The Big Chill
Posted on October 7, 2022
Unless German political leaders do an abrupt about-face and start to act in their country’s best interests, Germany is in for a dark, cold winter.
Below are four articles about the current German crisis, with a special focus on the natural gas shortage. All were translated by Hellequin GB, and the translator’s comments are in square brackets:
First, from Junge Freiheit:
Federal Network Agency urgently warns: Gas consumption is currently increasing too much
Bonn
The Federal Network Agency has urgently appealed to the population to reduce their gas consumption. According to the dpa news agency, the president of the authority belonging to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Klaus Müller, warned that it is currently rising too much. The situation could become very serious.
Twitter linkAccording to the Federal Network Agency, the gas consumption by private households and smaller commercial customers from the end of September to the beginning of October was 618 gigawatt hours, almost ten percent higher than in the years 2018 to 2021. The consumption of industrial customers last week was almost two percent below the level of 1,370 gigawatt hours level of previous years.
Federal Network Agency: Germany is threatened with a gas emergency
If private households, trade and industry do not manage to save at least 20%, Germany will hardly be able to avoid a gas emergency. Private households and smaller commercial customers account for around 40% of consumption in this country. Large industrial customers are responsible for the remaining 60%. [ I wonder which “private households” are doing this? Those of the native stock that have actually work hard to pay for it, or the new stock that don’t need to work and don’t pay for it?]
Network agency boss Müller had already complained last week about excessive gas consumption and threatened the Germans with consequences if they did not reduce it. “I don’t see that with the consumption figures that we last saw. That’s why we will have to make adjustments in the private sector,” he said. From his point of view, this also includes pricing. In plain language: the head of the network agency wants to further increase gas prices for private households. He had appealed to Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) not to introduce a Gas price cap.
Afterword from the translator:
Of course there is a plan behind it: the destruction of the energy industry, agriculture and the middle class. This is part of the Great Reset and an essential prerequisite for enforcing it. This results in insecurity and fear among the people, which is also intended. Those who live in a constant state of fear and stress can no longer think clearly and will submit in the hope that everything will get better.
When do people wake up? You just read the book by this misanthrope Klaus Schwab, in which he explains in detail how and what is planned — and already implemented — to see what is in the pipeline for you, and it’s not cheap gas.
The second article is from eXXpress:
Qatar’s Energy Minister scoffs at the clueless EU and German Minister Habeck
Saad Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s energy minister, said what many Europeans fear at the moment: when it comes to Energy policy, the EU and Robert Habeck, German Green Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, are clueless. [That is a prerequisite for the post.]
In the opinion of Qatar Energy Minister Saad Al-Kaabi, the energy policy of the EU, and above all that of the German Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (Greens) is taking place in the realm of illusion. According to Al-Kaabi, those responsible have no idea about the energy markets, and their unrealistic behavior makes the high gas prices their own fault.
The reason for the ridicule: Habeck does not identify an electricity problem, but a gas problem
Habeck and other responsible persons in the EU must expand the supply of energy by any means, says the Energy Minister. Instead, they are following an illusion and actually believe that Germany’s industry will no longer emit CO2 by 2045, Saad Al-Kaabi scoffs. But that would require a lot of electricity. A problem that the German minister does not see, because he recently said that there was no electricity problem, just a gas problem. Reason enough for the Energy Minister of the organizers of the soccer World Cup to make fun of such naïveté.
Afterword from the translator:
If it weren’t such a bitter certainty that German political clowns and those in the EU don’t have a clue, you could laugh about it, but in reality it brings tears to your eyes and sweat of dread to your forehead to contemplate those nincompoops that sit in the drivers’ seats of our respective countries today.
Also, with this opinion the Energy Minister of Qatar is not alone… anyone in their right mind cannot come to a different conclusion, one that has been recognized in non-European countries and in the Third World. But only there it seems.
From Report24:
Habeck doesn’t understand why US liquefied gas is so much more expensive than Russian pipeline gas
Thus far, Germany’s Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) has not shown himself to be particularly competent when it comes to his government post. Now he’s gone one better: he accuses the Americans of selling natural gas to Germany at far too high a price.
In fact, one would expect a Minister of Economics to have at least some basic knowledge of economics — or at least a basic understanding of how an economy works. And, if not, then it would be a good idea at least to do some research and engage with ministry officials on the issues before reporting it to the media. But Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck does not need this — and once again makes a fool of himself. [Well, they voted for him, didn’t they?]
The Greens leader is now publicly criticizing the United States for selling the liquefied natural gas that was shipped across the Atlantic to Germany at “astronomical prices”. Simple principles apply here: LPG is generally more expensive than pipeline gas because expensive liquefaction plants and the corresponding storage infrastructure have to be built for it. Then the liquefied gas has to be brought first across the Atlantic by ship, with the LNG tankers having then to return empty afterwards. In addition, the principle of supply and demand comes into play, whereby the former can hardly keep up with the latter.
In addition, these are private companies, such as EOG Resources, Chevron and Exxon, which of course act primarily in the interest of their own profits and those of the shareholders, and do not want to artificially lower prices “out of solidarity” with the Europeans. The US government won’t be able to do much there either, no matter how much Habeck would like it to. And not only that: the fact that no more Russian natural gas flows to Germany is also a result of the policy of the Greens, which party Habeck chairs, and who continue to vehemently support the sanctions and the financial and economic war against Russia.
Above all, however, the Americans are not really interested in significantly defusing the energy crisis in Europe. After all, they benefit from the relocation of energy-intensive companies across the Atlantic, which creates jobs and thus also brings in taxes and votes. At least if the energy costs in Europe remain so high in the long term that a move is really worthwhile for the company.
Afterword from the translator:
It boggles the mind the way someone like this Habeck character can become a high-ranking minister in ANY Western government. These types you’d expect to find in third-world countries in which nepotism, and not ability, is the normal prerequisite for a high-paid job in high places.
But, hey, isn’t that the road the whole of Europe is on? Especially with the mass-import of culture-enrichers? I guess the German government is simply adapting to the coming dark ages, and at a rapid pace.
Finally, from Pleiticker.de:
Food, energy, housing: the true inflation is 56%
Prices are skyrocketing and we are all getting poorer — everyone feels the price shock, but in statistics it shows up as much smaller. Official inflation figures are around 10%. But many citizens notice in their everyday life: prices are rising — in the supermarket, at the gas station — much faster!
The true inflation is much higher: That’s why we now have the inflation radar at Pleiticker.de — you can find it updated daily on our homepage. We have calculated price developments in the areas that really matter: housing, energy and basic foodstuffs. With the latest figures, inflation there was a whopping 56.3% over the past year — and 11.6 percent over the past week alone. For the average net income of a German household (€3,600), this means a loss in value of €1,296. This is mainly driven by the rise in energy costs. The price of electricity has risen by an unbelievable 344% in the past year.
The official figures, on the other hand, are hardly meaningful: The figures from the Federal Statistical Office are significantly lower and not very meaningful for the reality of people’s lives for two reasons: on the one hand, it includes hundreds of products in its “shopping basket” that are not at all decisive for the everyday life of most people — such as the price development of home cinema systems, surfboards, services from domestic staff or a visit to the opera.
On the other hand, the price shock for electricity and gas only becomes visible in the Federal Statistical Office’s inflation calculator with a long delay — because instead of the market price, the current consumer price is used, which reflects even more favorable market prices from the past. The real market price only reaches the end consumer with a delay.
The loss of value of money is already there today: It will inevitably affect not only consumers, but also many companies, especially in the handicraft industry and medium-sized businesses. Bakeries such as that of world champion confectioner Siefert ( pleiticker.de reported) are already being hit hard by these astronomical prices and are faced with the insoluble dilemma of passing the horrendous energy prices on to customers and thus alienating their customers — or, with the price pressure on their own shoulders, going broke. [I’m in the same boat with my little bakery, and I run it now all on my own.]
As we calculated: For our inflation radar, we look at the products that are really essential for people’s lives and survival: housing, energy and basic foodstuffs. And we are not referring to the consumer prices, whose conditions often come from the more favorable past — but the actual, daily updated market price, which the consumer inevitably has to face. We weight these as follows: gas at 12.5%, electricity at 12.5%, the most important staple foods at 40% and housing at 35%.
Afterword from the translator:
I assume that, statistically, the high cost of food and energy is offset by the lower cost of tanks and ammunition (the Greens need it for Ukraine to cut CO2 emissions — having fewer people alive will save the climate, after all), so living standards remain almost the same. |
