In theory, Germany’s Constitutional Court could throw a monkey-wrench into the efforts to keep the Eurozone duct-taped together; it could rule against the ECB’s money-printing and bond-buying mechanism, lovingly dubbed OMT, that would create a “brave new Huxley-world of the unlimited debt,” a world where “money is no longer earned but printed.”
Central Banks
Iron-Fisted Bank Of Japan Is Losing Its Grip
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Iron-Fisted Bank Of Japan Is Losing Its Grip
Stability in the Japanese government bond market is “extremely desirable,” said Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda in a sign of just how frazzled he was after the turmoil and craziness that his over-the-edge experimental monetary policy has unleashed. But as stability eludes him, he might resort to ever more desperate measures to just hang on.
‘ECB’s Desperation Is Taking On Epic Dimensions’
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on ‘ECB’s Desperation Is Taking On Epic Dimensions’
In my interview with Voice of Russia, I talk about the ECB’s fears for its own existence. I use Spain, which is stuck in an existential crisis, as an example of the greatest “achievement” of central banks: the separation of economic reality from stock markets. And I get a chance to lambaste the French finance minister who is once again barking up the wrong tree.
Japan’s Vacant Houses: Visions of Detroit
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Japan’s Vacant Houses: Visions of Detroit
Unlike Detroit, which will run out of cash next month, Japan prints its own money, so bankruptcy in the Detroit sense is not in the cards. But they do have two things in common: depopulation and a ballooning stock of abandoned houses. For Japan, it’s an issue that even the most prodigious money-printing binge cannot resolve.
Abenomics Tries To Make Sure Japan Is Going Down Swinging
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Abenomics Tries To Make Sure Japan Is Going Down Swinging
Anecdotal evidence has been piling up. Lamborghini sales hit the highest level in 14 years. Ferrari sales jumped 40%. Luxury retailers forecast fat profits. They ascribed it to Abenomics. “The sudden improvement in the stock market led to a big rise in sales at our department stores for luxury brands,” one of them said. But there is a price to pay.
The Gloriously Ballooning Bailout Bedlam Of Cyprus
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Gloriously Ballooning Bailout Bedlam Of Cyprus
The average Cypriot household had a phenomenal net worth of €670,900 in 2010 – over three times that of German households. That wealth had been sucked out of the cesspool of corruption that the banks and the government were, until neither had a drop of lifeblood left. Now the party is over. And you can almost hear the snickering among European politicians.
“During The Last Crisis, We Had China,” Now We Have No One
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on “During The Last Crisis, We Had China,” Now We Have No One
There could not possibly be any clouds on the horizon with the Dow and the S&P 500 setting all-time highs, while the German DAX is marching relentlessly towards 8,000 and the Japanese Nikkei is soaring. But just then, a deeply connected representative of the world’s real economy spoils the rosy scenario.
Total Fiasco: Germans are the Poorest, Cypriots the Second Richest in The Eurozone
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Total Fiasco: Germans are the Poorest, Cypriots the Second Richest in The Eurozone
In March, the ECB-organized Eurozone-wide household-wealth survey results trickled out. But when the Bundesbank refused to publish the German data, insiders leaked the reason: too explosive for the bailout era because Italian households were far wealthier than German households. Shocking! And a red herring. The truth turned out to be far more shocking.