East German leader demands action from Berlin on reviving economy
"No economic growth for the third year in a row – that's not acceptable," said Manuela Schwesig, of the centre-left Social Democrats, at the opening of the annual East German Economic Forum, this time in the town of Bad Saarow.
Schwesig identified lower energy prices, increased investment and reduced bureaucracy as key priorities, emphasizing that getting Europe's biggest economy back on track should the top political goal.
In addition to permanently offering affordable energy for both businesses and consumers, she urged the federal government to introduce "fair grid fees that reward regions investing in renewable energy rather than penalising them."
At the three-day conference, business leaders are to discuss the challenges facing eastern Germany as a business location with members of Merz's new conservative-led coalition government.
Companies have long complained about high energy costs, a shortage of skilled workers, heavy tax and social security burdens and excessive bureaucracy.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Charter Communications, Tesla, Volkswagen: Trending Tickers
Charter Communications (CHTR) stock is plummeting after reporting a second quarter earnings miss and greater-than-expected customer losses amid competition from mobile and fiber internet providers. Tesla (TSLA) stock rebounds as the company prepares to launch robotaxis in San Francisco, according to Business Insider. However, concerns grow over reports from The Information about the company's slow production of its Optimus humanoid robots. Volkswagen (VWAGY) lowered its full-year guidance after reporting a second quarter profit decline, attributing the drop to over $1.5 billion in US tariff costs from the trade war. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Catalysts here. Now time for some of today's trending tickers. We're watching Charter, Tesla, and Volkswagen. First up, Charter Communications falling after the cable company reported second quarter earnings that missed expectations. The company reported it lost more internet customers than expected during the second quarter amid increased pressure from mobile companies 5G and fiber home internet offerings. All three of the big US telecom companies been packaging their offerings of wireless phone service with 5G or fiber internet service. Those shares down 17%. Next up is Tesla. Two narratives in focus for that company today. In the first, Business Insider reporting the company will launch its robo taxis in San Francisco this weekend, which did help stem some losses for the shares this morning. They're now up more than 2%. On the flip side, however, speaking to the future of Tesla, the information is reporting some struggles in Tesla's Optimus robot production. Saying the company has only made hundreds of robots. Well, why does that matter? As the company grapples with falling auto sales, Musk has been hyping his humanoid robot as Tesla's next big product, a potential 10 trillion dollar business, and has talked about producing 5,000 of those robots this year. So they're going to have to speed it up if they're only at hundreds. Finally, Volkswagen lowering its full-year guidance and reporting a sharp drop in second quarter profit as the auto giant grapples with the costs of President Trump's trade war. Europe's biggest car maker posting second quarter sales of 80.8 billion euros that missed analyst expectations of more than 82 billion euros. The automaker said the impact of US tariffs alone cost it 1.3 billion euros in the first six months of the year.
Gizmodo
29 minutes ago
- Gizmodo
Intel's Steady Decline Continues With 15% Cut to Staff and Scrapped Factory Plans
Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan told employees in a staff-wide memo yesterday that the company plans to cut its workforce by roughly 15%—more than 25,000 jobs—aiming to end the year with about 75,000 employees worldwide. The cuts are part of the struggling chipmaker's efforts to turn things around and compete in the booming AI market. Intel isn't alone among Silicon Valley giants making job cuts as AI becomes a bigger priority. Meta announced it was cutting about 5% of its staff in January. Google is offering buyouts. And even Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella addressed in a company-wide memo what he called the 'enigma of success' noting how the company is thriving financially with record profits, yet just laid off 9,000 workers earlier this month But unlike those companies, Intel isn't thriving. The once-dominant chipmaker has stumbled in recent years, missing the smartphone boom and arriving late to the AI race. On Wednesday, it reported its sixth straight quarterly loss. 'I know the past few months have not been easy. We are making hard but necessary decisions to streamline the organization, drive greater efficiency and increase accountability at every level of the company,' Tan wrote in the memo. In addition to the layoffs, Intel is scrapping plans for new factories in Germany and Poland. Tan also said the company would slow construction of a major chip plant in Ohio 'to ensure that spending is aligned with demand.' The Wall Street Journal reported that the facility was originally expected to be completed by the end of this year, but now likely won't be finished until after 2030. At the same time, Intel is going all in on its latest chipmaking technology, Intel 18A. The process is designed to produce advanced chips like Panther Lake, Intel's next-generation microprocessor, expected to launch later this year. Looking further ahead, Tan said Intel will develop its next major process node, Intel 14A, from the ground up in close collaboration with external customers. The idea is to only work on projects that have obvious demand. 'There are no more blank checks. Every investment must make economic sense. We will build what our customers need, when they need it, and earn their trust through consistent execution,' he wrote. As far as its AI ambitions, Intel plans to develop a cohesive stack strategy—not just chips, but also the software and systems to support them. The focus will be on areas where Intel believes it can stand out from more established competitors. One of those is inference, where AI models apply what they've learned to make real-time decisions or predictions. Another is agentic AI, where systems are designed to operate independently and take actions on their own. 'Our starting point will be emerging AI workloads – then we will work backward to design software, systems and silicon that enable the best customer outcomes,' Tan wrote. Whether Intel can pull off this turnaround or if it's just too late remains to be seen.
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Volkswagen issues profit warning as Q2 profit drops by a third
The Volkswagen Group on Friday reported a drop in second quarter net profit, weighed down by weak performance at its premium brands Porsche and Audi, high costs from increased US import tariffs, and higher sales of lower-margin electric models. The German carmaker posted net profit of €2.29 billion ($2.7 billion), down about third from a year earlier. Operating profit fell around 29% to €3.83 billion, resulting in an operating margin of 4.7%, in line with analyst expectations. Revenue declined 3% to €80.6 billion, despite slightly higher vehicle deliveries. Volkswagen warned of lower full-year profitability, citing weaknesses at Porsche and Audi as well as tariffs on imports to the United States. President Donald Trump has imposed a 25% levy on auto imports in a bid to boost the domestic industry. Europe's largest carmaker now expects an operating margin of between 4% and 5%, down from a previous forecast of 5.5% to 6.5%. Analysts had already predicted margins below 5%. Chief executive Oliver Blume also trimmed the revenue outlook, now expecting flat sales versus last year rather than growth of up to 5%. Sign in to access your portfolio
