European Council President Van Rompuy had a dream: the sanctions “should have a strong impact on Russia’s economy” but only “a moderate effect on EU economies.”
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on German Miracle Economy Trips, Good Weather Gets Blamed
After a decent first quarter, a lot of iffy data has cropped up in Q2. Today, industrial output added to the woes. The weather got blamed … the warm weather in Q1 that caused the drop-off now! I mean, come on!
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Putin Parties With German Ex-Chancellor, Sanctions Be Damned
Putin is a master at this game. Even as the sanction spiral is supposed to strangle his ambitions for the Ukraine, he set up a photo op of incomparable ingenuity. And his confidant, ex-Chancellor of Germany Gerhard Schröder stepped in it with gusto.
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Turns Out, Even The Price of Beer Is Rigged
Everything is rigged. Stock markets, forex, interest rates, gold, silver, oil…. After battling that rigged world all day, you finally get to take that first big gulp of beer to heal the wounds, knowing that it’s the one thing that hasn’t been rigged against you. Or so you’d think.
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Dollar Hegemony Under Attack By Export-Superpowers Germany and China
The word dollar didn’t even come up when the Bundesbank signed the agreement with the People’s Bank of China. President Xi Jinping and Chancellor Angela Merkel looked on. It was serious business. Everyone knew what this was about. No one had to say it.
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on German Exporters Fire Warning Shot About Russia “Sanction-Spiral,” Banks At Risk
It took a while. But it had to come, the public warning shot – after some ferocious lobbying behind closed doors. No one in Germany is allowed to get in the way of the sacrosanct exporters. The German economy, to the chagrin of neighboring countries, is based on them.
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Mind-Game Of “Fixing” Europe’s Big Zombie Banks
Danièle Nouy, chair of the ECB’s newfangled bank regulator that doesn’t exist yet, had a term for it: “do whatever has to be done” so that the banking sector “is seen as sound and safe and transparent.” Is seen as…. Smoke and mirrors.
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on German High Court Blows Up Euro, Says ‘Oh Wait,’ Abdicates
The ECB’s money-printing and bond-buying promise, lovingly dubbed Outright Monetary Transactions, became the bailing wire and duct tape that has kept the Eurozone together to this day. Turns out, it’s illegal under the EU treaties and unconstitutional in Germany.
