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Tales Of The Unexpected: Who Really Benefited From The Euro (Hint: NOT Germany)
With austerity supposedly destroying standards of living (that no real austerity has actually been implemented is a different matter entirely) across Europe's insolvent periphery, the only recourse said broke countries (here's looking at you Mario Monti and Mariano Rajoy) have is to desperately attempt to shame those countries who have money such as Germany, Austria, Finland and the Netherlands, aka Europe's AAA club, into shoveling more and more and more cash into the bottomless pit that are the PIIGS. After all, precisely this was the basis for the "hostage and extortion" strategy that Monti employed at the June 29 summit, and which has resulted in a surge in European stocks on hopes Germany will indeed bail everyone out. The reason for this is that, at least according to conventional wisdom, it was these countries that benefited the most from a decade of EUR-facilitated mercantilism, and exported inflation to their spendthrfit (and 'debt-thrift') southern neighbors. So it is only "fair" that these countries now give back a little (or a whole lot) back (just as it is only "fair" that Germany give a helping hand in Obama's reelection chances, which as everyone knows would be negligible if the global capital markets were to tumble just before November if reality in Europe were to come back with a vengeance). Well, as virtually always happens, conventional wisdom is wrong, and as the following chart from UBS demonstrates, when one analyzes the only relevant metric that compares changes in standards of living across various income deciles- namely changes in real disposable household income - it is precisely the PIIGS that benefited, while countries such as Germany and Austria were left in the dust.
From UBS:
If we look across the larger and longer established Euro membership we can see these two patterns being replicated according to country type. Each country shows the cumulative real disposable household income growth for each of its income deciles. The lowest income decile is to the left of each country’s selection, and the highest to the right.
Austria looks to be alarmingly weak – what this actually represents is very little change in nominal disposable income growth, coupled with inflation. Germany, Ireland, most of Italy and the French middle class all experience a decline in their standards of living. In most of these countries, the highest income groups do relatively well.
What stand out are Greece, Portugal and Spain. These economies have benefited from increased standards of living under the Euro (at least, until 2010), as nominal incomes have overcome inflation pressures. There has also been a concentration on improving the lot of the lower income groups in these societies.
Of particular note is the chart of France which is coming to every socialist and crony-capitalist country near you: the best off from the Eur "growth" phase are the bottom and top deciles. Everyone else, aka the middle class was substantially worse off. This pattern of class schism will be repeated in all other supposedly "egalitarian" countries as everyone becomes more and more "equal."
So what are the implication of this novel reinterpretation of the winners and losers from the Euro, and what happens now that Germany will have sufficient ammo to deflect ongoing attempts by broke Italy, Spain et al to attempt shaming the country with allusions to World War II and other irrelevant allusions:
This chart unfortunately plays into the hands of the more nationally minded politicians of the Euro core. The argument can be made (and increasingly is being made) that periphery economies must simply accept the declines in living standards that their non-periphery counterparts have had to accept. Lower living standards in the sense of real disposable income implies either lower wages, or yet more fiscal austerity, or indeed both measures in combination. Why should Germany see its living standard decline to pay to maintain the Greek, Spanish or Portuguese living standard, when those standards rose by so much in the recent past? As a political sentiment it has a ready populist appeal.
... Someone occupying the bottom decile of French income distribution has twice the level of income of someone in the bottom decile of Greek income distribution in 2010. The income inequality between countries in the Euro area has been narrowed by the pattern of real disposable income growth (as a rule). In what is supposed to be a common enterprise, there is something disturbing about asking the poorest members of the poorest societies to become even poorer, in order to enhance the living standards of the richest societies. As the Italian Prime Minister has had occasion to point out, there may also be a natural limit to the extent to which such demands can be placed on poorer societies (or the poorest in societies) without creating a threat to civil order.
The problem is that this debate cuts both ways, using exactly the same argument. Why should one group of countries force another group of countries to accept lower living standards? This question could be asked by Germans of the Greeks (why should we see our taxes rise / disposable income fall to maintain your level of disposable income?). This question could be asked by the Greeks of the Germans (why should we see greater income inequality when we are already amongst the poorest in the Euro area, and suffer from a Germanocentric rather than a Helleno-centric monetary policy?). Both questions have a degree of validity. It does not make finding a solution any easier.
It gets worse:
The development of real disposable income growth across the Euro area adds an additional complication to the increasingly Byzantine Euro problem. Just like the Olympics, much of the attention is focused on the dynamic of speed. Looking at the growth of real incomes over the first few years of the Euro’s existence, it is hard to argue against the idea that the peripheral countries should be taking more pain now. Core countries have had to accept a decline in real living standards, and it seems unrealistic to expect them to finance an increase in living standards for others [ZH: Germany, are you reading this? Good].
When considering the static of income levels, however, the Euro has successfully engineered a slow move towards greater equality between nations, evidenced by the increase in real disposable income for the very lowest income groups in the Euro area. To reverse that achievement would seem to be perverse.
Politics and human nature means that the dynamic of growth rather than the static of income levels is likely to dominate policy makers’ discussions. It will not make for comfortable politics in the councils of Europe. Baron de Coubertin’s well known dictum from the first modern Olympics was “The most important thing… is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering, but fighting well”. The ideal is ideal, but it has a hollow ring if applied to the Euro. For most of the Euro countries if not all of them, taking part in the dysfunctional monetary union of the Euro at all was a bad decision in economic terms. Having signed up to the Euro’s irrevocable monetary union, the fact that living standards have fallen for some participating economies is likely to breed resentment and bitterness against those economies that have experienced an improvement in living standards.
All of the above simply means that the precarious European balance in which Germany quietly became the shamed underdog, responsible for funding its drunk, broke, and wayward neighbors because somehow it was its fault it benefited from their irresponsible spending ways, has just been shattered: now the opponents of the "convergence" theme have cold hard facts on their side, and we expect the above chart to make the front pages of most German papers in short order.
It also means that the political opposition to any acquiescence by Merkel to current and future Monti demands will now spike to intolerable levels, with dire consequences in national polls.
Finally, it also means that the entire precariously built-up European "Nash equilibrium" over the past 6 months was just dismantled. Courtesy of the facts.
We already knew September was going to be when the fun resumes (with August a scratch - just as expected). Now, we can hardly wait.
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i used to live in Not Germany, nice place
* I live in Germany, But nobody here is reading this. They should, of course. Can ZH please start a print run in Germany, aka Bildzeitung. We need help here.
help yourself you useless fucking socialist
I eat sauerkraut on my hog dog, I am almost German.
True economist's eat hog dogs, not sure how that equates to being German.
Hot dogs(Vienna sausages) are supposed to be as American as baseball, apple pie and Chevrolet.
An American hotdog is the epitome of economic substitution--you don't know what you are getting when you order a hot dog in the U.S. You can go to any Mexican restaurant anywhere and order tacos de carne asada and you know and there isn't a nickles worth of difference in any of them. Order a hot dog in the U.S. and you probably gonna get a varying amalgamation of pork, turkey and chicken even though hot dogs are supposed to be beef hearts.
Real economists eat dog food and call it filet mignon
This article is very misleading. It equates correlation with causality.
German and French banksters THOUGHT they would benefit from Euro by exploiting cheap labor in other Euro countries with more debt they can't afford....
But Europeans are not stupid like Chinese factory workers....they actually screwed the banksters over by partying on easy credit and then telling debt holder to shove it.
Hotdogs? Even my cats won't touch that stuff. But they will gobble down Little Can, sardines, pork, and chicken.
o.t....but i went to marketwatch to just see how manu was doing...than they had a facebook article...and i went to the comments...no comments...so i checked 5 more articles...no comments....well no way to place comments...comments are no more.....maybe its just a glitch?
Sauerkraut should be placed on bratwurst, and only after adding caraway seeds.
true man, slaughterer needs to wise up.
Its people like him and his constant pleading for help, what age are you slaughterer? 5?
Go and read some philosophy - Confucicus, and Plato are a good start
Then learn some accountancy, like how to read a P&L and Balance Sheet
Learn some science too man, seriously...........grow up
To clarify, it is typical for useless socialist cunts to plead for help and HOPE someone ELSE will do something, instead of chosing to take action.
That is why I hate socialist, useless fucking cunts that just sit around and wait for somone else to do something.
Right on teddy, complete losers, when they are lying in their death bed they will have achieved nothing of use but some shitty ideas. What a waste of a life?
Freedom for all would be great, but it aint ever gonna happen man, we will be serfs of the government for the rest of our lives till we pass away.
Drink, get laid, enjoy nature, act moral onto all human beings (even the scummy ones like police and beaurocrats) and dont fear death.
socialists or not.....people don't go hungry for long....they resort to violence and mutual destruction.
America is not there yet, but we saw glimps of it with OWS....college educated kids out of work and deep in debt = no hope = riots
even soldiers refusing to serve
even generals "coming out" with truth
stage 1 is to realize what is happening and with internet media, people are awake.
stage 2 is for elites to tighten control and make the situaton worse leading to
stage 3 where spontaneous combustion occurs within society after some unrelated event.
stage 4 bloody wars
stage 5 cleansing of the old guard
stage 6 fight for control in new order
stage 7 stability
stage 8 new guard abuses their new power and repeat stage 1
Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed...
What do you know man? Ur just one of those creeps lookng for attention.
Go and have a glass of whiskey and sit in a dark room
"Go and have a glass of whiskey and sit in a dark room"
Hey, Dont bring me into this. Whats wrong with darkness whilst i sip my Wild turkey 101
Government trolls. There couldn't possibly be public manipulation in Germany, right? For a German to respect ZH and want more coverage of the overarching farce, then governments of collusion would hate that. Right?
Americans do not realize how good they have it in some regards, such as freedom of speech.
In many countries there are few, if any, dissenting voices like ZH, either by law or ignorance.
This website could never exist here in Australia, for example.
sit in a dark room, have a glass of french red or isle of islay whiskey and listen to this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh31j6L95Ok
Its the weekend, fuck finance while everyone is on holiday
Ignorant chumps like you know nothing about islay malt.
you pretend to love the peaty power but are an embaressing tourist.
i'd drink my ardbeg with a german rather than you anyday.
:o
Pious bullshit from era in European history where "freedom of expression" consisted of biblical paintings and holiness worship music.
good old days when you can tax people for their belief in heaven.
Only the Irish add an E to their whisky.
Something to do with the crac.
ur smart, you should be a detective, i do live there
Zerohedge ain't broadcast from America.
Try Switzerland ...
OK fair point.
However, it *could* be run from the US, whereas realistically it could not function in Oz or UK or many other countries.
Also, due to the country's size and diversity, there is always a subculture fitting your need in the US, whether it be exposing the repressed truth about the financial system or fetishising furry antropomorphic animals.
Calling Germans useless fucking cunts is a rather clueless statement. You need to get out more dude.
I called socialist useless fucking cunts.. and I was proven right.
What does a socialist do when he falls down a hole? he shouts for help until he dies from dehydration.
What does a human do when he falls down a hole? He gets his hands dirty and climbs back up.
what does a capitalist do when he falls down a hole? He tells everyone that if he doesn't get bailed out, the hole sewege system will blow up. And right as he is rescued, he sues the city to have tax payers pay for his bailout and asks for some bonus award from the city for surviving the fall.
A capitalist invents the shovel and creates a stairway. A socialist collectivizes the problem and says others owe him a way out. You have hit backwards.
YuropeanImbecille Slaughterer is anything but socialist!
The world is cluster f..Ked, but Slaughterer isn't a person that runs from/ takes advantage! You should do some research, before you postulate. Slaughterer is a pretty good ally in my book!
+1 to both of you!
And the UBS study just PROVES NOTHING. The moves shown are the product of a million things and if you think about it you will notice it. The EUR introduction had a negligible impact on people, compared to other policies.
-------
we are looking at ten years of common currency. Some countries stagnated, others reformed their labour markets, others went on a building spree, several went into a credit expansion never seen since the ages of the silver and gold laden galleons sailing back from the New World.
To assign much credit or blame of ten years of economic changes and transformations to the common currency is giving the common currency too much credit.
From an industrial perspective, the EUR allowed to have component production spreading all over the eurozone. Just as a stupid example if you look at a BMW, you see components from all eurozone countries. and SMEs can more easily engage in more than one national market without having to engage in the kind of fancy multi-FX management that the great multinationals do
Only two things are credible caveats to the above:
- The Target2 balances - though you have to look at ten years, not only at the post-2008 changes
- The fact that for millions of investors the eurozone looked as if having the same risks everywhere. Blame the dear financials that sold that message.
And, as dessert: the EUR is behaving in europe like gold and silver did.
Would you please give Teddy a break, you know .. it's that time of the month .. Must be hard fitting all those tampons into that .. well, never mind.
One day, he'll figure out that stuffing them up his asshole is no good. He will be a much nicer person, uhm, teddy then.
in AMERIKA you are doing sooo much better LOL.
Constant ) a-v-a-t-a-r changes ? Stick to your guns!
slaughter. I was just visiting your fine country and was tempted to do some grafitti along the rail line outside hbf Berlin. Gold Bitchez and Zerohedge.com maybe get a big stencil.
Perhaps this explains what is going on in Germany. The German government now has the right to put an armed military on its streets for a threat of "catastrophic proportions"... I read coming financial collapse of the EU.
The article... German troops can be deployed on home soil, court rules
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's armed forces can carry out combat operations on home soil in case of a threat of "catastrophic proportions", the country's highest court ruled on Friday.
However troops cannot be mobilized against demonstrators, the constitutional court said.
The military had previously only been able to act in a similar way to the police in domestic disaster situations but will now be able to use combat weapons.
"This only affects exceptional situations of catastrophic proportions," the court said in its ruling.
"The deployment of armed forces and the use of specific military defense mechanisms is only permissible as a last resort in such an emergency situation," the court said.
Germany has had a strained relationship with the military since the Nazi period, when the armed forces had to swear an oath of allegiance to Hitler, and could therefore be manipulated for political purposes.
The judges said the ruling, which was in response to complaints from two federal states, did not affect its 2006 decision that it is unlawful to shoot down a hijacked passenger plane.
http://news.yahoo.com/german-troops-deployed-home-soil-court-rules-23410...
i always found the germans i did business with to be good folks
but its a classic microcosm of the central data proflieration problem
I find it utterly bizarre that people accept the idea that bureaucrats get to pick and choose collectively, who has what standard of living, rather than it being determined by the individuals affected choosing how to best live their lives.
It seems that a century of Prussian schooling benefits only those who were rich enough to avoid being indoctrinated under it.
Must be why I've seen nothing but Pussy Riot stories at the top of the headlines all day long.
When I hear the words 'pussy riot', a band is not the first thought that comes to mind..
Even if you knew them, the word 'band' wouldn't come to mind. They are disgusting people, not musical at all, just trying to make a splash in the news, to make some kind of name for themselves. They are shameless women who are not fit to live among human beings.
Funnily enough i had a similar opinion myself, their music is poor so they attempted to gain attention by being anti government. What they did is completely wrong, they went into a church and started playing their shitty music and blaring out obscenities, im not religious but it strikes me that you should have some respect for others space, like i dont like pussy riot but i dont go into their house and wank on their dad.
They are Soros backed. True.
2 years in the gulag for them, that'll show em!
They went to jail because they didn't have the money to buy themselves out. Yes, I'm sure the Russian/commie court system is outraged that they used a church for their protest... not.
It is the zionist-satanist that do that, they did it in the 1930's but got gased for it.
How did your family escape?
The same unexpected:who benefited "tales" can be "told" on chimerica.
Almost all of the "sentiments" are there...
And then of course the politicians-bureaucrats have all been taking orders from the tptb for decades (if not centuries?)
Seems to me their playbook is pushing to the brink of collapse in finance AND social; then 1world.gov is the consequence.
So, what say you?
Just another Fiat currency on it's way to zero. Look out below!
http://uselections2012blog.blogspot.ca/
No surprise with these results. The Eurozone was always, and remains about fiscal transfers from North to South, eventually ending up with a glorious socialist paradise somewhere in the middle. The problem is that the American crisis has highlighted this to the folks up North, who are less than enthralled with trnasferring their hard-earned wealth to the profligate South. It always was a political experiment. Now the Politicians have a slight democratic problem.
let the economic false flaggery commence
Free money usually bites back in the long run.
The Eurozone will be fine once they sort out this mess.
USD is a bigger problem, so is UK and Japan.
U fucking know it!!!! Trolls
In the end, nobody will benefit. The Euro currency federation is a banking scam gone very bad.
You state that as if there's an alternative outcome other than "very bad."
Everybody gains from cooperation, but no one gains from centralization except the ones in power. Let's hope the next era of peace and prosperity will be a lasting one, which it has the opportunity of being now during the age of internet and instant information.
https://MiningStockValuator.com -portfolio tracker & analysis of gold and silver stocks
Marx must be laughing from his grave......
Éirinn go Brách
Eirinn Go Broke, you mean
Who benefited? The ponzi " sovereign/national" banks.(ultra)- High interest rates are 3years(2.5) out with LTRO 1&2, but the form of repayment is in €!
I would guess the Fed. gained in OIS agreed rates as well. (simple), Swaps are an agreed upon contract at the original swap rate, at contract maturity.
Sovereign national banks/ Junkster! Of Greece, Spain, Italy! Albiet,(albeit) the line between Banks/ and sovereign debt issuers is non existant!
"Who benefited? The ponzi " sovereign/national" banks.(ultra)- High interest rates are 3years(2.5) out with LTRO 1&2, but the form of repayment is in €! "
This only works if they are repayed. Overall, it is the central government and the governing financial institutions above the national banks that benefit, ECB, IMF, World Bank, etc. When a country defaults, those natinal banks simply go to those governing financial institutions for a bailout which spreads the cost to tax payers across the world. This is why bailouts are bad.
This gives those governing institutions more ability to centralize power over the entire region.
I dont find this to be a surprise at all too many takers
Well, that was pretty obvious...whoever borrowed the most.
WIR WURDEN BETROGEN!!!!
You were cheated, dizzyfingers!
You can't really call it "benefeting". They just borrowed money they didn't have to give back to inflate the prices on real estate and German's exports. That's not exactly benefiting when your money goes into consumpiton without investment in productive activities such as education, entrepreneural businesses so on.
it was called "rebalancing."
Want to see some good rebalancing next week? Watch German 2year notes & U.S. 2 year notes. Then watch the SNB note yields across the curve. ;-)
Whats REAL disposable household income anyway ?
How do you define whats real or not real ?
I don't buy any of the UBS Crap .
Whats the methodolgy ?
They have dropped a economic Neutron bomb on Ireland.
The debt radiation should be off the fucking charts....we did not suffer a decline - we have been under full scale attack since 1987.....
It's simple Corkie....Irelanbd doesn't havean army or nuclear subs. If'n it did .....guess what...
Whats REAL disposable household income anyway ?
_______________
What is it? a normalization as loved by US citizens as it allows comparison between entities when smoothering annoying Smithian economics's consequences.
If keeping on track, real disposable income will allow to tell that the NY playboy living in his penthouse the US citizen poshy life has it worse than the panhandler begging a few blocks away because the panhandler has more real disposable income that the NY playboy...
Kind of normalization US citizens relish on.
You are talking about propaganda, no citizen of any country likes that.
that increase in real disposable income the PIIGS was due to getting into debt: german worker saves---> puts his money in German bank---> German bank lends to Spanish bank----> Spanish banks lends funds to developer to build empty houses----> Spanish construction worker gets a raise because of the scarcity of skilled construction trades. However that increase in real disposable income of that Spanish construction worker was financed through debt and now the debt has to be paid back.
Therefore the chart would reveal much more if it would show the increase in disposable income net of debt.
who benefits from the euro?
in the case of the dollar, the fed banks pay out a 6 percent dividend to their stockholders (whoever they are)
http://www.federalreserve.gov/aboutthefed/section7.htm
does the ecb have a similar provision for a fixed payout to its shareholders?
6 percent ain't so bad in a nirpy world
6 %? Holy shit Batman, sign me up! /sarc
the shareholders of the ECB are the 17 central banks of the eurozone.
The Belgian National Bank is a private company under a special law by the State. You can buy shares, must expect though that Parliament (and so the State) take precedence in everything. This applies to the Bank of Italy (12%) too, with the President appointing the Governor per decree, and the Bank of Greece,
The German BundesBank (19%) is de facto a State Bank but de jure completely independent. Again, subject to a special law.
The Bank of Estonia is a State Bank, same as the Central Bank of Ireland, the Bank of Spain (8%), the Bank of France (14%) founded by Napoleon in 1800, the Central Bank of Cyprus, the Central Bank of Luxembourg, the Central Bank of Malta, De Nederlandsche Bank founded by King William I in 1814, the Austrian National Bank, the Bank of Portugal, the Bank of Slovenia, the National Bank of Slovakia, and the Bank of Finnland founded in 1812 by Tsar of all Russias Alexander I.
urban dictionary now includes "foam the runway"
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=foam+the+runway
The smart ones deleveraged and promptly got punished by the paper pushers. I still think Iceland will get thumped by TPTB for rejecting the banker threats initially. They will think of something, probably Carbon
Tax the shit of their volcano's for starters.
îf the Icelandic are lucky they will get that...if not 100.000 Somali refugees assigned by the UN. Those Icelandic are sure too white, it is not acceptable!
If corzine were to visit Iceland.....
Yes, permanently with one of those hot water geysers piped into his arse
Who benefited the most ? Probably the banksters insisting on 'austerity' so they can continue to receive their interest payments on made up out of thin air 'credit'. Also the crooked politicians they bribed to shove this stuff through the back door.
Now the public, getting bad signals in the form of low interest rates and the bought-and-paid-for media were told that All Is Great. Go out and spend. Take vacations. Buy houses. (Yes they were foolish - - -but are taught nothing about history or economics in the mandatory public schools).
And when it all inevitably crashes, who benefits and who pays ? (Not only do you have to pay the banksters, their media scolds you for your past sins - - while their masters are stealing your money because they are 'too big to fail').
BTW - - 'Germany' is just a concept. There are individual German middle class people who likely didnt do well. Its likely there are all sorts of German (and other ) banksters & politicians who did quite well. Same for the other 'nations' individual people. Same for the USA.
When I think about the EU charade and the empty promises to bailout insolvency.. This song comes to mind.
And out rolls the latest bulletin...
Supervisory guidance for managing risks [err debt] associated with the settlement of foreign exchange transactions - consultative document
http://www.bis.org/publ/bcbs229.htm
Taken as a whole, did the EU benefit or not? It is after all supposed to be a Union.
Taken as a whole? That's a fair argument, and an earlier Tyler post. Imagine a family trust fund. This fund has 8 children, and 3 are maniacal imbeciles.
How should the, Trusts reserves be ( appropriated/disseminated), amongst the family ? That's Europe!
Not necessarily a good comparison. A trust often already has designated who and what is inherited, just like a will. The executer of a trust must follow those instructions despite who is an imbecile.
What about trade imbalances? http://www.social-europe.eu/2011/03/change-of-lose-europe/ and http://eulaw.wordpress.com/2011/06/19/democracy-is-not-the-fundamental-p...
...and the Socialists have a German Army to go with the American Gay Pride Army now http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19295351
...all your accounts are become Corzine Vapor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZMuOrpHn54&feature=player_embedded http://www.silverdoctors.com/ann-barnhardt-if-youre-still-in-these-markets-youre-either-stupid-or-on-drugs/
...the Israelis are about to pull the Iran Trigger http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/9480250/Israels-trigger-finger-grows-itchy-over-the-nuclear-threat-from-Iran.html http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4269454,00.html
...and you already paid for your 1.2 Billion Rounds, and then some..., of Suicide Vampire Squid 666 Shooter bullets in your Great Wal Mart of China PIIGS Gun. http://www.hammeringtruth.com/?p=5914 http://rt.com/usa/news/us-army-riot-gear-431/
http://etfdailynews.com/2012/08/16/gerald-celente-my-bones-tell-me-this-thing-is-coming-down-fast-gld-slv/
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/obama-invites-egypt-s-islamist-leader-mohammed-morsi-to-u-s-1.449695
http://www.algemeiner.com/2012/08/16/muslim-brotherhood-crucifies-opponents-attacks-secular-media/
http://quran.com/5/33 <----Pathetic and Weak
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg0BPvW4Quo <----Domestic Enemy
How in the heck ,? do you find these links BlackholeDivestment
...I read everything I can, 12 hours or more often a day. Sometimes I just remember old (been watching for many years) reports and as a result, because they relate to what is going on now, everything comes together and makes for a painting people would surely miss. I have been guitly of being ill informed before, and spouted off complete bullshit as a result, and I'm sure that continues, but, I try not to. There are some really great sites out there that make it easy to gain knowledge on what's happening, some are just evil and some are real winners. You know me man, I don't really care much if I agree with the tint, political religous etc... I just mark the reports in my head, good or bad etc,,, so it's possible to get a good analysis etc... I like reading the evil bullshit as much as the good reporting, it lets you in on what that spirit is up to.
Since it is my conviction that providing any support for what is going on in the market (labor or gains) and on a geopilitical etc,,, level and being a Christian ta boot, I spend a great deal of time sifting through everything, without pay of course, lol, but I'm just compelled to watch and often I try to add some thought for people that care about everyone in general, so people don't get caught in the whirlwind don't cha know. Lol. Believe me, every day, just about, I could post way more, and then some, ...comments beyond the rock and roll parable smack in the face, lol. Anyway, it's not my intent to be too much of an asshole, lol, just making an effort to wake up the sleeping Bride, lol, the one not wearing spiritual pants, lol, and even though I can't make returns in this pathetic and evil market at this point, the trends all tie in. That's why I love ZH and all the Fight Club comments so much too. There's some of the best info on the planet here, as you know, but man it certainly looks like more than a few people could use a bit more info than they have been getting or have the time to access, so it's great to be able to throw a few links out and maybe clear up the heart(s) a bit maybe. In short, I blame the Holy Spirit and my own selfishness ultimately, meaning giving a gift to someone, be it a rebuke or a love tap, lol, is really for the Giver's sake. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjP1B2H9xV0
Ridiculous article. The whole idea of creating the eU was to bring up the living standards of the southern european countries. Do you kmow what the minmum wage still is in Portugal, spain or greece, and whats the minimum wage of the northern countries? You cant compare the unconparable.
Thank goodness for a think tank site who was able to bamboozle you into crafting such meaningful bonding, for your soul purpose in becoming a fish.
Finally, LEAP/E2020 announces the resumption of its political anticipation training next autumn, which will henceforth take place on line to satisfy the demand coming out of the four corners of the planet. If GEAB is a “fish”, an end product of anticipation, with this training, we hope to teach a growing number of people to “fish” for direction in the troubled waters of the future. Because hopes that the endgame of the world before the crisis leads to the building of a better world after the crisis, it seems essential to us to build the anticipation capacities of as many people as possible. In fact, it’s this absence of anticipation which for the most part has caused the mistakes at the current crisis’ origin.
This training will be organized in partnership with the non-profit Spanish foundation FEFAP (Fondacion por Educacion E Formacion has Politica Anticipation) recently set up thanks to a donation from Franck Biancheri [13].
http://www.europe2020.org/spip.php?article736&lang=en
Monaco FM extols haven for the rich - 19 Jun 09
Central Planners are sniffing around for big wallets to instill broken laws created 2 hours ago. This Government theft takes back and redistributes funding a unsustainable government coffer.
If you have a boatload of money, two things happen:
A international manhunt will begin on the these crackpots who think they can steal from anyone at will. They call themselves, big player’s in the Global market development. You will not hear a peep from MSM, it will just happen.
FYI
""Thank goodness for a think tank site who was able to bamboozle you into crafting such meaningful bonding, for your soul purpose in becoming a fish.""
I agree but the fish is going up for air and is becoming more aware that it is a fish!
The three countries you mention specifically all have minimum wages, Germany does not.
Exactly what in the article is ridiculous, the notion that it is fine for Germans to keep shelling out so that other nations can have what the Germans themselves do not?
It is ridiculous because this increase in disposable income (and living standards) and the creation of a new middle class in the more empovrished zones of europe was the main reason for setting up the EU in the first place.
One thing is the percentage growth the other the actual living standard/income. Southern countries started at a much lower level and they still have lower living standards than northern countries thats why you cant compare them. Do you think that a person earning 450 euros minimum monthly wage in Portugal has the same living standard of someone earning the "lowest" wage in germany? Please people read up on the subject before commenting.
I repeat...THIS WAS THE REASON WHY THE EU WAS SETUP if anyone here does not know this then they shouldnt be reading this blog.
Then you have to equate what the northern (export) countries earnt with their exports to this new middle class that found itself with some disposable income. For gods sake where do you people live have you no brains? I dont mean to be offensive but this is so obvious that it hurts. Northern countries have benefited tremendously by the EU be it through the curency be it through exports to other EU countries.
This chart explains itself, to any sane Z/H reader! ( heavy sarc). http://www.newyorkfed.org/index.html
When the page opens. expand it, or screen shot it! Small business participation<
Yen, good job on the link. It does explain a great deal. Check out the page on a "Day in the Life of a Small Business Owner." Three small businesses....in New York City. There's no doubt that is completely relevant to the entire country! sarc/ The next survey is likely to be held in Washington DC.
Thank You for taking the time! Yen.
Stay flat on Sunday.
the only relevant metric that compares changes in standards of living across various income deciles- namely changes in real disposable household income - it is precisely the PIIGS that benefited, while countries such as Germany and Austria were left in the dust.
Wasn't that the point?
Only if you're counting effects on humans. Effects on corporations and the superrich (human or not--you decide) could be completely skewed Germany's way.
You'd never know from this data.
No, not really ... because most of the people people in deciles, even the top one, don't matter.
The point was a very small part of the top decile and as the other replier said, those don't generally get measured.
I say, can this possibly mean anything?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19295351#
17 August 2012 Last updated at 07:20 ET
German army's crisis role widenedThe German military will in future be able to use its weapons on German streets in an extreme situation, the Federal Constitutional Court says.
Seems familiar.
Have they been buying hollowpoints en gross too?...
God bless GE!
P/E 15 General Electric?
Immelt sellout G.E.?
The plutocratic (anti)german NWO-government is even setting up military home-security troops already! So far 17 companies IIRC.
The "funny" thing is, the media, that run amok, if a drug-negro receives a slap, are treating this like the daily bell ringing at the NYSE: nothing to see here, go on.
Ever heard of INDECT? 99% of the people in the EUSSR have not. A program to observe ccivilian european cities with drones.
The bankers and politicians benefitted from the Euro, not many others working harder and harder to survive bigger and bigger government and higher and higher inflation and taxes.
Think the next September currency raid is on the EUD?:
http://stockcharts.com/def/servlet/SC.pnf?chart=fxe,PLTADANRBO[PA][D][F1!3!!!2!20]&pref=G
In the age of e-money what does Europe need the Euro for anyway? Better to have the EU nations competing directly against each other as it created more real wealth.
Who really benefitted?
Why Greece of course. Via the EU banker scam, Greece has been able to borrow massive amounts of wealth from the rest of Europe they'll never have to pay back.
And it wasn't the Greek people. It was the Greek government borrowing all that wealth.
We have the same banker scam going on here in America. Via the Fed banker scam, the US government has been able to borrow massive amounts of wealth from the American people, $16 trillion minus what they've borrowed from other nations, and they'll never pay it back.
And we don't even get the interest from it. Fed gets the interest from it. Fed loans our wealth to the government, but they get the interest from it, not us.
Pretty slick setup they've got there. Gosh, I should'a been a Fed banker.
Or a government worker, riding that gravy train.
Or a Greek government official, looting the rest of Europe, borrowing money I know I'll never have to pay back.
And I get to tax the people for the interest I have to pay the bankers.
Damn, what a perfect setup. Why the hell didn't I think of it?
Maybe I should throw my support behind the Fed. They're smarter than everybody in America.
Or maybe the government. They came up the scam. Or at least went along with it.
You old " ME"? Welcome back! I just JUNKED YA!
Bring back the junk!!
Welcome back?
I haven't gone anywhere.
And I love junks. Shows I'm ruffling some feathers out there.
The ability to consume is an ephemeral benefit at best ... in the end he who ended up with more land out of the equation will have benefitted the most ... and it won't be most of the Greeks, that's for damn sure (it won't be the majority of Germans either of course, it will be a very small percentage of both).
Geesh, look at the Netherlands. Talk about the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. Similar story in Belgium. What is going on there?
Welcome to your fate. international slave earners.
Again, when big organization’s cannot afford to sustain, they go after ways to steal money to feed distressed government budget funding.
Let’s look at Interpol Headlines
http://www.interpol.int/
Now we’ll click on the most wanted link
http://www.interpol.int/Wanted-Persons
We better put those three [Photo not available] on our milk carton alert list.
Let’s move along to the NSA website.
http://www.nsa.gov/index.shtml
You kind of feel like you’re reading daily headline’s from Yahoo, MSN or Huffpost. My favorite link on the NSA..
NSA/CSS Strategy
http://www.nsa.gov/about/strategic_plan/index.shtml
Well fuck me! Guess the strategy is to milk us by keeping NSA in business.. Naturally, we don’t have to cover Dykes of Homeland Security public debacle.
/LOL
From each according to their ability, and to each according to their need.
Hi,................I'm Karl Marx/Keynes...And I approve of this message.
Stay away from those 'austrailian economist' them 'people' crazy!!
Coming next to the theater you live in???
While allow me to show you folks. It's the new wonder produced by none other than one of 'Merica's finest........................
Leonard Pitts ( thank you, thank you veeeery much).
Ladies and gentlemen... I present to you the highly esteemed and critically acclaimed..
Leonard!!!
Come on down!! ( Que thunderous applause)!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/northwestvoices/2018941001_rightwi...
They are trying to draw you out. Don't take the bait. These people are half as smart as they 'think' they are and twice as dumb as you even know..
Peaceful non-compliance is a viable and moral option. Always has been.
Simply refusing to play will send them into panic mode.
REFUSE TO PLAY.
And yes that means for me voting for willard the clown romney. Why? Because he is not barack insane obama. I'd vote for Rosanne barr or double agent donald the fuck trump over the channel we've been stuck on for the last nearly four years.
You can't encourage these creatures with reward for failure.
Disrupt the system. Slow it down. Give more people the opportunity to become aware.
"These people are half as smart as they 'think' they are and twice as dumb as you even know.."
It is foolish to underestimate ones adversary
Whoa...wait...what?
Refuse to play- vote for Romney? What a complete non sequitur. Better to vote for a turnip, or a fire hydrant, or your cat. Voting Romney is the complete opposite of refusing to play, that is "Thank you sir, may I have another?"
Lowest Belgian decile income declined by 45% from 2000 to 2010?
It is horrible.
Germain madchens are getting raped by Russians and Muslims.
It is getting unbearable.
We need Americans to come and save us.
Calm Before The Storm? http://shar.es/7mwjq
I was looking back through some threads from today, which I do often, and it never is any less funny reading everyone.
Not only is ZH the best place on the interwebs for financial and political news, it is the best place for dry/intelligent humor! This is literally the only site in the world that everyone should read every day if they want to have a clue in life.
Go down to the basement for me. Unplug his PS3 and take it back upstairs. While your at it, block his internet IP address on the house router. hehehehehe
Green Arrow, whore :-)
Ha ha! +1
I do that to. Remember the time stamp!
I'm sleeping my ass of today! I work 6 days a week!
Thanks for a couple of beers ) Ladies & Gents!
The real question is how has the German Oligarchy been doing since the inception of the Euro. I suspect quite well otherwise they wouldn't have allowed it to persist this long. Nigel Farage says that Merkel is more concered about the end of their "European experiment" than doing what's best for the people. What else is new? They want to be the United States of Europe. Germany, Italy, and France combined have more gold than the U.S. so to be on equal footing they have to remain a unit. The total Eurozone holdings are almost double U.S. holdings. With China consolidating power in the Far East the Europeans have much more clout to negotiate if they stick together, especially given China's rapidly increasing desire for gold. China would likewise benefit greatly from the Eurozone holding together and unifying politically. First, it gives them another avenue of diversfiication out of the U.S., and second the more politically unified the Eurozone becomes, the more likely they'll be to sell some of their massive gold holdings to China at some point, especially if China is viewed as an ally due to their support of the Euro. Those in power in the Eurozone will probably make a drive toward greater political union even if the people don't want it, and they will probably get it. Not only is the Eurozone not breaking up, Iceland is on the verge of becoming an official member within a few years at most. Croatia is set to join next year. The Eurozone is adding new members which is the exact opposite of falling apart, isn't it?
German Oligarchy? Oh ! I'm thinking "Talking Heads" up all night!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imWnuirIL8o
sell your thimgs. do not leave your money with zionist lizard vankers. come to the mountain my frie mn ds. I am truth
Wow, I was thinking Jet Lag in Brisbane! I guess Fruit Loops, and Leche are ok!
"Federal Appeals Court Rules Brokerages Can Use Segregated Client Funds to Pay Creditors"
HEY TYLERS! WHAT'S THE 411 ON THIS!
JON CORZINE - $1.2 billion dollar teflon man, experimental design to see if the U.S. populace can be fleeced and raped over and over and keep bleating while placidly grazing thistle and bindweed or led off to be sheared /slaughtered.
Kleptoligarchy = 1
U.S. Populace = 0
What a shame this article is: no one has ever declined to say, that the middleclass in most of the richer countries, including italy, has suffered.
But the exporting industries of germany has been the winner overall, which is benefitting from sacrifices all over europe: their own hartz IV people, italy who now is paying for german export credits at risk in ESP, P, Gr, IE and the other European countries like austria, who contribute to this.
In Figures: while Germany has at about 470 Billions of outstanding bills, it is paying and liable only for 320 Billions, thus getting supported. And by whom ? Italy has outstandings of 90 Billions but is paying/liable for 210 Billions.
In addition to this, Germany, like A, NL and FI is receiving support of the crisis itself via abnormally low debt interest rates.
Obviously, there is shere no understanding of the crisis at all, at least at zerohedge.
What a quaint notion - a middle class.pffff
Very Belle Epoque
It is possible that I misread your statement, do you have anything to back up the numbers you give?
It's like the poor relations who are entertaining their richer counterparts. They max out their credit cards to make it appear that they are no worse off, only to find that the payment of the principal and interest makes them insolvant.
Carpe Diem, baby :)
Euroland is not the US, therefore we need to ...... rehabilitate Hitler.
For your reading pleasure, I bring you Professor Richard Werner. This piece appeared in the Daily Telegraph on Friday and I post it in it's entirety.
Take it away good Professor:
Professor Richard Werner, of the University of Southampton, says he has found a way to resolve Europe’s financial crisis, and Germany had it all along.
No, German Chancellor Angela Merkel hasn’t been keeping it all to herself; the blueprint is a little older, and more controversial than that.
Hitler’s central banker, Dr Hjalmar Schacht, knew how to deal with a great depression, Prof Werner tells us. He argues it’s about time we revived his sage economic ideas now.
Firstly, the plan involves the European Central Bank buying the banking system’s bad assets at face value, which Prof Werner says would not cost taxpayers or cause inflation.
Next – and here’s Dr Schacht’s 1930s magic – the Spanish government and others should stop selling pricey government bonds entirely.
Instead, they should fund themselves through loan contracts from banks in their countries, which Prof Werner says would result in cheaper sovereign borrowing.
All very appealing – but shouldn’t we be wary of using ideas favoured by the Nazis?
“If we don’t want to adopt economic policies on the basis that they were favoured by Hitler’s government, which is an understandable viewpoint, then we should not have introduced the euro in the first place,” Prof Werner responds.
“The introduction of a single European currency, with the central bank located in Germany, was, after all, favoured by Hitler and his technocrats.”
Anything remotely related to Hitler has become so distorted that it cannot even be mentioned, if someone were to unearth footage of Hitler stating that 1+1=2 and that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west there are a sizable number of people who would scream for the immedeiate banning of mathematics and astronomy as Nazi ideology.
You are correct Lednbrass. But I would add that present day Euroland has evolved into a National Socialist Germany dominated Europe circa 1942, less the uniforms. What is so funny (actually tragic) is that as soon as you get away from sovereign nation states, you get a Germany dominated continant very quickly. Just like 2 and 2 always adding up to 4.
Spain, Portugal and Greece have in effect lost nothing in this crisis other than the decade long mirage nurtured by subsidies as well as cheap and easy credit.
Europe is a done deal folks.
Just look at the clowns running the show, herman van rumpoy anyone? Jose barrosso a maoist communist? Just think on these two for a start, as there are far too many useless, clueless fuckers to go into.
Never had a job outside pollotics, actually believe the bollocks they spout, rich beyond most folks comprehension, never have to worry if the bills are going to be paid, chauffer driven from one venue to the next spouting communistic bullshit. Need I go on?
They havent got a clue, because they do not live like the rest of humanity. They just believe they know best for over 500 million people. Hows that democracy working out for you folks eh? I do believe however, that the time is running short for these parasites.
History has a nasty, filthy habit of repeating itself.
Isn't there a gas station somewhere in Europe waiting to hang van rumpoy and barrosso by their heels from the sign?
I have personally spoken to god. I urge akl of you my brothers to join my sermon on sunday. as the lords prophetwe will wear sach clothe and shave our heads on the eigth inception.yahweh commands us to give away our gold and possessions. cime with me my children to the promise land
one of gods angels name biff came to me. the end is coming in december. we musr repent
Well, the argument of "nobody forced you to borrow" already should have been enough to counter the naming and shaming that the PIIGS country do in order to get the AAA countries to foot the bill of their "drunk, broke, and wayward neighbors" as ZH eloquently puts it. This article is another piece or armament to combat the extortionists.
On another note, the German army has been granted permission to be deployed on home soil in case of an national threat or catastrophic event. Demonstrations are not part of these. The German government needs to agree to the deployment. But better keep an eye on the Reichstag fire detection system.
It is true that nobody forced them to borrow but the other side of that truth is that NOBODY FORCED THEM TO LEND.
A little bit of due diligence would have gone a long way, particularly as it was known that Greece should not have joined the Euro according to the EU bureaucrats and it was only the politicians overriding the bureaucracy that clinched the deal along with some sexy accounting work by Greece in conjunction with Goldman Sachs.