind their leftwing coalition partners, for reasons of their own. They are not so much opposed to the partial sale, but do not like the idea of privatising the train operator as well as the rail network. The problem is that splitting the operator and the network, which would remain wholly state-owned, would make any sale difficult, given that what attracts international funds and infrastructure companies is the idea of investing in an integrated railway group.
A number of regions have joined the debate, making it clear they do not like the sell-off and will do all they can to block it.
Ms Merkel has so far remained on the fence. But she can hardly keep quiet over such an important policy decision designed to show Germany's free-market credentials. Allowing the politicians, after all these years, to sabotage this partial privatisation would send an uncomfortable signal to the international investment community and Germany's European partners.
It would make other future privatisations - the government's remaining 32 per cent in Deutsche Telekom, its 30 per cent stake in the post office, airports, eventually even motorways - more complicated. Worse, it would highlight the country's continued protectionist instincts and doubtless undermine Ms Merkel's own position.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
The Weimar Republic | The best and the worst | Economist.com
The Weimar Republic | The best and the worst | Economist.com
The Weimar Republic
The best and the worst
Sep 20th 2007
From The Economist print edition
Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy
By Eric D. Weitz
Princeton University Press; 448 pages; $29.95 and £17.95
Buy it at
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
NEARLY a century has passed but the Janus face of the Weimar Republic appals and attracts as much as ever. On the one side, hyperinflation, mass unemployment and political assassination; on the other, dazzling creativity in the arts and sciences—not to mention myriad forms of nightlife to suit every taste, however odd. It was indeed, as Dickens said of the French revolution, the best of times and the worst of times, the spring of hope and the winter of despair.
Did Germany's convulsive experiment with democracy between 1919 and 1933 ever stand a real chance? One might well think not. Born in chaos after the slaughter of a war lost through what many Germans wrongly construed as a “stab in the back”, the fledgling republic was hamstrung from the start. It concocted a “perfect” constitution that gave as much scope to its foes as to its friends, and it was saddled by vengeful victors with reparations demands that were all but impossible to meet. Towards the end of the republic's life, one-third of the labour force was jobless. When Hitler's matchless ability to tap resentment and hatred is added to this poisonous mix, Weimar's plunge into dictatorship looks to have been inevitable.
Or was it? The real wonder is not that Weimar failed but that it lasted as long as it did—longer, after all, than the 12 years of Hitler's “1,000-year Reich”. For a while, from 1924 when the currency was stabilised (or rather re-invented) and the economy recovered, it even seemed to be succeeding against all the odds. In the 1928 general election, extremists of left and right were trounced and the Nazis in particular were close to despair—until, that is, the Wall Street crash and subsequent depression gave them a new, finally decisive boost. Through all these peaks and troughs, writers and artists and composers and the rest, as though rightly aware time was not on their side, flung out one formidable modern classic after another.
The literature on Weimar is immense, but we could well do with a single, authoritative, jargon-free volume that pulls all the strands together. Eric Weitz, a professor at the University of Minnesota, has made a valiant stab at producing one, but he does not quite succeed. He is a reliable guide through Weimar's political and economic maze, and a good one on the social revolution that made many women (far from all) less dependent on husband, hearth and home. In one of his best chapters, Mr Weitz takes us on a ramble through the sleepless metropolis of 1920s Berlin: from the glittering cafés around Potsdamer Platz to Isherwood's cabarets and seedy bars, from the bracing beaches of Wannsee Lake to the dank and stifling dwellings of the workers' quarter, Wedding.
The author's touch is less sure when he turns to literature and music. Naturally Mr Weitz had to be selective: but does it, for instance, make sense to devote six pages alone to Thomas Mann's “Der Zauberberg” and next to nothing to the bitterly satirical work of Thomas's elder brother Heinrich, who better saw where Weimar was stumbling? No quarrels with the choice of the Brecht/Weill “Die Dreigroschenoper” as a Weimar work par excellence; but there is next to nothing on Schönberg (who spent 1925-33 in Berlin) nor on Berg or Krenek, nor on the Kroll Opera House, which under Klemperer and Zemlinsky presented Weimar's—perhaps the world's—most daring repertoire and stagings. Nor will fans of the peerless Berlin Philharmonic easily forgive Mr Weitz for identifying their orchestra as the (more lowly) Berlin Symphony.
More seriously, Mr Weitz's account badly lacks a context. We learn much about the (astonishing) development of social security under Weimar, about seething anti-Semitism and diplomatic blunders. What we lack is a scene-setting chapter explaining the background to all these things. Nor is enough sketched about life in other great European cities to explain what made Weimar unique. Were women less liberated in London, were artists less bold in Paris? Why was the political left bitterly split in Germany but not in Austria, which had lost not just a war but an empire?
Whatever the flaws, this remains an often gripping (and splendidly illustrated) work from which two main lessons can be drawn. One is how quickly democracy can slip away. In 1928 the Nazis won just 2.6% of the vote; five years later Hitler was in power. The other, which Mr Weitz rams home in his last pages, is how often democracy is under most threat not from enemies abroad but from those who use its institutions and claim to speak in its name. These lessons are hardly new. But they are well worth stressing at a time when, in the name of the fight against international terrorism, individual liberties in democratic societies are being steadily curtailed.
Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy
By Eric D. Weitz
Princeton University Press; 448 pages; $29.95 and £17.95
The Weimar Republic
The best and the worst
Sep 20th 2007
From The Economist print edition
Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy
By Eric D. Weitz
Princeton University Press; 448 pages; $29.95 and £17.95
Buy it at
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
NEARLY a century has passed but the Janus face of the Weimar Republic appals and attracts as much as ever. On the one side, hyperinflation, mass unemployment and political assassination; on the other, dazzling creativity in the arts and sciences—not to mention myriad forms of nightlife to suit every taste, however odd. It was indeed, as Dickens said of the French revolution, the best of times and the worst of times, the spring of hope and the winter of despair.
Did Germany's convulsive experiment with democracy between 1919 and 1933 ever stand a real chance? One might well think not. Born in chaos after the slaughter of a war lost through what many Germans wrongly construed as a “stab in the back”, the fledgling republic was hamstrung from the start. It concocted a “perfect” constitution that gave as much scope to its foes as to its friends, and it was saddled by vengeful victors with reparations demands that were all but impossible to meet. Towards the end of the republic's life, one-third of the labour force was jobless. When Hitler's matchless ability to tap resentment and hatred is added to this poisonous mix, Weimar's plunge into dictatorship looks to have been inevitable.
Or was it? The real wonder is not that Weimar failed but that it lasted as long as it did—longer, after all, than the 12 years of Hitler's “1,000-year Reich”. For a while, from 1924 when the currency was stabilised (or rather re-invented) and the economy recovered, it even seemed to be succeeding against all the odds. In the 1928 general election, extremists of left and right were trounced and the Nazis in particular were close to despair—until, that is, the Wall Street crash and subsequent depression gave them a new, finally decisive boost. Through all these peaks and troughs, writers and artists and composers and the rest, as though rightly aware time was not on their side, flung out one formidable modern classic after another.
The literature on Weimar is immense, but we could well do with a single, authoritative, jargon-free volume that pulls all the strands together. Eric Weitz, a professor at the University of Minnesota, has made a valiant stab at producing one, but he does not quite succeed. He is a reliable guide through Weimar's political and economic maze, and a good one on the social revolution that made many women (far from all) less dependent on husband, hearth and home. In one of his best chapters, Mr Weitz takes us on a ramble through the sleepless metropolis of 1920s Berlin: from the glittering cafés around Potsdamer Platz to Isherwood's cabarets and seedy bars, from the bracing beaches of Wannsee Lake to the dank and stifling dwellings of the workers' quarter, Wedding.
The author's touch is less sure when he turns to literature and music. Naturally Mr Weitz had to be selective: but does it, for instance, make sense to devote six pages alone to Thomas Mann's “Der Zauberberg” and next to nothing to the bitterly satirical work of Thomas's elder brother Heinrich, who better saw where Weimar was stumbling? No quarrels with the choice of the Brecht/Weill “Die Dreigroschenoper” as a Weimar work par excellence; but there is next to nothing on Schönberg (who spent 1925-33 in Berlin) nor on Berg or Krenek, nor on the Kroll Opera House, which under Klemperer and Zemlinsky presented Weimar's—perhaps the world's—most daring repertoire and stagings. Nor will fans of the peerless Berlin Philharmonic easily forgive Mr Weitz for identifying their orchestra as the (more lowly) Berlin Symphony.
More seriously, Mr Weitz's account badly lacks a context. We learn much about the (astonishing) development of social security under Weimar, about seething anti-Semitism and diplomatic blunders. What we lack is a scene-setting chapter explaining the background to all these things. Nor is enough sketched about life in other great European cities to explain what made Weimar unique. Were women less liberated in London, were artists less bold in Paris? Why was the political left bitterly split in Germany but not in Austria, which had lost not just a war but an empire?
Whatever the flaws, this remains an often gripping (and splendidly illustrated) work from which two main lessons can be drawn. One is how quickly democracy can slip away. In 1928 the Nazis won just 2.6% of the vote; five years later Hitler was in power. The other, which Mr Weitz rams home in his last pages, is how often democracy is under most threat not from enemies abroad but from those who use its institutions and claim to speak in its name. These lessons are hardly new. But they are well worth stressing at a time when, in the name of the fight against international terrorism, individual liberties in democratic societies are being steadily curtailed.
Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy
By Eric D. Weitz
Princeton University Press; 448 pages; $29.95 and £17.95
Monday, September 17, 2007
FT.com / Companies / US & Canada - Deutsche Telekom in $1.6bn US buy
FT.com / Companies / US & Canada - Deutsche Telekom in $1.6bn US buy
Deutsche Telekom in $1.6bn US buy
By Reuters, September 17
Deutsche Telekom’s mobile phone division T-Mobile USA has agreed to buy SunCom Wireless Holdings for about $1.6bn, the companies said on Monday.
Deutsche Telekom said in a statement it would also take on SunCom debt of almost $800m and it saw synergies from the transaction of about $1bn.
SunCom shareholders will receive $27 a share, a 22.7 per cent premium to Friday’s closing price, the companies said.
The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2008.
SunCom, founded in 1999, operates in the south-eastern US and in the Caribbean. It had more than 1.1m customers by the end of June and posted first-half revenue of $242.5m.
The acquisition will further enhance T-Mobile’s network coverage through the addition of SunCom’s markets and customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, Deutsche Telekom said.
”With the acquisition of SunCom, we will continue to implement our strategy to `grow abroad with mobile’, which is part of our overall group strategy,” said Rene Obermann, chief executive.
Mr Obermann said in March he would pursue acquisitions in the mobile phone sector, which is expected to see continued growth.
Deutsche Telekom, Europe’s largest operator measured by sales, last month won permission from the European Commission for its T-Mobile Netherlands unit to buy the Dutch unit of rival France Telecom’s Orange division.
© Reuters Limited Click for restrictions
Deutsche Telekom in $1.6bn US buy
By Reuters, September 17
Deutsche Telekom’s mobile phone division T-Mobile USA has agreed to buy SunCom Wireless Holdings for about $1.6bn, the companies said on Monday.
Deutsche Telekom said in a statement it would also take on SunCom debt of almost $800m and it saw synergies from the transaction of about $1bn.
SunCom shareholders will receive $27 a share, a 22.7 per cent premium to Friday’s closing price, the companies said.
The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2008.
SunCom, founded in 1999, operates in the south-eastern US and in the Caribbean. It had more than 1.1m customers by the end of June and posted first-half revenue of $242.5m.
The acquisition will further enhance T-Mobile’s network coverage through the addition of SunCom’s markets and customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, Deutsche Telekom said.
”With the acquisition of SunCom, we will continue to implement our strategy to `grow abroad with mobile’, which is part of our overall group strategy,” said Rene Obermann, chief executive.
Mr Obermann said in March he would pursue acquisitions in the mobile phone sector, which is expected to see continued growth.
Deutsche Telekom, Europe’s largest operator measured by sales, last month won permission from the European Commission for its T-Mobile Netherlands unit to buy the Dutch unit of rival France Telecom’s Orange division.
© Reuters Limited Click for restrictions
FT.com / Companies / Telecoms - Deutsche Telekom buys US operator
FT.com / Companies / Telecoms - Deutsche Telekom buys US operator
Deutsche Telekom buys US operator
By Gerrit Wiesmann in Frankfurt
Published: September 17 2007 20:54 | Last updated: September 17 2007 20:54
Deutsche Telekom, Europe’s largest telephone group, underlined its determination to do business in the US on Monday by paying $2.4bn for SunCom Wireless, a mobile phone operator in south-east US.
In the spring, René Obermann, DT chief executive, pledged to expand DT’s T-Mobile in existing markets, including the US, in response to falling sales in its domestic fixed-line business.
In June, DT agreed to buy France Telecom’s Dutch mobile unit for €1.3bn ($1.8bn), a move pending approval from Orange Netherlands’ works council.
The Bonn-based company has been shaken by client flight in Germany as customers ditch old-style phone connections for broadband and mobile phones – services DT rivals have been able to offer far more cheaply.
DT’s two largest shareholders, the German government with 32 per cent and Blackstone private equity with 5 per cent, in November installed Mr Obermann to push through cost cuts and shepherd growth abroad.
In the acquisition of SunCom, T-Mobile USA will pay $1.6bn in cash and assume $800m in debt in order to boost its client base by 1.1m to more than 28m. This represents about one quarter of T-Mobile’s 113m-plus customers worldwide.
Instead of relying on roaming agreements, T-Mobile will now be able to serve directly customers in four south-eastern states, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands – and so gain access to 98 of the top 100 markets in the country.
However, this will do little to close the gap on T-Mobile’s three larger US rivals, AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel, which have been buying regional US service providers. AT&T has 61m customers, more than twice the number that T-Mobile USA will have after this deal.
Mr Obermann has said that the US can stomach a fourth player, especially one stressing service rather than size. “This acquisition will fit perfectly with our strategy to grow abroad with mobile,” he said in a statement.
DT agreed to pay SunCom investors $27 per share, 23 per cent more than the stock’s closing price on Friday. The US company’s share price leapt 17 per cent at the start of US trading to settle at about $26 level in mid-morning trade on Monday. DT’s share price was flat at €13.70.
DT took a close look at Telecom Italia’s mobile unit TIM when it almost went on sale last year – but Mr Obermann has stressed DT’s current focus on curing its domestic ills.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Deutsche Telekom buys US operator
By Gerrit Wiesmann in Frankfurt
Published: September 17 2007 20:54 | Last updated: September 17 2007 20:54
Deutsche Telekom, Europe’s largest telephone group, underlined its determination to do business in the US on Monday by paying $2.4bn for SunCom Wireless, a mobile phone operator in south-east US.
In the spring, René Obermann, DT chief executive, pledged to expand DT’s T-Mobile in existing markets, including the US, in response to falling sales in its domestic fixed-line business.
In June, DT agreed to buy France Telecom’s Dutch mobile unit for €1.3bn ($1.8bn), a move pending approval from Orange Netherlands’ works council.
The Bonn-based company has been shaken by client flight in Germany as customers ditch old-style phone connections for broadband and mobile phones – services DT rivals have been able to offer far more cheaply.
DT’s two largest shareholders, the German government with 32 per cent and Blackstone private equity with 5 per cent, in November installed Mr Obermann to push through cost cuts and shepherd growth abroad.
In the acquisition of SunCom, T-Mobile USA will pay $1.6bn in cash and assume $800m in debt in order to boost its client base by 1.1m to more than 28m. This represents about one quarter of T-Mobile’s 113m-plus customers worldwide.
Instead of relying on roaming agreements, T-Mobile will now be able to serve directly customers in four south-eastern states, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands – and so gain access to 98 of the top 100 markets in the country.
However, this will do little to close the gap on T-Mobile’s three larger US rivals, AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel, which have been buying regional US service providers. AT&T has 61m customers, more than twice the number that T-Mobile USA will have after this deal.
Mr Obermann has said that the US can stomach a fourth player, especially one stressing service rather than size. “This acquisition will fit perfectly with our strategy to grow abroad with mobile,” he said in a statement.
DT agreed to pay SunCom investors $27 per share, 23 per cent more than the stock’s closing price on Friday. The US company’s share price leapt 17 per cent at the start of US trading to settle at about $26 level in mid-morning trade on Monday. DT’s share price was flat at €13.70.
DT took a close look at Telecom Italia’s mobile unit TIM when it almost went on sale last year – but Mr Obermann has stressed DT’s current focus on curing its domestic ills.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Schlappe für Parteiführung der Grünen | Kommentar | Deutsche Welle | 16.09.2007
Schlappe für Parteiführung der Grünen | Kommentar | Deutsche Welle | 16.09.2007
Beim Sonderparteitag der Grünen zum Bundeswehr-Einsatz in Afghanistan gab's eine herbe Niederlage für den Bundesvorstand. Dafür werden die Grünen einen hohen Preis zahlen - meint Nina Werkhäuser.
Beim Sonderparteitag der Grünen zum Bundeswehr-Einsatz in Afghanistan gab's eine herbe Niederlage für den Bundesvorstand. Dafür werden die Grünen einen hohen Preis zahlen - meint Nina Werkhäuser.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Debatte im Reichstag Breitseite von Links - Deutschland - sueddeutsche.de
Debatte im Reichstag Breitseite von Links - Deutschland - sueddeutsche.de
Mit sehr unterschiedlichen Wortbeiträgen haben die Oppositionsparteien die ersten beiden Regierungsjahre der Großen Koalition bedacht. Während die Linke die Politik der Kanzlerin harsch attackierte, formulierten FDP und Grüne geradezu handzahm - und sprachen in einem Punkt sogar ein Lob aus.
Mit sehr unterschiedlichen Wortbeiträgen haben die Oppositionsparteien die ersten beiden Regierungsjahre der Großen Koalition bedacht. Während die Linke die Politik der Kanzlerin harsch attackierte, formulierten FDP und Grüne geradezu handzahm - und sprachen in einem Punkt sogar ein Lob aus.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
FT.com / Companies / Europe - State players
FT.com / Companies / Europe - State players
State players
By Paul Betts
Published: September 12 2007 03:00 | Last updated: September 12 2007 03:00
Germany's Angela Merkel and France's Nicolas Sarkozy got together again this week to renew their concerns over the current hidden risks in the financial markets.
They are lobbying other leading industrialised countries for the establishment of new rules to increase the transparency of financial markets, especially the new breed of investors such as hedge funds and private equity.
The German chancellor is also very worried by the emergence of government investment institutions: so-called sovereign funds. Oil-rich countries, and others such as Singapore and China, are increasingly taking the profits from their fast-developing economies and putting them to work in the markets.
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority alone has some $875bn of international assets in its portfolio while Norway with its $300bn sovereign fund has emerged as the second-largest investor in France's CAC40 index of blue-chip companies.
Ms Merkel worries that such governments could become, if they are not already, significant owners of German wealth- providing companies. She may have a point.
Although these sovereign funds have so far been fairly passive investors - their purpose being to diversify and increase their nation's oil wealth - there is always the risk that they may at some stage adopt a more activist approach. Then the question will be whether their activism will be in the interest of wider shareholder value or used to advance their own specific geopolitical and economic goals.
That said, at least in the case of Norway, it seems the interest of the Scandinavian country lies primarily in long-term value creation. The pressing need is to finance the state pension fund commitments to an ageing population.
This should be encouraging for the markets, especially in their current febrile state. But equally it should not be an excuse to bury the need for improved disclosure from these fast-growing sovereign investment funds and other market players.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
State players
By Paul Betts
Published: September 12 2007 03:00 | Last updated: September 12 2007 03:00
Germany's Angela Merkel and France's Nicolas Sarkozy got together again this week to renew their concerns over the current hidden risks in the financial markets.
They are lobbying other leading industrialised countries for the establishment of new rules to increase the transparency of financial markets, especially the new breed of investors such as hedge funds and private equity.
The German chancellor is also very worried by the emergence of government investment institutions: so-called sovereign funds. Oil-rich countries, and others such as Singapore and China, are increasingly taking the profits from their fast-developing economies and putting them to work in the markets.
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority alone has some $875bn of international assets in its portfolio while Norway with its $300bn sovereign fund has emerged as the second-largest investor in France's CAC40 index of blue-chip companies.
Ms Merkel worries that such governments could become, if they are not already, significant owners of German wealth- providing companies. She may have a point.
Although these sovereign funds have so far been fairly passive investors - their purpose being to diversify and increase their nation's oil wealth - there is always the risk that they may at some stage adopt a more activist approach. Then the question will be whether their activism will be in the interest of wider shareholder value or used to advance their own specific geopolitical and economic goals.
That said, at least in the case of Norway, it seems the interest of the Scandinavian country lies primarily in long-term value creation. The pressing need is to finance the state pension fund commitments to an ageing population.
This should be encouraging for the markets, especially in their current febrile state. But equally it should not be an excuse to bury the need for improved disclosure from these fast-growing sovereign investment funds and other market players.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Medien - Feuilleton - FAZ.NET - Alexander Kluge: Die Stimme des neuen deutschen Films
Medien - Feuilleton - FAZ.NET - Alexander Kluge: Die Stimme des neuen deutschen Films
Fast drei Jahrzehnten lang war Alexander Kluge eine der wichtigsten Stimmen des neuen deutschen Films, gerade so lange, wie es diesen gab. Seit 1988 arbeitet er weitgehend fürs Fernsehen und schreibt natürlich - Literatur, Essayistisches, Kulturtheoretisches, was dann wieder in Fragmenten in seinen Fernsehfilmen wiederkehrt. So hat er immer gearbeitet - mehrfach verwertet, was ihn interessierte, in verschiedenenen Medien bearbeitet, was er einmal gefunden oder formuliert hatte.
Fast drei Jahrzehnten lang war Alexander Kluge eine der wichtigsten Stimmen des neuen deutschen Films, gerade so lange, wie es diesen gab. Seit 1988 arbeitet er weitgehend fürs Fernsehen und schreibt natürlich - Literatur, Essayistisches, Kulturtheoretisches, was dann wieder in Fragmenten in seinen Fernsehfilmen wiederkehrt. So hat er immer gearbeitet - mehrfach verwertet, was ihn interessierte, in verschiedenenen Medien bearbeitet, was er einmal gefunden oder formuliert hatte.
FT.com / Reports - Germany relies on ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’
FT.com / Reports - Germany relies on ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’
Germany relies on ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’
By Richard Milne
Published: September 11 2007 08:13 | Last updated: September 11 2007 08:13
Every news article about Germany boils down, according to journalistic wisdom, to one question: is the country changing or not? Viewed through this lens, what is taking place in Germany’s automotive industry is highly illuminating.
All big carmakers have recently changed or are on the verge of changing strategy. DaimlerChrysler has backed out of mass-market cars while Porsche has entered through its control of Volkswagen. In turn VW has dramatically switched course from relentless cost-cutting to a focus on volume growth. Even BMW, often seen as the most stable and conservative manufacturer, is preparing to set out a new strategy in October.
“The car industry is in many ways emblematic of Germany: it is changing,” says Stephen Cheetham, analyst at Sanford Bernstein, the analysis group, in London. “But the real question is has it changed enough to become a reformed alcoholic or is it still just the same old boozy industry as before?”
The reasons for the changes are as varied as the manufacturers themselves, and range from boardroom politics at VW to creating a family legacy at Porsche. But a couple of common themes underpin the changes.
One is German pragmatism. The German manufacturers may not always be the fastest-moving or excel in marketing themselves, but when they get hold of an idea they often will not let go. One example is wage deals where – despite being the highest-paid car workers in the world – “German employees saw which way the wind was blowing and so real wages have actually fallen in the past few years,” as Mr Cheetham says.
Another driver for change currently – and an area where German pragmatism is again being shown – is the debate over reducing carbon dioxide emissions. As many executives such as Michael Ganal, head of sales at BMW, admit, German carmakers allowed themselves to be outflanked initially in the marketing battle. The products of Japanese companies such as Toyota and Honda have established themselves in consumers’ minds as much more environmentally friendly than German gas guzzlers.
But slowly the Germans are fighting back – and the way they know best: through technology. VW already has the Polo Blue Motion, which has lower emissions than the environmentalists’ poster car, the Toyota Prius hybrid. It will present a Golf Blue Motion at the Frankfurt show. Mercedes is proudly touting the value of its clean diesel engines. And BMW is among the companies going the furthest, making huge play of its “efficient dynamics” solutions.
“Never underestimate a German’s ability to find a technical solution,” says Thomas Weber, head of research and development at DaimlerChrysler.
Still that is not a guarantee for success, as a BMW official admits: “The Germans are very engineering-driven: ‘Done that, solved that’. The Americans, and some Japanese, are more: ‘How can I make a buck from that?’”
These drivers are starting to find their way not just into products but entire company strategies. BMW is perhaps the most interesting in this respect, partly because it is the one large manufacturer not to have changed course so far and partly because it has been thinking about it for so long. When Helmut Panke was replaced as chief executive by Norbert Reithofer a year ago at the luxury manufacturer, the incoming head was given a task by the supervisory board.
“We said: ‘Go and come up with a new strategy. You have a year but we want you to look at absolutely everything’. We were worried that BMW had become somewhat complacent and ignored – a little – the threat from competitors such as Audi,” says a supervisory board member.
An executive says: “This is a well-managed company but sometimes you just have to shake things up and say the world is changing faster than we think.”
That year-long thinking is coming to fruition.
It is unclear how radical the changes will be – one official talks of a new “blueprint” not a new strategy – but everything has been considered and a vision for the next 10-15 years should be set out in October.
“What cars will the Chinese be driving in 10 years? What will energy prices be like? What size boots will people want in different models? Do we need another brand to reach all the customers we are targeting?” asks an official rhetorically.
Such thinking has led to an explosion of models, not just at BMW but also across the German car industry.
BMW has gone from its “three sausages” strategy of the 3-, 5- and 7-series to soon having 10 models.
Porsche will soon have four rather than its traditional one while VW is aggressively expanding into as many niches as possible.
The success of that expansion against similar pushes from carmakers worldwide will demonstrate how successful and radical the changes have been – and just how reformed the alcoholic is.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Germany relies on ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’
By Richard Milne
Published: September 11 2007 08:13 | Last updated: September 11 2007 08:13
Every news article about Germany boils down, according to journalistic wisdom, to one question: is the country changing or not? Viewed through this lens, what is taking place in Germany’s automotive industry is highly illuminating.
All big carmakers have recently changed or are on the verge of changing strategy. DaimlerChrysler has backed out of mass-market cars while Porsche has entered through its control of Volkswagen. In turn VW has dramatically switched course from relentless cost-cutting to a focus on volume growth. Even BMW, often seen as the most stable and conservative manufacturer, is preparing to set out a new strategy in October.
“The car industry is in many ways emblematic of Germany: it is changing,” says Stephen Cheetham, analyst at Sanford Bernstein, the analysis group, in London. “But the real question is has it changed enough to become a reformed alcoholic or is it still just the same old boozy industry as before?”
The reasons for the changes are as varied as the manufacturers themselves, and range from boardroom politics at VW to creating a family legacy at Porsche. But a couple of common themes underpin the changes.
One is German pragmatism. The German manufacturers may not always be the fastest-moving or excel in marketing themselves, but when they get hold of an idea they often will not let go. One example is wage deals where – despite being the highest-paid car workers in the world – “German employees saw which way the wind was blowing and so real wages have actually fallen in the past few years,” as Mr Cheetham says.
Another driver for change currently – and an area where German pragmatism is again being shown – is the debate over reducing carbon dioxide emissions. As many executives such as Michael Ganal, head of sales at BMW, admit, German carmakers allowed themselves to be outflanked initially in the marketing battle. The products of Japanese companies such as Toyota and Honda have established themselves in consumers’ minds as much more environmentally friendly than German gas guzzlers.
But slowly the Germans are fighting back – and the way they know best: through technology. VW already has the Polo Blue Motion, which has lower emissions than the environmentalists’ poster car, the Toyota Prius hybrid. It will present a Golf Blue Motion at the Frankfurt show. Mercedes is proudly touting the value of its clean diesel engines. And BMW is among the companies going the furthest, making huge play of its “efficient dynamics” solutions.
“Never underestimate a German’s ability to find a technical solution,” says Thomas Weber, head of research and development at DaimlerChrysler.
Still that is not a guarantee for success, as a BMW official admits: “The Germans are very engineering-driven: ‘Done that, solved that’. The Americans, and some Japanese, are more: ‘How can I make a buck from that?’”
These drivers are starting to find their way not just into products but entire company strategies. BMW is perhaps the most interesting in this respect, partly because it is the one large manufacturer not to have changed course so far and partly because it has been thinking about it for so long. When Helmut Panke was replaced as chief executive by Norbert Reithofer a year ago at the luxury manufacturer, the incoming head was given a task by the supervisory board.
“We said: ‘Go and come up with a new strategy. You have a year but we want you to look at absolutely everything’. We were worried that BMW had become somewhat complacent and ignored – a little – the threat from competitors such as Audi,” says a supervisory board member.
An executive says: “This is a well-managed company but sometimes you just have to shake things up and say the world is changing faster than we think.”
That year-long thinking is coming to fruition.
It is unclear how radical the changes will be – one official talks of a new “blueprint” not a new strategy – but everything has been considered and a vision for the next 10-15 years should be set out in October.
“What cars will the Chinese be driving in 10 years? What will energy prices be like? What size boots will people want in different models? Do we need another brand to reach all the customers we are targeting?” asks an official rhetorically.
Such thinking has led to an explosion of models, not just at BMW but also across the German car industry.
BMW has gone from its “three sausages” strategy of the 3-, 5- and 7-series to soon having 10 models.
Porsche will soon have four rather than its traditional one while VW is aggressively expanding into as many niches as possible.
The success of that expansion against similar pushes from carmakers worldwide will demonstrate how successful and radical the changes have been – and just how reformed the alcoholic is.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
FTD.de - Industrie - Nachrichten - Autoindustrie erwartet Trendwende für 2008
FTD.de - Industrie - Nachrichten - Autoindustrie erwartet Trendwende für 2008
Nach der monatelangen Absatzschwäche auf dem deutschen Automarkt rechnet die Fahrzeugindustrie spätestens 2008 mit einem Aufschwung. In punkto CO2-Ausstoß werfen Umweltschutzverbände der Branche allerdings die Inszenierung einer "Klimashow" vor.
Nach der monatelangen Absatzschwäche auf dem deutschen Automarkt rechnet die Fahrzeugindustrie spätestens 2008 mit einem Aufschwung. In punkto CO2-Ausstoß werfen Umweltschutzverbände der Branche allerdings die Inszenierung einer "Klimashow" vor.
Übernahmegerüchte Der Spiegel will die FTD - Wirtschaft - sueddeutsche.de
Übernahmegerüchte Der Spiegel will die FTD - Wirtschaft - sueddeutsche.de
Der Hamburger Verlag plant offenbar einen Einstieg bei der Financial Times Deutschland. Deren Mutterblatt soll schon länger das Interesse an der FTD verloren haben: Sie schreibt noch immer Verluste.
Der Hamburger Verlag plant offenbar einen Einstieg bei der Financial Times Deutschland. Deren Mutterblatt soll schon länger das Interesse an der FTD verloren haben: Sie schreibt noch immer Verluste.
Monday, September 10, 2007
FT.com / World - Eventful year for German unions
FT.com / World - Eventful year for German unions
Eventful year for German unions
By Hugh Williamson in Berlin
Published: September 10 2007 04:03 | Last updated: September 10 2007 04:03
This has been an eventful, even turbulent year for German trade unions. On the positive side, many have been able to win larger pay increases for their members than in previous years, taking advantage of the country’s economic upturn. The IG Metall engineering union led the way with a 4.1 per cent rise in the spring.
More controversially, a rail strike in the summer revealed awkward divisions within the labour movement, as a specialist train drivers’ union broke away from its sister unions to demand a higher pay increase for its members.
Earlier this month IG Metall, Germany’s largest union with 2.3m members, also struck out in a new direction, as its executive board nominated a political moderate – Berthold Huber, the union’s current deputy leader – as the organisation’s next chair. He is expected to replace Jürgen Peters, a leftwing hardliner, at a union congress in November.
Such events come against a number of challenges for a movement that, like in the UK, is struggling to retain influence against a background of globalisation pressures, legal and labour market reforms and falling membership.
German unions retain strong workplace power in manufacturing – still a key sector – and can still flex their muscles over management through co-determination, the legal arrangements allowing employee representatives a say in decision-making at workplace and supervisory board levels.
Yet falling membership and a decline in collective bargaining coverage have led to more critical questions in business and politics about the relevance of seeing unions as key partners.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Eventful year for German unions
By Hugh Williamson in Berlin
Published: September 10 2007 04:03 | Last updated: September 10 2007 04:03
This has been an eventful, even turbulent year for German trade unions. On the positive side, many have been able to win larger pay increases for their members than in previous years, taking advantage of the country’s economic upturn. The IG Metall engineering union led the way with a 4.1 per cent rise in the spring.
More controversially, a rail strike in the summer revealed awkward divisions within the labour movement, as a specialist train drivers’ union broke away from its sister unions to demand a higher pay increase for its members.
Earlier this month IG Metall, Germany’s largest union with 2.3m members, also struck out in a new direction, as its executive board nominated a political moderate – Berthold Huber, the union’s current deputy leader – as the organisation’s next chair. He is expected to replace Jürgen Peters, a leftwing hardliner, at a union congress in November.
Such events come against a number of challenges for a movement that, like in the UK, is struggling to retain influence against a background of globalisation pressures, legal and labour market reforms and falling membership.
German unions retain strong workplace power in manufacturing – still a key sector – and can still flex their muscles over management through co-determination, the legal arrangements allowing employee representatives a say in decision-making at workplace and supervisory board levels.
Yet falling membership and a decline in collective bargaining coverage have led to more critical questions in business and politics about the relevance of seeing unions as key partners.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
FTD.de - Deutschland - Nachrichten - Cohn-Bendit begräbt Angst vor Union
FTD.de - Deutschland - Nachrichten - Cohn-Bendit begräbt Angst vor Union
Der Vordenker der Linken bei den Grünen, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, hält eine Koalition von Union und Grünen im Bund nach der nächsten Bundestagswahl nicht mehr für ausgeschlossen. Das sagte er im FTD-Interview.
Der Vordenker der Linken bei den Grünen, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, hält eine Koalition von Union und Grünen im Bund nach der nächsten Bundestagswahl nicht mehr für ausgeschlossen. Das sagte er im FTD-Interview.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Germany's government | A coalition of the unwilling | Economist.com
Germany's government | A coalition of the unwilling | Economist.com
At half-time, the grand coalition seems subdued—maybe too much so
THE interval is over, and the actors in Germany's grand coalition have come back onstage. The script for the next two years calls for the Christian Democrats (CDU) and Social Democrats (SPD) to live together until they disband to fight each other in a federal election by September 2009. But it is between the lines that one finds the real plot: complacency and angst, meaning that the second act will hardly be action-packed (unless terrorism strikes, see article).
The government's goals, says the CDU chancellor, Angela Merkel, are to “strengthen the bases of the economic upswing” and “leave nobody behind.” Yet unlike France's president, Nicolas Sarkozy, Ms Merkel has no big plans to achieve them. Boosting long-term growth would take painful reforms that appeal to few, especially when the economy seems to be doing fine without them. There is more talk of inclusion, but the parties disagree over how to deliver it. Both are committed to eliminating the federal budget deficit by 2011, ruling out big spending. “Over the next two years there will be lots of symbolic gestures and nothing real,” predicts Klaus Zimmermann, president of DIW, an economic research institute in Berlin.
For now, symbolism may suffice. Exports are booming, unemployment is falling and the economy may grow by some 2.5% in 2007 and 2008, its best performance in years. In the first half of 2007 the public sector overall recorded a surplus for the first time since unification in 1990. Yet the mood of the three coalition partners (the CDU's Bavarian ally, the Christian Social Union, is the third) is jittery. In January their popularity will be tested in elections in two important states, Hesse and Lower Saxony. Bavaria votes in September 2008.
The SPD is especially nervous. Voters have not forgiven the party for the cuts in unemployment benefits made under Ms Merkel's predecessor, Gerhard Schröder. The Left Party, a new party formed by the ex-communists and some left-wing defectors from the SPD, is luring away traditional supporters. Further liberalising reforms would be electoral poison.
Ms Merkel's coalition-management skills create an illusion of progress. At a recent get-together in a Prussian palace, the cabinet found enough common ground to produce 12 pages of promises, but even the best are only timid steps in the right direction. For example, from November Germany will open its job market to foreign engineering students at German universities and to engineers from all 12 new members of the European Union. And the payroll tax to finance unemployment benefits will be trimmed from 4.2% to 3.9% to encourage hiring.
More might have been hoped for from a coalition with a big majority and a strong economy. The opening to foreign engineers will ease but not resolve a labour shortage that costs industry an estimated €20 billion ($27 billion) in lost output a year. All the other old EU members bar Austria have either opened their labour markets fully to easterners already, or plan to do so by 2009. Holger Schmieding, an economist at Bank of America, reckons that the government could afford to cut unemployment-insurance contributions to 3%, which might create 250,000 new jobs.
The government has bravely introduced a gradual increase in the retirement age (to 67), but it has been less bold in restructuring the health system, which threatens to gobble up an ever rising share of GDP at the expense of investment in education and infrastructure. It has no plans to tackle the network of regulations that makes it expensive to fire workers, and thus risky to hire them. A second instalment of Germany's federal redesign, which would limit states' debts but allow them to raise (or lower) taxes, may just squeak through.
In place of reform, the coalition offers comforting but vague promises. There will be help for the working poor in higher child benefits and subsidies to childless households. The number of school drop-outs will be cut by half by 2010. A bonus will be paid to firms that train more people than average. Workers in soon-to-be-liberalised postal services will get a minimum wage (which the SPD would like to extend across the economy). The government may help states to finance more crèches for children; it has mooted the idea of ten days' paid leave for workers to arrange nursing for sick parents. Such benevolence carries “clear social-democratic handwriting”, boasts the vice-chancellor (and labour minister), Franz Müntefering.
Yet to his dismay, it is Ms Merkel who gets the credit. In most polls, the CDU is ten points ahead of the hapless SPD, which remains divided over whether to defend Mr Schröder's reforms and over its own role in the coalition.
The SPD has championed the coalition's boldest policy, an “integrated energy and climate programme” aimed at cutting Germany's greenhouse-gas emissions by 40% from 1990 levels by 2020. But Ms Merkel is its most visible defender. The foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, is from the SPD (he was Mr Schröder's chief of staff), but it was the chancellor who lectured her hosts about human rights on a trip to China last month. Such stances help to make Ms Merkel appealing to the Greens, who could yet be an alternative to the SPD as a coalition partner.
The odds remain that both the economic upswing and the coalition will survive until the 2009 election. But there are risks to both. As so often, German banks have suffered disproportionately from the subprime mortgage mess in America (see article). If the American economy buckles, Germany's export-led growth could quickly fade. And the SPD may yet be tempted to bail out of the coalition rather than go on seeing Ms Merkel gather both credit and strength.
At half-time, the grand coalition seems subdued—maybe too much so
THE interval is over, and the actors in Germany's grand coalition have come back onstage. The script for the next two years calls for the Christian Democrats (CDU) and Social Democrats (SPD) to live together until they disband to fight each other in a federal election by September 2009. But it is between the lines that one finds the real plot: complacency and angst, meaning that the second act will hardly be action-packed (unless terrorism strikes, see article).
The government's goals, says the CDU chancellor, Angela Merkel, are to “strengthen the bases of the economic upswing” and “leave nobody behind.” Yet unlike France's president, Nicolas Sarkozy, Ms Merkel has no big plans to achieve them. Boosting long-term growth would take painful reforms that appeal to few, especially when the economy seems to be doing fine without them. There is more talk of inclusion, but the parties disagree over how to deliver it. Both are committed to eliminating the federal budget deficit by 2011, ruling out big spending. “Over the next two years there will be lots of symbolic gestures and nothing real,” predicts Klaus Zimmermann, president of DIW, an economic research institute in Berlin.
For now, symbolism may suffice. Exports are booming, unemployment is falling and the economy may grow by some 2.5% in 2007 and 2008, its best performance in years. In the first half of 2007 the public sector overall recorded a surplus for the first time since unification in 1990. Yet the mood of the three coalition partners (the CDU's Bavarian ally, the Christian Social Union, is the third) is jittery. In January their popularity will be tested in elections in two important states, Hesse and Lower Saxony. Bavaria votes in September 2008.
The SPD is especially nervous. Voters have not forgiven the party for the cuts in unemployment benefits made under Ms Merkel's predecessor, Gerhard Schröder. The Left Party, a new party formed by the ex-communists and some left-wing defectors from the SPD, is luring away traditional supporters. Further liberalising reforms would be electoral poison.
Ms Merkel's coalition-management skills create an illusion of progress. At a recent get-together in a Prussian palace, the cabinet found enough common ground to produce 12 pages of promises, but even the best are only timid steps in the right direction. For example, from November Germany will open its job market to foreign engineering students at German universities and to engineers from all 12 new members of the European Union. And the payroll tax to finance unemployment benefits will be trimmed from 4.2% to 3.9% to encourage hiring.
More might have been hoped for from a coalition with a big majority and a strong economy. The opening to foreign engineers will ease but not resolve a labour shortage that costs industry an estimated €20 billion ($27 billion) in lost output a year. All the other old EU members bar Austria have either opened their labour markets fully to easterners already, or plan to do so by 2009. Holger Schmieding, an economist at Bank of America, reckons that the government could afford to cut unemployment-insurance contributions to 3%, which might create 250,000 new jobs.
The government has bravely introduced a gradual increase in the retirement age (to 67), but it has been less bold in restructuring the health system, which threatens to gobble up an ever rising share of GDP at the expense of investment in education and infrastructure. It has no plans to tackle the network of regulations that makes it expensive to fire workers, and thus risky to hire them. A second instalment of Germany's federal redesign, which would limit states' debts but allow them to raise (or lower) taxes, may just squeak through.
In place of reform, the coalition offers comforting but vague promises. There will be help for the working poor in higher child benefits and subsidies to childless households. The number of school drop-outs will be cut by half by 2010. A bonus will be paid to firms that train more people than average. Workers in soon-to-be-liberalised postal services will get a minimum wage (which the SPD would like to extend across the economy). The government may help states to finance more crèches for children; it has mooted the idea of ten days' paid leave for workers to arrange nursing for sick parents. Such benevolence carries “clear social-democratic handwriting”, boasts the vice-chancellor (and labour minister), Franz Müntefering.
Yet to his dismay, it is Ms Merkel who gets the credit. In most polls, the CDU is ten points ahead of the hapless SPD, which remains divided over whether to defend Mr Schröder's reforms and over its own role in the coalition.
The SPD has championed the coalition's boldest policy, an “integrated energy and climate programme” aimed at cutting Germany's greenhouse-gas emissions by 40% from 1990 levels by 2020. But Ms Merkel is its most visible defender. The foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, is from the SPD (he was Mr Schröder's chief of staff), but it was the chancellor who lectured her hosts about human rights on a trip to China last month. Such stances help to make Ms Merkel appealing to the Greens, who could yet be an alternative to the SPD as a coalition partner.
The odds remain that both the economic upswing and the coalition will survive until the 2009 election. But there are risks to both. As so often, German banks have suffered disproportionately from the subprime mortgage mess in America (see article). If the American economy buckles, Germany's export-led growth could quickly fade. And the SPD may yet be tempted to bail out of the coalition rather than go on seeing Ms Merkel gather both credit and strength.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
FT.com / In depth - ‘Massive’ bomb plot thwarted in Germany
FT.com / In depth - ‘Massive’ bomb plot thwarted in Germany
‘Massive’ bomb plot thwarted in Germany
By Hugh Williamson in Berlin
Published: September 5 2007 10:21 | Last updated: September 5 2007 10:21
German security forces have prevented a series of “massive bomb attacks” that could have been more deadly than the Madrid and London bombings, top German officials said on Wednesday.
A German terror cell had planned to use the equivalent of 550kg of TNT explosives to mount simultaneous car bomb attacks on US military and civil targets in Germany, Monika Harms, federal chief prosecutor, told a press conference in Karlsruhe, southern Germany.
German special forces personnel arrested the alleged cell members – two Germans who had converted to Islam and a Turkish national based in Germany – in a raid on Tuesday in the Sauerland region of western Germany.
“This was one of the most serious terror attacks ever planned in Germany,” said Ms Harms, Germany’s top prosecutor. “There could have been a very big death toll,” she added, as the amount of explosives collected by the cell exceeded those used in the Madrid train bombings in 2004 that killed 191 people, and the London transport bombings in 2005 that killed 52 people.
Bars and discos frequented by US citizens, and a US military base in Hanau near Frankfurt may have been among the group’s targets, Ms Harms said.
She refused to confirm reports by security officials that other targets included Frankfurt airport – the largest airport in continental Europe – and the US base in Ramstein, south-western Germany.
The men belonged to the Islamic Jihad Union, a shadowy terror group linked to al-Qaeda that has its roots in Uzbekistan, according to Jörg Ziercke, president of the BKA federal crime agency.
The terror plan was new evidence of the spread of “home-grown” Islamic terrorism in Europe, security experts said. The three men, aged between 22 and 29, were all without work and claiming unemployment benefits in Germany. They had all visited terror training camps in Pakistan in 2006, Mr Ziercke said.
Wolfgang Schäuble, the German interior minister, said the foiled attacks showed that Germany had become a target for Islamic terror attacks and was no longer simply a region where terrorist “sleepers” were based before mounting attacks elsewhere.
A spokesman for the FBI in Washington said US authorities had been “closely co-ordinating with the Germans on this case,” but said there was no imminent threat to the US following the arrests.
Some 300 police were involved in the surveillance operation against the cell that started last December. Chancellor Angela Merkel praised the work of the security forces.
The arrests sparked renewed debate on the need for further tightening of German security laws, in particular by allowing remote computer searches by German security forces.
The cell had obtained 12 vats of hydrogen peroxide weighing 730kg to be used in preparing explosives.
Germany has not been the target of a major Islamic terror attack in recent years, but several alleged terror cells have been broken up and suspects arrested, for instance a Lebanese man charged earlier this year with planning a series of train bombs in 2006.
Three of the pilots involved in the September 11 2001 terror attacks had been living in Hamburg, northern Germany.
Danes put bombmaking suspects on trial
Four alleged bombmakers went on trial in Copenhagen on Wednesday, a day after Danish police arrested eight other alleged Islamic militants suspected of plotting a bomb attack, writes Robert Anderson in Stockholm.
Two Palestinians, an Iraqi Kurd and a Dane pleaded innocent to charges of buying chemicals and equipment to produce explosives. The men were arrested last year in Odense after a tip-off from an informant.
Police allege they were caught with a bomb-making manual and 50 grammes of triacetone triperoxide, used in the 2005 London bombings.
The eight new suspects – who are of Afghan, Pakistani, Somali and Turkish origin – were arrested after police raided 11 addresses in the Danish capital on Monday night. All of the eight new suspects have been charged with terrorist offences and two have been remanded in custody.
Police, who worked with foreign security services, believe that these two suspects are the first militants caught in Denmark with direct links to al-Qaeda.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
‘Massive’ bomb plot thwarted in Germany
By Hugh Williamson in Berlin
Published: September 5 2007 10:21 | Last updated: September 5 2007 10:21
German security forces have prevented a series of “massive bomb attacks” that could have been more deadly than the Madrid and London bombings, top German officials said on Wednesday.
A German terror cell had planned to use the equivalent of 550kg of TNT explosives to mount simultaneous car bomb attacks on US military and civil targets in Germany, Monika Harms, federal chief prosecutor, told a press conference in Karlsruhe, southern Germany.
German special forces personnel arrested the alleged cell members – two Germans who had converted to Islam and a Turkish national based in Germany – in a raid on Tuesday in the Sauerland region of western Germany.
“This was one of the most serious terror attacks ever planned in Germany,” said Ms Harms, Germany’s top prosecutor. “There could have been a very big death toll,” she added, as the amount of explosives collected by the cell exceeded those used in the Madrid train bombings in 2004 that killed 191 people, and the London transport bombings in 2005 that killed 52 people.
Bars and discos frequented by US citizens, and a US military base in Hanau near Frankfurt may have been among the group’s targets, Ms Harms said.
She refused to confirm reports by security officials that other targets included Frankfurt airport – the largest airport in continental Europe – and the US base in Ramstein, south-western Germany.
The men belonged to the Islamic Jihad Union, a shadowy terror group linked to al-Qaeda that has its roots in Uzbekistan, according to Jörg Ziercke, president of the BKA federal crime agency.
The terror plan was new evidence of the spread of “home-grown” Islamic terrorism in Europe, security experts said. The three men, aged between 22 and 29, were all without work and claiming unemployment benefits in Germany. They had all visited terror training camps in Pakistan in 2006, Mr Ziercke said.
Wolfgang Schäuble, the German interior minister, said the foiled attacks showed that Germany had become a target for Islamic terror attacks and was no longer simply a region where terrorist “sleepers” were based before mounting attacks elsewhere.
A spokesman for the FBI in Washington said US authorities had been “closely co-ordinating with the Germans on this case,” but said there was no imminent threat to the US following the arrests.
Some 300 police were involved in the surveillance operation against the cell that started last December. Chancellor Angela Merkel praised the work of the security forces.
The arrests sparked renewed debate on the need for further tightening of German security laws, in particular by allowing remote computer searches by German security forces.
The cell had obtained 12 vats of hydrogen peroxide weighing 730kg to be used in preparing explosives.
Germany has not been the target of a major Islamic terror attack in recent years, but several alleged terror cells have been broken up and suspects arrested, for instance a Lebanese man charged earlier this year with planning a series of train bombs in 2006.
Three of the pilots involved in the September 11 2001 terror attacks had been living in Hamburg, northern Germany.
Danes put bombmaking suspects on trial
Four alleged bombmakers went on trial in Copenhagen on Wednesday, a day after Danish police arrested eight other alleged Islamic militants suspected of plotting a bomb attack, writes Robert Anderson in Stockholm.
Two Palestinians, an Iraqi Kurd and a Dane pleaded innocent to charges of buying chemicals and equipment to produce explosives. The men were arrested last year in Odense after a tip-off from an informant.
Police allege they were caught with a bomb-making manual and 50 grammes of triacetone triperoxide, used in the 2005 London bombings.
The eight new suspects – who are of Afghan, Pakistani, Somali and Turkish origin – were arrested after police raided 11 addresses in the Danish capital on Monday night. All of the eight new suspects have been charged with terrorist offences and two have been remanded in custody.
Police, who worked with foreign security services, believe that these two suspects are the first militants caught in Denmark with direct links to al-Qaeda.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
FT.com / Columnists / European View - Germany’s smaller banks – the time is ripe for a cull
FT.com / Columnists / European View - Germany’s smaller banks – the time is ripe for a cull
Germany’s smaller banks – the time is ripe for a cull
By Paul Betts
Published: September 5 2007 18:22 | Last updated: September 5 2007 18:22
Hermann Simon, the management consultant, will soon release a paean to the small and medium-sized manufacturers that make up the backbone of Germany’s economy. “Hidden Champions of the 21st Century” highlights how, in an age of globalisation, German engineering companies have surprisingly become even more competitive.
With the current financial crisis badly affecting German banks, it raises the question as to why Germany can produce world-beating manufacturers and world-losing banks. Furthermore, why is having hundreds of engineering groups seen as a good thing and hundreds of banks – as Germany has – a bad one?
Simon suggests part of the answer lies in focus. The German Mittelstand – the famous small companies that employ more than half of blue-collar workers – operate in highly specific niches where there is little competition. That makes their local markets small. But globalisation, with all the countries it opens up, makes that market large again.
Banks have a different problem. The local Sparkassen or Landesbanken (saving and regional banks) have a small, geographically defined market. But they have no expertise that is exportable and little desire to leave their home regions, even for mergers. Even the largest of banks, with the possible exception of Deutsche Bank, have struggled outside the country, as shown by the expansions and then contractions of Commerzbank and WestLB.
Perhaps it is too late for German banks. But paradoxically they could well have the best opportunity in decades to become more competitive. The credit crunch has revealed the underlying problems in many banks’ models. There will never be a Mittelstand of banks, so the time is ripe for Sparkassen and Landesbanken to put their local pride aside and consolidate as quickly as possible.
Dogfights at Airbus
The new Airbus A380 super jumbo has acquired an enviable image as the latest toy of the international jet set. Roman Abramovich, the Russian billionaire and owner of Chelsea football club, on Wednesday flatly denied a report in the French press that he is the mystery individual to have placed an order for the $300m-plus (€219m) jet.
Such speculation, sparked by Airbus’ revelation of the anonymous order at this summer’s Paris air show, has certainly added a touch of glamour to the European aircraft manufacturer after two years of internal management and industrial turmoil. But nobody should be fooled.
This summer’s compromise between the French and German shareholders – blessed by their respective governments – already appears to be fraying. The deal to streamline the governance structure of EADS, the Airbus parent, may have eliminated some difficulties, but at the same time it may have provoked new ones.
The agreement to create just one EADS chairman, one EADS chief executive and one Airbus chief executive was supposed to help put an end to the infighting between the German and French camps and other internal rivalries that has undermined the European group.
Unfortunately, the infighting does not seem to have stopped. Indeed, it is continuing at Airbus, where Tom Enders, the new German chief executive, appears to be locked in a bitter power struggle with Fabrice Brégier, the French chief operating officer who had also been vying for some time for the top Airbus job.
So the sorry saga goes on at a time when both Airbus and EADS need strong leadership to resolve enduring industrial problems and counter the threat from rival Boeing. Sure, the Boeing 787 may be delivered at least six months late. But this is neither here nor there compared with the A380’s two-year delay.
More worrying, Boeing appears to be preparing an assault on another front by launching a new generation single-aisle aircraft to replace the Boeing 737. It is studying an innovative engine developed by Pratt & Whitney to power the new aircraft that would challenge the traditional Airbus money-spinner, the A320 and its derivatives.
Airbus not only has to fix the remaining problems on the A380, but it is only just embarking on the development of the A350 to compete against the Boeing 787. Airbus and EADS believed they had a bit more time before they had to address the replacement of the A321. And remember, they have not yet even sorted out with their shareholders how to pay for the A350, never mind a new A320 programme.
Faced with such challenges, decisive leadership is crucial. Unfortunately, there are already mutterings that the highly regarded Louis Gallois, the new EADS sole chief executive, is spending too much of his time trying to build bridges and consensus between the French and German camps rather than taking tough and unpopular decisions with both the French and Germans.
european.view@ft.com
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Germany’s smaller banks – the time is ripe for a cull
By Paul Betts
Published: September 5 2007 18:22 | Last updated: September 5 2007 18:22
Hermann Simon, the management consultant, will soon release a paean to the small and medium-sized manufacturers that make up the backbone of Germany’s economy. “Hidden Champions of the 21st Century” highlights how, in an age of globalisation, German engineering companies have surprisingly become even more competitive.
With the current financial crisis badly affecting German banks, it raises the question as to why Germany can produce world-beating manufacturers and world-losing banks. Furthermore, why is having hundreds of engineering groups seen as a good thing and hundreds of banks – as Germany has – a bad one?
Simon suggests part of the answer lies in focus. The German Mittelstand – the famous small companies that employ more than half of blue-collar workers – operate in highly specific niches where there is little competition. That makes their local markets small. But globalisation, with all the countries it opens up, makes that market large again.
Banks have a different problem. The local Sparkassen or Landesbanken (saving and regional banks) have a small, geographically defined market. But they have no expertise that is exportable and little desire to leave their home regions, even for mergers. Even the largest of banks, with the possible exception of Deutsche Bank, have struggled outside the country, as shown by the expansions and then contractions of Commerzbank and WestLB.
Perhaps it is too late for German banks. But paradoxically they could well have the best opportunity in decades to become more competitive. The credit crunch has revealed the underlying problems in many banks’ models. There will never be a Mittelstand of banks, so the time is ripe for Sparkassen and Landesbanken to put their local pride aside and consolidate as quickly as possible.
Dogfights at Airbus
The new Airbus A380 super jumbo has acquired an enviable image as the latest toy of the international jet set. Roman Abramovich, the Russian billionaire and owner of Chelsea football club, on Wednesday flatly denied a report in the French press that he is the mystery individual to have placed an order for the $300m-plus (€219m) jet.
Such speculation, sparked by Airbus’ revelation of the anonymous order at this summer’s Paris air show, has certainly added a touch of glamour to the European aircraft manufacturer after two years of internal management and industrial turmoil. But nobody should be fooled.
This summer’s compromise between the French and German shareholders – blessed by their respective governments – already appears to be fraying. The deal to streamline the governance structure of EADS, the Airbus parent, may have eliminated some difficulties, but at the same time it may have provoked new ones.
The agreement to create just one EADS chairman, one EADS chief executive and one Airbus chief executive was supposed to help put an end to the infighting between the German and French camps and other internal rivalries that has undermined the European group.
Unfortunately, the infighting does not seem to have stopped. Indeed, it is continuing at Airbus, where Tom Enders, the new German chief executive, appears to be locked in a bitter power struggle with Fabrice Brégier, the French chief operating officer who had also been vying for some time for the top Airbus job.
So the sorry saga goes on at a time when both Airbus and EADS need strong leadership to resolve enduring industrial problems and counter the threat from rival Boeing. Sure, the Boeing 787 may be delivered at least six months late. But this is neither here nor there compared with the A380’s two-year delay.
More worrying, Boeing appears to be preparing an assault on another front by launching a new generation single-aisle aircraft to replace the Boeing 737. It is studying an innovative engine developed by Pratt & Whitney to power the new aircraft that would challenge the traditional Airbus money-spinner, the A320 and its derivatives.
Airbus not only has to fix the remaining problems on the A380, but it is only just embarking on the development of the A350 to compete against the Boeing 787. Airbus and EADS believed they had a bit more time before they had to address the replacement of the A321. And remember, they have not yet even sorted out with their shareholders how to pay for the A350, never mind a new A320 programme.
Faced with such challenges, decisive leadership is crucial. Unfortunately, there are already mutterings that the highly regarded Louis Gallois, the new EADS sole chief executive, is spending too much of his time trying to build bridges and consensus between the French and German camps rather than taking tough and unpopular decisions with both the French and Germans.
european.view@ft.com
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Monday, September 03, 2007
Medien in Deutschland Vor 50 Jahren startete das Magazin ''konkret'' - Kultur - sueddeutsche.de
Medien in Deutschland Vor 50 Jahren startete das Magazin ''konkret'' - Kultur - sueddeutsche.de
Vor 50 Jahren startete das Magazin "konkret"
Im Namen der Wahrheit und mit Geld aus der DDR begann vor einem halben Jahrhundert das Magazin konkret. Die Liste der prominenten Autoren ist lang, geschrieben wurde gegen Nazis, die Wiederbewaffung - und alles, was die anderen nicht brachten. Heute gibt es das Heft immer noch.
Vor 50 Jahren startete das Magazin "konkret"
Im Namen der Wahrheit und mit Geld aus der DDR begann vor einem halben Jahrhundert das Magazin konkret. Die Liste der prominenten Autoren ist lang, geschrieben wurde gegen Nazis, die Wiederbewaffung - und alles, was die anderen nicht brachten. Heute gibt es das Heft immer noch.
Sunday, September 02, 2007
FTD.de - Deutschland - Nachrichten - Hamburg auf dem Weg zur Welthauptstadt
FTD.de - Deutschland - Nachrichten - Hamburg auf dem Weg zur Welthauptstadt
Hamburg profitiert von der Globalisierung. Der Hafen entwickelt sich stürmisch, der Handel floriert. Von allen Bundesländern schneidet die Stadt wirtschaftlich am besten ab. Nun will sie zur Weltmetropole aufsteigen.
Hamburg profitiert von der Globalisierung. Der Hafen entwickelt sich stürmisch, der Handel floriert. Von allen Bundesländern schneidet die Stadt wirtschaftlich am besten ab. Nun will sie zur Weltmetropole aufsteigen.
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