Word: derlying
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...have to find the courage to make the changes in our country that are necessary to bring it back to the top of economic and social development in Europe." That's what a revved-up Gerhard Schröder told parliament last week in an impassioned address broadcast on national television. So does the German Chancellor finally get it? With unemployment now topping 4.7 million - 11.3% of the workforce - and growth last year an anemic 0.2%, Schröder's proposed reforms come none too soon...
...they're calling it "Enron on the Zaan," referring to the river that flows near the headquarters of Royal Ahold, the world's largest food retailer. And while that might be an exaggeration, Ahold has certainly scandalized the Netherlands' normally placid business life. The company's CEO, Cees van der Hoeven, and its finance chief, Michael Meurs, abruptly resigned last week following the discovery that a food-service subsidiary in the U.S. had overstated its operating earnings by at least $500 million. Ahold's stock immediately plunged by two-thirds, erasing €5 billion in value, although it picked...
...first six weeks of illness benefits - a responsibility that cost them €33 billion last year. In 1996, the then Christian Democratic government lowered benefits from 100% to 80% of a worker's salary, triggering outrage among unions. In 1999, the red-green coalition under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder reversed the decision, in order to fulfill an election-campaign promise. And European governments are also hampered by their policies toward long-term illness. At present, some 37 million Europeans are officially listed as disabled. Definitions vary, but in the U.K., a person who is still ill after receiving full...
...might think that officials would be happy that consumers are saving money in tough times. But the discounters' success is controversial in Germany: Renate Künast, the government Minister for Consumer Protection, last month vowed to "break their power." She was quickly chided by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. But her remarks came just as Germany's Justice Ministry was working on a revision of the unfair trading law, and others rallied to her defense, including agricultural groups and makers of brand-name products. It's a microcosm of a divisive and peculiarly European debate: How low should retail...
What's the most powerful political institution in Germany right now? It's not Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's Social Democratic Party (SPD), which was humiliated in state elections last week in Hesse and Lower Saxony (Schröder's home state). And it's not the rival Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which despite its gains hasn't yet come up with a coherent plan for economic reform. No, the organization with the most clout these days is an obscure legislative group called the Mediation Committee. Meeting in a soundproof Berlin conference room with no natural light...