Ahem
Claire Berlinski, Ed. ·
Sep 26, 2011 at 4:23am
The Telegraph is proposing that the Geithner plan for Europe is the last chance to avoid "global catastrophe." France and I remain sanguine. According to the Bank of France's governor, "There is no plan, and we don't need one."
That's my attitude, exactly.
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Mar '11
Re: Ahem
Turbo-Tax Timmy has a plan? I never even suspected him of having a clue, let alone a plan.
The final line of the article pretty much says it all:
Sorry Deutschland. History has conspired against you, again. You must sign away €2 trillion, and debauch your central bank, and accept 5pc inflation, or be blamed for Götterdämmerung. It is not fair but that is what monetary union always meant. Didn't they tell you?
So, the Germans get hosed, and this time we promise to get a job and make something someone wants to buy.
Make 'em pinky-swear this time.
Apr '11
Re: Ahem
Desperate Times Lead to Desperate Lies; Europe Weighs the Weightless; Even Citigroup Sees the Lies
Are central bankers and politicians really as stupid as they sound or are they pathological liars who simply cannot help it?
Check out these preposterous lies by Bank of France Governor Christian Noyer as quoted by Bloomberg in Noyer Sees ‘Absolutely No Reason’ to Use Bank Backstop
Noyer Lies
All of those are blatantly preposterous. However, lie number 1 has to be one of the top lies of the year. "French banks have no toxic assets"?! For starters, what about Greek bonds about to take a 50% haircut or more in default?
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2011/09/desperate-times-lead-to-desperate-lies.html
Sep '10
Re: Ahem
The problem for the last 5 years has been too much debt. In 07 – 08 we were told by the bailout guru’s, which happened to be the same people who encouraged all the borrowing, that the solution to the debt was a massive government bailout and more debt. The people arguing against this idea said the problem may be delayed, but would not be solved by the bailout and that the resulting crisis would be worse. It is becoming increasingly clear that the bailout gurus were wrong. Since most of the debt is denominated in dollars expect the dollar to increase in value while everything else declines. This does not mean people think the US is in better financial shape. Longer term Treasuries will begin falling in price in a few months. It simply reflects that dollars are needed to pay of the dollar denominated debt. It is doubtful if governments have the power to delay the crisis much longer. Since most of the resulting carnage will be blamed on the winner of the 2012 election, this may be an election not worth winning.
Mar '11
Re: Ahem
As Mr Delingpole pointed out a few days ago, this was all predicted about 15 years ago in the UK, which is why they didn't go into the Euro.
Mr Geitner has introduced the Europeans to the word "trillions", and will no doubt show em how to make money appear from nowhere on their bank's computers.
Others are hoping the Chinese will bail em out.
A better solution might be to figure out how other countries than China and Germany can make stuff again, so we don't have to import everything from China and Germany.
Edited on Sep 26, 2011 at 8:22amOct '10
Re: Ahem
I don't understand. . .Europe clearly does need a plan. I think the history is quite clear, now: fixed exchange rate regimes are unsustainable without political/fiscal unions. This isn't a recent problem stemming from paper money, either; people forget that it's fairly easy to devalue metallic currency (debasement) by mixing in cheaper metals. Projects like the Euro always collapse.
The smallest, simplest solution would be a European Monetary Fund. Above that are simple insurance schemes, like a common unemployment insurance fund, with 19th-century American style limited federal government the next step up from that.
Apr '11
Re: Ahem
The EU Crisis & flow of funds flow chart - all reduced to one single diagram.
http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2011/09/The%20Flowchart.png