Aprycot Media 📚

Bitcoin statt Burnout? Zuerst klingt das nach einer steilen These. Aber je länger ich darüber nachdenke, desto mehr trifft sie ins Schwarze. In Money Load geht @susannedroeber, dreifache Mutter, einer Frage nach, die viele Familien spüren, aber kaum jemand ausspricht: Wie viel von unserem täglichen Druck hängt am Ende mit dem Geld selbst zusammen? Stolz, dass das bei uns erscheint. Jetzt vorbestellen und pünktlich zu den Feiertagen lesen oder verschenken 🎄 Kommt am 7. Dezember. Mehr Infos hier → aprycot.media/money-load/

Seit Donnerstag liegt die „Einkommensteuerreform“ im Bundestag. Die soll „uns“ entlasten. Steht so im Namen. Kleines Detail darin: Steuerermäßigung für Handwerkerleistungen seit 2009: max. 1.200 €. 17 Jahre lang nie angepasst. Ab 2027: max. 900 €. Handwerker sind im selben Zeitraum um ungefähr 105 % teurer geworden. „Entlastung“ - hehe

Hey @jackmallers, I listened to one of your recent episodes yesterday, where you argued that Germany (where I do live) has benefited enormously from the euro. From an Austrian Economics perspective, I think that argument fundamentally misunderstands what creates prosperity. Germany was one of the most productive economies in Europe, with a historically strong currency and relatively greater fiscal discipline. By joining the euro, Germany gave up its monetary independence and became part of a system in which countries with vastly different levels of productivity and fiscal discipline share the same monetary policy. That creates enormous moral hazard. Excessive government borrowing, credit expansion, sovereign debt bailouts, and monetary intervention can shift risks and costs across the entire currency union. And the argument that Germany benefits from a weaker currency because it helps German exporters completely misses the point. Exports are not the goal of an economy. Prosperity is. A weaker currency may make German products more competitive abroad, but it also reduces the purchasing power of German consumers and makes imports more expensive. More importantly, artificially favorable monetary conditions can keep industries and business models alive that might otherwise have to adapt or disappear. Capital and labor remain tied to existing structures instead of moving toward potentially more productive uses. That’s an opportunity cost that rarely appears in the export statistics. A stronger currency would have forced German companies to become more productive, innovate, or reallocate resources. It would also have allowed German consumers to purchase more goods and services from abroad with the same amount of money. Just look at Switzerland. The Swiss franc has remained one of the strongest currencies in the world, yet Switzerland has maintained a highly competitive economy and a substantially higher level of prosperity than Germany. Of course, monetary strength isn’t the only reason for that difference. Economic freedom, capital accumulation, property rights, and institutional quality matter enormously. But Switzerland demonstrates that a strong currency is perfectly compatible with international competitiveness and prosperity. The fundamental mistake is confusing the success of German exporters with the prosperity of German citizens. The question isn’t whether the euro helped Germany export more. The question is whether Germans are wealthier today than they would have been under a harder currency, with less monetary distortion and stronger fiscal discipline. And I see very little reason to assume that they are.

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