Decision-Making Archives - Page 6 of 29

Yesterday’s Bread

Semmelknödel, bread dumplings, are made from stale rolls. Harald Seitz of the Federal Center for Nutrition says: “Semmelknödel sind die perfekte Resteverwertung für altbackene Brötchen.” Bread dumplings are the perfect use of leftover stale rolls. According to ZDF, they began as a farmers’ dish for using up old bread.

Arme Ritter, poor knights, are slices of old bread, soaked and fried. A supermarket recipe page calls them a former emergency meal. Resteverwertung, the use of leftovers, is an everyday German word.

The Black Zero

Die schwarze Null, the black zero. In November 2014 the Bundestag passed the federal budget for 2015 without any new borrowing. It was the first time since 1969. Total spending was set at 299.1 billion euros.

Critics doubted that the budget was really balanced. The Green budget politician Sven-Christian Kindler said: “Schäuble versteckt seine Schulden trickreich in Schattenhaushalten.” Schäuble hides his debts cleverly in shadow budgets.

A Relentless Teacher of Thrift

Robert Bosch founded the company that carries his name, and he gave millions to public causes. In 1955 Theodor Heuss wrote Bosch’s entry in the national biography. He called Bosch, “in seinem Betrieb”, in his own company, “ein unerbittlicher Erzieher zur Sparsamkeit”, a relentless teacher of thrift.

Car-Free Sundays

On 25 November 1973 a nationwide ban on driving applied in West Germany for the first time. It was a response to sharply higher prices for fuel and heating oil. Under the Energy Security Act, driving was banned on four Sundays.

A temporary speed limit of 100 km/h on the Autobahn and 80 km/h on country roads also applied. On the empty roads, people traveled by horse cart or by bicycle.

The Cost of Repeating a Year

Sitzenbleiben, staying seated, is the German word for repeating a school year. It is also called an Ehrenrunde, a lap of honor. In 2009 the education researcher Klaus Klemm calculated for the Bertelsmann Foundation that repeated school years cost 931 million euros a year.

The study found that repeating a year did not improve pupils’ results. Its title called the practice “teuer und unwirksam”, expensive and ineffective. Berlin abolished repeating a year in its new secondary schools from the 2010/11 school year.

Borrowed Schoolbooks

In Rhineland-Palatinate, families can borrow their children’s textbooks from the school authority for a fee. The books must be treated with care and returned undamaged. A protective cover is strongly recommended. Underlining, markings and notes in the margin are not allowed.

The fee is one third of the shop price for a book used for one year, and one sixth for a book used for two or three years. Parents must pay for any damage.

The Frigate Sent Back

In December 2017 the German Navy refused to accept a new frigate, the Baden-Württemberg, after delivery. It was the first time the navy had ever done this. The ship had unresolved hardware and software integration problems.

The frigate had originally been scheduled for 2014–15. It entered service on 17 June 2019. The contracts for the four ships of its class were worth 2.27 billion euros.

The Drone That Could Not Fly

In May 2013 the Defense Ministry stopped the Euro Hawk reconnaissance drone. The drone would not receive approval to fly in air traffic. By then about 668 million euros had already gone into the project.

Approval would probably have cost another 600 million euros. The Bundestag’s defense committee formed itself into a committee of inquiry and examined the project.

Sufficient, Appropriate and Economical

Every service of German statutory health insurance must meet one rule: “Die Leistungen müssen ausreichend, zweckmäßig und wirtschaftlich sein.” Services must be sufficient, appropriate and economical, and they may not exceed what is necessary. Patients cannot claim unnecessary services, doctors may not provide them, and the insurance funds may not approve them.

The doctors’ association in Rhineland-Palatinate teaches new doctors the principle in one sentence: “Erreiche einen gegebenen Zweck mit möglichst geringem Aufwand!” Achieve a given purpose with the least possible effort.

The Fixed-Deposit Account

Das Festgeldkonto, the fixed-deposit account. Uli Hoeneß has described how FC Bayern Munich once had twelve million marks in sales and seven million marks in debt. One transfer in 1984 put the club back on its feet.

The remaining million, Hoeneß said, went into the fixed-deposit account, “und seither hatte der FC Bayern keine Schulden mehr”, and since then FC Bayern has had no debts. This famous account later grew to a sum in the hundreds of millions. In 2014 the club paid off its stadium after 9.5 years instead of the planned 25.