Should European Union treasuries be allowed to scoop revenue from financial transactions?

The financial market levy is still on the agenda in Europe. But opposition from London means it is likely to be watered down – By Malte Kreuzfeldt

The idea of imposing a small tax on financial transactions to prevent speculation on minimal price fluctuations as well as tap into new sources of revenue is not new. As early as 1998, it led to the foundation of the activist organization, Attac.

Not until the major financial crisis of 2009 did it seem likely that the financial levy might actually become reality. At the time there was widespread demand to stabilize markets and ensure that those who caused the crisis shared in the cost of solving it. The proposal, long considered utopian, made it onto the G20 agenda.

As domestic and foreign investors seek refuge in German bricks and mortar, fears of a real estate bubble grow – By Harald Freiberger

Sometimes, Jürgen Haug can only shake his head: “Many of my customers are currently preoccupied with just one subject: How do I get my hands on a house quickly?” explains the investment advisor from Ismaning near Munich.

Recently, he had yet another such customer. The man had fallen in love with an apartment with a roof-deck and a price tag of €5,400 per square meter. The apartment would have cost him €320,000. He had €50,000 of his own to put towards the purchase and an annual income of €70,000. He wanted to begin by renting out the apartment before moving in himself. “I ran some calculations with the customer and luckily managed to talk him out of it,” says Haug. The risk was just too big and the financing too restricted. If even just one month’s rent was missed, the bank might have put him under pressure to sell. The customer’s losses would have been in the tens of thousands. Haug suggested investment funds.

A year after the Fukushima disaster, clean energy pioneer Germany is slowing its shift to renewables. Other countries are increasing their use of fossil fuels and nuclear power – By Hannes Koch

The solar power industry is ailing in Germany. Four important domestic producers of photovoltaic technology have filed for bankruptcy in the last few months. And in mid-April, the US company First Solar announced that it was ceasing production in Frankfurt (Oder), on the German-Polish border.

What is going on? Didn’t Chancellor Angela Merkel announce just a year ago, after the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, that all German nuclear power plants would be shut down over the next ten years?

Internationalization has utmost priority: Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe (2nd from right) and staff of the new Bertelsmann Corporate Center in Delhi.

German media giant aims to become more international and more digital – By Thomas Schuler

Thomas Rabe wanted to send a clear signal when he took over at the top of Bertelsmann at the beginning of the year. When he traveled to India in February to open a new regional headquarters for Asia in New Delhi, the press release from Bertelsmann was accompanied by an image of a smiling CEO together with the regional office manager and his entire staff of four, a number slightly at odds with the office’s somewhat grandiose title “Corporate Center.” Still, it has become clear that the opening of the office is symbolic of Rabe’s efforts to realign Bertelsmann and to seek growth, particularly on an international level. The message behind the photo: Internationalization has utmost priority.