Europe

Christine Lagarde, The Most Powerful “Yes-Woman”

by Don Quijones •  • Comments Off on Christine Lagarde, The Most Powerful “Yes-Woman”

By Don Quijones: Christine Lagarde, former economy minister of France, now Managing Director of the IMF, by pledging her undivided allegiance to the dark interests of those she serves, has inflicted untold devastation on families and communities across the globe even as she’s tangled up in a sordid corruption affair in France.

The Mind-Game Of “Fixing” Europe’s Big Zombie Banks

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.

No Crisis? France’s Private Sector In Deeper Trouble Than In 2009

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on No Crisis? France’s Private Sector In Deeper Trouble Than In 2009

His US visit might give the French President the boost he sorely needs at home, because at home, things are getting mired down. The economy shriveled or had no growth in five of the last eight quarters. The dominant government sector is well, but businesses are failing in record numbers.

German High Court Blows Up Euro, Says ‘Oh Wait,’ Abdicates

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.

Giant Sucking Sound? Emerging-Markets Fiasco To Topple European Banks

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Giant Sucking Sound? Emerging-Markets Fiasco To Topple European Banks

It’s not like Europe is out of the woods, after years of recession, lurching from bank bailout to country bailout, and sweeping remaining fetid matters under the rug. But its banks are now sinking deeper into an even greater morass: the emerging-markets fiasco.

No Wonder German Workers Drag Down Retail Sales – And Much Of The Economy

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on No Wonder German Workers Drag Down Retail Sales – And Much Of The Economy

Not that 2013 was such a great year in Germany, economically speaking, with growth stalling at barely above the zero line. But it was a superb year for extracting taxes from hard-working people. And it shoved Germany deeper into two decades of retail quagmire.

Black Money In France “At The Center Of Life For Politicians”

by Contributor •  • Comments Off on Black Money In France “At The Center Of Life For Politicians”

Someone in the French government deleted 3,300 French names from a purloined list of accounts at HSBC Switzerland. Their revelation would have left the despised French “political class” red-faced and in deep trouble.

How the BBC Over-Egged UK Retail Sales … And The World Soaked Up Every Word

by Contributor •  • Comments Off on How the BBC Over-Egged UK Retail Sales … And The World Soaked Up Every Word

By John Ward, The Slog: The BCC misread and misreported UK’s so-so December retail sales as “the fastest annual sales growth in more than nine years.” It was picked up by Bloomberg, CNBC, Reuters…. everywhere. Actual retail recovery? Not so much.

Impunity and Excess, Desperation and Violence: Two Worlds Collide in Spain

by Don Quijones •  • Comments Off on Impunity and Excess, Desperation and Violence: Two Worlds Collide in Spain

By Don Quijones: Normally these two worlds co-exist relatively peaceably, barely cognizant of the other’s existence. Every now and then, their paths may intersect, only to quickly decouple. But this week they suffered a head-on clash.