Yes, correct, and thanks for the addition.
To illustrate this quite emotional approach to state finances, the policy of not increasing the the debt was nicknamed "the black zero" ("die Schwarze Null") which got so infamous that the employees of the German Federal Ministry of Finances posed as a "black zero" in this photo: https://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de/Content/DE/Bilderstre...
Remember, this was at a time when German government bonds were sold with _negative_ interest.
So, Germany was refusing to take on any further debt at the time to invest (i.E. in social capital like workers, better immigration, in infrastructure etc. etc.) and is now trying to rectify this partially, at a time where interest rates are close to 3%. Personally, to me as a non-economist, this feels like a missed opportunity of a lifetime.
Which is a political choice - not necessarily a resource problem. Germany, if any, would have the resources to help with integration but for decades most people and politicians were living in denial that people from other countries that came to Germany actually wanted to stay and _live_ there or were living in a world were state debt was seen as the devil's spawn.
Did you notice that you emphasize the rule of law in your argument 1) but let the rule of law walk the plank (and drown in the south sea so to speak) with your fourth statement?
I am not a legal expert but I read that the case of the Netherlands proves this to be at least partially wrong. Retail sale is legal. Some municipalities have legalized supply chains.
Your point is valid but also quite obvious. As soon as you own stock you will want them to increase in valuation. My point is a different one. Publicly traded stock companies have very specific (growth) and often bad (growth, disregarding other impact) incentives.
Other forms of ownership can provide a stake for talented employees and safeguard their financial Fortune. I believe a cooperative may better align everyone’s incentives for example.
I was trying to point out that not every company ownership model is a publicly traded stock company. Your point is totally valid in the context you give.
I know you are sharing some interesting observations, but can we all stop talking about employees as the "fat" of companies and firing of employees as "culls".
> underperformers lying about to cull
is not just bad wording. By definition, there will always be underperformers. A profitable company only has "too many" employees if you think it has to pay a larger dividend to its owners / shareholders or that future growth is mandatory.
Why is it not fine when a company is more or less breaking even but paying good salaries to its employees?
There is solid research out there suggesting that this is different. Large n, several years, multiple countries all pointing to all increase in tune with the advent of visual social media (Instagram, TikTok - not Facebook or WhatsApp). The time series analysis makes this not merely correlational.
Well, it kind of did. The EU's highest court, the European Court of Justice just passed its final ruling last month stating that the "Safe Harbor" agreements called Privacy Shield etc. that US companies use to be able to operate in the EU in compliance with EU privacy laws are inadequate given the widespread mass surveillance used by the US. [0]
That's not banning but it requires US companies to actually invest and change their modes of operation if they want to continue to operate in the EU without being fined.
This might be interesting: how about a hundred years ago, a German Carpenter dressed up as a Prussian officer and got the local guards to hand over the town treasury. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23950138
twentyfifty | UK or Germany (mostly WFH) | Data Visualization / Scientist | Part-time or Intern or Student-job
twentyfifty [0] is a management consultancy helping international corporate clients to turn corporate responsibility commitments into practice in their value chains.
We are a certified B-corporation [1] with a wonderfully passionate team that believes in the quality and purpose of our work.
If the following statements resonate with you, we should get in touch:
"Understanding how companies impact people and how this could be measured fascinates me. I follow the news but when people cite studies, I often think 'I wish more people understood the difference between correlation and causation.' Using datasets to turn complex socioeconomic questions into easy-to-digest visuals and actionable insights for companies gives my work purpose. Excel, PowerQuery, PowerBI, Tableau, R or Python are some of the tools that I feel comfortable with."
twentyfifty is looking for a freelancer, or junior- / advanced-student level colleague. Given the current economic uncertainty, an engagement would start in August and be limited to December but likely be extended beyond that. Looking forward to get to know you. Please reach out to me. You can find my contact details on my profile page [2].
twentyfifty | Europe (mostly WFH) | Data Scientist | Freelancer
twentyfifty [0] is a management consultancy helping international corporate clients to turn corporate responsibility commitments into practice in their value chains.
We are a certified B-corporation [1] with a wonderfully passionate team that believes in the quality and purpose of our work.
If the following statements resonate with you, we should get in touch:
"Understanding how companies impact people and how this could be measured fascinates me. I follow the news but when people cite studies, I often think 'I wish more people understood the difference between correlation and causation.' Using datasets to turn complex socioeconomic questions into easy-to-digest visuals and actionable insights for companies gives my work purpose. Excel, PowerQuery, PowerBI, Tableau, R or Python are some of the tools that I feel comfortable with."
twentyfifty is looking for a freelancer, or junior- / advanced-student level colleague. Given the current economic uncertainty, an engagement would start in August and be limited to December but likely be extended beyond that. Looking forward to get to know you. Please reach out to me. You can find my contact details on my profile page [2].
twentyfifty | UK or Germany (mostly WFH) | Data Scientist | Part-time or Intern or Student-job
twentyfifty [0] is a management consultancy helping international corporate clients to turn corporate responsibility commitments into practice in their value chains.
We are a certified B-corporation [1] with a wonderfully passionate team that believes in the quality and purpose of our work.
If the following statements resonate with you, we should get in touch:
"Understanding how companies impact people and how this could be measured fascinates me. I follow the news but when people cite studies, I often think 'I wish more people understood the difference between correlation and causation.' Using datasets to turn complex socioeconomic questions into easy-to-digest visuals and actionable insights for companies gives my work purpose. Excel, PowerQuery, PowerBI, Tableau, R or Python are some of the tools that I feel comfortable with."
twentyfifty is looking for a freelancer, or junior- / advanced-student level colleague. Given the current economic uncertainty, an engagement would start in August and be limited to December but likely be extended beyond that. Looking forward to get to know you. Please reach out to me. You can find my contact details on my profile page [2].
Because the page is in German only (but fairly self-explanatory imho):
this maps the 625k registered trees in Berlin and crosses the data set with rainfall patterns showing which trees need attention of neighbours to survice.
You can "claim" a tree and mark it as taken care of.
I believe the origins of this are two heavy draught periods summer 2018/2019 where many trees succumbed.
In direct response to your first point, I would argue that it is you right to not vote. That being said, as it is THE fundamental right in democracies, you should not need to jump through any hoops whatsoever to vote. Especially as evidence suggests this leads to the people in power making use of that to stay in power.
On a side note: the idea that felons are unable to vote strikes me as totally wrong. What's the reasoning behind that? Why on Earth would you do that to a person? I cannot think of any scenario where this does not only have negatives consequences (alienating convicted felons even further from communities etc.). The only upside is pandering to those who feel that punishment is an important aspect of criminal justice. (This in itself deserves debate.)
Given the current discussion on political apathy in the US I think this data fits well into this pattern.
Looking at the voter turnout for United States (2016) of the of voting-age population you have merely 55.70% voting. (For comparison, the scale goes up to 87.21% in Belgium). Only roughly HALF of the population casts their votes in federal elections. Since a lot of the current policing decisions are made on a state or local level where voter turnout is even worse, this is a democracy in crisis.
What could be the drivers for this? I think you get a hint if you look at the other column, where you see the % of voter turnout based on registration. In most countries listed here, these numbers are almost identical because you are registered as a voter by default if you are a citizen. OR, if you are in the US, the % climbs to a whopping 86.80%, illustrating what a negative impact this system has.
Let people vote. Get rid of this ridiculus competition to cut and slice voter districts to party needs (gerry-mandering) and stop suppressing voters by other means if you want a system that actually allows politicians to work for their voters and not for donors / special interest groups that keep you paid.
Remember, this was at a time when German government bonds were sold with _negative_ interest. So, Germany was refusing to take on any further debt at the time to invest (i.E. in social capital like workers, better immigration, in infrastructure etc. etc.) and is now trying to rectify this partially, at a time where interest rates are close to 3%. Personally, to me as a non-economist, this feels like a missed opportunity of a lifetime.