Free Republic

The German economy posted zero growth in the final quarter of 2019, the federal statistics authority (Destasis) reported in preliminary statistics on Friday. The Gross domestic product (GDP) was the same in October-December as in the previous three months. The results were worse than forecast, with predictions of 0.1% growth. However, Destastis revised its results for the third quarter, with the GDO growing by 0.2% instead of the 0.1% previously reported. […] The zero growth is a reflection of broader eurozone slowness with headwinds from the US-China trade dispute and Brexit. The European Central bank has been trying to stimulate...

Contraception is almost five times cheaper than conventional green technologies as a means of combating climate change, according to new research commissioned by the Optimum Population Trust.

Proving once again that foolish ideas don't die or fade away -- they walk the earth eternally, preying on the brains of the living -- scientists at a UK think tank have determined that the greatest threat to the planet is more human beings. "The effect on the planet of having one child less is an order of magnitude greater than all these other things we might do, such as switching off lights," explains Professor John Guillebaud, co-chairman of the Optimum Population Trust (OPT). "The greatest thing anyone in Britain could do to help the future of the planet would...

Economics: Europe has been the source of many of America's most beloved fairy tales. Not all are of ancient origin. Take the European Union's insistence five years ago that its economy would leapfrog ours by 2010. The so-called Lisbon Strategy was unveiled with much fanfare. Struck in the Portuguese capital, the deal essentially predicted the EU economy would pass up America's and leave it in the dust. At the time, it sounded reasonable. The EU was adding new members, and the common wisdom was that the U.S., though a big military power, was suffering from what geostrategists like to call...