Germany's economy in freefall

[urbanlife]

www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2019/07/25/german-economy-free-fall-exhausted-draghi-loses-magic/?li_source=LI&li_medium=li-recommendation-widget

So leaving on WTO terms looks like a very sound choice. Germany props up the entire EU superstate pretty much.

I for one am feeling much more optimistic by the day.

misti absolutely no one, apart from you is expecting the German economy to grow, it is just about to announce a recession.

And thank you Misti I have been on MN for years and am definitely English!!!! I hope you are not being racist?

No, I'm just wondering how good your English is, if you don't understand common English terms like "fall".

Here is the latest from Fitch, one of the big three credit rating agencies, which is actually forecasting 0.9% growth this year (not 0.5%, which is the EU figure, and not "freefall").

The soft patch of the German economy has proved to be more persistent than we expected at the time of the last rating review in January 2019. Therefore, Fitch has revised down its 2019 GDP growth forecast to 0.9%.
"The 2020 and 2021 forecast is 1.4%, broadly in line with our assessment of medium-term growth potential.

As an English speaker who writes economic stuff for a living, "soft patch" seems a much more accurate description than "freefall". Would you agree?

Freefall means crashing to my mind. I don't know what the point of your post is. I am just quoting the title from the Telegraph this morning!!

The good news is Misti, that we are leaving, so if the contagion isn't contained we should be out by then.

Many of my remainer friends have quietly said they are now looking forward to leaving.

Sure you have lots of remainer friends

Sure they are looking forward to leaving

Sure they are quietly confiding in you

no one, apart from you is expecting the German economy to grow

No one except me and all mainstream economic forecasters.

Freefall means crashing to my mind.

You still haven't told us if you think 0.5% growth is "crashing".

The Germany economy is growing, manufacturing is soft, consumer demand is relatively strong. Is that "crashing"?

My no Deal friends would be tbe last people I confide in.

mystical Not all of us define our friendships by our brexit vote, what a ridiculous thing to suggest!

misti you can call a recession growth if you want to, but no one else measures a plummeting economy as a good sign.

bellini I suspect you are not spoilt for choice.

In what sense is 0.5% growth a recession?

A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. Is Germany in "recession"? Show your workings.

I see you are backing off "freefall" and "crashing" because that is obviously nonsense.

@urbanlife , I live in a Leave area

I need to crack on with some actual work. I will check back in later.

You heard it hear first, Italy is now back leaning back into recession (it seems Italy in permanent recession) and the Italian banks are just about to implode, but I am still sure you will still get those that will say they are supporting remain for prosperity. You really couldn't make it up!

misti I am not backing off anything. I didn't print the newspaper myself with freefall, so I can't claim it was my description, what a silly thing for you to say.
I am not running the news outlets nor publishing for reuters and bloomberg. It is all over the news Misti, tune in.

bellini I live in a remain area, so have many friends and family on both sides. We don't generally tend to talk about politics, and that usually ensures that dinners and get togethers remain civil and are not spoilt.
Those that ONLY have leave friends, those that ONLY have remain friends strike me as rather sad and dysfunctional.

I see the OP has finally realised that the German economy isn't crashing and wants us to talk about Italy instead.

The Italian economy is not "crashing" but it's definitely in trouble. Coincidentally, it's led by people who share a lot ideology with the UK's new government - though even the Italian government is bright enough to know that leaving the EU is not in their best interests.

Dripping with glee at other's misfortune even if it means our Major trading partner. Weird.

urban hush hush! You're getting yourself all hot and bothered with your goady fuckery! Step away!

Remember, you won! Get over it.

I have more confidence in our military to protect us so this doesn't worry me, but I can see why some would worry.

Good luck with that, with the cuts that have been made to the armed forces. Or are you expecting the Americans to come riding into town to protect us? If so, it will come at a price.

I, myself believe we can cut red tape and really help business, but I understand you may not agree.

So at the moment we have a single market and customs union which doesn't require paperwork; outside it will mean visas and customs documentation.

We also know where bonfires of red tape lead to - "Health and Safety gone mad" - cut red tape in fire regs - Grenfell. Haven't heard quite so much lately about Health and Safety regs being unnecessary. I wonder why?

I didn't print the newspaper myself with freefall, so I can't claim it was my description,

Sure. You just used it as the title of your thread, and have consistently argued that the German economy definitely is in "freefall" even though it's growing. It's not your description at all .

Is this the "personal responsibility" so beloved of the right?

I need to crack on with some actual work. I will check back in later.

The standard ploy - can't answer questions, I have to go now. Why bother starting threads if you can't stick around to answer?

The EU have been completely respectful and more than reasonable in negotiations. The Tory government and Farage have been disrespectful and at some times downright jingoistic and embarrassing.