35,000 jobs lost if Bayer bolts Germany over electricity cost

Deutsche Welle reports that Germany stands to lose 35,000 jobs if Bayer chemical & pharmacuetical follows through on threats to leave the country over Germany’s high cost of electricity.

Bayer CEO told Wirtschaftswoche (Business Week) that, “”It is important that we remain competitive in comparison with other countries …  otherwise a global business such as Bayer would have to consider relocating its production to countries with lower energy costs.”

Following the Japanese tsunami and the resulting emergency at the Fukushima nuclear plant, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that Germany would end its use of nuclear energy.  German subsidies and tariffs for wind and solar energy have already given it the highest  electricity costs in the European Union.  Loss of Germany’s nuclear generating capacity will cause rates to skyrocket still further. 

Tragic as any natural disaster is, the death toll from Japan’s nuclear emergency continues to be dwarfed by the death toll in Germany caused a few months ago by bacteria infested organic sprouts.  Perhaps some perspective is in order.

Unaffordable electricity threatens to cripple the German economy, which these days must support not only its own social welfare spending, but also workers in Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal and maybe Ireland who opt for a life of ease over a life of work and productivity.

CFACT suggests Chancellor Merkel take two Bayer aspirin, reinstate German nuclear power, end energy taxes, schemes and subsidies and put her nation back on a track to productivity, jobs and prosperity.

At least jobless Germans will be able to take comfort  that their government tried to protect them from the ever present threat of tsunamis to the Rhine valley.

Filed Under: CFACT Europe • Issues