The Gap Between The EU And The US Will Continue To Widen -- January 10, 2018

On the day that Toyota/Mazda announced a new $1.6 billion automobile plant to be built in Alabama, Reuters is reporting that "German industrial workers widen their strikes in wage dispute."

So, guess how much German workers want in wage increases? 1%? 2%? 3%? Nope, double that, 6%.

But not only that, they want shorter hours (I assume the hours will be the same number of minutes as before, but they want fewer hours, not shorter hours -- perhaps a shorter work-week is what the writer meant).

The strike for a shorter work-week comes on top of the 35-hour work week Germans already have.

According to the article, "workers have drawn a line in the sand."

So how many hours do the Germans want to work. 30 hours/week? LOL.

No, they want to go to four seven-hour days, 28 hours in total. Or if they work five days, less than three hours before lunch and less than three hours after lunch.

Plus generous maternity and paternity leave. And vacation time. And sick days. And mental health days. And snow days.

Angela Merkel is unable to form a government; something tells me the unions are going to win on this one.

If the union wins, I wonder if CNBC will talk about the potential demise of the "synchronized global economy"?

Later: a reader sent me a story explaining how this all came about -- Germany signed the “guest worker” agreement with Turkey 50 years ago which allowed companies to fill empty workplaces with Turks and changed the country forever. Süleyman Cözmez was one of the thousands who came – and and stayed. Link here.

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Speaking Of Things Going Sour In Paradise, Just How Bad Is It In California?

President Governor Jerry Brown raises prospect of pension cuts "in downturn."

I was unaware there was a "downturn" in California -- oh, I see -- Governor Moonbeam is talking about the next downturn. Right now, everything is hunky dory.

From Bloomberg:

California Governor Jerry Brown said legal rulings may clear the way for making cuts to public pension benefits, which would go against long-standing assumptions and potentially provide financial relief to the state and its local governments.

Brown said he has a "hunch" the courts would "modify" the so-called California rule, which holds that benefits promised to public employees can’t be rolled back. The state’s Supreme Court is set to hear a case in which lower courts ruled that reductions to pensions are permissible if the payments remain “reasonable” for workers.

I wonder if president-in-waiting, Ms Winfrey, would support the governor.

My hunch: the court will say, "no way, Jose."