Maybe the Norwegian Nobel Committee ran out of candidates for this year’s Peace Prize and didn’t want to transfer the money to the Main Fund, as they’d done in the past. So they handed it to the European Union, which triggered an avalanche of snickering and mocking. Its government is engaged in a phenomenal power grab, and its Eurozone is mired in an extraordinarily screwed-up debt crisis with bloody protests in the streets. But peace is a new phenomenon in Europe.
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Gold, Molotov Cocktails, Rubber Bullets, And Teargas: A Rift In Greece
by Wolf Richter • • 2 Comments
A Greek economist’s terse sarcasm: “GDP has decreased by €47 billion in the last five years. Economy is expected to contract by 3.8% in 2013, the 6th straight year of recession! Unemployment has reached 24.7%. Youth unemployment… 55.4%! No worries though—we have the sun, the sea, our cultural background.” And GOLD.
Merkel Hides Behind The Troika Report, The Greeks Seethe, And The Drachma Advances
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Merkel Hides Behind The Troika Report, The Greeks Seethe, And The Drachma Advances
When an acquaintance of mine in Greece had dinner with one of his relatives, a ranking official at the Bank of Greece, the discussion inevitably came around to the Troika—the bailout and austerity gang from the EU, the ECB, and the IMF—and how Greece should send them packing. “Of course,” the central banker said, “it would help considerably if we actually had a functioning government these past 182 years.”
Punishment Of The Spanish Political Class By The People
by Wolf Richter • • 4 Comments
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has a singular problem: 84% of all voters have “little” or “no” confidence in him. The fate of Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, leader of the opposition Socialist party, is even worse: 90% of all voters distrust him! Those are the two top political figures of the two major political parties, and the utterly frustrated and disillusioned Spaniards are defenestrating them both.
The Noose Tightens On Germany’s “Success Recipe”
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Noose Tightens On Germany’s “Success Recipe”
Deceptive calm and optimism have settled on the German financial markets. But Germany, after hyperventilating for two years about its superior economic model, is worried about exports. And Chancellor Merkel about the elections next year. It would be a heck of a lot easier to hang on to power if Germany isn’t in a deep recession because exports dried up. And they are drying up. But suddenly, domestic demand is getting hit.
The Incredibly Ballooning Bailout Of Cyprus
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Incredibly Ballooning Bailout Of Cyprus
Cypriot President Christofias dug in his heels. On Greek TV. Not behind closed doors with the Troika, the austerity gang from the European Commission, the IMF, and the ECB that have performed such miracles in Greece. But as Cyprus veers toward bankruptcy, his game of playing the Russians against the Troika has fallen apart, banks are in worse condition than imagined, and the bailout amounts jumped again.
Worse Than The Infamous Lehman September: France’s Private Sector Gets Kicked Off A Cliff
by Wolf Richter • • 3 Comments
The Paris auto show should have been exciting. Over 100 new models from econo-boxes to exotic prototypes. Chicks next to some of them. Nausea-inducing colors, downsized motors. Something for everyone. But it had been preceded by supplier events loaded with the dire verbiage of an industry on a death march. Particularly in France, whose private sector is veering into economic fiasco. And on Monday, it became official.
Greece, Tell Brussels “To Take A Hike” And Let The Troika Bail Out The ECB Instead
by Wolf Richter • • 3 Comments
Awful as Greece’s GDP has been, it doesn’t do justice to the economic fiasco. Take new vehicle registrations: in August, they plunged 46.7% from prior year. Only 3,886 new vehicles were sold. A collapse of 80% from August 2008 at the cusp of the crisis. For the first eight months of 2012, sales were down 42% from prior year, and 65% from 2008. People have stopped buying new cars. And not just cars.
The Eurozone Con Game Just Keeps Cracking
by Contributor • • 3 Comments
“European leaders have not been able to meet their responsibilities,” French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said about Germany and some other countries that are reluctant to pile more taxpayer money on Greece, whose economy is grinding to a halt, and whose government can no longer fulfill its promises. Yet, the very “responsibilities” of these “European leaders,” many of them unelected bureaucrats, have turned into a can of worms.
Catalonia Cries for Independence, Spain Might Break Apart, And Its Military Threatens To “Crush” The “Vultures”
by Wolf Richter • • 9 Comments
Spain has enough problems: a debt crisis, a hangover from a housing bubble, unemployment of over 25%, youth unemployment of over 50%, massive demonstrations against “structural reforms” that the government is trying to implement in its desperate effort to keep its chin above water…. And now it has a new one: the possible breakup of the country. The military has already chosen sides.