Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, while in Japan, summarized it eloquently when he said, “The financial aspect of the crisis is over.” The ECB, despite apparently fake German reservations, has jumped with both feet on the money printing bandwagon where it happily joins the Fed, the Bank of Japan, and other central banks. The endless flow of money has started in the Eurozone, and Greek politicians have figured this out.
Monthly Archives: March 2012
Taking Bosses Hostage: A Labor Negotiating Tactic In France
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Taking Bosses Hostage: A Labor Negotiating Tactic In France
At 2 p.m on Thursday, the final day of the annual wage negotiations that were going nowhere, Bruno Ferrec, the man in charge of the nine Fnac stores in Paris, was “retained” by 120 of his employees at a conference room at the Hotel Ibis in Paris. “For now, we do not know when we will let him go,” said the representative of the CGT, one of the unions involved in the negotiations. And the police did nothing.
The Beer War on American Soil
by Wolf Richter • • 14 Comments
I love beer. Particularly craft beer. I’m a sucker for a good IPA, or an amber, or a pale ale. For special occasions, there’s the expensive stuff. If I’m traveling, I try to discover local brews. And the first swig is one of the simplest great pleasures in life. But I’ll stick to the numbers. And they’re morose for the US beer industry. Yet there is an astonishing winner.
Huawei (or China) Slams into US National Security Concerns
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Huawei (or China) Slams into US National Security Concerns
Huawei is a prime example of Chinese companies scaling the value chain through innovation and technology transfer—top priorities in China’s five-year plan. But its efforts to become a major player in the US give the US government, and anyone concerned about national security, the willies. And now, these concerns dissolved another deal, yet the root problem remains.
Sarko Spam, “Muslim by Appearance,” and Self-Destruction
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Sarko Spam, “Muslim by Appearance,” and Self-Destruction
Gold Confiscation, Inflation, And Virtuous Central Bankers
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Gold Confiscation, Inflation, And Virtuous Central Bankers
When the world’s major central bankers get together, as they did at the Fed conference in Washington this weekend, ironies abound. Off to the side, Turkey had just floated a plan to get its people to turn in their physical gold in exchange for “certificates,” a first if still voluntary step in what may become a process of gold confiscation. In the background: the Fed, which had promised to keep interest rates at record lows through 2014, come hell or high water, after having purchased $2.3 trillion in bonds. In the foreground: the money printers of Japan and Europe.
Poverty, Violence, and Crime
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Poverty, Violence, and Crime
Tokyo, May 1996. At the immigration office in Otemachi, I’m asked to write my request in English on a piece of paper and submit it. After a wait, I’m directed to an office. A middle-aged white woman with puffy cheeks and a gray-blond perm thrones behind a desk.
“So, you want to stay in Japan longer,” she says with an icy British accent.
Liquid (and Delicious) Economic Indicators
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Liquid (and Delicious) Economic Indicators
With the European Union going into recession possibly, with the US growing, but not enough, with China booming, or crashing, and with Japan languishing, the worldwide economic picture is confusing, and debt crises have been swept under the rug by voluminous money-printing. But there is one economic indicator that is particularly … tasty and, if consumed in quantity, more vertigo-inducing than all the Eurozone bailout mechanisms: wine.
Now They Have Another Speculative Bubble in China: Art
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Now They Have Another Speculative Bubble in China: Art
We’ve seen photos of apartment buildings and neighborhoods, lavishly laid out with avenues and shopping centers where the only missing element was human life. And we raised our eyebrows at the revolts in front of real-estate offices when prices crashed. And we marveled at booming luxury car sales or the blistering stock market that blew up. Now they have another hot investment. And they pushed the US into second place, again.
The Nightmare of the European Auto Industry
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Nightmare of the European Auto Industry
Europe with its relatively affluent population of 500 million has turned into a nightmare for the auto industry. And the R-word—restructuring—unpalatable and almost illegal as it is in Europe, is being bandied about, this time by Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne, who, as President of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, spoke for all EU automakers. It was a dire warning and a cry for help.