1. Good debt, bad debt
The Federal Government has adopted its draft federal budget for 2024 and the financial plan until 2027. The proposal by Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) envisages that the state will spend 30.6 billion euros less in the coming year, a total of 445.7 billion euros (more on this here). So that you can imagine it better: That's 5281 euros per German citizen. In 100-euro bills, the federal budget could be used to build a tower that is about six times as high as the width of Saarland. Or almost as long as the Grand Canyon. And whoever succeeds in stacking the amount in 2 euro coins would have to pass the moon. If I did the math correctly and Google didn't lie. (Can you think of a comparison that is similarly pointless, but hopefully correct? Write to me at lageamabend@spiegel.de.)
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Motorway bridge near Leverkusen
Photograph:
Jochen Tack / IMAGO
So it is an austerity budget that Lindner is proposing. And the FDP is considered a business party. But now one of the country's best-known liberal economists is turning against the minister and his austerity policy. In an interview with my colleague Michael Sauga, Michael Hüther, head of the employer-oriented Institute of the German Economy, calls for more state investment and a subsidized industrial electricity price.
In addition, the republic needs a location program, similar to the red-green Agenda 2010. "At that time we had mass unemployment and an encrusted labor market. Today, the location suffers from a shortage of skilled workers and a dilapidated infrastructure," says Hüther, adding that additional loans should not be taboo: "The stereotypical statement that government debt is always bad debt is economic thinking of the nineties."
Read the whole interview here: »Lindner's austerity course is misguided«
2. Stand and be seen
Do bike lanes slow down car traffic? I would say that it depends on whether I'm in the saddle or behind the wheel. However, the answer is of little help to cities, where cyclists and motorists do not only clash verbally. In metropolises like Berlin, the dispute over bike paths and lanes is at least as fierce as the debate on Twitter about whether ketchup belongs in the fridge (more on this here).
My colleague Holger Dambeck did not want to rely on perceived knowledge and evaluated tracking data from TomTom, for example for Berlin, Hamburg, Leipzig and Munich. He wanted to know: But what really happens to the flow of traffic when a lane is rededicated to a cycle path? Will cars be jammed all the time?
[M] THE MIRROR; Getty Images
"I was astonished that the new bike lanes hardly change anything in terms of car traffic," says Holger. "It's true that the cars are moving a little slower in the converted streets. In other streets, however, they drive faster than they used to."
According to Holger, a look at the cycling strongholds of Amsterdam and Copenhagen shows that many cycle paths and smooth car traffic are possible at the same time. In the Europe-wide congestion ranking, Amsterdam and Copenhagen are in a much better position than Berlin, Hamburg or Leipzig. In Copenhagen, cars drive an average of 30 kilometers per hour, in Amsterdam even 40 kilometers per hour. Leipzig has an average speed of 26 kilometers per hour, Hamburg only 23. Does it have something to do with the fact that Holger and I usually sit on the saddle here?
Read the whole data analysis here: Do cycle paths really lead to traffic jam chaos?
3. And now comes »Poly«
»... and then came Polly«, that's the name of a moderately embarrassing comedy from the noughties starring Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston. He plays a risk analyst and hygiene fanatic who also avoids any risk in his private life. Just because he washes his hands all the time, he seems likeable. His wife cheats on him, he meets his school friend Polly again, falls in love, has to prove to her that he doesn't always play it safe either and therefore eats a peanut from the floor. Don't be a bore, take a risk, that's the, well, message.
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Storms, here over Berlin
Photo: Andreas Friedrichs / IMAGO
Today the storm »Poly« has arrived in the north of Germany – and therefore today would be the wrong day to take a risk (current developments here). Better to stay indoors. Weather expert Jörg Kachelmann warns of wintry wind speeds – hurricane gusts of 148 kilometers per hour. He urges: "Don't stay where things can fly around for the few hours of the storm. Don't do something just because you've always done it on your summer vacation."
Read more here: If a tree falls on your head, you die – even if July is on the calendar
News and background information on the war in Ukraine:
16 months of war – and in the middle of it all, a nuclear power plant: Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been caught between the fronts. Kiev warns of a blow-up by Putin's troops, Moscow counters. What's up with that? And how great would the danger be? The overview .
What happens if Russia attacks the Åland archipelago? Finland is not allowed to station a military on its Åland Islands. Since the Ukraine war, this has been sharply criticized. The Russian consulate, of all places, controls the demilitarization on the ground.
Members of the Foreign Affairs Committee back BND chief Kahl: Was the Federal Intelligence Service groping in the dark, while in Russia the Wagner mercenaries rebelled? The head of the authority, Bruno Kahl, has now answered questions from members of parliament in the Foreign Affairs Committee – and was apparently convinced.
Ukraine puts Unilever on its list of "international war sponsors": Magnum manufacturer Unilever continues to make a lot of money in Russia. Ukraine is outraged – and demands a withdrawal from the country. However, the company considers the business to be the best of all bad ways.
Here you will find all the latest developments on the war in Ukraine: The news update
What else is important today
Left-wing state leaders want new parliamentary group leadership: In the parliamentary group meeting of the Left Party in the Bundestag, several state leaders have criticized the leadership, according to SPIEGEL information. Will Dietmar Bartsch and Amira Mohamed Ali be able to hold their own?
Rents in Germany are rising somewhat more slowly: For a long time, rents knew only one direction – upwards. High interest rates exacerbated the trend. According to a survey by the ImmoScout24 platform, at least the increase has now slowed down somewhat.
EU Commission wants to relax genetic engineering regulations: If plants are genetically modified using new methods, they no longer need to be labelled – this is what the European Commission is proposing. However, it attaches conditions to the initiative.
Bundestag committees approve purchase of 60 Chinook transport helicopters: The CH-47F helicopter is to become the new "workhorse" of the Bundeswehr. Now the relevant committees have approved the procurement. The costs are immense.
My favorite debate today: The dispute over parental allowance
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Pregnant woman
Photo: nerudol / iStockphoto / Getty Images
The chancellor has defended in the Bundestag the plans to save on parental allowance. Yesterday I asked you what you think about high earners losing their entitlement - I received dozens of emails. Thank you very much for that! Here is a selection:
"Regardless of the need to pay for our lifestyle, it was mentally helpful for my wife to continue to have an income. She was always financially independent, so that even a joint account, into which only I would have paid temporarily, would have been perceived as a loss of independence.«
Andreas Mager"I think the proposal to only pay out parental allowance if parental leave is divided in half is very good. So it is not always said that the little education is done with the left. And then there is no such thing as the 'after-work daddy' who always lets everything go and destroys the educational work of the whole day.«
Renate Geerz"I wonder where and in what reality do those who say they have to rethink family planning or that the child's well-being would be neglected with THE 'restriction' of no longer receiving parental allowance with an annual income of more than 150,000 euros."
Martin Zimmer"High earners – these are not the people with three yachts. Nice idea. That's 150,000 small families who were already afraid of not getting the loan after all."
Ulrike Moser"Honestly! I didn't know that families who have such high incomes benefit from a government subsidy, which is ultimately also financed by the taxes of low-income earners in this country. If you have such a high income, you certainly don't make your family planning dependent on parental allowance."
Walter Massar»I can't see any damage to equality in this cut!«
Beate Guerrero"In my opinion, the significant reduction is simply a signal effect of how important families are taken in our society. (...) Parental allowance was introduced in 2007 and is the only wage replacement benefit that has not been increased since then. That's 16 years. If we compare it with the pension and wage increases over that period, it's a meager gain."
Tim Hoffmann"It is shocking how hard work, numerous overtime hours, high social security contributions, many missed evenings with friends and family and a high level of motivation are rewarded with the fact that I am no longer entitled to parental allowance. It is a slap in the face for the emancipation of educated women."
Katharina Freier"When I read such plans, I wonder whether it is now the goal of politics to create equal living conditions by ensuring that there are only people with low or low incomes. Whether it's benefit cuts or tax increases, it's always up to the 'rich' to fix it."
Daniel Felber"How about we support those who need it? And leave it up to the big earners to plan their own lives.«
Christiane Firdich
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Father at the Window
Photo: Justin Paget / Getty Images
We are also debating the topic intensively in the SPIEGEL editorial team. These comments have appeared so far:
Let's talk about more money! The outrage over cuts for higher earners obscures the real problem with parental allowance: the rates for normal earners are far too low.
What a step backwards! No more parental allowance for high earners. Sounds reasonable, but it cements age-old role clichés – and could have a massive impact not only on our family planning.
What we recommend today at SPIEGEL+
Federal government has to pay 243 million euros in damages due to car tolls: The car toll was a prestige project of the CSU, failed because of EU law – and is now expensive for taxpayers. Because: The Ministry of Transport and the operating companies have agreed on a settlement, according to SPIEGEL information.
Coming to the camping paradise: Our author crossed Sweden countless times in a van. Here he presents the ten most beautiful campsites between Malmö and Mariannelund - and reveals a special Bullibü tip.
»Suicide is not the seal of self-determined life«: This week, the Bundestag will vote on a new regulation of euthanasia. The former head of the Ethics Council, Peter Dabrock, thinks this is dangerous – and fears that suicide will become the norm.
What is less important today
Photo: Jon Kopaloff/ AFP
Star offspring: American pop singer Meghan Trainor, 29, who posted dance videos with a baby bump during her pregnancy, has given birth to her second child by caesarean section, she wrote on Instagram. She shared several pictures of the newborn and wrote, "On July 1 (the 7th anniversary of our first date), we welcomed Barry Bruce Trainor into the world."
Mini concave mirror
Here you will find the whole concave mirror.
Cartoon of the Day
And tonight?
Could you prepare for the holiday. After all, the summer holidays begin tomorrow in Bremen, Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, at the beginning of next week in Saxony and Thuringia, and in the middle of next week in Berlin, Brandenburg and Hamburg.
You can get the new issue at meine-zeitschrift.de and Amazon. You can subscribe to your SPIEGEL here.
Photograph:
SVC. OrisWFL
Since six weeks are long, there may be a great need for entertainment for the children. That's where your SPIEGEL, our news magazine for children, can help. In the new issue »Finally Summer!« you will find 33 tips for handicrafts (such as a purse made of PET bottles), baking (for example a summer focaccia) or playing (self-made man-annoy-you-not – very practical if you have forgotten the game at home). There is also a summer puzzle where there are many prizes to be won.
And Sky Joèl, 13, tells how he became world champion in miniature golf. Since there are miniature golf courses almost everywhere, you can test his tips yourself.
If you're going away, have a nice holiday! If you stay here: Have a nice evening! Heartily
Yours, Oliver Trenkamp, newspaper editor in the editor-in-chief