German industrialists and financial gurus have a problem. The economic powerhouse of Europe has a looming crisis, which is developing another crisis of its own.
Germany has an aging and declining population. The population of Germany has dropped nearly a million and a half during the last five years. In other words, more Germans are dying than are being born. The workforce is getting older and fewer. This has led to the first crisis for the industrialists.
A declining population means fewer workers will compete for more jobs, meaning wages must go up. This, in turn, means profits must decline, which, in turn, means there is downward pressure on the values of German stocks and bonds. Downward pressure also means the bubble economy of German high finance faces the prospect of a slow or explosive implosion on a scale not seen since the Great Depression.
The great German financial and industrial geniuses came up with a great idea to cut German wage, social service, and salary growth off at the pass: they engaged in a public campaign to encourage millions of immigrants to seek economic and political sanctuary in Germany, which tens of millions of Germans oppose, especially if they want their wages to grow, and the German economy has plenty of room for that.
However, now that the German populace has turned against the rapid influx of immigrants, Chancelor Angela Merkel has reversed course. She no longer wants unfettered immigration, leaving hundreds of thousands of immigrants in limbo, thanks to those wonderful German financial and industrial geniuses.
There are many victims in this scenario, but not one of them is a rich industrialist or affluent master of finance.