The mood in France is dark and has turned away from politics, he said. People always expressed hatred for certain politicians; now they express hatred for the system. Comments are more violent. People are looking for a strong voice that can pull them out. “When the Fourth Republic collapsed, we had de Gaulle. What if the wrong person comes along now?”
Europe
The French Government Spirals Elegantly Into Self-Destruction
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The French Government Spirals Elegantly Into Self-Destruction
France might not even notice if the Eurozone fell apart—that’s how tangled up it is in the Jérôme Cahuzac fiasco that blew up with phenomenal effect. Former Presidents Chirac and Sarkozy were dogged by investigations and trials that laid bare misdeeds they personally had been involved in. By contrast, the Cahuzac fiasco doesn’t implicate President François Hollande. Not yet. But it’s tearing up his government.
A Line Of Demarcation Through The Eurozone Is Taking Shape
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on A Line Of Demarcation Through The Eurozone Is Taking Shape
Everyone learned a lesson from the “bail-in” of Cypriot banks: Russians who’d laundered their money there; bondholders who’d thought they’d always get bailed out; Cypriot politicians whose names showed up on lists of loans that had been forgiven; even Finance Minister Sarris. His lesson: when a cesspool of corruption blows up, no one is safe. And German politicians learned a lesson too: that it worked!
Wall-Street Craziness Is Back
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Wall-Street Craziness Is Back
The craziness on Wall Street, the reckless for-the-moment-only behavior that led to the Financial Crisis, is back. This time it’s Citigroup that is once again concocting “synthetic” securities, like those that had wreaked havoc five years ago. And once again, it’s using them to shuffle off risks through the filters of Wall Street to people who might never know.
The Stunning Differences in European Costs of Labor: Or Why “Competitiveness” Is A Beggar-Thy-Neighbor Strategy
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Stunning Differences in European Costs of Labor: Or Why “Competitiveness” Is A Beggar-Thy-Neighbor Strategy
The ominous term “competiveness” is bandied about as the real issue, the one causing Eurozone countries to sink deeper into their fiasco. To address it, “structural reforms,” or austerity, have been invoked regardless of how much blood might stain the streets. And a core element of these structural reforms is bringing down the cost of labor.
Cyprus And The Eurozone Bank Bailout Hypocrisy
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Cyprus And The Eurozone Bank Bailout Hypocrisy
Cyprus didn’t prick the Eurozone bailout bubble, the notion that bank investors who took enormous risks to gain financial rewards would always be made whole by taxpayers. That bubble had already been pricked in February. But it was the first time that the international bailout cabal, the Troika, stuck its needle into it—while Germany quietly bailed out all investors in one of its own rotten banks.
Cyprus Crisis: A Triumph For Russian Isolationists
by Contributor • • Comments Off on Cyprus Crisis: A Triumph For Russian Isolationists
Contributed by Valentin Mândrăşescu, Editor of Reality Check @ The Voice of Russia. The mainstream media usually presents a very unbalanced view on the events in which Russian interests are involved. The “Cypriot bailout” is no exception. These messages are wrong, and they miss the most interesting part of the story. I can tell that in Moscow there are many people who are jubilating right now. Their wildest dreams have come true.
A CEO Explains Why He Sold A German Soul To the Chinese
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on A CEO Explains Why He Sold A German Soul To the Chinese
Putzmeister was a paragon of the German Mittelstand—family-owned firms with innovative technologies and high-quality manufacturing that dominate their niches worldwide. But in 2012, it was acquired by a Chinese giant. Now its German CEO reveals just how impossible integration is and how dire not only Europe but the world look to him, particularly China.
Will the Real Clowns Please Stand Up?
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Will the Real Clowns Please Stand Up?
Contributed by Don Quijones: Italy has Beppe Grillo. But with European governments reeling from self-inflicted crises, and the euro debacle descending into a tragi-comic farce, one wonders who the real clowns are – especially here in Spain, where ministers gorge themselves on the public purse, leaving behind a trail of evidence so obvious that even the mainstream media can’t ignore it.
Growth Industry In France: Hounding Companies For Back Taxes and Penalties
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Growth Industry In France: Hounding Companies For Back Taxes and Penalties
For corporate welfare queens that know how to leverage worldwide tax systems, France offers a free ride. But as the French government tries in a vain and desperate effort to make ends meet, it’s not only going after multinationals and their tax optimization schemes but also smaller companies that are gasping for air. Revenues from aggressive collections—“not far from blackmail,” an insider says—have jumped, one of the rare areas of growth in France.