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.
Europe
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.”
The Confiscation Conundrum in Europe
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Confiscation Conundrum in Europe
No one likes paying taxes. You’d think. And it’s not just income taxes but a slew of other taxes. In San Francisco, we already have an 8.5% sales tax—but propositions to increase the state portion are worming their way onto the November ballot. And if it passes, it’s our own @#%& fault. In Japan, efforts to raise the national consumption tax have led to a groundswell of opposition and a nasty political fight. But what the heck happened in Europe?
Ganging Up On Germany at the G-8
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Ganging Up On Germany at the G-8
They’d wanted to “blockupy” Frankfurt, Germany’s money capital, for four days with concerts, marches, and speeches to protest against the power of banks and austerity policies. But the city issued a blanket prohibition—highly controversial in a democratic nation. And on Saturday, when demonstrations were allowed, they became the background to the G-8 meeting at Camp David: a three-pronged attack on reason—with President’s Obama’s reelection at stake.
Horrific Moments of Greece’s Year 2011, in Video
by Wolf Richter • • 2 Comments
Greece suffered in 2011. The economy tanked. Unemployment jumped. The government, up to the gills in debt and cut off from the capital markets, went begging, and in return had to implement painful economic reforms. With their livelihood threatened, people demonstrated, and strikes paralyzed Athens, and street battles were fought with batons, teargas, and Molotov cocktails—horrific absurdities captured in an awesome and shocking video.
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 Greek Extortion Racket In Its Final Spasm
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Greek Extortion Racket In Its Final Spasm
A sad incident got picked up by the German national media, made even sadder by the very fact that it got picked up: in the tourist town Monemvasia in Greece, some local guys accosted a 78-year old Dutchman who has lived there since the 1990s. They thought he was German. So he corrected them. “German or Dutch, it’s the same thing,” they told him and broke his jaw and nose. While the financial noose around Greece tightened.
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.