No surprise, once again austerity is contractionary!
France is back in recession, and it’s likely to continue so long as the Fourth Reich reelection is the top priority in Berlin.
The Germans need to stimulate demand at home, encourage a higher level of Euroland inflation, and get off the moral low ground they mistakenly believe is virtuous.
Gorilla says: “Plus ca change, but plus, sil vous plait!”
There’s nothing quite like a French President wanting to crack down on tax evasion, and only coincidentally just after his Budget Minister got the heave ho for having a secret Swiss bank account.
In America, some of our fellow citizens were perfectly happy to give a Presidential nomination to a big-time tax evader, but in France, they take these things seriously, or as M. Hollande put it: “This is, I think, a question of conscience. How can someone return to the parliament where a lie was told?”
Gorilla says: “The better question is how can anyone stay in the parliament and tell the truth?”
It’s long past time to join with us ex-colonial crusaders to take out the crusaders in your midst!!!
Oh, it seems you already have…
Despite all the usual conventional wisdom about “narrowing leads”, the fact is that French President Sarkozy, certainly the worst French leader since Petain, will lose by at least 5 points in the election’s second round.
And this is indeed a great result for Europe, because it means the French may decide not to continue being Angela Merkel’s lap dog.
What’s needed now is a clear statement from Hollande that France will back a stronger ECB as lender of last resort, a higher inflation rate, and an increase in stimulus spending by Northern Europe.
Gorilla says: “A fudge may still be on offer, but it has fewer nuts, so the austerity allergy may at last be propagated!”
So, it’s Hollande v. Sarkozy in Round Deux with Le Pen’s horrible daughter pulling some strings…
France has not been fortunate when it comes to leaders. Sarkozy is clearly the worst French President since Petain, Hollande seems extraordinarily lifeless (even by the standards of the Socialist Party), and the fascist who got 20% is, like her father, destined never to crawl up from the sewer she inhabits.
Gorilla says: “C’est la vie stupide!”
Gorilla’s been away from the contagion for 4 weeks, and yet nothing at all has changed:
The Germans and French remain deeply unserious about solving the sovereign debt problem.
What’s needed is a simple statement: “The ECB will be the lender of last resort and will buy sovereign debt in unlimited amounts until an acceptable interest rate floor is achieved”.
Instead, we get more austerity nonsense, more puritans v. sinners, and the kind of stupidity only previously achieved at international level by various authoritarian states and the Know Nothing Party.
Gorilla says: “KozyMer’s a dozy mare!”
Quelle surprise, Nicholas Sarkozy, who’s been lying to the French for years about the state of the country’s banks, thinks Israeli PM Netanyahu is a “liar”!
Gorilla says: “Build a settlement, wreck an economy, it’s all in the game!”
France: less growth, more austerity, less growth, more austerity!
Truly, the idiocy of the world’s current leaders is breathtaking.
What should be happening in Euroland is large scale stimulus, higher inflation targets, price floors on sovereign debt, and the ECB as lender of last resort.
What’s actually happening is a vicious, self-inflicted downward spiral that will cause further social upheaval in every country without exception.
Gorilla says: “It’s hard to set the bar any lower, but these clowns keep trying!”
French Finance Minister Francois Baroin: “The reality is that China is the third largest shareholder in the International Monetary Fund, and if China via the IMF wants to participate – not by saving Greece or the euro – but by participating in investment, that is a gesture of confidence”.
Gorilla translates: “Who knew the ECB would be relocating from Frankfurt to Beijing?”
Well, that’s what the Belgians, French, and Luxembourg are paying to buy up Dexia!
And this illustrates the real scale of the problem in Euroland: the money needed to recapitalize failing banks is likely on the order of $2 trillion or more.
Of course, this figure doesn’t even begin to solve the woes: what’s also needed are a cut in interest rates, more stimulus, allowing the ECB to be the lender of last resort, and a higher inflation target.
Meanwhile, the two biggest creditor countries, Germany and France, and their mendacious leaders are promising more firmly serious efforts to kick the can down the road!
Gorilla says: “Hard to mount a rescue when the villains have already escaped!”
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