Wolf Richter

‘Let the Euro Die,’ Said the Woman Who Could Be the Next French President

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Marine Le Pen, president of the Front National and one of the top contenders in the 2012 presidential election, said the unspeakable. And the media printed it. And now word is out.

Knife Drawn, the Bundesbank Attacks the ECB, and German Industrialists Tremble

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The Bundesbank lashes out at the ECB for its decision to print money and buy crappy bonds of eurozone countries that lived high on the hog for years but are crumbling under a pile of debt. This puts it on collision course with the German industrialists that got rich off those countries. Angela Merkel is caught in between.

Swiss Franc Wreaks Havoc In Switzerland

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The run-up of the Swiss franc entailed a stock-market crash, gigantic hits to wealth invested overseas, and big losses in Swiss pension funds. Companies are reeling. Layoffs and a recession are next. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) flooded the market with francs, intervened in the currency markets, and forced real interest rates into negative territory. Without much success.

Oops, Inventory Correction

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We really don’t need this. First it was rumors, now it has been announced in an earnings call. Two harmless sounding words: inventory correction. In a healthy economy, it causes a run-of-the-mill business cycle recession. In our economy, it can get ugly. Watch out, second half.

Fed’s Policies Slam Us Again

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July inflation is red hot, real wages are down, and real yields are more negative than ever, exactly what the Fed wants. The destruction of the American middle class continues.How these policies will pull us out of our economic debacle is mathematically unclear.

NY Fed: Execs Are Drinking Their Own Kool-Aid

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The New York Fed proves it (unwittingly): Executives are optimists who invariably, and falsely, assume the future is better than current conditions, though realty is staring them in the face.

Chain Restaurants Are Conquering France

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And so is obesity. Good food and leisurely meals bien arrosé are considered the glue that keeps families, and French society, together. And yet, chain restaurants have elbowed their way in and now control 20% of the total restaurant market.

Importing Fiasco

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$373.6 billion got vacuumed out of the USA in just six months. And was replaced by debt.

Tsunami Broke off Giant Icebergs in Antarctica

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The horrific tsunami from the earthquake off the coast of Japan made it all the way across the Pacific to the Antarctica and caused the calving of huge icebergs. The event was captured by satellite images. And refreshingly, for once, no one tried to force-link it to global warming.

Germany, Model Economy Du Jour

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All Tax And No Play. But they still can’t balance their budget or bail out Italy.
While we’re having all the fun.