Comments on: Scenes from a Berlin menu

By: Paul Marks

Paul Marks — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 00:03:14 +0000

If someone can not afford something – they should not buy it.

This German attitude just seems like an example of sanity.

Bank (and other) credit expansion reminds me of three men shipwreaked on a desert island.

After a time they are rescued.

“How did you get on?” the men are asked.

“We did very well – in fact we have become rich” they reply.

“Oh – what did you produce on the island?”

“Produce? Why should we produce anything? You see we were shipwreaked with a hat – and we became rich by selling the hat to each other, and by building an inverted pyramid of credit on the basis of the hat, and……”.

By: mcg

mcg — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 22:18:09 +0000

Laird: oh yes, there’s no doubt that merchant fees are a significant chunk. But it doesn’t account for all of the German reluctance. Indeed, credit card acceptance is definitely more common here in the U.S. than in Berlin; and my Danish colleague (I was wrong above; he’s from Denmark, not the Netherlands) made the same comparison to his homeland.

By: Eric Jablow

Eric Jablow — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 23:10:45 +0000

You should have offered to buy a menu.

By: Laird

Laird — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 18:19:58 +0000

mcg, I would also point out that credit card companies charge fairly large “merchant fees” (up to 4%) to busineses which accept credit cards. That’s not insignificant, and could account for at least some of the reluctance to accept plastic. Where I live, there are a number of gas stations which have a lower cash price than credit price, which makes perfect economic sense to me.

By: mcg

mcg — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 16:51:37 +0000

During my recent trip to Berlin I was surprised by how many places refused to take credit cards. A Dutch fellow that I was dining with claimed that it was a symptom of the Germans lingering mistrust of the state. Obviously he doesn’t know firsthand, but his wife is German, so who knows. Consider it one click more trustworthy than something you find on the Internet.

By: Paul Marks

Paul Marks — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 11:36:04 +0000

The Berlin government gets its money by looting taxpayers in Bavaria (under the weird Federalism in Germany) – so they can do without tax money from this place.

As for coins…..

Both silver and gold can be placed in transparent material (with a security stamp upon it to indicate the honestly of the contents).

So one need not worry about wear and tear on very small gold or silver coins.

Just a grain of gold or silver will do.

By: Rich Rostrom

Rich Rostrom — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 21:22:20 +0000

They don’t take credit or debit cards, but they do take euros?

This isn’t about libertarianism or hard money, it’s about not paying taxes, I think. All of the accepted forms are not reported.

(One assumes Bitcoin is not reported, though I don’t know.)

By: Michael Jennings

Michael Jennings — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 15:46:46 +0000

No, no, no. Just negligible knowledge of football chants on my part.

By: Natalie Solent

Natalie Solent — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 15:32:51 +0000

Michael, I think GlenDorran’s comment is a reference to a Dutch football chant that rebukes the Germans for confiscating all their bicycles during WWII.

(Sorry if your comment was playing along with a joke obvious to everyone but me.)

By: Michael Jennings

Michael Jennings — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 14:46:44 +0000

My assumption would be that Dutch cyclists feel much the same way about bicycle thieves as German cyclists.

By: GlenDorran

GlenDorran — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 13:04:27 +0000

I’m also amused by the idea of Germans shooting bicycle thieves.

Maybe ask the Dutch what their opinion of this is……..

By: Natalie Solent

Natalie Solent — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 12:16:35 +0000

Midwesterner writes,

I should also add that I don’t expect people to concede arguments. I seldom do ‘in real time’. What I do when I find myself in an indefensible position is go off and have a good think.

Very true! I can count on the fingers of one finger the times I have out-and-out conceded an argument on the spot, although I routinely admit that my interlocutor “has a point” or something like that. I think I am fairly typical in this. On the other hand, I do try not to be completely impervious to argument and have on many issues eventually changed my opinion, after a good think lasting a decade or two.