Germany, the nation that used to be the bastion of political stability in Europe was thrown a curveball over the weekend after the Social Democrats (SPD) elected a left-wing leadership duo who have said they want to renegotiate the terms of Angela Merkel’s governing alliance. Saskia Esken and Norbert Walter-Borjans, who ran on a joint ticket, won a vote for the leadership of the Social Democrats and immediately called on Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) to make some major policy concessions, with the threat of pulling the plug on the coalition if they don’t get their own way. The demand that the ‘grand coalition’ moves to the left will add to the already strained government which cannot seem to agree on issues such as welfare spending, defence and taxes.
Esken and Walter-Borjans will be confirmed by delegates at an SPD convention next week have said their continued support for the coalition will be contingent on the Christian Democrats adopting their plans. These include an increase in Germany’s minimum wage to 12 euros an hour from 9, and they plan to spend billions of Euros on infrastructure in the coming years. The CDU has long opposed increasing spending on the basis of principle and that it would put an end to the recent years of balanced budgets. Some experts are saying that the ideas being pushed by the SPD are so far away from the CDU’s core beliefs that is difficult to see any common ground or room for compromise.
Also, according to data that will surprise very few people, in the US more purchases were made online on Black Friday than in shops, however, after years of slowing footfall, there was some indication that customers have started to return to the shops. On Thanksgiving evening, shopper traffic increased by 2.3% year-on-year, although it did fall on Black Friday again. According to Adobe Analytics, online sales were up nearly 20% to just shy of USD7.5bn on Black Friday, with sales on Thanksgiving growing 14.5% to just over USD4bn. However, the store numbers did not include offerings like ‘buy online and pick up in-store’, a growing category, which retailers hope is going to add to sales by enticing customers into their stores.