Zeitenwende-wende

CDU leader and prospective German Chancellor Merz saw your Zeitenwende Olaf Scholz and he raised you. Three years ago, after Russia invaded Ukraine, Scholz announced a special defence spending programme of EUR 100bn in what he described as the “Zeitenwende”, or literally the “times turn”. Now Merz has doubled down on “the end of an era”. He announced limitless national borrowing …

The Two Weeks That Will Be (16th February 2025)

1. GermanyGermans go to the polls on Sunday and predicting the outcome is complicated by two elements of the electoral system: These electoral quirks might have had only a small impact in a stable system. But the German electorate has become just as fragmented as any other in the western world. Support has been ebbing away from …

The Two Weeks That Will Be

1. TrumpThe next two weeks are all about one man and one man alone. Make sure you’ve downloaded Truth Social because that’s how US government is going to be done from now on. Even Mel Gibson didn’t know he had been made a special envoy to Hollywood until he was sent the tweeted announcement. Whatever a special envoy is. …

The Christmas Weeks That Will Be

1. The UKThe MPC will vote for an interest rate cut at the BOE meeting on Thursday. The inflation number released the day before on Wednesday is of less relevance given the steady drumbeat of disappointing growth data. (There is also the unemployment data released on Tuesday but with this data now wildly unfit for purpose it can largely be …