On July 1, Cyprus, a tiny country on a divided island, will rotate into the Presidency of the Council of the mighty EU—one of those bitter European ironies because Cyprus will have to be bailed out, according to its Central Bank governor. Reality is now even staining the Teflon economy of Germany with a daily litany of suddenly awful data points. But a central banker pointed at an uplifting story of austerity and growth at the edge of Eurozone mayhem.
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Everything is Getting Gummed up in Greece
by Wolf Richter • • 8 Comments
Tourism, Greece’s second largest industry after the shipping industry, and already in a downdraft, is taking another hit as tour-bus drivers will go on strike; wage negotiations have deadlocked. Owners demand that drivers take a 50% cut in pay and benefits on top of the 20% cut they’ve already suffered! And Greece is the model for Spain and Italy.
Germany on the Verge: “Dispel This Fog,” begs Mario Draghi
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Germany on the Verge: “Dispel This Fog,” begs Mario Draghi
Not a day goes by when Germany isn’t under heavy fire from outside interests, including Barak Obama who is facing a tough reelection campaign; and the last thing he wants is any crap flying across the Atlantic and messing up his speeches. They all want Germany to agree to whatever it takes to bail out the Eurozone, beyond the hundreds of billions of euros it has already agreed to pick up. And now it has to decide, but timing couldn’t be worse.
Bracing for a Euro Crash and Creating A Housing Bubble: The Swiss Caught in a Vice
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Bracing for a Euro Crash and Creating A Housing Bubble: The Swiss Caught in a Vice
As developments in the Eurozone veered from bad to awful, with Greece on the brink and Spain getting closer, Switzerland, a speck with 7.9 million people surrounded by turmoil, is bracing itself, according to the President of the Swiss National Bank and long-time euro-skeptic Thomas Jordan, for the collapse of the euro. In the process, it’s creating a housing bubble with potentially horrendous consequences.
The President of the Bundesbank Lashes Out
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The President of the Bundesbank Lashes Out
Jens Weidmann, President of the German Bundesbank, ventured into a veritable lion’s den with an interview in Le Monde, largest liberal daily in France, supporter of President François Hollande and his “growth” policies. And there, he lashed out at Hollande, the ECB, Greece, at everything that smelled of a transfer union, at Paul Krugman even.
Germany Walks Away From Greece
by Contributor • • Comments Off on Germany Walks Away From Greece
Greece’s exit from the Eurozone has reached critical mass and is now a routine topic at all levels of government. While heads of state still hue to the line that Greece should stay, out of the other side of the mouth comes but—now that the focus is on Spain, the one problem the Eurozone can’t digest. And after Spain is Italy, which is beyond bailout. And now word is out in Germany that Greece is a “failed state.”
Rumors, Denials, and Visions of Chaos in the Eurozone
by Wolf Richter • • 2 Comments
While the G-8 leaders are schmoozing with President Obama during their slumber party at Camp David, and while the NATO summit, protests, and rallies are wreaking havoc on the streets in Chicago, Europe is re-descending into rumor hell—where good rumors, as we found out last summer and fall, are head fakes that cause huge rallies in the markets, and where bad rumors, though passionately denied by all sides, turn out to be true.
The Endgame: “Greeks feel hopeless”
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Endgame: “Greeks feel hopeless”
On Thursday, rumors that Greece would have a government goosed the stock markets in Europe. While everybody was out to lunch in Frankfurt, the DAX ran up 110 points. In Athens, the ATHEX, which appears to be on a multi-year trajectory toward zero, jumped 4.2%. But on Friday, when it became clear that the rumor was just a rumor, the index resumed its downward trajectory. And Greeks went to bed without a new government.
Germany and France Kiss, Make Up, and Flip-Flop
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Germany and France Kiss, Make Up, and Flip-Flop
Originally, François Hollande planned on visiting Germany on May 16, the day after becoming President of France, to meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel for some barbed-wire fence-mending. But now he pushed it up to May 15, the earliest second possible. At midnight, President Nicolas Sarkozy will hand him the keys to the Élysée Palace, while Merkel will be putting on lipstick for her dinner with him. And the flip-flopping has already started.
Collapse of the EU a “Realistic Scenario”
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Collapse of the EU a “Realistic Scenario”
“Over the past months, we experienced a worrisome trend toward re-nationalization and ‘summitization,’” said Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament. Government leaders were becoming “more arrogant” and were attempting “to create a fiscal union outside the control of parliament.” His complaints went to the heart of democracy at the European level. And so, he said, the collapse of the EU was a “realistic scenario.”