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Merkel Snubs France As Europe's "AAA Club" Meets In Berlin Tomorrow ex-Sarko
A few days after Germany proposed the stripping of Greek fiscal authority from the insolvent country, in exchange for providing funding for what German FinMin Schauble called today a "bottomless pit" (and Brüderle chimed in saying that "a default of the Greek government would be bitter but manageable), Sarkozy decided to demonstrate his "muscle" if not so much stature, and openly denied Germany, saying "There can be no question of putting any country under tutelage." Sure enough, it was now Germany's turn to reciprocate the favor. According to Bloomberg, "Finance ministers from the four euro- area countries with AAA ratings -- Germany, Finland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands -- will meet in Berlin tomorrow afternoon, a German Finance Ministry spokesman said." And as is well known, FrAAnce no longer a member of this, however meaningless, club. "The gathering is part of a a series of meetings convened by officials from the highest-rated euro states, the spokesman said, speaking on the customary condition of anonymity. Ministers will discuss current issues without briefing reporters after the meeting." And so the gauntlet of public humiliation is now once again back in Sarkozy's court. The good news: if the de minimis Frenchman does not get his act in order, and overturn the massive lead that his challenger in the April presidential elections has garnered, he will need to endure the humiliation for at most 3 more months. In other news, it appears that when it comes to saving political face, the rating agencies are actually quite useful.
And due to popular demand, here is a summary of European summits and their "achievements" in the past year, courtesy of Reuters.
Feb. 4, 2011 - Summit of EU heads of state and government.
- Germany and France tried to win backing for a pact to strengthen the euro zone economy, but many other EU states were angered by what they saw as a fait accompli and the measures contained in it.
March 4 - Fourteen EU leaders, hosted by Finland, met to prepare a comprehensive response to the euro zone debt crisis.
- Finland said the common will was there for European leaders to agree a pact that would call on member states to enact national legislation on debt.
March 12
- Euro zone leaders agreed the capacity of the region's bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility, should be raised to 440 billion euros ($600 billion) from 250 billion, but left it up to finance ministers to work out how.
March 15 - Meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels.
- Euro zone officials said they were likely to agree details on how to bolster the EFSF soon and that the reformed facility should be operational by the summer.
March 24, 25 - Full summit of EU leaders in Brussels.
- They confirmed that the EFSF would have a higher effective lending capacity by June.
April 8, 9 - Informal meeting of European finance ministers in Hungary.
- EU finance ministers urged Portugal to commit to reforms. Portugal on April 6 became the third euro zone country after Greece and Ireland to ask for EU and IMF aid.
May 16 - Euro zone finance ministers meet in Brussels.
- Ministers approved a 78 billion euro bailout for Portugal but insisted that Lisbon ask private bondholders to maintain their exposure to its debt.
May 17 - European Union finance ministers meet in Brussels.
- Europe's top financial officials acknowledged for the first time that Greece may have to restructure its debts.
June 23, 24 - Summit of EU leaders in Brussels.
- Euro zone leaders endorsed the treaty setting up the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) - a permanent mechanism for resolving sovereign debt crises - from mid-2013.
July 3 - Extraordinary meeting of euro zone finance ministers in Brussels.
- Ministers approved the next 12 billion euro instalment of Greece's bailout, but signalled that the nation must expect significant losses of sovereignty and jobs.
July 21 - Meeting of euro zone heads of state and government in Brussels.
- Euro zone leaders agreed on giving the rescue fund broader powers to prevent contagion from the debt crisis.
Sept. 6 - Finance ministers of the Netherlands, Finland and Germany meet in Berlin.
- The Dutch finance minister said talks with Finland and Germany had not resolved a row over a bilateral deal between Finland and Greece, granting the Nordic country collateral for contributing to a new Greek bailout package.
Sept. 16, 17 - Informal meeting of ministers and central bank governors in Wroclaw, Poland.
- EU finance ministers broke no new ground in dealing with the euro zone debt crisis. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner made an appearance and urged Germany to provide more fiscal stimulus for the euro zone.
Oct. 3 - Meeting of euro zone finance ministers, central bankers and EU commissioners in Luxembourg.
- European finance ministers agreed to safeguard their banks as doubts grew about whether a planned second bailout package for Greece would go ahead.
- Hours earlier, French-Belgian municipal lender Dexia became the first European bank to have to be bailed out due to the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis.
Oct. 23 - Meeting of EU leaders.
- Leaders near agreement on bank recapitalisation -- how to leverage their rescue fund to try to stop bond market contagion.
Oct. 26-27 - Euro zone leaders strike a deal with private banks and insurers for them to accept a 50 percent loss on their Greek government bonds as part of a plan to lower Greece's debt burden. The agreement is reached after more than eight hours of hard-nosed negotiations.
- Leaders also agree to scale up the EFSF to about 1 trillion euros and to recapitalise European banks to an estimated 106 billion euros ($147 billion).
Nov. 29 - Euro zone ministers meeting in Brussels.
- Ministers agree on detailed plans to leverage the EFSF but do not say by how much because of rapidly worsening market conditions, prompting them to look to the IMF.
Dec. 5 - Sarkozy and Merkel meet in France.
- They float proposal for a euro zone "fiscal compact" to enforce budget discipline across the 17-nation bloc. They say they want any necessary treaty changes for their plans to be enacted to be agreed in March and ratified after France wraps up presidential and legislative elections in June.
Dec. 8 - The ECB announced unprecedented action to support Europe's cash-starved banks with three-year liquidity tenders and easier collateral rules and cut interest rates back to a record low 1.0 percent.
- However ECB President Mario Draghi discouraged expectations that the bank would massively step up buying of government bonds if European Union leaders agree on moves towards closer fiscal union at a crucial Brussels summit.
Dec. 8/9 - Crisis summit of EU heads of state and government in Brussels. Sarkozy and Merkel laid out their plan to impose mandatory penalties on euro states that exceed deficit targets, to restore market trust and arrest the region's debt crisis.
- Twenty-three of the 27 leaders agreed to pursue tighter integration with stricter budget rules for the single currency area, but Britain said it could not accept proposed amendments to the EU treaty after failing to secure concessions for itself.
Jan. 30, 2012 - Summit of EU heads of state and government in Brussels. Twenty-five out of 27 EU states agreed to a German-inspired pact for stricter budget discipline - only Britain and the Czech Republic refused the fiscal compact, to be signed in March.
Feb. 6 - Euro zone finance ministers will meet in Brussels to try to agree a second financing package for Greece.
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Banks win again.....
Spain is set to announce today its plan to shepherd struggling banks into mergers and make the industry set aside 50 billion euros ($66 billion) for real- estate assets left over from the bubble that burst in 2008.
The government will issue debt and inject the funds into banks via contingent convertible bonds, or CoCos, which convert into equity if capital ratios fall below a certain level
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-01/spain-said-to-plan-to-buy-coco-...
Take a guess who'll be buying the debt used to bail the banks?
Yep, more paper games. Allow me to introduce the "magic equity" concept - bonds that magically convert into equity of real value should the bank not perform it's due diligence. Well hell, let me just write a few of those on to my balance sheet then...
....and if the equity tanks and gets diluted it can be converted to tickets for sporting events. Black out periods apply.
GERMANY Is Also In The "Drink" anyway...
They Whole EU is now screwed (UP), because of their early inaction.
""Bundesbank sinks deeper into debt saving Europe
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard,
Germany's Bundesbank has entirely exhausted its stock of private assets and run up a quarter of a trillion euros in liabilities propping up the eurozone system, testing the political limits of EMU solidarity in Germany.""The operations are part of the European Central Bank's 'TARGET2' network of automatic payments between the national central banks of the Euroland club. The Bundesbank has already provided €496bn (£413bn) to countries in trouble, chiefly Greece, Ireland, Italy and Spain.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9055142/Bundesbank-si...
"Sacre Bleu! France has been insulted! I challenge Germany to a duel! En garde Madame Merkel! Our very own Madame Lagarde will defend France's honor! As for me, I will go on vacation."
Nicolas Sarkozy
I'm glad that us here in Canada haven't lost our triple eh-rating, I want my McMansion in Vancouver. It's my civil right, people died for this shit!
Wouldn't it be a hoot if S&P lobbed a downgrade of Germany into the meeting.
does it include frequent flier miles? i might be interested...
NoNo, its because Carla is cooking his favourite Spaghetti....
Sarko, the egomanic is not going to like that very much.
http://jimrickards.blogspot.com/
Yeah but he's still got most world leaders beat on the "Who's got the hottest wife" thing.
I mean...seriously...damn.
http://bp1.blogger.com/_nEsQnzB7Q2Q/SASoBsdtrgI/AAAAAAAAA4g/H8MwsQTnTfU/...
Who cares what a politician's wife looks like. The measure is what does a politician's mistress look like?
did you see his wife?
No, it was censored.
How much did that pic sell for again?
Scene: Angie Merkel's office
Sound: bringgg bringgg
Secretary: Ja, jawohl. Frau Doctor Doctor Merkel's Office.
Sarko: Hi. It's me. Let me talk to heir zeese verrry mo-ment.
Secretary: Frau Doctor. Ze Mini Pest for you. Shall I tell him zat you hate hees guts and zat zee Leopard III's are idling in ze Mulsane awaiting your orders?
Angie: No, Mistress Von Painster, I shall speak to zeee little moron. (giggles)
Scene: Angie picks up ze pheene
Angie: Yes, what is it now, Prim Ministair Sarkozy? (imperious professorial voice)
Sarko: Angie, please quit addressing to me as ze Prim Minister, it is our ceremonial position. I am the state, the France, I am the President.
A: Yeah, yeah. (mumbles under breath but her still hears, "Bullshit")
S: Why have I not been invited to the delegation of the AAA nations? You of all people outside of France and perhaps the only one outside of The State, La France, the magnificent savior of Europe, know that France is still a AAA worthy credit.
A: Because not all PFIIGS are equal.
S: What!?!?!?!?!?!
A: Out with it Snarko. A pfennig for your thoughts.
S: Pfennigs? They do not exist any mo... (Interrupted)
A: Wanna bet?
Split screen fades to black as Sarko begins crying and Angie massages her cool, whiter than newly fallen Bavarian snow, never touched by a man, upper thighs and sexily calls: Madame Von Painster, please come. I need you to take some dicktation.
ROTFL!!!!! hahahahahaha
Make THAT a YouTube video and get 1,000,000 visits...
the end is nigh
sounds more like "the end is high" to me.
She was "Da-yum" 20 years ago. After all the plastic surgery botox shes gotten, she starting to get that puffy lipped stretched cat face look.
20 years ago she was 24 years old. I think most of us looked better at that age.
She is still an absolutely beautiful woman despite the fact that she's married to an arrogant little prick. I can separate the two things.
This photo is only about 10 months old. Not exactly a botox deformed hideous beast in my opinion.
http://rdujour.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/cbrunisarkozydiam.jpg
Yeah, but doesn't it put you off that Donald Trump's already visited the Carla parlour?
are you suggesting you'd throw her out of bed?
I'm not looking to marry her or bring her home to meet "mom". I'm just making an observation about her looks. I think she's beautiful...that's all.
Beauty is subjective and I'm sure many guys here on ZH frequently date women far more beautiful than her. After all, it is a well known fact that every guy on the internet is fucking a supermodel in real life.
Hihi! Don't know if you understand french - if so this excellent parody of Carla's "Quelqu'un m'a dit..." should make you chuckle....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNwp7xgrbVc
I'm far from fluent (very far actually)...but I grasped enough to get a good laugh out of it. Nice find.
The key refrain is about her sexual frustration - "every night Sarko just falls asleep, but they me that told that dwarves are sex machines, so I guess they lied then...." :-)
The only market update I read every week: http://www.armadamarkets.com/2012/01/weekly-market-update/
well, that's a shitty way to form a well researched, thought out position...
Open question for anyone who cares to care to answer it:
What is the strategy with regard to ES/SPX, and EUR/USD trading right now?
I've got some March and April puts that are bleeding right now, but sitting on dry powder, waiting for the market to roll over. I think if S&P breaches 1300, I'll buy some more puts on selected stocks, and if we crack 1292, probably load up some more. I'm not buying the rally, I think it's just about done. Patience is not my strong point, but I'm working on it.
I'm refraining from going long as well. 10% short, 50% cash, the rest are core things I have kept for a while.
Been thinking about buying some phyzz, though.
I still hope that the crisis takes a nastier turn and some countries leave the EU.
you go three blocks down...turn right. at the stop light go straight...then at the bend in the river turn the wheel hard right...then hard left. honk your horn. i'll be waiting at the corner with..."the stuff." i'm sorry...what was the question again?
mais alors, if you are not at zee table you're on zee menu, non?
FrAAnce is a sold nation. Germans are in limbo.
I'm not so sure about that. But French food has German food beat, hands down. So they've got that going for them....
France has been the rat within the EU construct. Cheese eater. DSK then LaTard. Um, does this really need spelling out, gents?
Of course, so have the Germans been cast, if you're from France, for instance.
It's all about creating the a legitimate looking facade of political conflict from one sheeple perspective or another.
Be that as it may...the food is wonderful. And the wine? Foggetaboutit.
You mean the wine they don't export? You have to go there to get a real taste of their wine while they ship pisswater to other nations.
yeah...that's it. and they also fart in your cheese...and they spit in your sandwich...Oh those evil French terrorists chefs.
spare me. if your loathing for a people is so profound that it will not allow you to enjoy some of the truly wonderful things their culture has to offer, then you are just too sad a person to even attempt to have a dialogue with.
I hereby surrender this thread to your...whatever. Have at it.
don't blame the french for the lack of good produce abroad.
they yearn to export and eductate others on good culture.
it's the anglo-saxon protectionist domestic lobbies and the
general lack of a discriminating public back home that restricts
the quality. no sense shipping 1er cru when ruddy englishmen
don't know the difference between a cépage and an appelation.
I dunno ... just had Rahmschnitzel mit Pilzen & Spätzle with a dark beer for dinner ... really good ...
we are in the middle of winter. you can keep your frigging quiche lorraine. there's nothing like dutch stamppot or even a yorkshire pudding at times like this.
The calendar may say winter, but my thermostat says spring!
Es war, als hätt der Himmel
Die Erde still geküsst,
Dass sie im Blütenschimmer
Von ihm nun träumen müsst.
Die Luft ging durch die Felder,
Die Ähren wogten sacht,
Es rauschten leis die Wälder,
So sternklar war die Nacht.
Und meine Seele spannte
Weit ihre Flügel aus,
Flog durch die stillen Lande,
Als flöge sie nach Haus.
--Joseph von Eichendorff
Nice poem!
http://myweb.dal.ca/waue/Trans/Eichendorff-Mondnacht.html
Prost!
dankbar,... Mit tiefer Dankbarkeit!
You did what to your parakeet? You had fun with Peekaboo Street? What do you mean i have stinky feet? Now watch my sheep go bleet, bleet.
Either there's trouble in paradise or the "AAA Club" set a minimum height requirement.
You must be this solvent (AAA) to ride.
Ssshhhh!
A little known codicil of the E.U. Treaty allows the AAA rated countries to put the AA rated countries under Double Secret Probation.
Seems like TPTB are arguing amongst themselves. Guess they never watched "Highlander" -- in the end, there can be only one!
This is when you see that the whole situation has degenerated into a tradegy reminiscent of the period of the Kings. Indeed , the King's every word and deed was scrupulously analyzed and political life revolved around who had "captured" the attention and interest of the king, what were the kings' latest interests etc etc. A waive/snub on his part was the pinnacle/dishonor of ones' political life ! I see we have gone back to these idyllic times , parsing and wondering over the actions of clowns who sadly are visiting on us a terrible show.
in one critical area it has dramatically improved. instead of being
commoners bound to landed serfdom, you are free to emmigrate in
europe at will, and thus let the market play its course as the skill
and wage landscape restructures. you have to think of europe as
one federation, with prosperous centers subsidising poorer areas.
you want to know how germany outcompetes other european states?
here's an example: I'm negotiating a contract to join a german energy
trading outfit. while in deustchland, they speak english both on the
trade floor and in the back office. their traders, analysts, developers,
and sales come from italy, holland, romania, russia, india, france, etc..
I worked in france in front-office for 5 years and despite their insistence
that english was mandatory, I can tell you the level was disappointing.
sure, the traders and senior quants were from diverse backgrounds
and the native french ones were écoliens and at minimum bilingual,
but certainly not the middle or back office analysts and developpers;
and the host of business school middle-management cadres were not.
it's clear that europe has to integrate more tightly than ever before.
we're talking about removing the last barriers to fiscal and labour
arbitrage. migration will be key to survival, and for that challenge
to be met you better shape up in facilitating skilled expatriation.
long language schools, contract law, rental flats, and irish pubs.
It must sting like hell to be biotch slapped in public and not be able to do anything about it.
Oh well, Sarkozy needs the practice ... so he'll be ready when ze Germans send him his letter about surrendering control of FrAnce's budget.
barliman
I fart in your general direction.
-- Nicolas Sarkozy
Tee Hee! :)
http://youtu.be/9V7zbWNznbs
Aha! A secret meeting of the 'inner' inner circle!
Sarko will be bummed that he didn't get an invite - not being part of the the northern elite is going to stick right in his arse....... :)
The start of a euro break away group?
K@
Isn't this just de rigeur politics - the heads of the 4 nations with no money but an AAA rating, snub the other nations with no money and an AA rating. Still its good to see that creepy little asshole Sarko being left out for a change.
Merkel, Abassador of Schadenfreude.
il gagnez toujours les meilleurs chattes. ce n'est pas mal ca. et vin. et la bonne vie.
Sarkozy now rebuked by irritated Merkel, who knows what is what and is tired of sharing centre stage with a man on the run who begs her to come support his election campaign. We know who wears the shoe and who is in his underwear in this odd couple. Greece or no Greece, a sheep that is near fleeced behind the scenes is not a wolf. Achtung.
I still have a morbid desire to see the AAAs 'do a runner'.
Northern Eruo vs Southern Euro. Is it here where the plan is concocted?
One of many. Remember, politics is local.
Civil unrest, coming to a jurisdiction near YOU!
Looks like the PigMen keep v-bottoming the SPY in order to inflict the maximum amount of pain on the bears.
Yes, the market will experience a clothesline drop eventually, but not before every single bear has been wiped out.
And don't forget that the Facebook IPO will indeed get ramped huge on the first day to suck in all the retail money, and that can only be done when the tape is in a strong uptrend.
RobotTrader, what is this Schadenfreude with regard to bears lately? Shouldn't a robot trade its way neutrally both up and down?
He was snubbed by a boy in a bear costume at the last NAMBLA convention he visited. He still hasn't gotten over it.
robo - you know the drill even if they don't want to hear it.
Roboroach, if you would have bought silver at $28.00 a month ago you would be up at least 18% in less than a month.
http://www.profilebrand.com/graphics/category/insults/4703_douchebag.gif
What kind of fuck tard are you? How can a true bear be wiped out if the market is going towards a depression? You may need to review the difference between a correction and a bear market!
US? Sorry, AAA only!
i'd forgotten. thanks.
maybe Sarcoma will pull a Straus Effect on Merkovitz...
OUCH! Merkel throws Sarkozy under the bus...but the Greek deal is about to be signed so why does a 'AAA' credit rating matter? Well, it certainly doesn't matter when ya got Ben Bernacke around - Print, Print & dare I say again Print those GREENBACKS!
another fucking meeting
Hey folks...its just goten a whole lot more interesting. Greece has another 15 billion it hasn't told anyone about!
Brussels discovers new €15bn black hole in Greece's finances
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/feb/02/greece-new-black-hole
'wheres my money? http://www.evtv1.com/player.aspx?itemnum=5777
Rat-holin'...
Germany, Luxembourg, Finland and the Netherlands may very well be calling this meeting to discuss leaving the Euro.
Then the remaining (deadbeat) members of the Eurozone can have the ECB print all the money they will ever need. Crisis solved.
For circular arguments' sake,
I don't believe there's much of a chance for that at this point in time. Surely it would be a step in the right direction to end this farce......which again is the reason why chances are slim.
We should not expect the Euro-politicians to do the right thing.
dude! can you imagine the difficulties of finding a name for that new currency?!
the new-ro?
i've just gotten a heads up on it actually! it's called the "do blow" currency. apparently it's expected to be well recieved in South America as well.
The only AAA countries AND the only countries whose Target 2 balances have skyrocketed. The "leaders" of these remaining AAA's must be scared to shit. Average tax payer has absolutely no clue what their "leaders" have done. There's no public discussions abt Target 2, none. Germany alone is on the hook for over 500 billion through that mechanism. The beneficiaries? Well PIIGS and FrAAnce of course... The amounts these "leaders" have thrown into "saving" the political utopia called euro are enormous and as we know every time there's new paper tiger firewall invented, abt a month later some insolvent country (and it's insolvent banks) are screaming for more. The final collapse of this epic failure will be horrible.
You are absolutely correct. I believe the TARGET 2 balances are supposed to be covered by the ECB Adjusted Capital Key, so the risk sharing goes like this:
Member State Contribution Key Kingdom of Belgium 3.4666% Federal Republic of Germany 27.0647% Ireland 1.5874% Kingdom of Spain 11.8679% French Republic 20.3246% Italian Republic 17.8598% Republic of Cyprus 0.1957% Grand Duchy of Luxembourg 0.2497% Republic of Malta 0.0903% Kingdom of the Netherlands 5.6998% Republic of Austria 2.7750% Portuguese Republic 2.5016% Republic of Slovenia 0.4699% Slovak Republic 0.9910% Republic of Finland 1.7920% Hellenic Republic 2.8082% Republic of Estonia 0.2558% Total 100.0000%However, I don't trust these risk sharing ratios will hold crisis water in the Titanic down-scenario.
Does anybody know whether these four remaining TARGET2 surplus countries Central Banks earn any money on the balances?
The catering and limousine service ( and probably prostitution) industries must be thriving in Europe from all the summits, conclaves, emergency meetings of Prime Ministers, Finance Ministers, EU Commissioners and IMF brass.
Why not charter a cruise for them. Captain Schettino could be their leader.
Talk about limousine services etc.
Heh, this really IS the Finance Minister of Finland participating that meeting tomorrow:
http://www.iltalehti.fi/uutiset/200901028856550_uu.shtml
No kidding, really.
+1MM. you have to love the hot scandinavian policy cougars.
- is anybody else watching the BBC's "Borgen" with interest?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00n047c
It's election time for Sarkozy in a few months. Merkel later this year. Why anyone would attempt to make sense of anything between Sarkozy and Merkel now is a waste of time unless they grasp who is ahead in popularity and who is not. A shake up there could be more deleterious than a Greek default.
here's a copy of the first camapaign ad of the season..."over there."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmA90nlN5xY&feature=player_detailpage
looks like a feisty beginning!
"There can be no question of putting any country under tutelage."
Too bad. I had a hunkerin' for bratwurst & feta (on a pita with a nice reisling).
The old joke: "The only people the Europeans hate more then the United States is each other. And everyone hates France."
Not Great but it gets to the point.
" The only question remains: who is going to inform Monti and Sarkozy that we will be startng our own NEUE REICHSMARK as from March I ?? "
my buddy's step-sister makes $68/hour on the internet. She has been without work for 8 months but last month her paycheck was $7255 just working on the internet for a few hours. Go to this web site and read more.. LazyCash9.com
My buddy's step-sister is doing 5 - 7 years for financial fraud...
Your mother makes $5/week doing DVDA scenes behind the WacArnolds on Santa Monica Blvd.
Have a great day!
It is wonderful that the USA has none of Europe's problems. It is wonderful that US voters do not need to consider over-indebtedness this November nor the fact that they have lived way beyond their means for at least 3 decades because they have made China what it is today
It is wonderful that Europe has none of America's problems. It is wonderful that Eurozone voters do not need to consider over-indebtedness in this next election nor the fact that they have lived way beyond their means for at least 5 decades because they have allowed America to make China what it is today. - Fixed. Europeans hate each other more than anyone else and I love the way they tell you all that is wrong with the world while sipping their wine. We are all in this together bitchez, nothing comes close to the level of european apathy.
if they get to sip wine and sit back unworried they must be doing something right.
Bogus story this...how can you have a European AAA club meeting without inviting EnglAAAnd?
Great BritAAAin is not in the Eurozone so that does not make the story bogus. What DOES make it bogus is that this meeting is reported nowhere in the press - I couldn't even find it on Bloomberg. Horseshit.
doesn't make it bogus. it wouldn't be the first time ZH's investigative journalism beats others to the story.
but I'll let the editors comment on that. @tyler?
Throw in Austria and you have a deal the un-inflated Euro...