Corruption

The takeover of the DDR-Bank by West German financial institutions and the associated conversion of previous state grants and subsidies into interest-bearing loans was an abyss that plunged many GDR companies into an existential crisis. The subsidies that... [...]

In recent years, the number of unofficial and personal meetings between government officials, members of the federal government and various lobby players has increased rapidly. These informal encounters usually take place without protocol, without public documentation and outside of parliamentary control... [...]

How impressively the meaning, the perception and the associations of words change over time is particularly evident in the example of the term, which in the past served as a designation for a specific ethnic group. [...]

Coffee touches people directly in everyday life and that is exactly why disturbances in price and supply are much deeper in the mind than many abstract economic debates. If the usual morning coffee suddenly tastes worse or gets so expensive... [...]

The German system of citizen monitoring is characterized by strict control, bureaucracy and a strong delegation of surveillance tasks to private actors. This development means that citizens are hardly able to set the limits... [...]

In this conceivable future scenario, the geopolitical situation is dramatically worsening. A large-scale military conflict in Eastern Europe is spreading to neighboring NATO countries. Germany no longer only appears as a supporter, but becomes... [...]

In the current century, a remarkable phenomenon can be observed, which in many ways is reminiscent of the historical iconoclasms of bygone eras, but is emerging in a different form. While physical destruction of pictorial representations was in the foreground,... [...]

The suspected practice of excessive asset valuations in an upcoming wealth tax hurts like a constant stab in the heart of many owners who suddenly experience their hard-earned assets as an arbitrary tax trap. Legal certainty is an illusion, economic planning for... [...]

Stricter regulations on the new car market act like an invisible price driver that eats through every model range and in the end meets those who have little leeway anyway. The prices for new cars climbing by year... [...]

A hypothetical ban on exiting in the event of a suspense is characterized by the image of a state that, in a situation that is presented as threatening, no longer regards the freedom of movement of its citizens as a fundamental right, but as a risk. The government declares mobility to be a safety-related... [...]