The French government is saddled with enough problems; in theory, it no longer needs to create new ones. But now it wrote another excellent chapter in its tome on how to interfere with private-sector businesses, hamper entrepreneurs, and encourage them to start up their operations elsewhere instead of creating jobs in France.
Europe
Luxembourg Is Not The Next Cyprus, Not Yet, But….
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Luxembourg Is Not The Next Cyprus, Not Yet, But….
Luxembourg, with a population of just over half a million, smaller even than the other speck in the Eurozone, Cyprus, ranks in the top three worldwide in per-capita GDP. In a Eurozone wealth survey, it had the highest average household wealth. Only Cyprus, a former off-shore banking center in the Eurozone, came close. Yet Luxembourg is threatened with ruin.
The Spanish Unemployment Powder Keg
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Spanish Unemployment Powder Keg
Austerity succeeded in trimming the bloated government sector. But instead of picking up the slack, the private sector destroyed jobs almost four times faster! The hope is that this fiasco will finally reverse course, that something will click and start a virtuous cycle before the unspeakable happens. But so far, it has relentlessly gotten worse.
Italy’s Corrupt Political Machinery Lurches Forward
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Italy’s Corrupt Political Machinery Lurches Forward
“Those wanting to prevent change are willing to do anything,” firebrand Beppe Grillo griped. “They are desperate. Four people, Napolitano, Bersani, Berlusconi, and Monti, met in a living room and decided….” They’d ganged up on him and restarted the corrupt political machinery he’d brought to a stop. The one that is strangling Italy’s economic core.
Germany’s Trial Balloon Of A “Plan B”
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Germany’s Trial Balloon Of A “Plan B”
Those close to the epicenter of power, those near Chancellor Merkel, have to toe the line on the euro – it’s far more than just a currency, it’s a sacred concept worth saving no matter what the costs. While the possibility of a small country’s exit from the euro has been accepted, the euro itself has been inviolable in those circles. Until now. An insider offered a “Plan B”; and the euro’s life is limited to five years!
Lies, Damned Lies and the IMF’s Role as Bankster Enforcer
by Don Quijones • • Comments Off on Lies, Damned Lies and the IMF’s Role as Bankster Enforcer
“But The Rising Star Is The USA”
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on “But The Rising Star Is The USA”
Cyprus Today: A Personal Account
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Cyprus Today: A Personal Account
Quiet … EMPTY … If you want to make a deal opening a shop of some sort, you can pick and choose amongst prime locations. The time is now, if that is your inclination, and if you have the financial staying power, or a concept for selling things people can’t do without, something cheap! Every second shop, ah OK, maybe every third or fourth, is closing down.
The New “Nazis” of Spain
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The New “Nazis” of Spain
Secretary-General María Dolores de Cospedal, number two of the governing party in Spain, said that she knew she’d get criticized, “but this is pure Nazism.” The next day, she repeated it and added that going to someone’s house to “harass” him was “comparable to what occurred in the 30s in a European country.” A reference to Nazis marking the homes of Jews. But these “Nazis” are folks who are standing up to the banks and draconian mortgage laws that the government is hell-bent on protecting.
Europe’s Stark Choice: Resignation or Revolution
by Don Quijones • • Comments Off on Europe’s Stark Choice: Resignation or Revolution
Contributed by Don Quijones: Catalonia’s riot police unleashed the untamed fury of the state upon the protestors and cleared Barcelona’s Plaza Catalunya of all occupants. A dense ring of shell-shocked people gathered around the square. I was one of them. A child riding on his father’s shoulders held up a sign: “No soy anti sistema, el sistema es anti yo,” it said (I’m not anti-system; the system is anti-me).