First not past the post: Germany’s chancellor shocker
The Intelligence from The Economist
The Economist
4.6 • 3.6K Ratings
🗓️ 6 May 2025
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In a post-war first, Germany’s round of parliamentary voting for a chancellor did not produce one. We ask why members of Friedrich Merz’s coalition turned on him, and what happens next. Daring raids on scam compounds in Myanmar freed many slave-labour scammers—but thousands remain trapped there (9:42). And diving into the data that show young Americans are getting (slightly) happier (16:23).
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | At BP, we've reset our strategy to grow value for shareholders, growing upstream, focusing downstream, playing to our strengths, and disciplined investment in the transition. |
| 0:14.1 | This is a reset BP. Find out more at BP.com forward slash reset. Transition activities such as EV charging, bioenergy and renewables are a much smaller but key part of our business. |
| 0:32.6 | The Economist. |
| 0:45.8 | Hello and welcome to the intelligence from The Economist. |
| 0:46.8 | I'm Jason Palmer. |
| 0:48.5 | And I'm Rosie Bloor. |
| 0:52.9 | Every weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world. |
| 1:03.0 | Our long-form series Scam Inc laid out the enormous scope of the global scaming industry, run in part out of compounds in Myanmar. |
| 1:06.0 | Today we ask why, long after daring raids on the compounds, |
| 1:10.0 | so many slave labor scammers |
| 1:12.6 | are still stuck there. |
| 1:16.0 | And it has become commonplace to talk about the epidemic of mental illness among young |
| 1:20.4 | people in America. |
| 1:22.2 | But there may finally be something to smile about. |
| 1:25.3 | The youth of today are getting very slightly happier. |
| 1:30.3 | First up though. |
| 1:39.3 | I'll say I'm going to the German Bundestag I for |
| 1:43.3 | Han Friedrich Mitz to vote |
| 1:46.0 | to vote |
| 1:47.0 | So this morning in Berlin |
| 1:52.0 | we were all prepared to see |
| 1:55.0 | the German Bundestag |
... |
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