Saturday, February 25, 2012

Sunday posting - "the German fist"

European leaders will discuss whether to weld the funds together at a summit in Brussels this week. But, Germany has so far refused to say whether it would support such a move.... Germany also raised doubts that finance ministers would come up with a deal on IMF funding this weekend. “I expect no decision at the G20 summit on boosting the IMF’s resources,” said Jens Weidmann, head of Germany’s central bank. ...Other major contributors to the IMF are insisting that Europe must combine its two existing bail-out funds as a pre-condition of any extra money from the IMF. The European Financial Stability Facility, which is worth about €250bn, will be joined this summer by the €500bn European Stability Mechanism. “We have to take a hard look at the firewall,” said Angel Gurria, head of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. “The bigger, the thicker, the deeper and the taller it is, the more credible it will be and the less likely it will have to be used.” Becoming the first member of Germany’s cabinet to openly call for a Greek exit, Hans-Peter Friedrich told Der Spiegel magazine that Greece’s chances of restoring its financial health would be greater outside the euro. “I’m not saying that Greece should be thrown out but rather to create incentives that it can’t say ‘no’ to,” he added.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

We always have to keep in mind that die EU is first of all a peace project and a very successful one. Moreover solidarity should not be mixed up with giving blank cheques. The EU consists of countries with different traditions and mentalities and with different living standards. The only way to be solidary with Greece is to help it to change its structures, not giving them money. The policy of giving money without monitoring failed in the last three decades. Of course, no one should force Greece to reforms. If the people want to continue their way of life they should do so but without additional money. In the loud mouning and whining of the protesting Greeks we forget for example Bulgaria. The minimum wage is there 110 EUR per month. Solidarity would be to give both countries a minimum wage of 200 EUR.

joke said...

..when an unelected EU Kommissar (Rehn, who earns 240.000 Euros a year) tells working Greeks to lower their minimum wage to 640,- Euros a month....something has gone very wrong with Europe i.e. the EU.

When another unelected EU Kommissar (Andor, who earns 240.000 Euros a year) tells us to work longer so he can retire at 62....perhaps it's time to ask ourselves if we really want this new feudal Europe.

Anonymous said...

Europa kann nur gedeihen, wenn jedes Mitgliedsland seine Pflichten der Gemeinschaft gegenüber erfüllt. Jedes Land darf nur das verbrauchen, was es selbst erwirtschaftet. Löhne und Renten können nur im Rahmen des eigenen Produktivitätsfortschrittes steigen. Kein Land hat Anspruch darauf, dass sein Wohlstand von anderen Völkern erarbeitet wird. Kein Land darf für die Schulden des anderen haftbar gemacht werden. Selbst in den USA gibt es für die einzelnen Bundesstaaten keinen Rettungsschirm. Wenn Kalifornien das Geld ausgeht, dann muss es halt seine Insolvenz erklären. Warum soll es in der Eurozone, die noch nicht mal ein Gemeinschaftsstaat ist, anders sein. Nicht jammern, sondern anpacken.

due ccc... said...

È mia ferma convinzione che si debba tassare il reddito da finanza sempre di più del reddito da lavoro. Solo così si può riportare il flusso economico nell'impresa e non nel 'guadagno facile virtuale'. Utopia? No! Realmente fattibile? Sì, ma solo con politici e statisti illuminati. Il controvalore sarà lo sviluppo e la dignità del lavoro e dei lavoratori. Altrimenti sarà l'oblìo delle società e la crisi globale non potrà mai trovare soluzione. C'è troppo 'debito virtuale' in circolazione.

It is my firm belief that we should tax the income from finance more and more of labor income. Only then can we restore the economy flow and not the 'easy virtual money'. Utopy? No! Really feasible? Yes, but only with enlightened politicians and statesmen. The value will be the development and the dignity of work and workers. Otherwise it will be the oblivion of society and the global crisis will never be solved. There is too much 'virtual debt' in circulation.

Anonymous said...

"Eurozone leaders have been
negotiating with the US, China and Japan to contribute more to the IMF to
build a “financial firewall” that would shield the likes of the Spanish and
Italian economies from any intensification of the region’s crisis this year."

It is ridiculous that the IMF should be required to solve a problem caused by the inherent incoherence of the Eurozone concept.
The Eurozone is a problem that cannot be fixed.
It is a black hole for aid money.
Any money that the IMF throws at the problem will be wasted.
The IMF should not be headed by a French woman but by someone with no national axe to grind