World News and Trends: Germany's growing jobless rate

1 minute read time

According to BBC News, "Germany's unemployment rose above the psychologically important level of five million last month."

According to BBC News, "Germany's unemployment rose above the psychologically important level of five million last month." Even more disturbing is the percentage figure of 12.1 percent, the highest since the Weimar Republic during the Great Depression. These figures were confirmed by the German Federal Labor Agency.

A recent report by Britain's Sunday Times said that the "New Europe [was] threatened by Germany's failures." After all, Berlin represents the EU's largest economy and so the country has been taken to task for setting a poor economic example. A big drain on financial resources has been the necessary funding of the former East Germany as it gradually recovers from the decaying effects of 45 years of communism.

If the unemployment figures should continue to worsen in Germany, some media observers will soon be talking about a possible recurrence of the '20s and '30s plus the potential resurfacing of German angst. Unprecedented economic woes were among the forces that thrust Hitler into power in 1933. (Sources: BBC News online, The Sunday Times.)

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Jerold Aust

Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 52 years, as a public speaker for 58 years, a published writer for 38 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and has taught Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC.  

Jerold holds a BA in theology from Ambassador College, Pasadena (1968), an MA in Communication from California State University, Fullerton (1995), a distance-learning Ph.D (2006), and a Famous Writers School diploma in non-fiction writing (1973). Additionally, he studied post-grad communication at University of Southern California (1995), radio, TV, voice-overs, and Public Relations at Fullerton College (1995-1996), and graduate communication at Wichita State University (1978).  Jerold has taught communication at the University of South Alabama (7 years) and ABC (17 years). His published works include, Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric: Metaphor as Persuasion and EZSpeakers: Public Speaking Made Easy in 7 Steps.  Jerold's overarching goal is to share with humankind its incredible destiny!

John Ross Schroeder

John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.

Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.

John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.

In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.

John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world. 

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