Post Tagged with: "Politics"
Eurozone default is not synonymous with breakup
Implicit in my post explaining that Germany is preparing for Greek bankruptcy is the view amongst European policy makers that default does not equal euro zone exit. I think I should reiterate this because a lot of people are acting like an imminent Greece exit from the euro zone is likely. This is not the case. Witness these remarks from the German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and her Economy Minister Philipp Roesler (FDP)
Germany is preparing for Greek bankruptcy
The mood in Germany is still about cutting Greece loose to save Italy and Spain
Janjuah thinks stocks aren’t cheap enough
Economic policy has become more important than ever in the investment world. And the degree of policy uncertainty only increases as bailout and deficit fatigue battle it out with liquidity uber alles and financial repression as the policy response of the day. Gold/Bonds has been a good play in that environment. Will it continue to be? Bob Janjuah says it will
High Noon Approaching for Greece?
The Greek tragedy in several acts would appear to be approaching a climactic moment. The warnings coming out of Berlin all week have been hard to ignore: “Greece either puts up or shoves off” would seem to be the blunt message being offered
Why a breakup of the euro zone is likely
The ruling by the German Constitutional Court does allow the EFSF to operate as planned. Most commentators have focused on this. However, the language of the decision means there can be no eurobonds and no “supra-national” fiscal agent because these are in violation of the German constitution
Mosler: The Speech that President Obama Should Make
Warren Mosler has three proposals specifically designed to get sales up to make sure business has a good paying job for anyone willing and able to work. He arguess that’s good for businesses and all the people who work for them and says these proposals are bipartisan. His view is that they are supported by Americans ranging from Tea Party supporters to the Progressive left, and everyone in between
UBS: Euro break-up – the consequences
The following is excerpted from today’s UBS research note by Stephane Deo, Paul Donovan and Larry Hatheway on the consequences of a euro break-up. The full note is embedded below
Achuthan: “It’s Too Late” for Obama on Jobs
ECRI’s underlying message is this: we are in a decade-long post-credit crisis struggle which will mean high unemployment even if policy makers focused on jobs, which they have not
Soros: Europe needs Eurobonds
This week’s Outside the Box is in the tradition of showing the other side of the argument. Normally, anything George Soros says or does politically has my blood pressure up about 20 points. Yet, I posted another piece of his today in Over My Shoulder – and then ran across this longer piece from Der Spiegel. Note this is from a dedicated Europhile wanting to save the euro. He succinctly outlines what must be done if it is to be saved, and does it as well as anyone. (I know that among my readers there are both likers and haters of Soros, but as an observer of markets he is to be respected. And this is an article in which his acumen is in evidence
The European Sovereign Debt Crisis is a solvency crisis
The point is EMU is a political construct and unworkable in its present state. The question is whether the Europeans want to take the political steps like Eurobonds or fiscal integration that are necessary to support a stable currency union
Grantham: European and American policy makers are clueless
In America everyone has been bellyaching about the S&P ratings downgrade like its an affront to the greatness of America. This is absolute rubbish. It’s pure denial and economic nationalism. Do you think the Germans would threaten to default on their bonds for purely political reasons? The Swiss? Even the Belgians aren’t threatening to default for no reason and they don’t print their own money. I say S&P should have downgraded the U.S. even more – maybe to Ba for Banana Republic!
Change We Can Believe In
We repeat: the “debt problem” is a currency problem and the currency must and will collapse. The global monetary system exists at the pleasure of the Fed, which legally exists at the pleasure of Congress, which as we have learned only has the political will to control the Fed at the pleasure of the Fed’s shareholder banks. It is the Fed and nothing else that determines the solvency of Treasury. Analogously, it is the Fed that ensures the ultimate solvency of the fractionally-reserved banking system – the system that shorts dollars via perceived “lending” today and covers those dollars once devalued as the Fed creates them tomorrow. Ultimately, Congress, the Fed and Wall Street will have to answer to the masses that buy milk and pay and staff its military.