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Washington Post: Europe Is Stuck In a “Greater Depression”
The Washington Post’s Wonkblog reports:
Europe hasn’t recovered, because it hasn’t let itself. Too much fiscal austerity and too little monetary stimulus have, instead, put it more than halfway to a lost decade that’s already worse than the 1930s.
It’s a greater depression.
And as the latest GDP numbers show, it’s not getting any less so. Indeed, the eurozone as a whole didn’t grow at all in the second quarter. Neither did France, whose economy has actually been flat for a year now. Germany’s economy fell 0.2 percent from the previous quarter—and that after revisions revealed it had quietly gone through a double-dip recession in early 2013. Though that’s still much better than Italy: Its GDP also fell 0.2 percent, but its triple-dip recession has now wiped out all growth since 2000. The closest thing approximating good news was that Spain’s dead-cat bounce recovery continued with 0.6 percent growth. But it still has 24.5 percent unemployment.
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But it’s a little misleading to just call this a depression. It’s worse than that. Europe is turning Japanese. The combination of zombie banks, a rapidly aging population and, most importantly, too-tight money have pushed it into a “lowflationary” trap that makes it hard to grow, and is even harder to escape from.
We agree with the diagnosis, but not the cure …
Diagnosis-wise, we noted last year that the British economy is worse than during the Great Depression.
But the “austerity” versus “stimulus” debate is a false dichotomy. If a patient is bleeding out, doctors have to suture the wounds before they decide whether to give more blood or to taper off the amount of transfusions.
But Europe has never treated the wounds … As we noted in 2011, failing to prosecute financial fraud – on either side of the Atlantic – is extending the economic crisis.
In 2012, we pointed out that European (and American) governments were encouraging bank manipulation and fraud to cover up insolvency … trying to put lipstick on a pig.
Indeed:
- Fraud was one of the main causes of the Great Depression, but nothing has been done to rein in fraud today. Iceland is the only European country that did it right
- Quantitative easing hurts the economy. Even the Bank of England and the creators of QE admit that it is "pushing on a string". But the UK did tons of QE instead of actually fixing the economy
- An economics professor says we’ll have “a never-ending depression unless we repudiate the debt, which never should have been extended in the first place”
- Europe's sanctions against Russia are backfiring, wounding Europe's already-struggling economy more than Russia's
- Authoritarian actions by the government interfere with the free market, and thus harm prosperity. Personal freedom and liberty – and freedom from the arbitrary exercise of government power – are strongly correlated with a healthy economy. A strong rule of law is the main determinant of GDP growth. Trust is essential for a healthy economy. But the EU has usurped the sovereign power of European countries ... and many commentators believe that Europeans are losing freedom, liberty and the rule of law
Heck of a job, guys ...
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I am 38 and live in Britain.
We appear to have no leadership whatsoever here, no governance. You can now actually sense the presence of that "governing absence" in the air. We are teetering on the brink of something horrendous; everyone can feel it, but there is no response from government at all.
There appears to be no control over our borders, even though we are mostly surrounded by water. Ordinary wages have sunk like a stone. Most work in my region is part-time, poorly paid. We have men in their 40s with science PhDs working two part-time jobs to pay for their families. Housing costs, both purchase and rental, have quadrupled (and more) in the last ten years, and there are no signs they will reduce -- a starter home is pratically out of reach of many young couples in most areas of the country.
Taxation is a joke: my annual council tax bill alone (a local tax; we also pay another two direct taxes NI and Income tax, and an array of indirect taxes) is the equivalent of two-thirds of one month's take home pay, and, for that, we get our rubbish removed and some grass mown on common areas. Our benefits system pays for unemployed people, like my next door neighbour who has not worked since 1995, to sit at home and watch TV, and requests nothing back from them. Yes, the state pays for him and his family to live in a home that will cost me, by the time my mortgage is paid off, the equivalent of fifteen years of my gross annual pay.
At the same time, we have radical communities in our midst (and I mean, five miles or less down the road) where the young adults think it is perfectly reasonable to go to another country to decapitate and rape the locals, as though it is a real-life computer game, and post the images on twitter. They are so sure no-one will do anything about it that they are even publicly proselytising on British city streets for new recruits. We cannot deport foreign murderers. Our health-system cannot cope with the numbers anymore, and neither can our schools which, in some cases, have over 93 languages spoken in them. Around forty percent of newly trained teachers leave the profession within five years of qualifying.
A national supermarket chain estimates we have around 87 million people in the country, based on the sales of staple goods. Official figures are about 63 million; many people view this as somewhat of a joke. And we are smaller than Oregon in terms of square mileage.
Amidst all this, parts of our media appear to be sliding into a kind of insanity -- the BBC tried to interview a British ISIS jihadi about a tweet he posted on how much he liked Nutella, and we have recently had an article in a "serious" newspaper on whether a much-loved gardening programme is racist when it talks about "soil purity".
If I am honest, truly honest, I am frightened. I try to ignore it, but I am. And I am not even 40.
i live in south birmingham
i don't really recognise the britain you talk of
perhaps the regional variations are larger than i realised
ref the isis followers etc, muslims are 2.7% of the populace, let's say 1 in 100 muslims are potential isis types, i reckon we're talking about 0.027% of the population not even enough to half fill villa park
don't fancy their chances versus moderate muslims turning on them let alone the rest of the population
perspective is needed, uk isn't perfect but you could have been born in gaza
i do see the gap between haves and have nots growing in the uk just in my life time. but then to be fair most people do have a fair crack of becoming a have, one way or another
chin up!
I understand what you say, Englishman.
My question is, why do you continue to work? Your neighbor has shown you the way.
Don't run your mouth about 'honor' and 'pride.' Your gutless fear of what others think prevents you from pulling the plug, maybe?
The Demonic Systems only continue because you, and I, continue to pull the wagons.
Who are the real morons? Those that float about the system or those who KNOW how rotten it is yet continue to serve it?
I lose my job and l'll be on relief so fast heads will spin.
My job allows me to feed my Tavor, and prepare. And may God have mercy on any who come to take what I've scraped together, as they'll find none from me.
This is a Worldwide Bread and Circus Show. The ruling class have done reasonably well keeping the lid on since WW2. And due to the ability to manipulate finance, cheap easy energy and installing of political correctness, we now, has I see it, are reaching the end of a nice ponzi run.
Get ready bitchez. Cause nobody in history as shown the ability to kill off masses of parasite brown people, than pissed of white people. There will be no peacefull reset. The next round won't be voted into place. As I see it, Obozo is a place holder. I shining example to the world what happens when you put a turd colored turd in charge. Don't like that? Go fuck yourself.
I don't know in what hotspot this shitshow will start. But when it gets going, and all the world is like Iraq, watch out. When it gets to be game on, and there are roving bands settling scores, putting heads on pikes, with no consequence, you best hope your not on a list.
Working,responsible,decent people around the world are getting sick and tired of being robbed, and having the proceeds go to the FSA and the bankers.
Seems to me, we have a bad case of worldwide cancer. And now we need a worldwide dose of chemo and radiation. If we don't kill the body, while killing the cancer, the world may be a better and more sustainable place in 50-75 years. Or not. But a shitshow is a comin.
And I will share this. I'm in America. Where the 2nd Ammendment gives us, shall we say, certain privileges. And people I know, to a man, are just waiting for this to start. They are normal men, work everyday, and have families. They want better for their children. They want the fruit of their labor. They are sick and tired of the "tollbooths" they have to constantly feed. And watch those tolls go to parasites. And now we have reached critical mass where the parasites outnumber the producers.
And anybody with two brain cells rubbing together knows how this has to go.
So did he like the Nutella or not?
It is difficult to know how to prepare in England. If they let the Scots vote yes then might be worth moving north of the border.
The benefits system is not only bonkers it's also bad for the people who live on it. The only ones who are actually decent people who maintain their own self respect are those that are screwing the system, working full time, dealing drugs and on benefits. My brother runs an Inn and employs a few like this, cheaper for him as he can't afford to pay minimum wages and all the employment taxes, which ironically are there to pay for their benefits.
The biggest problem isn't the benwfits classes though, it's the fact that at every level of soceity theft and screwing the system has become acceptable. Bankers, politicians and most big business. Club Orlov notes that the collapse of common values is one stage on the downward spiral, and this is as obvious in the UK as in the USSA
As for the media, the phone hacking thing was mostly a farce of the ruling classes killing investigative reporting, the free press is now a thing of the past as it was too dangerious. The BBC is under attack meaning we have nothing left in the MSM but propganda. Of course it has always been thus, as evidenced by Orwell's preface to Animal Farm, but I think it is worse now.
I also know something is coming and am scared for my family, but am lost for ideas of how to prepare on this crowded little island. Then again, we have reached the point where we need a re-set and maybe we will end up witha better soceity after the collapse?
The Moozlems have taking over the UK. As well as much of Europe. And as here in America, your leaders are like you said, aholes and too spineless to confront the truth. Instead they tell the common folk to accept the future as being under the rule of Islam.
Read Atlas Shrugged - there may be some hope yet .... If not the human producers , the drivers of wealth and value creation on the planet will eventually throw the towell in , which means everybody will be proper fucked once there is nobody left to supply the growing Free Shit Army who want everything for nothing. In fact , fuck it - you will be much better off dumping the job and joining the bastards ,
Do you have a link in regards to a supermarket chain estimating 87 million people? I couldn't find anything in regards to that.
I read the article he was referencing, believe it was a Supermarket industry magazine that cited the numbers. Cited the article myself once as I was asking for the same number in America? How many people do the supermarkets say we have? You gotta eat, even if you are here illegally.
No worry, Quiet. Your peace-loving, friendly muscum neighbors will soon be knocking at your door to rescue you from all your confusion and dismay.
The future is very simple. Convert to muscumery or die on your own doorstep. Your courts and politicians have disarmed you and made it easy for you to decide.
Ovomit and the Demoncraps are having a little more trouble disarming us Americans, thanks to the foresight of our founders, including the 2nd amendment to our Constitution, which reports of its demise is premature, we'll soon be right there to bail you out and dislodge the muscum infestation from their insatiable beheading and slaughtering of men, women, and children.....after our next bloody revolution against the evil, ZOG-infested U.S. Government/international bankster cabal.
After we bail you out next time, I sincerely hope you folks have the good sense to hoard enough rope to properly dispose of your progressive/Liberal judges, politicians, banksters, and local murdering, psychopathic imams on the many lamp posts available there in Britain.
Have a nice day.
+1... to all your points made...
QuietCorday;
I think you are Identifying "Trans-National Government or Trans-National Government Officials & Diplomats"
Trends:
A) Presidents that Lie about war & Suppress Individual Rights & Constitutions... and otherwise abandon Geneva Conventions that made us GREAT and Stated that as a People we abhorred Aggressive War
B) Personally now I am Questioning if US Federal Government had a Coup in 1947 or before this... in favor of acting like an Empire
C) Reasons for House of Lords, House of Commons, or US Congress to Lie has always been clear, It is the Influence of Money, Power, Status, Legacy
D) Royal Families were never fully Denounced, Haciendas were never Reformed with Land Reforms... and Today we live with Government Service Families who are rich & believe they are Royalty... while we create a new threat... the Tech Dynasties or the Newly Rich who join Government Personalities knowingly or unknowingly to advance Fascist Agendas
But I don't stop there.
Knowledge is power, and all European Families seem to know this and work to keep education from commoners. Petroleum, Bitumen, and Gas products have lead to a new age starting in like 19th Century. But what if this is based on Sumerian Technology that was known to Germans, Jews, the Vatican, the French, the Dutch, and the British Empire?
We see Royal Families in Europe that have done well... same as the above but add the Luxemburg, Lichtenstein, Belgium, and Switzerland. Norway & Sweden discovered oil later I guess.
Knowledge creates classes. The french & English explored Egypt & ancient Iraq and discovered the knowledge of the Sumerians in use for Alcohol in medicine and the value of bitumens.
A) German Drive for ancient knowledge and a pipe line from Iraq considered major in WWII
B) UK Colonized Middle East and confiscated all ancient artifacts
C) Africa was old mining resource that attracted Germany, France, British Empire, and Dutch.
D) "Naphta" is the most commonly used word for petroleum product and is linguistically derived from Sumeria
E) Sumeria is situated on Iraq
F) Sumeria was an agricultural, animal husbandry & metallurgy based society that also had the most words for Petro, Oil, Gas, Alcohol, and Bitumen
- Trans-National Government Officials could give a crap about your economic well being...
- you are just labor, military fodder, or a source of energy
- Profits & Wealth mean more to these Sociopaths.
- US & UK States of Serfdom & Indentured Servitude.
@ Lordflin.
Being of the same age i understand your comment and sentiments. Never in the same time have i seen such destruction imposed by governments, and other entities of power, upon their own country and people.
Good that you have a" ringside seat", pressumably not so immediatley effected , and i wish you well with your bee keeping. Thank you for your part in the preservation and not destruction of the nature of which we are all a part and upon which we are all dependant (bees specific for the pollination )
I am not so lucky to have a ringside seat and wish i could find an exit . . . for my own survival, to benefit that of others too, and for the sake of sanity, before it's too late.
The "leaders" you see are not the real leaders. They are puppets. As far as Europe, the corrupt and criminal EU has been destroying Europe just like the corrupt US Senate is working to destroy America. they are all puppets for the real leaders.
Europe's corrupt EU police state laws and fraud to drive all money to Brussels and their stupidity in picking a fight with Russia over the coup & criminal junta in Kiev-Ukriane will drive Europe down even more.
European countries are sequentially slowing down, same is seen in electric consumption in china, australia, Japan and the USA now for the past two quarters
the simultaneous deflation in the price of goods with little discretionary spending due to lower wages and lower employment is producing an intended self feeding system
Obama and the rest are all front men - with a few exceptions like Putin a nationalist - the powers that be want consolidation of control and massive reduction in the worlds population - which happened in the 13th century (40% reduction) and raised wages and prices and eventually assets for the next 150 years
this is a long term movie - not for 5 or 10 years but at least 50 years to make the change -
they must want at least 50% reduction in population the dislocation of billions - will be massive as will the chaos
Just a few words Trilateral commission ,CFR Bilderburg, Queen,Soros, and Obama,
These are worst things and groups of maggots this world could have ever imagined and whats happening in Missouri and Im sure in the EU,which we never see is just th tip of the iceberg. Roll citizens of the world but loot business that are just trying to stay alive senseless. Hit them where it hurts nobody pay their taxes
Only sometimes?
If I plug back in, I want to be rich. And someone important. Like an actor.
All Russia needs to do is stop all supplies to the EU and KABOOM! off the cliff! Russians are hardy-they will survive
Yep, the Russians survived the oys of the USSR this is merely a blip.
Meanwhile, as a result of dodgy data, everything in The US is fine. If it hadn't been for that weather. The second half will see a major turnaround.
PS. Yes, the second half but not saying which year......
Moar stock highs should fix all this....oh wait