PPCC: Pisitófilos Creditófagos. Verano 2023

[pollo]

Ayer en el curro, todo el mundo convencidísimo de que esto iba a subir sí o sí indefinidamente, y que los tipos iban a dejar de subir fijo.

Eso sí, en cuanto insistes un poco y tiras de la lengua, todos reconocen con la boca pequeña que es una absoluta sobrada insostenible el cómo están los precios de la vivienda, pero eso sí, a pesar de lo insostenible seguirán subiendo.

Luego hubo un compendio de logros inmobiliarios de conocidos, que sí Manolito compró en el 92 un piso por X millones y le sacó 3x el valor unos años después, que si Pedrito hizo tal en tal otra ciudad, etc. Eso sí, reconociendo de facto que el único mérito de esta gente fue comprar por necesidad y tener suerte por haber podido comprar antes que los que nacieron después.

Lo del 2006 no puede repetirse porque "va todo mucho mejor". Qué poca memoria tenemos. Les dije que "lo de 2006 nunca iba a pasar hasta que pasó". La única réplica que pudieron tener fue que ahora iba otra vez p'arriba y que esta era la definitiva en la que sería hasta el infinito, que ya no hay subprimes ni nada de eso.

[saturno]

https://www.eleconomista.es/economia/noticias/12404847/08/23/el-gasto-en-los-sueldos-de-los-funcionarios-del-estado-supera-en-85-puntos-la-media-de-la-ocde.html

Saludos.

La remuneración / peso de los funcis es una medida excelente del  grado de implantación de capitalismo popular.
No tiene relación con el modelo de Estado, pero lo tiene con la financiarización de la vivienda,

Observen que Japon PBajos Grecia Corea (lo miré sin gafas) y Alemania están entre los menos dependientes. Por caminos distintos, no hay una vía única.

Consideren la relación respectiva deesos 4 con el coste del sector público ('productivo' eh, que sí, que sí, pero ¿de qué exactamente?), olvidense del envejecimiento y contemplen cuál es la solución que implica ese gráfico, 

Esencialmente; restablece la regla de incompatibilidad de los funcis
(= vvda de función pública, SOCIMIS públicas gestionadas por y para funcis, etc,)
-

[Manu Oquendo]

Late summer bloody blues

Una de las cosas que suceden a las naciones cuando viven en una situación colonial es que sus liderazgos son elegidos por la metrópoli incluso cuando formalmente se produzcan elecciones directas.

En estos casos hay un proceso previo de discreta "preselección de candidatos" que pasa por los vistos buenos a cada uno de ellos  por parte de entidades que desempañan dicho papel por cuenta de poder real.  Vamos, como las ternas de Franco para los obispados. Es evidente que Vox todavía no ha pasado el corte y tiene que seguir en el campo de prácticas.

El papel de "reclutamiento de liderazgos" lo desempeñan hoy metáforas --como Soros, Davos, Bilderberg, Trilateral, Schwab, NWO,  etc--  de entidades "delegadas" generalmente discretas pero eficaces.  Uno de los últimos ejemplos ha sido la nominación de la Ministra Irene Montero como Política Global del año por parte del "Foro Joven de Davos" (El Español)  en recompensa por su vehemente compromiso personal con la agenda LGTBI para la destrucción de buena parte de la infancia y juventud occidental.

Otra igual de evidente es la perruna fidelidad a la familia Soros de nuestro actual jefe de gobierno en funciones. Este chico siempre ha sabido lo que le convenía.

Uno de los valores estructurales del sistema democrático libre es, precisamente, la libertad individual expresada en libertad de información, educación y expresión. Sin este factor la sociedad pasa a depender de sus élites en el Poder (seleccionadas por otros) y por tanto pierde el talento y la creatividad de cientos de millones de individuos libres.  Esta era la ventaja real de Occidente. Mientras duró, claro.

En las postrimerías de este mes de Agosto, --menos cálido de lo acostumbrado en las cercanías de Madrid y en la cornisa cantábrica--  nos encontramos con cuestiones candentes. Demasiadas


En primer lugar el papelón que tenemos entre manos de un probable gobierno en manos de Golpistas Reforzados por el diseño del Gobierno de Sánchez que, tras la hégira de Zapatero  --nuevo Mahoma bolivariano--, ha reconstruido las divisiones de nuestra Guerra Civil. Todos los herederos del Frente Popular  están hoy en Moncloa intentando ganar la guerra un siglo después y de manos de hijos del franquismo afectados del síndrome edípico. 

En segundo lugar las negras perspectivas para la Unión Europea de la guerra contra Rusia en Ucrania. Los generales rusos llevan más de un año en una guerra defensiva, minimizando bajas-- mientras Zelensky, impedido de pactar con Rusia  por Biden y su cipayo Mayor –Boris Johnson--  ha condenado a su pueblo a la masacre de varias generaciones de varones de 16 a 65 o más años. Por cierto: ¡qué silencio el del feminismo woke!
Fuentes USA (Coronel MacGregor, y Robert Kennedy Jr entre otros) apuntan ya a más de 400,000 muertos e incontables mutilados y heridos. Von der Leyen y un  Borrell desconocido azuzan la carnicería de cuerpos ajenos.   

Estas perspectivas se ennegrecen todavía más por el intento de los EEUU (Trump y Biden de la mano—no aprendemos) de reconstruir su industria.  Los EEUU puestos a elegir siempre lo tendrán claro y nos gobernarán con sus cipayos tal como dictó el maestro Brzezinsky. Nosotros ni aprendemos ni damos señales de ello.

En tercer lugar el timo de la Inflación impulsada por la propia UE y los Gobiernos de las Naciones más serviles. Verbigracia la nuestra. La alimentaria. Una inflación superior al 40% --lo del INE es de chiste malo--  y en no pocos casos mucho más. Fruta y verduras, por ejemplo.
¿Explicación monetaria? Ni de coña.   Inflación provocada, por ejemplo,  con subidas de
1. Impuesto sobre el CO2  que han multiplicado por 25 veces y
2. Subida del Salario mínimo de este tenor (más menos 40/45%) que es, de largo,  el principal coste de los productos agrícolas.


El resultado es: todos peor comenzando por los receptores del salario mínimo.

Bueno, todos, todos, no:  La rubita ferrolana, especialidad sus trampas, no. Ella se queda con el mérito de la subida y el timo de los fijos discontinuos que esconde cerca de un millón de parados.

Y dónde está la prensa seria y  libre, dirán ustedes. Pues, francamente, no se la ve por ninguna parte.


Hoy mismo, en El Mundo, un periodista explica que Holanda entregará F-16  a Ucrania en represalia por el derribo del MH17 en 2014 con más de 280 muertos. Un derribo atribuido por Occidente a Rusia pero que ni los dueños del avión (Malasia) se lo han creído. Leí el panfleto con interés porque recuerdo muy bien aquel crimen y muchos de sus detalles que el artículo no ha creído oportuno recordar. 

Por ejemplo el suicidio por tiro en la sien delante de su esposa e hija del piloto ucraniano, Capitán Voloshin, que despegó aquel día con dos misiles aire-aire bajo el ala y regresó sin ninguno. A saber qué le dijeron que era el blanco.  Aquí: https://www.elmundo.es/internacional/2018/03/18/5aaecd7a46163f1a718b4646.html

O que la cabina de los pilotos del MH17 fue ametrallada y todos los orificios iban de arriba abajo y de izquierda a derecha y los pilotos acribillados no tuvieron ni dos segundos para dar un mensaje por radio a Rostov, el aeropuerto que ya había tomado el control del vuelo. 
Estas fotos son visibles en el informe forense publicado por Holanda (Dutch safety board report on MH17).
Estos y muchos otros datos he vuelto a repasar ayer. La mayoría de ellos deben constar en los fondos históricos de este foro para los años 2014 y 15 y con el paso del tiempo ratifican la impresión del experto alemán, Erik Zuesse,  que escribió. “Evidence Is Now Conclusive: Two Ukrainian Government Fighter-Jets Shot Down Malaysian Airlines MH17. It was Not a ‘Buk’ Surface to Air Missile”.

En fin, que es difícil llevar la cabeza alta

[sudden and sharp]

https://www.eleconomista.es/economia/noticias/12404847/08/23/el-gasto-en-los-sueldos-de-los-funcionarios-del-estado-supera-en-85-puntos-la-media-de-la-ocde.html

Saludos.

La remuneración / peso de los funcis es una medida excelente del  grado de implantación de capitalismo popular.
No tiene relación con el modelo de Estado, pero lo tiene con la financiarización de la vivienda,

Observen que Japon PBajos Grecia Corea (lo miré sin gafas) y Alemania están entre los menos dependientes. Por caminos distintos, no hay una vía única.

Consideren la relación respectiva deesos 4 con el coste del sector público ('productivo' eh, que sí, que sí, pero ¿de qué exactamente?), olvidense del envejecimiento y contemplen cuál es la solución que implica ese gráfico, 

Esencialmente; restablece la regla de incompatibilidad de los funcis
(= vvda de función pública, SOCIMIS públicas gestionadas por y para funcis, etc,)
-

El expreso antifunci de las 14:35... Puntualidad británica "as usual".




Sin mirar... que compruebe alguien si son esos cuatro países los que tienen el salario medio más deajustado con el salario mediano. 

[torre01]

Hoy mismo, en El Mundo, un periodista explica que Holanda entregará F-16  a Ucrania en represalia por el derribo del MH17 en 2014 con más de 280 muertos. Un derribo atribuido por Occidente a Rusia pero que ni los dueños del avión (Malasia) se lo han creído. Leí el panfleto con interés porque recuerdo muy bien aquel crimen y muchos de sus detalles que el artículo no ha creído oportuno recordar. 

Por ejemplo el suicidio por tiro en la sien delante de su esposa e hija del piloto ucraniano, Capitán Voloshin, que despegó aquel día con dos misiles aire-aire bajo el ala y regresó sin ninguno. A saber qué le dijeron que era el blanco.  Aquí: https://www.elmundo.es/internacional/2018/03/18/5aaecd7a46163f1a718b4646.html

O que la cabina de los pilotos del MH17 fue ametrallada y todos los orificios iban de arriba abajo y de izquierda a derecha y los pilotos acribillados no tuvieron ni dos segundos para dar un mensaje por radio a Rostov, el aeropuerto que ya había tomado el control del vuelo. 
Estas fotos son visibles en el informe forense publicado por Holanda (Dutch safety board report on MH17).
Estos y muchos otros datos he vuelto a repasar ayer. La mayoría de ellos deben constar en los fondos históricos de este foro para los años 2014 y 15 y con el paso del tiempo ratifican la impresión del experto alemán, Erik Zuesse,  que escribió. “Evidence Is Now Conclusive: Two Ukrainian Government Fighter-Jets Shot Down Malaysian Airlines MH17. It was Not a ‘Buk’ Surface to Air Missile”.

En fin, que es difícil llevar la cabeza alta

Sólo añadir el enlace sobre los primeros indicios de la investigación del derribo del MH17 por un investigador de la OSCE

https://www.nst.com.my/news/2015/09/mh17-pockmarks-look-very-very-heavy-machine-gun-fire-says-first-osce-monitor-scene

Cualquier día aparece el MH370 y se completa el círculo.

[Derby]

 https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/23/world/brics-nations-new-members-expansion.html

What to Know About Key Nations Seeking to Join BRICS

Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Indonesia and Egypt are among the potential candidates to expand the five-nation bloc, many of them seeking stronger ties with non-Western powers. Iran is also interested.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-08-23/supply-chain-latest-how-global-trade-changes-with-saudi-indonesia-in-brics

How Global Trade Changes With BRICS on the Rise

(...) If the bloc accepts Indonesia and Saudi Arabia’s applications to join the group, an expanded BRICS would account for 44% of the global economy by 2040 — far outrivaling the G-7’s GDP predicted share of 21% as forecast by Bloomberg Economics.

This kind of shift away from the western-led economic system will likely lead to a much different type of global order, according to Scott Johnson, Tom Orlik and Ziad Daou of Bloomberg Economics.

[Derby]

https://www.ft.com/content/a5598c9d-99f5-45c3-98eb-2f797f2cc85b

Russia offers to swap frozen assets with the west

Western officials say they are not aware of the proposal and that no talks are taking place

Russia is offering to swap western investors’ stranded assets in the country for some Russian assets frozen by the west following President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Under the proposal, Moscow would give interested western investors the opportunity to buy the assets of Russian companies that have been immobilised in Europe by using their own funds held in restricted accounts in Russia that cannot be spent outside the country, the central bank said on Wednesday.

Western officials told the Financial Times that they were not aware of the proposal and that no talks were taking place on a potential asset swap.

The proposed deal is aimed at unblocking Rbs100bn ($1.1bn), mostly owned by retail investors, of a total Rbs1.5tn of Russian-owned holdings in the west, finance minister Anton Siluanov told Putin on Tuesday.

Moscow’s offer would compensate retail investors for their investments in western securities that have been frozen under western sanctions and stranded at settlement houses such as Belgium-based Euroclear — while allowing some western companies to retrieve stranded funds from Russia, according to a person briefed on the matter.

Russia has yet to release details of the proposed swap, which Siluanov and the central bank said would be outlined in a decree to be signed by Putin.

The exchange will be “voluntary”, the central bank said, appearing to rule out possible expropriation of western-held assets to compensate Russian investors, while the volume of assets would be “limited”.

On Wednesday, Russia’s finance ministry also eased restrictions on western companies’ corporate dividends. Under the new rules, they will be allowed to withdraw amounts equivalent to their investments in their Russian subsidiaries’ production and technology.

But any potential agreement would be complicated by the legal and compliance difficulties for western investors in disposing of their assets in Russia, according to the person briefed on the offer.

There are no negotiations between the EU and Russia over any potential swap of financial assets, four senior European officials told the FT. One official added that they saw little possibility for detailed talks on such a deal taking place in the near future.

Western governments are unlikely to agree to any deal that equates Russian assets frozen in response to Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine with western assets stranded in Russia whose confiscation they view as illegal.

The proposal comes as western governments, led by the G7 group of advanced economies, wrangle over whether and how they should seek to monetise Russia’s frozen assets to support Ukraine.

Almost €200bn of Russian assets have been frozen by sanctions at Euroclear, the world’s biggest settlement house, €180bn of which are Russian central bank reserves, according to the Belgian government.

Western officials are exploring ways to legally skim off the profits of those assets and offer them as financial aid to Kyiv.

Any seizure would run the risk of Russia expropriating more stranded western assets in response following the nationalisations of four European companies’ local subsidiaries earlier this year. Germany’s and Finland’s energy companies Uniper and Fortum were hit, as well as France’s dairy giant Danone and Denmark’s beer maker Carlsberg.

Though hundreds of western companies are struggling to agree exit deals from Russia or have written off their assets there, many of their Russian businesses continue to generate profits that can only be held inside the country under Russian law.

Energy major BP, which held a near 20 per cent stake in Russia’s state oil champion Rosneft, has had about $1.4bn in dividend payments placed by Moscow in escrow accounts since the invasion, covering the end of 2021 and 2022. 

But the company, which took the decision to exit its stake with a $24.4bn writedown in February 2022, said in December that it had not received any dividend payments and had “no expectation of receiving any in the future”. The sale of its Rosneft stake has been complicated by sanctions and the right of the Kremlin to in effect approve any buyer.

[Derby]

https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/mortgage-demand-falls-lowest-level-1995-rates-surge

Mortgage demand falls to lowest level since 1995 as rates surge

Mortgage rates hit highest level since 2000, cooling housing demand

https://twitter.com/calculatedrisk/status/1694317780848533938



https://twitter.com/NewsLambert/status/1694040457192374487

@NewsLambert Blue line = average 30-year fixed mortgage rate

Purple line = effective mortgage rate of all outstanding mortgages

Green = when the "effective" rate is greater than the "market" rate

Red = when the "market" rate is greater than the "effective" rate

[Urederra]

Centro y costa.


La vivienda en Canarias supera el precio máximo de la burbuja de 2007

https://www.lavozdelanzarote.com/ekonomus/vivienda/vivienda-en-canarias-supera-precio-maximo-burbuja-2007_220662_102.html

[Benzino Napaloni]

Bajan las hipotecas, suben los hactivos y los mercaos.

Otra vez como antes de la crisis, precios de no-mercado, y una chulería y agresividad que esconde (sin mucho éxito) que hay miedo a que se acabe el oxígeno de la botella.

Yo sólo tendré que vigilar que no me empache con las palomitas.

[Derby]

Un accidente de aviación termina con la vida de Prigozhin, el líder del grupo Wagner.

https://www.ft.com/content/812c9da3-80f2-4fe1-8fad-0b4441d1977a

Yevgeny Prigozhin was passenger on crashed plane, Russian officials say
Ten died when aircraft came down on flight from Moscow to St Petersburg, according to emergency ministry

[Derby]

https://news.yahoo.com/weaponizing-immigrants-europe-east-finds-040011112.html

After Weaponizing Immigrants, Europe’s East Finds It Needs Them



(...) Politicians in Warsaw and Budapest have long railed against European Union plans for migrant quotas. Faced with hundreds of thousands of unfilled positions in a labor market that threatens to put a brake on growth, officials now argue thousands of arrivals from Asia are “guest workers” rather than migrants who will stay.

The change in the narrative is making them a target for political foes. Poland’s governing Law & Justice party, which is seeking a third straight term in what’s set to be a tight election on Oct. 15, last month abandoned a plan to fast-track visas after criticism from the main opposition party. In Hungary, Orban is being blamed for replacing locals with cheaper Asian workers.

“Of course there’s a shift,” Laszlo Papp, the mayor of Debrecen, said in an interview at his office last week. “But there’s a huge difference between the migration that we opposed and the issue of foreign workers, and the difference is control,” said Papp, a member of Orban’s ruling Fidesz party. “That makes it acceptable.”

Ever since the refugee crisis of 2015 and Germany’s decision to open its border, the populist leaderships in Poland and Hungary have cast themselves as the protectors of Europe’s Christian heritage.

Orban’s government notoriously built a fence to keep out refugees, illegally refused to process asylum seekers and put up billboards warning foreigners against taking away jobs in Hungary. Polish ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski said Muslims were a threat to Europe. Most recently, in July, the two countries sought to block an EU plan for member states to share the accommodation of arrivals from outside Europe.

It’s a nativism that’s served them well at the ballot box in some of the least multicultural parts of Europe. But most eastern economies in the EU have jobless rates of 5% or lower, and at least 670,000 jobs remain unfilled across the region.

That’s prompting governments to act in the face of aging population and find millions of people to keep their economies running in the years to come. The shortage became more acute after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine upended the flow of workers across the border that many neighboring countries relied on.

In Hungary, Orban told corporate executives earlier this year that the struggling economy will need 500,000 new workers within two years if the country is to come good on investments in new battery plants worth about $15 billion. That’s equivalent to more than 10% of its current workforce. Parliament passed a law making it easier to bring in foreign workers while capping their stay at three years.

Poland needs to bring in at least 200,000 immigrants a year over the next decade to keep the current ratio of working-age population to retirees, the country’s social insurance institution estimated. That figure compares with 188,000 foreigners newly registered with it in 2022 as Ukrainians relocated because of the war.

The Czech Republic, where populist billionaire Andrej Babis was unseated as prime minister two years ago, has since approved higher quotas for visas for workers coming from the Philippines and Mongolia as it seeks to plug in the gap caused by missing Ukrainians.

“The calls from companies are really desperate,” said Labor Minister Marian Jurecka. The country will need about 300,000 more foreign workers by 2030 on top of the about 900,000 there are now, he said. “Lack of workforce is the main barrier for their growth.”

After being fed a diet of fear, uneasy electorates are being told the workers are key to investment projects to ensure growth outpaces Western Europe in coming years.

In Hungary, China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., or CATL, has started construction on an $8 billion battery factory, Europe’s biggest, near Debrecen close to the Romanian border.

Across from the site, some properties are becoming make-shift lodges for foreign workers. Earlier this month, as many as 50 Chinese laborers were found to be living in cramped conditions in a single-family home, prompting local authorities to launch a probe.

Polish oil and petrochemicals giant Orlen, which has close ties with the ruling Law & Justice party, is hosting thousands of workers to build its new plant. Seven rows of containers sprung up near Biala, a village of about 800 people on the outskirts of Plock in central Poland, where Orlen is headquartered.

The company started a campaign to reassure locals the influx was temporary, while the police deployed more officers to assuage concern about any rise in crime. It also ran an awareness campaign called “StopHejt” to counter racism. Leaflets and posters went up around the town and police officers held anti-discrimination workshops in schools.

“Employing large Asian workforce for megaprojects is a new necessity,” said Jakub Zgorzelski, a director responsible for the project. “These projects will need to be built with a large contribution from the Asian workforce.”

That stands in contrast with government rhetoric on the EU’s plan for member states to take a quota of arrivals from outside Europe and relieve the burden on states such as Greece and Italy. Orban told national radio on June 30 the EU’s proposal would force Hungary to “create migrant ghettos.”

Polish attitudes toward immigration will be tested again in October. Kaczynski, Law & Justice’s chairman and Poland’s most powerful politician, announced a plan to hold a referendum on the EU’s migrant relocation plan in conjunction with the election.

While the party is still portraying itself as the defender of Polish identity and security, one of its political weapons is now also a potential source of vulnerability.

The opposition, led by Donald Tusk, a former prime minister and European Council president, called out the government last month for letting in 130,000 workers from countries including Iran, Nigeria and Pakistan in 2022. Tusk said it was an attempt by the ruling party to stir divisions before the election. The government backtracked on plans to issue as many as 400,000 work permits a year to people from 21 countries including in Asia and the Middle East.

“Migration is not the most important issue in Poland’s October parliamentary election, but it could become salient if linked to national security concerns,” Aleks Szczerbiak, professor of politics at the University of Sussex in the UK, wrote in a blog published on Aug. 11. “In a closely-fought contest, it may play a decisive role in determining the outcome.”

In Biala, Orlen is making efforts to cater to the new workers as well as trying to win the hearts and minds of locals. The “container town” may even have a cricket field and two basketball courts and nearby churches are preparing to hold services in English.

Anto Darwin, a safety coordinator from India who lives in one of the containers, said people sometimes look at him in a strange way and he was once shouted at by a local. But the 32-year-old native of Chennai hopes to stay, regardless. “Once my daughter is one year old, I want to bring the whole family from Chennai and rent an apartment,” he said.

That’s when the economic need for workers and the politics of immigration could collide again. At the moment, the containers are home to about 500 people. As that figure increases, so might tension with the local Polish population, said Slawomir Wawrzynski, mayor of the Stara Biala municipality.

“We emphasize that these migrants are here just to work,” Wawrzynski said. “There are no problems with the migrants, so the anxiety is suspended. But if the number of migrants increases to a few thousand, which is expected next year, then problems could arise.”

[Derby]

https://apnews.com/article/germany-government-citizenship-rules-7638771d85a52ad30f90153cc762bda8

Germany is moving forward with a plan to ease its citizenship rules as it seeks to attract workers

BERLIN (AP) — Germany plans to ease citizenship rules under legislation approved Wednesday by the Cabinet, a project that the government contends will bolster the integration of immigrants and help an economy that is struggling with a shortage of skilled workers.

The legislation passed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his ministers still requires approval from the lower house of parliament, where the socially liberal three-party coalition has a comfortable majority. It could take effect in January, depending on how quickly that happens.

The government plans to make people eligible for citizenship after five years in Germany, or three in case of “special integration accomplishments,” rather than eight or six years at present. German-born children would automatically become citizens if one parent has been a legal resident for five years, down from eight years now.

Restrictions on holding dual citizenship will also be dropped. In principle, most people from countries other than European Union members and Switzerland now have to give up their previous nationality when they gain German citizenship, though there are some exemptions.

“We are creating a modern immigration law that does justice to our diverse society — and, I may add, finally,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told reporters in Berlin. She said the reform follows years of debates that “unfortunately were often marked by exclusion, resentment and cheap propaganda,” and that applicants for citizenship “will no longer be forced to give up part of their identity.”

Faeser also linked the plan to Germany’s quest to attract more skilled workers to the country, which has Europe’s biggest economy, and address labor shortages in a growing number of professions.

“We are in the middle of a worldwide competition for the best people,” she said, adding that Germany could only attract them “if they can fully become part of our society in the foreseeable future, with all democratic rights” enjoyed by German nationals.

Applicants will in most cases be required to prove that they can support themselves and their family without receiving state benefits. The new legislation will specify that “antisemitic, racist or other inhumanly motivated actions” rule out naturalization.

The government says that 14% of the population, more than 12 million of the country’s 84.4 million inhabitants, doesn’t have German citizenship and that about 5.3 million of those have lived in Germany for at least a decade. It says that the naturalization rate in Germany is well below the EU average.

Last year, about 168,500 people were granted German citizenship. That was the highest figure since 2002, boosted by a large increase in the number of Syrian citizens who arrived in the past decade being naturalized, but still only a fraction of long-term residents.

“There can be no better incentive for successful integration” than the prospect of quicker naturalization, Faeser argued.

The center-right opposition Union bloc contends that it would have the opposite effect.

Senior conservative lawmaker Andrea Lindholz said that the government “is sending completely the wrong signals” at a time when local authorities are struggling to cope with large numbers of new migrants, and that its priority should be the reduction of “irregular immigration.”

The Union objects to reducing the time people have to wait and to removing restrictions on dual citizenship. “Integration takes time, and is more than work and language,” Lindholz said.

[Derby]

https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/department-stores-are-maxed-out-1bb63395

Department Stores Are Maxed Out

Bearish commentary from some retailers, including Macy’s, paints a worrying picture of American consumers

The flood of consumer savings is drying up, and so are the retailers that were temporarily wading in it.

The gloom befell department-store stocks starting on Tuesday, when Macy’s reported that comparable sales at its department stores, which include Bloomingdale’s, fell 8.2% excluding licensed stores in the quarter ended July 29 compared with a year earlier. On Wednesday, Kohl’s KSS 3.87%increase; green up pointing triangle said comparable sales declined 5% over the same period. Those numbers actually exceeded Wall Street expectations, though they were worse than the 4.1% decline that retail-sales data implied for the period.(...)

[Derby]

https://abcnews.go.com/Business/slow-housing-market-heat-anytime-analysts-party/story?id=102449162

Slow housing market may not heat up anytime soon, analysts say: 'The party is over'

Mortgage rates stand at a 21-year high, Freddie Mac data shows.

Sky-high mortgage rates have helped slam the brakes on the housing market, recent data shows.

Mortgage rates climbed to their highest levels in 21 years, Freddie Mac data showed last week. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.09% over the week ending on Thursday, after sustaining levels above 6.5% since May.

The home resale market, meanwhile, slowed in July to its lowest rate since 2010,National Association of Realtors data showed on Tuesday.

A shortage of supply has kept housing prices elevated, stunting home purchases as prospective buyers stand crunched between twin pressures of expensive borrowing costs and stubbornly high listing prices, analysts said.

The dynamic is unlikely to change markedly in the coming months, since both home prices and mortgage rates are expected to remain at or near current levels, they added.

Contrasting the current market with the low-mortgage rate environment that took hold during the COVID-19 pandemic, Bess Freedman, the CEO of real estate firm Brown Harris Stevens, told ABC News: "It's not champagne and caviar anymore. The party is over."

"Buyers are on the fence and struggling with a lack of inventory and higher mortgage rates," Freedman added. "The next few months will most likely be similar."

The Federal Reserve has put forward an aggressive string of interest rate hikes as it tries to slash inflation by slowing the economy and choking off demand.

That means borrowers face higher costs for everything from car loans to credit card debt to mortgages.


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