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Germany creates 'super–high-tech ministry' for research, technology, aerospace

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Re: Germany creates 'super–high-tech ministry' for research, technology, aerospace

#251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is not the bureaucracy. Nobody's stopping a local mid-market manufacturer from automating workflows. Or hindering a utility company from offering a better service process. The problem is corporate leadership. German companies tend to be run by people who are inflexible, uninspired, and cheap. Maybe it's in the culture. Compare this to Austria, where there's a cultural flair for the dramatic (and therefore…

> The problem is not the bureaucracy. It absolutely is. Try to open a company in Germany. Then try to do your tax. Then try to close your company. After that, let's talk again about bureaucracy. Oh, and the new government just announced plans that non-employeed people (freelancers, business owners, ...) are now forced to pay into national pension (with few exceptions). And don't get me started on that one. Just as an…

You make it sound much harder than it is. I've done that and am doing that.

It's totally possible that it's easier in other countries, I don't know that.

But if you're serious about building a company, this is the least of your challenges.

Hire a tax advisor and accountant through a payroll and tax service provider and you'll spend 1-2 days a year dealing with this stuff.

Re: Germany creates 'super–high-tech ministry' for research, technology, aerospace

#252

Black_13 appears to be shadowbanned so I'm reproducing their comment here: black_13 11 minutes ago [dead] | parent | context | unvouch | favorite | on: Germany creates 'super–high-tech ministry' for res... The cynicism in these comments is telling, but misses crucial realities about Germany's capabilities and social achievements. Yes, Germany creates bureaucracies. Yes, Dorothee Bär's digital infrastructure record is…

I really dislike the Germany against America sentiment of this post. This is not how you bring arguments to the table. Saying this a German.

There is a large number of people that mistake generic Trump Derangement Syndrome prose for insightful analysis.

Re: Germany creates 'super–high-tech ministry' for research, technology, aerospace

#255
i'm swiss living in berlin currently (leaving soon)

germany is a country on the rapid decline. the recently decided investment effort and the new government are a step in the right direction but wont halt or revert that decline. the country needs a BIG shock and be rebuilt from the ground up. the new ministry is just pandering / virtue signalling and won't have any effect.

some examples:

1) legacy financial holes like the pension scheme, no bandaid will save this

2) public workers safety & pension "beamtentum" - wrong incentives, wrong people, wrong mindset

3) workers rights are too strong (betriebsrat, unflexible hiring & firing)

4) taxes are ridiculously high, there's zero incentive for global talent to come here

5) bureaucracy is absolutely insane, a country run by risk averse lawyers stuck in the 1980s

6) immigration was botched so bad, they wont recover from this for another generation

7) the rise of the far right afd was handled so terribly, the trauma from ww2 is still too big to deal with it rationally, rather than calling the strongest party in the country "antidemocratic" (which ironically IS antidemocratic in itself). if they dont get a grip on this, afd will lead the country in 4 years.

8) no common identity / goal except for wanting to show being the "good guys", see misincentived sustainability initiatives, handling of israel / palestina, etc

9) weak leaders / politicians. they are all bureaucrats

10) regulation first, innovation never. see AI

Re: Germany creates 'super–high-tech ministry' for research, technology, aerospace

#256
post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t get it. You want everyone to decide what they do with their taxes? roads in the middle of nowhere would never get maintained for example. Orphan sickness would see even less research than they do today. Etc.

Roads in the middle of nowhere are not needed, of course i would not want that. I want them there where they are needed. Like, connecting two big citied with a lot of nowhere in between. I want the robo advisor to make that calculation for me. And the other thing: yeah, people know, what charity is. But there is no big charity, if the welfare state already takes half of your money. The responsibility to take care of…

Ok, that means you think that everyone should move away from countryside and into cities. I think that illustrates very well the problem with your approach. Minorities have zero chances of being represented.

The argument about charity and tax levels is not substantiated by any research as far as I can tell. There is however research showing that rich people give LESS to charity proportionally, compared to poorer people.

Making charity donations tax deductible, that does help though.

Re: Germany creates 'super–high-tech ministry' for research, technology, aerospace

#257

The upside is that this will actually provide lots of research funding to small companies. Think of it like the seed round from a VC, but instead of investing into new companies, they try to strategically invest into existing companies to boost future tax revenue. It'll probably be very German, meaning overly bureaucratic. But the basic idea of financing R&D in small companies to grow them more competitive seems legi…

Definition of government funding:

Funding for everyone except you.

Re: Germany creates 'super–high-tech ministry' for research, technology, aerospace

#258
post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Roads in the middle of nowhere are not needed, of course i would not want that. I want them there where they are needed. Like, connecting two big citied with a lot of nowhere in between. I want the robo advisor to make that calculation for me. And the other thing: yeah, people know, what charity is. But there is no big charity, if the welfare state already takes half of your money. The responsibility to take care of…

Ok, that means you think that everyone should move away from countryside and into cities. I think that illustrates very well the problem with your approach. Minorities have zero chances of being represented. The argument about charity and tax levels is not substantiated by any research as far as I can tell. There is however research showing that rich people give LESS to charity proportionally, compared to poorer peop…

When people want to live on isles or in nowhere regions, so be it. But i do not want to support this lifestyle with my money. It does not mean, that everyone has to live on cities. If there are enough people to live abroad, then they live with the consequences. It's their home. And certainly becomes noticeable financially, when you go abroad making holidays to these awesome nowhere places.

About charity or tax level and who gives more, that question i do not ask. I would not ask anyone, what are you are willing to give and how much? Little, more, much, welcome. I just would not allow free-riding on things others have paid and worked for and their life blood is in it.

Re: Germany creates 'super–high-tech ministry' for research, technology, aerospace

#259

i'm swiss living in berlin currently (leaving soon) germany is a country on the rapid decline. the recently decided investment effort and the new government are a step in the right direction but wont halt or revert that decline. the country needs a BIG shock and be rebuilt from the ground up. the new ministry is just pandering / virtue signalling and won't have any effect. some examples: 1) legacy financial holes lik…

[flagged]

Re: Germany creates 'super–high-tech ministry' for research, technology, aerospace

#260
That news just confirms EU is not a country-like and any federation is not ready.

Funny that outsiders like US and Russia and probably others behave as it is one country :) It is kind of some "body" but not a well functioning one: fusion ? Unser! Spy satelites ? Notre!

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