The last burst bubble breaks with a delay of several months, but with all the force of the real economy down. Now, the capitalist centers of the series. Even the neo-liberal model country, the cradle of noodles and very clever. This seems at first sight a paradoxical curiosity, but the region is for sound and healthy middle class, but it shows once more that there are no individual opportunities to decouple itself from the laws of capitalism. It is clear how far the concentration of power is advanced: the whole region depends on the drop of a single company: DAIMLER BENZ. It seems as though
Marx correctly predicted that determine the fate of the world in the late stage of capitalism, only a few Großkapitälern.
Once again, I would like to refer to Robert Short Scylla of March.
mirror online
09/25/2009
tax revenues are plunging, increasing social spending, Germany's local authorities are sounding the alarm - including Esslingen near Stuttgart. Angesichts leerer Kassen kommt alles auf den Prüfstand: das Freibad, die Sporthalle und die Entsorgung von Weihnachtsbäumen. Die Bürger reagieren verstört auf das Spardiktat. [...]
Die Gewerbesteuereinnahmen sind dramatisch eingebrochen, 17 Millionen Euro wird die 90.000-Einwohner-Stadt voraussichtlich dieses Jahr verbuchen. 2007 flossen noch satte 70 Millionen in die Kassen. Die Wirtschaftskrise hat vor allem die Autoindustrie getroffen - von der Esslingen als Nachbar der Daimler-Stadt Stuttgart lange Zeit ziemlich gut gelebt hat. "Was früher unsere Stärke war, ist jetzt unsere Schwäche", sagt Schiebel. Dann hält der 52-jährige Mann im aprikotfarbenen Sakko mit spitzen Fingern ein Papier hoch, das ihm derzeit einen Haufen Ärger eingebracht hat. "Die sogenannte Giftliste." Sie soll helfen, das 50-Millionen-Haushaltsloch irgendwie zu stopfen. Und sie ist lang.
Die Schließung eines Freibads und einer Veranstaltungshalle wird vorgeschlagen, die Auflösung zweier Bürgerämter, beim Stadtmuseum könnte gespart werden, beim Denkmalschutz, beim Straßenausbau, bei der "Medienentwicklung" in den Schulen. Der gesamte baden-württembergische Wohlstand wird plötzlich in Frage gestellt. Bis hin zur öffentlichen Entsorgung der Weihnachtsbäume.
Und damit steht die Stadt noch gut da.
In Kommunen, wo schon vor der Krise die Finanzen aus dem Ruder gelaufen sind, herrscht Alarmstufe rot. Vor allem im Ruhrgebiet sieht es düster from. Eating now pushes debt of three billion euros in front of him, Oberhausen and Duisburg because of their shaky finances under the supervision of the District government. Elsewhere in the country, it does not look good. Total accumulated to the municipalities in the first half of 2009 to a deficit of 4.2 billion euros, as the Federal Statistical Office reported. Last year was the bottom line is still an increase of 2.9 billion euros.
"Otherwise, the lights go out soon"
The Curse of the cities and communities: In times of crisis breaks their main source of income, the business tax away. Social spending but threatens the first time in the amount of 40 billion euros "to rise, warns Petra Roth, Frankfurt's mayor and president of Cities, told SPIEGEL ONLINE. That would be "an increase of more than 80 percent since 1992.
Roth therefore calls on the federal government to reduce the burden on financially weak cities: the share of the cost of accommodation for long-term unemployed should be increased around. We should "focus on the actual cost". The German Association of Towns and Municipalities (DStGB), representing the smaller municipalities suggests, even louder alarm, calls for assistance from federal and state governments. "Otherwise, go out in many towns and cities soon, the lights and people will feel that they can be the state down," says board member Gerd Landsberg. Because come on their own local communities nearby. Finally, they have very little room to raise their own taxes.
In desperation, many mayors respond with creativity. The Schleswig-Holstein Quickborn pumped about its citizens. Celle also plans a public loan of up to 10 million euros, will be shifted to the debt. Then one could save interest payments, said Mayor Dirk-Ulrich Mende (SPD). "We must use all possibilities". Sindelfingen near Stuttgart, has hired a management consultant, scout the city in search of savings.
'net I know how we do it should ".
makes Esslingen, Mayor Schiebel, however, no great illusions Most" big chunk "from the list of toxic substances would be probably not get through, he says laconically Its citizens are now running even storm you are spoiled by the years of prosperity.. Finally also pays "Daimler", long a reliable source of money, a portion of its business taxes to the city.
against the closure of the venue and one of the two swimming pools, the resistance has already been formed. went to a town meeting, it produces high, signatures are collected. You read everywhere that the bottom had been reached, outraged Günter Werner, 60 years old and Chairman the sports club TSV Berkheim. "Since you can not do anything short term flat."
Can a speedy recovery indeed be facing the communities of the question. The next year threatens to be worse than this for Esslingen, as for many other cities and towns. The scrapping that the auto industry brought a grace period has expired. And what if the whole region of the short-time one day be put on the street? Or if the Union won an election as promised, actually lowers taxes? Such horror stories were in the accounts' net all still there, "says Schiebel and rubbing his eyes under his glasses. "As an economic Department, we can not afford even net. "The budget planning for next year was a precaution moved to December. Then at least the new figures of the tax estimator are there.
expensive childcare
The numbers Schiebel now already knows him enough for the time already. For the next few years, threatening some of the federally mandated expansion of child care 1.2 million euros in annual cost, "that I can work out before the holiday times." And at the thought of the requirement that from 2013, actually 35 percent of all Children should have a day care place is usually so quiet lawyer really angry. "I do net see how we can make it," he says. Not only the educators are expensive, "there are also still room costs, equipment costs, fire protection costs to" calculates Schiebel.
Over the ten years of his term of office worn Schiebel a debt of € 70 million effort. Now shares the mayor Esslinger lot of federal Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück (SPD). Both had the goal to save a balanced budget. Instead, now must be done so rapidly new debt than ever before. Schiebel has this and next year probably for 30 million euros pumped from the banks. If things go well.
His main task, however, now seems to concur the citizens to the new times. In the transport and culture Esslingen would offer "the services of a Big city, "says Schiebel. Somewhere must be savings to be ready. Or face the deficit" structural "to be, he says. A mountain of debt as the cities in the north, he does not want to accumulate .
