German big business calls for early vote, economic vision [Video]
Categories
Small Business Growth

German big business calls for early vote, economic vision [Video]

German big business groups demanded almost in unison Thursday that embattled Chancellor Olaf Scholz call elections soon to restore political stability in Europe’s stuttering top economy.

Already hit by high energy prices, stiff Chinese competition in key sectors and slow growth at home, companies and industry lobbies were further alarmed by the political turmoil in Berlin.

Hours after the world learnt that Donald Trump, a strong proponent of tariffs, is headed back to the White House, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s ruling coalition imploded.

“As if an already dramatic day for the global economy needed any more excitement, Germany has delivered a significant political upset of its own,” wrote Carsten Brzeski, economist at ING.

The centre-left Scholz said he aimed to hold on in a minority government until snap elections likely in March, but industry associations charged that this is far too late.

The industry federation BDI and the automakers’ group …

Watch/Read More

Most Popular Posts Today

Trump names Brendan Carr, senior GOP leader at FCC, to lead the agency [Video]
►
Categories
Small Business Growth

Trump names Brendan Carr, senior GOP leader at FCC, to lead the agency [Video]

President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday named Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, as the new chairman of the agency tasked with regulating broadcasting, telecommunications and broadband.Carr is a longtime member of the commission and served previously as the FCC's general counsel. He has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate three times and was nominated by both Trump and President Joe Biden to the commission.The FCC is an independent agency that is overseen by Congress, but Trump has suggested he wanted to bring it under tighter White House control, in part to use the agency to punish TV networks that cover him in a way he doesnt like.Carr has of late embraced Trump's ideas about social media and tech. Carr wrote a section devoted to the FCC in Project 2025, a sweeping blueprint for gutting the federal workforce and dismantling federal agencies in a second Trump administration produced by the conservative Heritage Foundation.Trump has claimed he doesnt know anything about Project 2025, but many of its themes have aligned with his statements.Carr said in a statement congratulating Trump on his win that he believed "the FCC will have an important role to play reining in Big Tech, ensuring that broadcasters operate in the public interest, and unleashing economic growth.Commissioner Carr is a warrior for Free Speech, and has fought against the regulatory Lawfare that has stifled Americans Freedoms, and held back our Economy, Trump said in a statement on Sunday. He will end the regulatory onslaught that has been crippling Americas Job Creators and Innovators, and ensure that the FCC delivers for rural America.The five-person commission has a 3-2 Democratic majority until next year, when Trump gets to appoint a new member.Carr has made appearances on Fox News Channel, including when he slammed Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris appearance on Saturday Night Live the weekend before the election charging that the network didnt offer equal time to Trump.Also a prolific writer of op-eds, Carr wrote in an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal last month decrying an FCC decision to revoke a federal award for Elon Musks satellite service, Starlink. He said the move couldnt be explained "by any objective application of the facts, the law or sound policy.In my view, it amounted to nothing more than regulatory lawfare against one of the lefts top targets: Mr. Musk, Carr wrote.

Most Popular This Week