đź”” Dexit Part ZWEI

Right, we touched on one key European tail risk recently...

Yeah I know it's politics, (and politics is boring 🥱) but this could have far-reaching implications, and it's evolving now...

“the die is cast: Armin Laschet will be the chancellor candidate of the Union.” - CSU candidate Markus Söder

In the linked piece we mentioned Söder as the obvious choice - he's by far the most popular candidate in the polls 👇

Yet they've opted for Laschet instead...

You won't find him in that graphic because he was voted 12th...

It seems a VERY strange decision...

In the current ARD “Germany trend”, 44 percent of German citizens consider the Bavarian Prime Minister (Söder) to be the more suitable candidate for Chancellor for the next federal election.

Only 15 percent said the same for Laschet...

He clearly hasn't got the job based on public popularity and it seems more of a vote for convention, with the candidate of the larger two parties gaining the vote based on hierarchy rather than merit...

and it's not the first time Laschet has 'won' despite polling poorly either...

Opinion polls show Merz is more popular with CDU members than Laschet, who is premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, and Roettgen, a foreign policy expert. But the party elite, to whom the delegates are close, favour Laschet.

Merz was defeated in the leadership race, but to my eye, there does seem to be public appetite for a common sense leader with a strong personality...

Laschet seems to have party-backing, but the public are not so keen...  

Why should we care?

Because history doesn't always repeat, but it often rhymes...

Laschet is described as centrist & seen as the continuity candidate...

"Let's keep everything the same" is not a strong platform for gaining votes, especially if the public are unhappy with the current situation (just ask the remain campaign)

If Laschet performs poorly, Söder will surely be waiting in the wings to ride any wave of AfD Euroscepticism and offer a 'moderate' right wing alternative...

Where have we seen that before?

Euroscepticism taking hold in Germany is almost unthinkable...

Almost.

Reality doesn't matter, politics is a game of perception... 👇

@InvestmentTalkk

Will this response be supported by the majority of the German public? 👇

  • After years of investigation, EU competition watchdogs have found a violation of antitrust law by numerous German car manufacturers.

  • According to investigators, the so-called “5-group” made up of BMW, Daimler, Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche have made inadmissible agreements on the development of emission-reducing technologies.

  • In contrast to Daimler and VW, BMW always denied the allegations - and should therefore pay a particularly high fine

According to reports, the “General Directorate for Competition” has now informed the accused companies of the outcome of the AT.40178 cartel case. The total penalty to be expected is therefore in the billions.