Dear readers, "Germany does not deserve this government." That's what the

logistics entrepreneur Klaus-Michael Kühne said

in an interview with our Swiss correspondent Johannes Ritter about the

weaknesses of German politics in the Ukraine war

said.

But Ritter also spoke to him about HSV ("Was it the worst deal you've ever done?" "Yes, of course") and about Lufthansa, whose largest private shareholder is now Kühne ("I think that Lufthansa is well managed overall").

His assessment of politics is particularly remarkable: “Unfortunately, the government is not doing a good job.

The responses to Russia's heinous war are feeble and inadequate.

The tussle over arms shipments to Ukraine is shameful.

The contrasts within the traffic light coalition are remarkable.

Maybe you always find bad compromises and muddle through to the next elections.” By the way, Kühne is an early riser, what he does afterwards, he also revealed to Ritter.

Carsten Knop

Editor.

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Almost a century ago, Germans had to learn what it means when money loses its value.

Within a few months, millions of people lost all their savings.

The

economic collapse of the German Reich after the First World War

has left deep scars in the collective memory of the population.

Decades later, stories were still being told in the families of how grandmothers did small purchases for what are now unbelievably large sums of money and how grandfathers went directly to the market on the day of wage payment with backpacks full of money and not home, because that would have been the case by taking a detour Money would otherwise continue to lose considerable purchasing power.

The trauma left by the inflation of the 1920s was also evident in the polls by the Allensbach Institute for Demoscopy: Whenever one asked about the concerns of the population, the

fear of currency devaluation was almost always the answer

to the most frequently mentioned points, even in times when there was actually no or only very little inflation.

Against this background, it is understandable that the current high inflation rates are causing concern among the population.

In the current survey by the Allensbach Institute for Demoscopy commissioned by this newspaper, 83 percent of those surveyed said that the price increases were causing them great concern.

But fewer respondents than said they were affected by inflation itself -- and far fewer citizens than said they worried about being able to pay their heating bills in the future -- said it needed to be negotiated and compromised with Russia.

But there are other voices too.

In the east in particular, many are concerned about their livelihood in view of rising prices.

In Schneeberg,

small business owners and politicians signed an open letter to Economics Minister Robert Habeck

(The Greens).

The rising prices, especially for energy, are now “reaching threatening proportions for citizens and companies”.

This development will lead “in countless cases to private households and companies, crafts, trade and service companies having to bear this

financial burden

can no longer carry" and "are brought to the edge of their existence".

Calls by the federal government to save energy and promises to provide financial relief are "rather just token measures whose effects will wear off within a very short time," the letter says.

"If sanctions and embargoes do not have the effect that was intended, and if the effects of these measures only affect their own population and economy, then it is time to question decisions and, at best, to revise them." remain dependent on fossil fuels, including gas, and these fuels must continue to be available “at affordable prices”.

"It is necessary,

Many thanks to Julia Bähr and Felix Hooß for representing us over the past two weeks and of course for your interest in our digital products.

If you have any questions about the F+ subscription, please write to me: c.knop@faz.de.

Yours sincerely, Carsten Knop


Publisher


Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung