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Huan Yi
Member Ascendant
since 2004-10-12
Posts 6688
Waukegan

0 posted 2012-05-07 07:03 PM


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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/07/opinion/krugman-those-revolting-europeans.h   tml?_r=2&ref=opinion


“One answer — an answer that makes more sense than almost anyone in Europe is willing to admit — would be to break up the euro, Europe’s common currency. Europe wouldn’t be in this fix if Greece still had its drachma, Spain its peseta, Ireland its punt, and so on, because Greece and Spain would have what they now lack: a quick way to restore cost-competitiveness and boost exports, namely devaluation.”

Which allows you to pay off your debt if it’s in your country’s denomination with money not
worth the paper it’s written on, (Kissinger alluded to this comfort regarding US debt).

“As a counterpoint to Ireland’s sad story, consider the case of Iceland, which was ground zero for the financial crisis but was able to respond by devaluing its currency, the krona (and also had the courage to let its banks fail and default on their debts). Sure enough, Iceland is experiencing the recovery Ireland was supposed to have, but hasn’t.”

The courage?

“Talk to German opinion leaders about the euro crisis, and they like to point out that their own economy was in the doldrums in the early years of the last decade but managed to recover. What they don’t like to acknowledge is that this recovery was driven by the emergence of a huge German trade surplus vis-à-vis other European countries — in particular, vis-à-vis the nations now in crisis — which were booming, and experiencing above-normal inflation, thanks to low interest rates.”

The implication being Germany owes the money back . . .

“So Germany’s experience isn’t, as the Germans imagine, an argument for unilateral austerity in Southern Europe; it’s an argument for much more expansionary policies elsewhere, and in particular for the European Central Bank to drop its obsession with inflation and focus on growth.”

“obsession with inflation” as in memory  of the Weimar Republic.


The solution to me seems eventually to
revolve around guilting the Germans . . .
I wonder how well that works in China.


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© Copyright 2012 John Pawlik - All Rights Reserved
Huan Yi
Member Ascendant
since 2004-10-12
Posts 6688
Waukegan
1 posted 2012-06-11 06:49 PM


.
A month later it’s still about convincing
cajoling or guilting Germany . . .


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Huan Yi
Member Ascendant
since 2004-10-12
Posts 6688
Waukegan
2 posted 2012-06-13 11:52 AM


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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/13/opinion/germany-cant-fix-the-euro-crisis.html?_r=2&ref=opinion
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505
Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA
3 posted 2012-06-13 10:12 PM


Just stopping by so you won't feel ignored, John
Grinch
Member Elite
since 2005-12-31
Posts 2929
Whoville
4 posted 2012-06-14 02:37 PM



Where is eveyone?

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Huan Yi
Member Ascendant
since 2004-10-12
Posts 6688
Waukegan
5 posted 2012-06-15 03:37 PM


.


I think the subject
may be diffcult . . .


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Huan Yi
Member Ascendant
since 2004-10-12
Posts 6688
Waukegan
6 posted 2012-06-15 08:51 PM


.


I take heart in the thought
that the EU is willing
to cast off Greece
and dwell their resources
on the countries that matter . . .


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Grinch
Member Elite
since 2005-12-31
Posts 2929
Whoville
7 posted 2012-06-17 05:25 AM



quote:
I think the subject
may be diffcult . . .

Which subject Huan?

So far all I see is a critique without evidence of an article by Krugman, a suggestion that Germany is being cajoled into doing some unspecified thing and a personal thought that the members of the Euro Zone ‘casting off’ Greece (whatever that means) is a good thing and gives you ‘heart’.

What sort of response are you looking for – beyond ‘I agree\disagree’?

BTW – I disagree.


Huan Yi
Member Ascendant
since 2004-10-12
Posts 6688
Waukegan
8 posted 2012-06-17 01:35 PM


.


“Greeks are being told that they have no democratic right to go on spending borrowed money - other people's money - shoring up a large and expensive public sector-heavy economy, even if that is what they choose at the ballot box.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18268089


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Denise
Moderator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-08-22
Posts 22648

9 posted 2012-06-23 07:11 PM


No one has the right to spend other people's money. That is why socialism always fails....you run out of other people's money. We can't afford to keep subsidizing them. I'm not sure Legarde gets that...or maybe she does. Maybe the plan is to completely annihilate our economy. Afterall, why shouldn't the U.S. be a third world banana republic too.
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