European Economics > Unemployment hits ten-year high in Germany; France consigning next generation to a lifetime of debt

 

German unemployment hits ten-year high

The country’s economy is facing a third consecutive year without growth

© Getty Images / skynesher

Unemployment in Germany has risen to its highest level in a decade, official figures released on Friday show. The labor report comes as the country’s faltering economy risks contracting for a third consecutive year.

The figures show the number of unemployed individuals topping 3 million in August for the first time since 2015. The month-on-month increase came in at 46,000 to put the tally at 3.02 million in seasonally unadjusted terms, or 6.4% of the population.

Federal Employment Agency chief Andrea Nahles blamed the labor market struggles on Germany’s weak economy. The EU’s largest economy shrank by 0.2% in 2024 after contracting by 0.3% in 2023. This year, following a 0.3% expansion in the first quarter, output fell by 0.3% in Q2 as uncertainty grew over new US tariffs. The International Monetary Fund recently warned that Germany could face a third consecutive year without growth.

Germany’s economic downturn has coincided with Berlin’s decision to halt imports of low-cost Russian energy, which was vital for its industry. European gas prices rose sharply after Russian pipeline deliveries largely stopped and the Nord Stream pipelines were sabotaged later that year. Before the sanctions, Germany sourced 55% of its gas from Russia, but has since shifted to pricier liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports from the US and Qatar.

READ MORE: EU sanctions against Russia don’t work – Bild

Moscow has denounced the Western sanctions as illegal and ineffective, arguing they have instead backfired on the countries that imposed them.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated last week that Germany is facing a “structural crisis” rather than temporary “weakness,” and said steering the economy toward growth has proven more difficult than expected. Key industries such as the automotive segment are “no longer truly competitive,” he added.

The country’s automotive sector has shed more than 51,000 jobs just in the past year alone, according to recent data.

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French PM admits debt will devastate next generation

Paris has spiraled into uncontrolled borrowing for the comfort of “boomers,” Francois Bayrou has said

French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou in Paris, France, August 28, 2025. © Getty Images / Adnan Farzat/NurPhoto

France has saddled the younger generations with debts they’ll be paying off their entire lives, French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou has said. Paris continuously borrows in the interest of “boomers” and “certain political parties,” he added.

On Monday, Bayrou said he urged President Emmanuel Macron to reconvene parliament by September 8 for a confidence vote to gauge support for his €43.8 billion ($50.9 billion) austerity measures plan. The prime minister has long sounded the alarm over the country’s spiraling budget deficit, which hit 5.8% of GDP last year – almost double the EU 3% ceiling.

The primary victims of the government debt will be the “youngest French people,” Bayrou said in an interview with French broadcaster TF1 on Wednesday.

“They’re the victims; they’re the ones who will have to pay the debt for the rest of their lives,” he said, adding that Paris is trying to convince them that more borrowing is needed.

READ MORE: French debt ballooning by €5,000 a second – PM

“All this for the comfort of certain political parties and for the comfort of the so-called boomers.”

His proposals to battle France’s $3.98 billion government debt have included scrapping public holidays, slashing public sector jobs, as well as welfare and pensions cuts. The program has been criticized by left-wing parties, who have accused Paris of prioritizing military spending over social welfare.

Macron has promised to increase France’s military budget to €64 billion by 2027, citing external threats. Paris has warned of a potential war scenario within the next five years, naming Russia as one of the principal threats – claims which Moscow has dismissed.

READ MORE: Macron wants ‘boots on the ground’ in Ukraine

Bayrou’s proposed budget has not been well received by the French public, polls suggest. While most French people agree with the prime minister’s alarmism about the national debt, 76% believe his budget will not help, and 82% see it as socially unfair, according to an Elabe survey from Tuesday.

Around 81% want a new prime minister to be elected, and 67% called for Macron’s resignation, according to Elabe’s poll. Nearly three-quarters say they want Bayrou to fail in the vote on September 8, which is to be his ninth no-confidence motion.

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Latin America Rising > Buenos Aires leading the way with cryptocurrency

 

Buenos Aires aims to be among leading cities for cryptocurrency use

By Francisca Orellana

   

Buenos Aires has allowed certain local taxes, vehicle registrations, driver’s licenses and fines to be paid with cryptocurrency for the first time. File Photo by Leo La Valle/EPA

Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Buenos Aires has allowed certain local taxes, vehicle registrations, driver's licenses and fines to be paid with cryptocurrency for the first time as part of an effort to position the Argentine capital as a leader in using digital currency.

"The goal is for the city to be a global leader in crypto. We already have the human capital, and now we are creating the tools by reducing bureaucracy to make compliance easier for taxpayers and to support the arrival of new companies setting up here," said Jorge Macri, chief of government of Buenos Aires, at the launch of the project.

The initiative, called Buenos Aires Cripto, includes measures to modernize the tax system, promote foreign investment and position the capital as a regional benchmark in the field.

"The digital economy requires us to update and adapt with a government that is modern, agile, efficient and smart," Macri said. He added that new tax measures are being introduced to give businesses a friendlier regulatory framework, including simpler tax filings and changes in how some taxes are calculated.

The shift reflects the fact that both companies and individuals use cryptocurrencies in daily life, including to receive payments from abroad.

As of 2024, about 10,000 Argentines were receiving salaries from abroad through crypto, PayPal or Brazil's central bank payment system, PIX. Buenos Aires also has more than 10 million crypto accounts, representing 22% of those opened in Latin America.

"The adoption of cryptocurrencies in Argentina is not new," said Carlos Torres, lead partner of the Payments Practice at consulting firm EY. He explained that the trend has been growing for several years as a result of Argentina's economic troubles.

"It has been driven mainly by inflation, economic instability and currency volatility, where cryptocurrency was seen as a refuge in the national context," he said.

Exchange platforms such as Binance and Lemon are widely used in Argentina, with Bitcoin leading as the main investment alternative.

Francisco Diaz, director of the business school at Universidad Mayor in Chile, said restrictions on the foreign exchange and international capital markets pushed Argentines to seek creative solutions for using foreign currency.

"Cryptocurrencies, particularly the more stable ones -- stablecoins -- have been widely adopted in recent years as a means of payment, a tool for receiving funds from abroad, for transactions and as a way to save in assets less exposed to inflation. That has expanded awareness and acceptance and fueled the growth of an ecosystem of entrepreneurs and companies tied to the crypto world," he said.

Analysts say the outlook is favorable for Buenos Aires to become a leading city in crypto.

"Given this context, I believe Argentina has all the conditions to expand the use of crypto, especially now that it has the regulatory framework launched in 2024," Torres said.

Argentina recorded the highest number of cryptocurrency users in Latin America in 2024, receiving $91.1 billion in assets, a 6.7% increase from 2023, according to the State of the Crypto Industry 2024 report by Lemon.

Globally, India ranked first, followed by Vietnam and the Philippines, according to the 2024 Global Crypto Adoption Index by Chainalysis.

"India stands out because of the size of its population, its widespread knowledge of technology and the broad use of the Internet and mobile devices, which create favorable conditions for developing this ecosystem," Torres said.

The use of virtual currencies brings benefits but also opens the door to crimes such as money laundering.

"The use of cryptocurrencies reduces transaction costs and makes it easier to create new financial instruments, but it also increases the risks of fraud, tax evasion and money laundering," Diaz said.

Recently, Argentina's Office of Economic Crime and Money Laundering reported a rise in the use of digital assets and virtual platforms to launder illicit funds or justify profits, mainly from drug trafficking.

The problem, Diaz warned, is that innovation is moving faster than regulation.

"It is the responsibility of governments and regulatory institutions, such as central banks, to create a framework that ensures transparency, traceability and cybersecurity. Digital technologies such as blockchain can facilitate traceability," he said.

Read More

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• Paraguay's bilingual archive to safeguard Indigenous language heritage
• Record bull auction bolsters Argentina's status in Brangus production

Economics > UK on brink of economic collapse

 

Will it take a financial collapse to get Britain to make sensible decisions on migrants, Ukraine's proxy war, stupid military expenditures, and soaring debts?

UK teeters on economic collapse

– Telegraph

Soaring debt and borrowing costs are approaching levels that once forced London to seek an IMF rescue, according to a recent report

© Getty Images / Frédéric Soltan / Contributor

Britain is facing the prospect of a repeat of its crippling 1976 economic crash as soaring debt and borrowing costs raise doubts over Labour’s budget policies, leading economists have warned, according to a Telegraph report.

The crisis nearly fifty years ago saw a Labour government forced to seek an emergency loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after deficits and inflation spun out of control. It became one of Britain’s worst postwar crises, with the bailout bringing deep spending cuts and Labour losing power a few years later.

Now Chancellor Rachel Reeves faces similar warnings, with forecasts showing a £50 billion ($68 billion) gap in the public finances and debt interest set to exceed £111 billion. Debt now exceeds 96% of GDP. At around £2.7 trillion, it is one of the heaviest burdens in the developed world. Government borrowing costs have surged, with yields on 30-year bonds climbing above 5.5%, higher than those of the US and Greece.

READ MORE: UK unveils bill to stop capital outflow

Jagjit Chadha, former head of the National Institute for Economic and Social Research, told the Telegraph the outlook was “as perilous as the period leading up to the IMF loan of 1976,” warning Britain could struggle to meet pensions and welfare payments.

Andrew Sentance, once a Bank of England policymaker, said Reeves was “on course to deliver a [former UK Chancellor Denis] Healey 1976-style crisis in late 2025 or 26,” accusing Labour of fueling inflation with higher taxes, borrowing, and spending.

The warnings come weeks before Reeves is due to present her first autumn budget, where she is expected to announce further tax rises to cover the shortfall – a move critics argue would deepen the downturn. The Labour government also faces deepening political and economic challenges, including declining support.

On Saturday, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage declared it was “the 1970s all over again,” while Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch described soaring borrowing costs as the price of Labour’s “economic mismanagement.”

London has pledged to raise military spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, aligning with NATO commitments. Britain remains one of Ukraine’s most ardent supporters, delivering billions in military and financial aid – further squeezing already stretched public finances.

And who knows how much they spend housing and supporting the extraordinary flow of migrants into the UK?

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Economics - Trump Style > Trump ate von der Leyen for breakfast in biggest deal ever - Orban

 

Is there a big difference between Trump's trade deals and the old Mafia protection rackets - Pay me what I want and I won't destroy you!

‘Dark day’: French PM says EU’s Trump trade deal is a ‘submission’

By Uday Rana  Global News

Posted July 28, 2025 9:25 am

 Updated July 28, 2025 9:31 am

 2 min read

The European Union’s trade deal with the United States is “submission” to U.S. President Donald Trump and marks a “dark day” in the history of the bloc, French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said on Monday.

Trump announced a trade deal between the U.S. and the EU on Sunday after meeting with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen in Scotland.

Bayrou took to social media to criticize the deal, which would see an across the board 15 per cent tariff on most goods from Europe.

“Von der Leyen-Trump Agreement: it is a dark day when an alliance of free peoples, united to affirm their values and defend their interests, resolves to submission,” Bayrou posted in French on the social media platform X.

2:04

What Trump’s EU trade deal reveals about talks with Canada

The response from French government officials stands in contrast to some other European nations. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz welcomed the deal.

“We have been able to safeguard our core interests,” Merz said in a statement on Monday.

A 15% tariff is safeguarding? Someone please explain that to me.

Also, explain to me how weakening the economy of all your friends and trading partners doesn't come back to bite you. What goes around, comes around!

On the other hand, French President Emmanuel Macron has not reacted to the announcement of a trade deal, while other senior French officials have been cautious in their reactions.

“The trade agreement negotiated by the European Commission with the United States will bring temporary stability to economic actors threatened by the escalation of American tariffs, but it is unbalanced,” French deputy minister for European Affairs Benjamin Haddad said in a statement on X.

“The current situation is not satisfactory and cannot be sustainable. The free trade that has brought shared prosperity to both sides of the Atlantic since the end of the Second World War is now rejected by the United States, which is choosing economic coercion and complete disregard for WTO rules,” Haddad added.

The private meeting between Trump and von der Leyen culminated months of bargaining, with the White House deadline Friday nearing for imposing punishing tariffs on the 27-member EU.

“It was a very interesting negotiation. I think it’s going to be great for both parties,” Trump said. The agreement, he said, was “a good deal for everybody” and “a giant deal with lots of countries.”

Von der Leyen said the deal “will bring stability, it will bring predictability that’s very important for our businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.”

Trump said the EU had agreed to buy some $750 billion worth of U.S. energy and invest $600 billion more than it already is in America, as well as making a major purchase of military equipment.

“We are agreeing that the tariff straight across for automobiles and everything else will be a straight across tariff of 15 per cent,” Trump said. “We have a tariff of 15 per cent. We have the opening up of all of the European countries.”

Von der Leyen said the 15 per cent tariffs were “across the board, all inclusive” and that “indeed, basically the European market is open.”

Except, you are restricted to buying American LNG at twice the price of Russian gas. And you have been bullied or fooled into thinking you need trillions of dollars worth of American-made weapons systems. Orban is right, as usual.

— With files from Associated Press

Economics > North Korea's 'Beach of Dreams' still mostly empty as Pyongyang forbids foreigners; Lavrov first dignitary to tour Wonsan-Kalma beach resort

 

North Korea suspends foreign tourism

to new beach resort

By Thomas Maresca

   

North Korea has suspended foreign tourism to its massive new Wonsan Kalma beach resort just weeks after the "world-class" facility's opening, a state-run tourism website announced. File Photo by KCNA/EPA

SEOUL, July 18 (UPI) -- Just weeks after opening a massive new beach resort, North Korea has banned foreign visitors from the self-proclaimed "world-class" facility, according to a state-run tourism promotion website.

"Foreign tourists are temporarily not accepted at the Wonsan Kalma coastal tourist zone," a notice on the official DPR Korea Tour site said Wednesday. No explanation was given for the ban.

The information came in a post announcing the July 1 opening of the facility, which runs along 2.5 miles of beachfront and has a capacity for up to 20,000 guests. The tourist zone also boasts recreational facilities such as a water park, gym and concert hall.

When the Wonsan Kalma tourist area officially opened, North Korea promoted it as a destination for both domestic and foreign tourists. A small group of Russian guests visited last week, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un there.

Related

• Direct flights between Pyongyang and Moscow to begin this month
• North Korea opens massive beach resort, will welcome Russian tourists
• North Korea set to open 'world-class' beach resort

"Our Korean friends have expressed interest in having more Russians at the wonderful resort of Wonsan and other resorts in the DPRK," Lavrov said at a press conference during his visit, using the official acronym for North Korea. "I have no doubt that this will happen."

The resort has long been a favored project of Kim, who oversaw its launch in 2014. It was initially slated to open in April 2019 but faced numerous setbacks, including international sanctions on materials.

At a ribbon-cutting ceremony last month, the North Korean leader called the completion of the resort one of the country's "greatest successes this year" and said it would "play a leading role in establishing the tourist culture of the DPRK."

International tourism offers a rare chance for the sanctions-hit North to earn foreign currency, but visitors have been almost nonexistent since Pyongyang sealed its borders at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2020.

Russian travelers were the first to return post-COVID as North Korean carrier Air Koryo resumed a route between Vladivostok in Russia's Far East and Pyongyang last year. On Monday, Russia's Transport Ministry announced that budget carrier Nordwind will begin operating direct service between Moscow and Pyongyang later this month.

In May, the United States extended its ban on travel by American citizens to North Korea for the ninth year in a row, citing "imminent danger" posed by any trips to the authoritarian state.

Moscow comments on reports of North Korean resort closure

Western claims linking Wonsan shutdown to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit are “fake,” spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said

FILE PHOTO. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. ©  Sputnik/Sergey Bobylev

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has refuted recent Western media reports claiming that North Korea closed its brand-new Wonsan-Kalma beach resort to foreign tourists after a visit from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Bloomberg and AP ran a story on Friday citing North Korean tourism authorities claiming the resort was “temporarily not receiving foreign guests,” with Bloomberg linking the closure to the minister’s visit.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has since stated that the suspension had nothing to do with the diplomatic trip but was rather due to COVID-19 restrictions that have been in place in North Korea since February of 2020. It noted, however, that “an exception has been made for tourists from the Russian Federation, who have been visiting the country since early 2024.”

READ MORE: North Korea opens ‘world-class’ tourist resort (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

“US media outlets affiliated with American intelligence services have spread disinformation,” Zakharova told journalists. The diplomat went on to describe the claim as “classic lies” and “a crude fake,” most likely driven by “nothing more than the spite” of Washington’s military and political elite, which “has seen their strategy of pressuring North Korea fail.”

Lavrov became the first high-profile foreign guest to tour the resort since it opened to visitors earlier this month. Zakharova accompanied the top diplomat and posted photographs from the resort on her Telegram channel.

©  Telegram/MariaVladimirovnaZakharova

The trip was intended to highlight the growing cooperation between the two countries since the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict.

During talks with North Korean officials, Lavrov described the facility as “great,” saying Russia would help boost tourism and transport links with the DPRK.

Direct flights currently operate between Russia’s Far Eastern city of Vladivostok and Pyongyang. Some 1500 Russian tourists visited North Korea last year, according to the deputy governor of the Primorye Region, where Vladivostok is located.

Lavrov thanks ‘heroic’ North Korean soldiers for helping liberate Kursk Region

Russia’s Nordwind Airlines is set to launch direct service from Moscow to the North Korean capital later this month.

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