Germany's Route 66

Today I read an article in my favorite newspaper about the Bundesstraße (Federal road) 500 that runs along the heights of the Black Forest. The B 500 was planned eighty years ago as Schwarzwaldhochstraße to make the high villages accessible to tourists. It runs from Waldshut in the south to Baden-Baden in the north, although with a gap that has never been closed between Triberg and the Kniebis mountain. If you take this high road passing along the Titisee instead of Loch Lomond and I take the low road through the Rhine valley, I'll be in Baden-Baden before you.

Known well for its panoramic views and breathtaking scenery, the B 500 has earned a new denomination among British motorbike tourists. They call it Germany's Route 66. 

Since the days of Nat King Cole, who got his kicks on Route 66, it has always been a dream of mine and many others to drive on it from Chicago to LA. In England, motorbikers question their colleagues returning from the continent: Did you take the B 500?

The British love the Rhine valley taking home a bottle of that sweet wine we produce for export only called Liebfrauenmilch, and they love the Black Forest. However, they do not import the cake of the same name, but they bake it in the UK with typically somewhat more chocolate than we use in Freiburg.

Forêt Noire in Caffé Concerto on Regent Street in London during my recent trip to England.

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To bike or rather not to bike in Freiburg

Congratulations to Madison, the fifth most 'bikeable' city in the States behind Minneapolis, Portland, Ore., San Francisco (with all those hills), and Boston.

A bicyclist riding along Lake Mendota near the UW-Madison campus in Madison
(©Wisconsin State Journal)

Freiburg is known as a bicycle city too. So I scanned the internet to learn about its ranking. It was disappointing that Freiburg did not figure among Germany's first ten bicycle cities. These are: Münster, Kiel, Oberhausen, Hannover, Bremen, Leipzig, Bonn, Magdeburg, Bielefeld, and Karlsruhe.

I must admit that I am not a keen cyclist except for my yearly bicycle tour. Freiburg's city is within walking distance (20 minutes) from my apartment, so I feel no need to use a bicycle. Still, I am mainly concerned with cycling or cyclists in Freiburg because of their bad behavior towards pedestrians who live dangerously. 

The other day, a Kampfradler (fighting cyclist) ran over a friend of mine on a zebra crossing. The guy did not stop, and when the victim stood up, she luckily only had a broken finger. In fact, in Baden-Württemberg Freiburg has the sad reputation of having the highest bicycle accident rate.

Last year two people died, 83 were heavily injured, and 461 had 'only' light injuries. It does not help that Münster has a bad reputation, too, for cyclists ignoring red traffic lights, cycling on narrow walkways in the wrong direction, and slaloming at high speed through pedestrian zones. In addition, only children (this is an obligation) and old people like me (my brain is the only part of my body that still has some value) wear helmets.

To remedy the situation, Freiburg and Berlin started a two-year campaign called Rücksichtsvoll im Straßenverkehr (When participating in road traffic, be considerate).

The advertising for the campaign is strange. Green people look with disgust at the blue can. Cans had been banned in Germany for the sake of recyclable bottles and are now celebrating a merry resurrection. Will the campaign help to make life safer for Freiburg's pedestrians? I doubt. 

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How much Keynes we can still tolerate?

In their recent publication, the Club of Rome made an estimate of how the Earth will appear in 50 years. This, along with the results of two European elections, made me think about our future too, although I don't have much time left anymore, and I am an absolute layman in economics. For me, the world economy is running wild in an egoistic manner. Reciting the mantra that our grandchildren should not pay for our sins (debts, CO₂ emissions, climate change, and the strain on natural resources) has degenerated into lip service.

Recently, I watched Paul vs. Paul, i.e., Senator Ron Paul and Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman, on television, as they helplessly discussed how to remedy the economy. Their debate only confirmed my conviction that there is no cure for the economic situation the world is suffering from. The German economy, often regarded as a model that still works, primarily thrives on exports. This exacerbates the problem for the euro, as our European trade partners finance their trade deficits by incurring more debt. And what to think about my country that will loan 20 billion euros on the money market in these fat years of low unemployment and high tax revenues to keep this year's federal budget in balance?

That even Germany is not adhering to the strict norms of the European fiscal pact has given newly elected French President François Hollande the idea of asking for fresh, i.e., borrowed money to stimulate the European economy, just as Paul Krugman had suggested on television should be done in the United States. Printing euros is easy, but where does that fresh money go? We know that the euros Greece has received so far from the Eurozone bailout fund were used to keep the Greek banking system afloat. I suppose the money François is asking for has already been earmarked to finance the lowering of the retirement age in France from 62 to 60 years, as he has promised. 

In the United States, there is no mandatory retirement age. Contrary to me, who was forced to retire at the age of 65, many of my American friends continued working beyond that age. Let's hope that the financial stimulus Paul Krugman has requested in the United States will be used to create new jobs.

New jobs are also needed in Europe, particularly in Spain, where many young people are currently unemployed. Their 'no future' outlook is social dynamite! So again, with all the pressure building up, the end of Merkosysm is near, and public spending will heap more debts on the already unbelievable accumulated amount. 

Hastily, our finance minister declared, 'It is the wrong way to take money to stimulate economic growth. Instead, he requested additional savings and reforms, both at home and in Europe. With those differing viewpoints in France and Germany, will Merkollande replace Merkozy? We shall see when François visits Angela in Berlin on May 15.

François pouring his Hollandaise sauce over Merkel's fiscal piggy bank pact (©Haitzinger)

The apparent result of an increase in printed money is inflation, meaning that for the average person, the money they deposit in a savings bank will lose its value, accentuated by the currently low interest rates. What will be the best way not to lose? Do not save your money, but spend it and even incur debts.

I shall end my story with a personal anecdote. When I was young, I wanted to build a house and needed a mortgage, so I consulted several banks for offers. One was particularly advantageous. When I asked the guy why my monthly installments would be so low compared with the proposals of the other banks, he answered,  "Oh, you just pay the interest rate. There is no back-payment." I said, "But then my children will inherit my debts." 

At that time, such a situation was unacceptable to me, so I opted for the classical variant with another bank paying interest and amortization. Would I have acted the same in today's situation, knowing that inflation would erode my children's debts?

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