LyrArc Article Gist
The world today is in a much better position to complete the transition to zero dependence on the volatile Middle East for oil. Today in 2026 the world's largest nations 1. US   2. China  3. India  4. Germany are all free of Middle East oil (India through waivers for Russian sources). European Union and UK is at about 12% which can be quickly substituted from the US+ Venezuela and other sources. US is self sufficient in oil and gas and exports oil to the UK, India, Germany and the European Union. Canada is self sufficient. Germany gets only 6% of its oil from the Middle East, the UK 12%, Spain 13% and Italy 14%. The Iran war is likely to shift more of the needs of UK, Spain and Italy to other more stable sources including oil from the US and Venezuela managed by the US, and other sources. This means that US policymakers can act in the best interests of all the nations of the world for preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and long range ballistic missiles. Germany is moving rapidly to renewable energy and this could bring its dependence on the Middle East to zero. India will meet its needs from Russia for the time being till it also shifts to oil from US+ Venezuela. India get 55% of its oil from the Middle East or about 2.7 million b/d. Russia was an important source of oil for India till the US trade agreement called for it to shift- a 30 day waiver and extension means India can get this oil from Russia without sanctions for the duration of the war. Reducing European demand and Indian demand frees up oil for Japan and South Korea on the world market the other 2 countries dependent on Middle East oil- Japan importing 95% of its oil consumption with imports of 2.5 million b/d and South Korea importing about 2 million b/d or 70% of its consumption. This means Japan and South Korea need a new strategy as they are overexposed to one source just as Germany was and learned a difficult lesson to diversify its sources. Japan has learned to reduce consumption for the same level of GDP and some of this can be through conservation, also tried in Germany in the last 4 years. During the 4 years. of Ukraine war Germany had to find ways to diversify sources Japan and South Korea will need rapidly to do the same in the Iran War. This means that only Japan and South Korea because of their lack of policy direction and vigilance have allowed this overdependence on the Gulf region,  (even as Germany diversified its sources, DJT and Israel were firm on nuclear weapons policy) they failed to see signs that they should diversify. Today in 2026 the world's largest nations 1. US 2. China 3. India 4. Germany are all free of Middle East oil (Indi through waivers for Russian sources), European Union and UK is at about 12% which can be quickly substituted from the US+ Venezuela and other sources.    ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Compared to chancellor Scholz Merz sets his goals and is clear about his goals. His active style is different from previous chancellors. His first meeting with Trump showed this personal style which is proving to be more effective than Merkel or Scholz. Merz had to wait for a long time in the private sector till Merkel retired to come back to politics. During Merkel's early years Merz challenged Merkel for leadership of the Christian Democrats party. Merkel's policy on migrants has proved to be a failure, and Merz is now in a position to take the CSU in a new direction closing the border and working closely with the US and Britain, Italy, on border enforcement. Merz is also unique and very different from the disinvestment period under Merkel which let German infrastructure deteriorate and fall apart, another failure of Merkel's years as chancellor. Merz's first action was to get close to a trillion dollars of new funding to rebuild defense and infrastructure over the next decade. Merz is head of a coalition with the SPD with SPD's leader Lars Klingbeil as finance minister. Scholz headed a coalition that was dysfunctional as the Free Democrats Lindner was opposed to investment in German economy from the outset. Under Merkel the Christian Democrats took no action to rebuild Germany, and were preoccupied with eurozone finances. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Germany's Constitutional Court says it will require some time to look into the issues related to plaintiffs complaints about the creation of the European Stability Mechanism on June 29, 2012, by a vote of the German parliament, and whether it is unconstitutional. Finance minister Schauble urged the court not to delay because it woud affect market perceptions about Germany's commitment to tackle the eurozone crisis. Petitions were filed with the Constituional Court by a group of academics led by Peter Gauweiler, a member of parliament from Bavaria, and a Social Democrat Herta Daubler-Gmelin, a former Justice minister on behalf of 12,000 citizens. The petitions say the creation of the ESM and the fiscal pact are unconstitutional because it forces parliament to cede powers over Germany's federal budget. Jens Weidmann, head of the Bundesbank, said a quick decision by the court is not likely to end the crisis, as this would not end without the necessary structural and economic reforms.

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DW.com provides this video about being poor and food in one of the richest countries. Inflation and higher food prices are affecting millions in Europe and the US.

LyrArc Article Gist
German leader Merkel is losing support because of her loss of touch with issues of interest to conservative Germans, especially immigration. The Christian Democrats Bavarian sister party favors cutting off imigration altogether. Merkel says, Islam is part of Germany, and favors integration. At this time integration has failed, as there is a parallel society of Turkish immigrants in Germany.

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The closure of the Kiel Canal in March 2013, because of of dilapidated and old locks, has focussed attention on Germany's neglect of infrastructure. German investment in infrastructure each year is less than the depreciation for the infrastructure. About 100 billion euros in backlog for infrastructure spending exists at German municipalities, according to KfW bank. And the investment of $39.5 billion euros in infrastructure spending for 2012 was down 9.5% from 2011. The government has restricted itself to high profile projects such as renovation of Stuttgart rail station, neglecting schools, roads and bridges.

LyrArc Article Gist
Weakness and lack of economic growth in the rest of Europe is having an impact on the growth rate in Germany. In the second and third quarters of 2011 combined, economic growth in Germany was 1.6%. The economic growth for France during that period was 0.6%. For the third quarter, acccording to Eurostat, the European statistical agency, Belgium had no growth, and the Netherlands reported a GDP decline. Spain showed no growth. Germany had higher growth rates during the early period of recovery after the 2009 financial crisis, and it now appears that this may be because German companies were better able to export, having held down labor costs, and the euro was weaker than what the rate for the deutsche mark would be. This shows a slowdown across the whole of Europe replacing the earlier situation where Germany far outpaced other European countries.