Post AcF8vYtdhkoh2KAeC8 by attilakinali@society.oftrolls.com
 (DIR) More posts by attilakinali@society.oftrolls.com
 (DIR) Post #AcErvNVKMVCAU37qhE by attilakinali@society.oftrolls.com
       2023-11-27T15:38:05Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       I sound like a doomsayer, but I am more and more convinced that the German economy is doomed. Not because Germans aren't good engineers (they are not), not because they aren't hard working (they are not), not because the whole country's infrastructure is as rotten as a third world country's (it absolutely is)  but because the bureaucracy is designed to kill the economy. Any form of innovation is killed by those who pretend to support innovation. All while they pat themselves on their shoulders.
       
 (DIR) Post #AcErvOL5G4az4ZLBMu by penguin42@mastodon.org.uk
       2023-11-27T17:32:42Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @attilakinali As a Brit, I'm glad it's not just us!
       
 (DIR) Post #AcF8vYtdhkoh2KAeC8 by attilakinali@society.oftrolls.com
       2023-11-27T20:43:14Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @penguin42 Oh, don't worry, you Brits are doomed as well. But at least you know it and don't pretend that you are ahead of the game.But Germany is killing itself by pretending that they are doing everything right. They even believe they are doing everything right. Yet if you just stop and look for a second, you see that all those institutions that are in place to promote or enhance something are exactly the things that are killing it. And everyone is pretending like that isn't the case.
       
 (DIR) Post #AcGXfxqDstm5mSBxMO by attilakinali@society.oftrolls.com
       2023-11-27T20:46:30Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @penguin42 And if you talk to Germans and point out the deficiencies in the system, they will either tell you to go to France and see how that's working. Or say that other countries aren't better either.Well, for one, France is in better shape in almost everything that I've seen. And for another, most other countries, including France, Italy or even Turkey, are working a lot more smoothly in general than  Germany.Heck, I'd rather live in the UK than in Germany at this point.
       
 (DIR) Post #AcGXfyb14vCm7a5KIS by penguin42@mastodon.org.uk
       2023-11-28T12:55:14Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @attilakinali Ah I read this morning about a German court case screwing the budget up - is that what triggered the thread?
       
 (DIR) Post #AcIFxVDNe79ZLo9m3E by attilakinali@society.oftrolls.com
       2023-11-29T08:46:10Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @penguin42 What triggered this thread is that I am involved in some funding programs for high-tech startups in Germany. The rules how these funds are to be used are absolutely ridiculous. E.g. the rules do not allow for the money to be used for product development. All expenses for the project have to be known 2 years in advance and proven with real offers and quote from the suppliers. No changes are allowed once the money has been granted. You are not allowed to expense administrative overhead.
       
 (DIR) Post #AcIhPYAwveVPP7cOa8 by penguin42@mastodon.org.uk
       2023-11-29T13:53:47Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @attilakinali Oh that's spectacularly broken.  I'm not aware of a direct UK equivalent to that fund; closest is 'R&D tax credits' - but those are post-spend; typically you get asked at the end of a year how much of your time was R&D and you make a number up.  It's quite hard to justify what was normal customer work and what was research and what the difference between research and dev is; and then there are questions about whether some non-startup dev is worth the credit.