Government Wants 20 Million Foreign Tourists In 2020

[Grumpy Gramps]

Now the krauts hail Adolf Abe:

Berlin cracks down on Airbnb rentals to cool market

Berlin has begun restricting private property rentals through Airbnb and similar online platforms, threatening hefty fines in a controversial move meant to keep housing affordable for locals.

Police calm hipster frenzy at Berlin vegan restaurant (18 Apr 16)
Germany's most expensive luxury flat sold in Berlin (13 Apr 16)
Germany hits 10-year-high in home-building (08 Apr 16)

The German capital fears that the growing trend of people letting out apartments to tourists through sites such as Airbnb, Wimdu and 9Flats is cutting into a limited property supply and driving up rents.

From May 1st, the city-state will enact a new law known by the German mouthful of "Zweckentfremdungsverbot", or prohibition of improper use.

It is "a necessary and sensible instrument against the housing shortage in Berlin," said Andreas Geisel, Berlin's head of urban development.

"I am absolutely determined to return such misappropriated apartments to the people of Berlin and to newcomers," he said.

Rents in Berlin shot up 56 percent between 2009 and 2014, although at around 10 euros per square metre this year, they are relatively low compared to other major European cities.
[snip]

Looks like they have planned that from two years ago...

[wuchan]

Rich people can't be rich without servants. When equals move in next door you become middle class.

The illusion of financial mobility is the largest pillar of capitalism. In reality, there can't be rich without poor. Call them slaves, serfs, lower class: it's all the same.

The real problem: people that drive BMWs and Mercs think they are rich. Funny thing is, most people that think they are rich don't have a clue. The real test is Monaco. Do you park your boat inside your boat? Did you come to Monaco to race a 50 year old multi-million dollar rare car on an F1 street circuit? Did you fly said car to Monaco on your private jet without headaches from customs?

The real truth: 1% of the world's population is a large number of people these days. We now live in a global economy, play or hide. Japan is going the "fuck the world, we can't compete so let's pretend that eating uncooked fish and drinking powered inferior tea is the best thing ever!" route. Germany is too involved in foreign money to become a turtle like Japan.

AirBNB represents the connected global economy that has decided that we should all be equal. Most laws in most countries and cities that work against AirBNB and Uber were sold under the mask of "public safety" but in most cases those laws were put in place to protect local interests. Notice that Germany and Japan have been added to a US watch list for noncompetitive currency policies.

It's late and I'm probably not making much sense.

[Russell]

Rich people can't be rich without servants. When equals move in next door you become middle class.

The illusion of financial mobility is the largest pillar of capitalism. In reality, there can't be rich without poor. Call them slaves, serfs, lower class: it's all the same.

The real problem: people that drive BMWs and Mercs think they are rich. Funny thing is, most people that think they are rich don't have a clue. The real test is Monaco. Do you park your boat inside your boat? Did you come to Monaco to race a 50 year old multi-million dollar rare car on an F1 street circuit? Did you fly said car to Monaco on your private jet without headaches from customs?

The real truth: 1% of the world's population is a large number of people these days. We now live in a global economy, play or hide. Japan is going the "fuck the world, we can't compete so let's pretend that eating uncooked fish and drinking powered inferior tea is the best thing ever!" route. Germany is too involved in foreign money to become a turtle like Japan.

AirBNB represents the connected global economy that has decided that we should all be equal. Most laws in most countries and cities that work against AirBNB and Uber were sold under the mask of "public safety" but in most cases those laws were put in place to protect local interests. Notice that Germany and Japan have been added to a US watch list for noncompetitive currency policies.

It's late and I'm probably not making much sense.

You don't.

There is no clear connection between the 1% and AirBNB.

And the reason why Berlin authorities crack down on it is totally different than in Japan, who aims to protect the hotel industry. In Berlin they want their citizens to have a decent life. Kind of progressive, like they always have been there.

[Coligny]

^^^
yup... almost komunist...

[Samurai_Jerk]

Kind of progressive, like they always have been there.

Yeah. Just ask all the Jews who lived there before 1939.

[kurogane]

AirBNB represents the connected global economy that has decided that we should all be equal. Most laws in most countries and cities that work against AirBNB and Uber were sold under the mask of "public safety" but in most cases those laws were put in place to protect local interests. Notice that Germany and Japan have been added to a US watch list for noncompetitive currency policies.

You don't.

There is no clear connection between the 1% and AirBNB.

And the reason why Berlin authorities crack down on it is totally different than in Japan, who aims to protect the hotel industry. In Berlin they want their citizens to have a decent life. Kind of progressive, like they always have been there.

ALWAYS!!????? (joking)

Well put.

AirBNB represents the connected global economy that has decided that we should all be equal. Most laws in most countries and cities that work against AirBNB and Uber were sold under the mask of "public safety" but in most cases those laws were put in place to protect local interests. Notice that Germany and Japan have been added to a US watch list for noncompetitive currency policies.

No, it doesn't, especially since the connected global economy has never been about equality, but rather seeks to homogenise and exploit the non-compliant peripheries for the sake of central enrichment. AirBNB and Uber and the like are parasite economies and a prime example of the non-productive leeching of the finance industries: they provide a commensurate service without investing the capital, risking the losses or obeying the regulations enacted to ensure a modicum of economic regularity and social responibility by the service providers of that industry. Their training regimens for their contractors are at least inaedquate even if they exist, they exploit their workers as much as they exploit the tax funded public goods and infrastructure they don't pay for and they hoard the profits to the benefit of the few rather than the many. Spock would diapprove.

While the Berlin rationale was more Kumbaya than the Japanese move, at the end of the day AIRBNB and Uber providers are like that skivey English kid that got arrested in Tokyo last yearish for offering accommodation without a licence: people like that are leeches. Another issue is the disruption of the quality of daily life to other residents in primarily longer term buildings and neighbourhoods. Who wants a bunch of fucking tourists tramping through your apartment building just because a few scofflaws want to pay off their mortgage without paying for the real costs of their profiteering?

[wuchan]

Rich people can't be rich without servants. When equals move in next door you become middle class.

The illusion of financial mobility is the largest pillar of capitalism. In reality, there can't be rich without poor. Call them slaves, serfs, lower class: it's all the same.

The real problem: people that drive BMWs and Mercs think they are rich. Funny thing is, most people that think they are rich don't have a clue. The real test is Monaco. Do you park your boat inside your boat? Did you come to Monaco to race a 50 year old multi-million dollar rare car on an F1 street circuit? Did you fly said car to Monaco on your private jet without headaches from customs?

The real truth: 1% of the world's population is a large number of people these days. We now live in a global economy, play or hide. Japan is going the "fuck the world, we can't compete so let's pretend that eating uncooked fish and drinking powered inferior tea is the best thing ever!" route. Germany is too involved in foreign money to become a turtle like Japan.

AirBNB represents the connected global economy that has decided that we should all be equal. Most laws in most countries and cities that work against AirBNB and Uber were sold under the mask of "public safety" but in most cases those laws were put in place to protect local interests. Notice that Germany and Japan have been added to a US watch list for noncompetitive currency policies.

It's late and I'm probably not making much sense.

You don't.

There is no clear connection between the 1% and AirBNB.

And the reason why Berlin authorities crack down on it is totally different than in Japan, who aims to protect the hotel industry. In Berlin they want their citizens to have a decent life. Kind of progressive, like they always have been there.

The 1% don't give a shit, it's the upper middle class that think that they are the 1% because they have a german car and are not in debt.

[Grumpy Gramps]

And the reason why Berlin authorities crack down on it is totally different than in Japan, who aims to protect the hotel industry.

I am not so sure. Like in Japan, what they say and what they think and what they do might be unrelated

I think, if AirBnB et al would be made subject to similar standards as ho(s)tels - like yearly confirmed working smoke detectors, no gas leaks, working fire extinguishers, clean water tanks, unblocked emergency exits, insurance in place etc) - then the market could simply fight it out, no need for protectionism, not in Japan and not in Germany or elsewhere. Even in Germany, if you have to renovate a kaputt apartment and adapt it to modern safety standards, the rent inevitably goes up. In Japan it's even worse as you'd usually tear down the whole building and you're not going to build a brand new cheap bimbo shack, if you're at it anyway.

[Coligny]

Kind of progressive, like they always have been there.

Yeah. Just ask all the Jews who lived there before 1939.

Come on, stop shamelessly parading this detail in history endlessly abused by spastic zionists faction as a shield against any criticism.


Laying it a thick as I am bored...

[Russell]

Kind of progressive, like they always have been there.

Yeah. Just ask all the Jews who lived there before 1939.

I'm talking about my lifetime.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Kind of progressive, like they always have been there.

Yeah. Just ask all the Jews who lived there before 1939.

I'm talking about my lifetime.

Europeans like excusing their pogroms.

[Russell]

Kind of progressive, like they always have been there.

Yeah. Just ask all the Jews who lived there before 1939.

I'm talking about my lifetime.

Europeans like excusing their pogroms.

All a bit heavy, huh?!?

I just talked about Berlin being a progressive (and cool) city, and I almost get labeled as a kind of Holocaust supporter by the non-Europeans here.

[Coligny]

Kind of progressive, like they always have been there.

Yeah. Just ask all the Jews who lived there before 1939.

I'm talking about my lifetime.

Europeans like excusing their pogroms.

All a bit heavy, huh?!?

I just talked about Berlin being a progressive (and cool) city, and I almost get labeled as a kind of Holocaust supporter by the non-Europeans here.

Pretty much standard behaviour I think...

[Russell]

Kind of progressive, like they always have been there.

Yeah. Just ask all the Jews who lived there before 1939.

I'm talking about my lifetime.

Europeans like excusing their pogroms.

All a bit heavy, huh?!?

I just talked about Berlin being a progressive (and cool) city, and I almost get labeled as a kind of Holocaust supporter by the non-Europeans here.

Pretty much standard behaviour I think...

Yep, they don't know fuck about Europe.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Kind of progressive, like they always have been there.

Yeah. Just ask all the Jews who lived there before 1939.

I'm talking about my lifetime.

I know you're old as hell but your lifetime doesn't equal always.

[Grumpy Gramps]

Yep, they don't know fuck about Europe.

Better keep it that way. If they knew the paradisaic reality, they all would pack up and go there, the planet might even get overbalance and topple over.

[kagemusha]

Kind of progressive, like they always have been there.

Yeah. Just ask all the Jews who lived there before 1939.

I'm talking about my lifetime.

Europeans like excusing their pogroms.

All a bit heavy, huh?!?

I just talked about Berlin being a progressive (and cool) city, and I almost get labeled as a kind of Holocaust supporter by the non-Europeans here.

If it of any help, as a 'non-European' I don't think you are a H' supporter.
If our French friend must use the Z' word in any unrelated opportunity just to reach a sexual climax it's okay I guess, you can't blame kids for using words they don't understand.
But I do know 'a little fuck' about Europe and I remember not long ago when you and a Corbine supporter agreed that antisemitism is very rare today.
So in time when we witness the biggest exodus of Jews fleeing Europe since the 1930's, when people march openly in Germany and shouts 'Jews back to the gas chamabers', when every Jewish synagogue and institution is guarded heavily and still people are injured or die there, when holiday events held for decades are canceled in France, Sweden and many other countries because the authorities can't guarantee the safety of the community members - I'm not so sure who knows the fuck about Europe and who doesn't.

[Russell]

Kind of progressive, like they always have been there.

Yeah. Just ask all the Jews who lived there before 1939.

I'm talking about my lifetime.

Europeans like excusing their pogroms.

All a bit heavy, huh?!?

I just talked about Berlin being a progressive (and cool) city, and I almost get labeled as a kind of Holocaust supporter by the non-Europeans here.

If it of any help, as a 'non-European' I don't think you are a H' supporter.
If our French friend must use the Z' word in any unrelated opportunity just to reach a sexual climax it's okay I guess, you can't blame kids for using words they don't understand.
But I do know 'a little fuck' about Europe and I remember not long ago when you and a Corbine supporter agreed that antisemitism is very rare today.
So in time when we witness the biggest exodus of Jews fleeing Europe since the 1930's, when people march openly in Germany and shouts 'Jews back to the gas chamabers', when every Jewish synagogue and institution is guarded heavily and still people are injured or die there, when holiday events held for decades are canceled in France, Sweden and many other countries because the authorities can't guarantee the safety of the community members - I'm not so sure who knows the fuck about Europe and who doesn't.

Ooh, there we go again.

You sound like you've read all that stuff in some obscure publication. Have you even ever been to Europe?

[kagemusha]

Kind of progressive, like they always have been there.

Yeah. Just ask all the Jews who lived there before 1939.

I'm talking about my lifetime.

Europeans like excusing their pogroms.

All a bit heavy, huh?!?

I just talked about Berlin being a progressive (and cool) city, and I almost get labeled as a kind of Holocaust supporter by the non-Europeans here.

If it of any help, as a 'non-European' I don't think you are a H' supporter.
If our French friend must use the Z' word in any unrelated opportunity just to reach a sexual climax it's okay I guess, you can't blame kids for using words they don't understand.
But I do know 'a little fuck' about Europe and I remember not long ago when you and a Corbine supporter agreed that antisemitism is very rare today.
So in time when we witness the biggest exodus of Jews fleeing Europe since the 1930's, when people march openly in Germany and shouts 'Jews back to the gas chamabers', when every Jewish synagogue and institution is guarded heavily and still people are injured or die there, when holiday events held for decades are canceled in France, Sweden and many other countries because the authorities can't guarantee the safety of the community members - I'm not so sure who knows the fuck about Europe and who doesn't.

Ooh, there we go again.

You sound like you've read all that stuff in some obscure publication. Have you even ever been to Europe?

You're joking right? Here, lets go over some obscure publications in 30 sec' search

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-33713259
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/antisemitic-incidents-hit-record-high-last-year-10024151.html
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/anti-semitic-attacks-french-jews-doubled-year/
http://www.france24.com/en/20120606-rise-violence-against-french-jews-revives-anti-semitism-debate-merah-toulouse
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-antisemitism-idUSKBN0N61MF20150415
http://www.economist.com/blogs/blighty/2014/06/anti-semitism-britain
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11360772/Hate-attacks-on-Jews-soared-94-last-year-police-figures-show.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/sharp-spike-in-anti-semitic-incidents-across-france-new-report-finds/2016/01/07/4eac4cee-b57d-11e5-8abc-d09392edc612_story.html
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/news/1.667887

[Russell]

Kind of progressive, like they always have been there.

Yeah. Just ask all the Jews who lived there before 1939.

I'm talking about my lifetime.

Europeans like excusing their pogroms.

All a bit heavy, huh?!?

I just talked about Berlin being a progressive (and cool) city, and I almost get labeled as a kind of Holocaust supporter by the non-Europeans here.

If it of any help, as a 'non-European' I don't think you are a H' supporter.
If our French friend must use the Z' word in any unrelated opportunity just to reach a sexual climax it's okay I guess, you can't blame kids for using words they don't understand.
But I do know 'a little fuck' about Europe and I remember not long ago when you and a Corbine supporter agreed that antisemitism is very rare today.
So in time when we witness the biggest exodus of Jews fleeing Europe since the 1930's, when people march openly in Germany and shouts 'Jews back to the gas chamabers', when every Jewish synagogue and institution is guarded heavily and still people are injured or die there, when holiday events held for decades are canceled in France, Sweden and many other countries because the authorities can't guarantee the safety of the community members - I'm not so sure who knows the fuck about Europe and who doesn't.

Ooh, there we go again.

You sound like you've read all that stuff in some obscure publication. Have you even ever been to Europe?

You're joking right? Here, lets go over some obscure publications in 30 sec' search

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-33713259
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/antisemitic-incidents-hit-record-high-last-year-10024151.html
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/anti-semitic-attacks-french-jews-doubled-year/
http://www.france24.com/en/20120606-rise-violence-against-french-jews-revives-anti-semitism-debate-merah-toulouse
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-antisemitism-idUSKBN0N61MF20150415
http://www.economist.com/blogs/blighty/2014/06/anti-semitism-britain
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11360772/Hate-attacks-on-Jews-soared-94-last-year-police-figures-show.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/sharp-spike-in-anti-semitic-incidents-across-france-new-report-finds/2016/01/07/4eac4cee-b57d-11e5-8abc-d09392edc612_story.html
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/news/1.667887

So, why are you singling out Europe?

http://www.adl.org/press-center/press-releases/anti-semitism-usa/adl-audit-in-2014-anti-semitic-inicidents.html

[Russell]

Kind of progressive, like they always have been there.

Yeah. Just ask all the Jews who lived there before 1939.

I'm talking about my lifetime.

I know you're old as hell but your lifetime doesn't equal always.

Next time you use the word "always" in an American context, let's bring up slavery and the murders of native Americans.

Deal?

[dimwit]

You sound like you've read all that stuff in some obscure publication. Have you even ever been to Europe?

I have been to Berlin and have had the pleasure (?) of staying in hotels there back in the 90's. The service was officious and expensive, and like Japan they were stick in some dark age of labyrinthine regulations. How much of this has changed since then I don't know, but I suspect very little.

As for the pretext that Airbnb creates a housing shortage for Merkel migrants, it sounds like a pretty crappy train of logic. Shortages in housing are far more likely to be caused by a glacial planning and approval process and overregulation. Far more likely, it is the hotel industry and their buddies in government trying to protect their overpriced ossified asses.

From my experiences staying in Germany, the only sector of the accomodation industry that Germany does well at is the Youth Hostel system, which is great if you are a backpacker, not so much if your over the age of 30.

As for Kuro calling Uber leaches, that was the biggest fucking chuckle I've had in ages. I think a close examination of the taxi industry in warranted, especially in Japan where taxi companies are dominated by 893. In Toronto, I remember an age when gangsters dominated the taxi industry there as well. To eliminate it, licensing boards were set up to prevent it, but unfortunately many of the board members were on the take and this resulted in even more regulations. As everyone knows, bureaucracy will grow if left to it's own devices and that is exactly what has happened. The result being a incestious cabal. I find it amazing that anyone would think the Uber can outsleaze the taxi industry.

A good article on the subject can be found here.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-dr ... e25515301/

[kagemusha]

So, why are you singling out Europe?

Ahhh....Maybe because we were talking about Europe?
You don't have to convince me there is a problem with antisemitism in the U.S, Australia and other places but today, outside the Arab/Muslim world, only in Europe do Jews fear for their safety just for being recognized as Jews in public. The fact that for the first time since the 1930's masses of Jews leave Europe to the U.S, Israel or Australia in the last 3 or 4 years says it all.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Kind of progressive, like they always have been there.

Yeah. Just ask all the Jews who lived there before 1939.

I'm talking about my lifetime.

I know you're old as hell but your lifetime doesn't equal always.

Next time you use the word "always" in an American context, let's bring up slavery and the murders of native Americans.

Deal?

First of all my comment was tongue-in-cheek. You've being an overly sensitive little girl. Besides a Dutchman defending Germany is pretty shameful.

[Russell]

So, why are you singling out Europe?

Ahhh....Maybe because we were talking about Europe?
You don't have to convince me there is a problem with antisemitism in the U.S, Australia and other places but today, outside the Arab/Muslim world, only in Europe do Jews fear for their safety just for being recognized as Jews in public. The fact that for the first time since the 1930's masses of Jews leave Europe to the U.S, Israel or Australia in the last 3 or 4 years says it all.

Never read anything about masses of Jewish people leaving Europe. But maybe that's because I'm Dutch. Seems that the Netherlands is doing better than many other countries, including the U.S., in the prevalence of antisemitism.

Anyway, what disturbs me is that when Europe is mentioned on FG, in no time the usual suspects (yes, that is you, Kagemusha, and others, like SDH, etc.) here feel immediately entitled to point out how "bad Europe is for the Jews".

Antisemitism is of all time and of all places, and it does not help to single out one particular part of the world. Also, because of its history, Europe is especially sensitive to fight against antisemitism. True, it doesn't help that there are now large minorities living in Europe that have some wheels to grind with Jewish people, but what is important is how society as a whole reacts to that. I have no reason to believe that society in whatever European country does not strongly condemn attacks against Jewish people and antisemitism in general.

Now let's talk about AirBnb again.

[Russell]

Kind of progressive, like they always have been there.

Yeah. Just ask all the Jews who lived there before 1939.

I'm talking about my lifetime.

I know you're old as hell but your lifetime doesn't equal always.

Next time you use the word "always" in an American context, let's bring up slavery and the murders of native Americans.

Deal?

First of all my comment was tongue-in-cheek. You've being an overly sensitive little girl. Besides a Dutchman defending Germany is pretty shameful.

Well, at least you make the difference between Germany and the Netherlands. Many Americans don't even know.

I just get a bit sick of all those comments that suggest that the next pogrom on Jewish people is right around the corner anytime.

[Wage Slave]

Kind of progressive, like they always have been there.

Yeah. Just ask all the Jews who lived there before 1939.

I'm talking about my lifetime.

I know you're old as hell but your lifetime doesn't equal always.

Next time you use the word "always" in an American context, let's bring up slavery and the murders of native Americans.

Deal?

First of all my comment was tongue-in-cheek. You've being an overly sensitive little girl. Besides a Dutchman defending Germany is pretty shameful.

Well, at least you make the difference between Germany and the Netherlands. Many Americans don't even know.

I just get a bit sick of all those comments that suggest that the next pogrom on Jewish people is right around the corner anytime.

Can't help wondering if Netanyahu is getting ready to go and do some heavy duty smiting again in Gaza or the West Bank - And the shoutuing is just preparing the way. Seriously, being lectured this week by his ambassador on the subject of racism and social justice was pretty rich to say the least.

[Russell]

Kind of progressive, like they always have been there.

Yeah. Just ask all the Jews who lived there before 1939.

I'm talking about my lifetime.

I know you're old as hell but your lifetime doesn't equal always.

Next time you use the word "always" in an American context, let's bring up slavery and the murders of native Americans.

Deal?

First of all my comment was tongue-in-cheek. You've being an overly sensitive little girl. Besides a Dutchman defending Germany is pretty shameful.

Well, at least you make the difference between Germany and the Netherlands. Many Americans don't even know.

I just get a bit sick of all those comments that suggest that the next pogrom on Jewish people is right around the corner anytime.

Can't help wondering if Netanyahu is getting ready to go and do some heavy duty smiting again in Gaza or the West Bank - And the shoutuing is just preparing the way. Seriously, being lectured this week by his ambassador on the subject of racism and social justice was pretty rich to say the least.

Yep, some of his supporters have even accused Bernie Sanders of antisemitism for daring to question Israel's policies in Gaza and the West Bank.

[dimwit]

Hey Mods is it possible to split this thread with the All Germans are Nazi shit being consigned to BF?

[Coligny]

Kind of progressive, like they always have been there.

Yeah. Just ask all the Jews who lived there before 1939.

I'm talking about my lifetime.

Europeans like excusing their pogroms.

All a bit heavy, huh?!?

I just talked about Berlin being a progressive (and cool) city, and I almost get labeled as a kind of Holocaust supporter by the non-Europeans here.

If it of any help, as a 'non-European' I don't think you are a H' supporter.
If our French friend must use the Z' word in any unrelated opportunity just to reach a sexual climax it's okay I guess, you can't blame kids for using words they don't understand.
But I do know 'a little fuck' about Europe and I remember not long ago when you and a Corbine supporter agreed that antisemitism is very rare today.
So in time when we witness the biggest exodus of Jews fleeing Europe since the 1930's, when people march openly in Germany and shouts 'Jews back to the gas chamabers', when every Jewish synagogue and institution is guarded heavily and still people are injured or die there, when holiday events held for decades are canceled in France, Sweden and many other countries because the authorities can't guarantee the safety of the community members - I'm not so sure who knows the fuck about Europe and who doesn't.

Muwahahahaha

you think you insulted my inner 9 years old while instead you just flattered my inner 5 years old... now... wharz mah crayonz...