A Lehman Brothers kerfuffle erupted, this time in Germany, in broad daylight. With a stunning amount: up to €800 million ($1.04 billion) in fees for the insolvency administrator. It blows away the German record of €70 million. Hedge funds are raising a ruckus, on the surface to shame the insolvency administrator into backing off. It worked. Almost. But suddenly, there are new allegations—against the hedge funds.
Europe – Germany
Putin and Merkel Tango in Moscow, Gazprom Stirs Up Old Ghosts, But Deals Are Signed
by Wolf Richter • • 2 Comments
Last week, the German Parliament passed a resolution that asked Chancellor Merkel to needle Russian President Putin about the resurgence of repressive, antidemocratic tendencies in Russia. It did not go unnoticed at the Kremlin. And it paved the way, so to speak, for her trip to Moscow on Friday—to re-cement their “strategic partnership.”
The Curse Of The “Irreversible” Euro
by Wolf Richter • • 4 Comments
Young educated Greeks face a wall of unemployment. With little chance of finding a job in their field, they’re competing for any kind of job. Wages have plummeted. The economy has shriveled by 19.4% since 2007. Promises that education would open doors to a better future have evaporated. And Germans march around, telling Greeks how to run their country. Because the euro has become a religious dictum.
Bundesbank Slaps Fed In The Face
by Wolf Richter • • 2 Comments
“Yellen and Cisco lift US stock futures,” the headline read enticingly in the morning. Priceless. Their pronouncements were driving up the markets. But by the time the markets closed, the manipulative power of Fed Vice Chairman Janet Yellen had dissipated; the DOW was down 1.45%. And across the Atlantic, the German Bundesbank issued a tough warning about the very policies Yellen was propagating.
Unintended Consequences Of Bailouts: Greece Gets Slammed
by Wolf Richter • • 6 Comments
Bailouts have become known for their so-called “unintended consequences”—however intended they might have been. And now, unintended consequences strike again. The ECB’s purchase of decomposing Greek debt—an under-the-radar bailout of banks and insurance companies—are making the favorite solution to the Greek crisis, namely another deep haircut, legally impossible, says Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann.
Germany’s Fear And Desperation Leak Out
by Wolf Richter • • 20 Comments
A hullabaloo erupted between France and Germany that both are trying to silence to death: it seeped out that the German Finance Minister broached an unprecedented topic with Germany’s Council of Economic Experts. Could they produce a reform concept for the troubled French economy? It revealed a threat that terrorizes the German government.
Merkel Has A Dream
by Wolf Richter • • 11 Comments
On Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel set foot in the European Parliament for the first time since 2007 and addressed the only democratically elected European institution—by design, an emasculated one. There, she laid out her plans to bring European nations together to where their budgets and other matters would become part of her “domestic policy.”
German Industrialist: Insolvency Procrastination And How To Confront The Coming Inflation
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on German Industrialist: Insolvency Procrastination And How To Confront The Coming Inflation
A blatant act of fear mongering: if Greece were allowed to exit the Eurozone, it could end up costing the world €17.2 trillion, the study said; it would be “incumbent upon the community of nations to prevent” that. The study was commissioned by the powerful Bertlesmann Foundation, propagating the doctrine that certain bondholders must always be bailed out to prop up confidence in the financial markets. “Insolvency procrastination” is how a quintessential German industrialist responded.
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.”
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.