The speed and boldness of Germany's response to covid-19 has surprised even sceptical observers
up to be a bumper year for the Hotel Esplanade in Dortmund. On February 13th its owners threw a big party to celebrate a €2.5m extension, and to mark the moment that Katja Kortmann took over as manager from her retiring father. Two weeks later the cancellations began: first a trickle, then a tidal wave of up to 300 a day. On March 27th the Esplanade will close its doors to guests and send its 40 staff home. The plan is to reopen on April 19th, but Ms Kortmann doubts that will happen.
Germany has had to slaughter several sacred cows to get here. The government’s supplementary budget foresees borrowing of €156bn this year, around 4% of no-deficit policy, in force since 2014, is history. The Bundestag had to invoke an emergency clause in the constitutional debt brake, which normally limits borrowing to 0.35% of. A rotating cast of international financial institutions has long urged Germany to loosen its purse-strings.
At the European level there has been some cross-border solidarity: several German states have accepted patients from overloaded French and Italian hospitals. But the German government is unwilling to heed requests to back jointly guaranteed euro-zone debt . “If we’re declaring war on the virus, eurobonds should be the instrument of choice, but I’m not hopeful,” says Moritz Schularick, an economics professor at the University of Bonn. The pandemic has changed a lot in Germany. But not everything.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
The best Chase Offers for cash back that are available now - Business InsiderChase Offers are cash-back deals at restaurants and retailers for Chase cardholders. Here are some of the best ones available right now.
Read more »
It's National Women's History Month! In Celebration, Check Out These 20 Must-Read Books Written by WomenFrom romance novels to best-selling thrillers, there's a page turner for everyone to enjoy
Read more »
LA’s Sugarfish vows to retain all 600 workers for the entirety of the pandemicOne of LA’s most popular sushi restaurants is keeping everyone on payroll throughout the coronavirus crisis
Read more »