Germans Go Home!

May 26, 2011 By Hermann Observer in Heconomy, Helplessness, Hypocrisy Tags: Berlin, Debt, Debt Crisis, Euro, German, Germans, Germany, Greece, Humor, Privatization, Satire 1 Comment

“To Save the Euro, Germany has to Quit the Euro Zone”

“When the euro was launched, leading German politicians used to argue, with evident relish (and much to the chagrin of the British in particular), that monetary union would eventually require political union. The Greek crisis was precisely the sort of event that was expected to force the pace. But, faced with a defining crisis, Ms Merkel’s government is avoiding airy talk of political union – preferring instead to force harsh economic medicine down the throats of the reluctant Greeks, Irish, Portuguese and Spanish electorates. This is becoming both economically and politically unsustainable. If the objective is to save the currency union, perhaps policy makers are looking at this from the wrong end. In the end, paradoxically, to save the European Monetary Union, the least disruptive way forward would be for the Germans, not the periphery countries, to leave.”

And in a related story…

Everything must go! The Greek government is selling everything it still has its debt-ridden little fingers on so guess who is now interested in buying Athens International Airport? Fraport AG (Frankfurt Airport).

Germany’s Little Greece

May 24, 2011 By Hermann Observer in Heconomy, Hypocrisy Tags: Berlin, Debt, Financial crisis, German, Germans, Germany, Greece, Humor, Satire 3 Comments

Or little Greeces, I guess I should say. Remember all that German finger-pointing at Athens and the indignant lectures about “financial responsibility,” “saving until it hurts” and “working harder?”

Well four of Germany’s sixteen state governments are so way out of control with their money (or lack of it) that they now face the distinct possiblity of sliding into a homegrown debt crises of their own.

This is the first time that the so-called “stability council” has put on its “debt-brake,” emergency procedures created by the federal government two years ago which is aimed at forcing all state budgets to be in surplus by the year 2020.

And the losers are (who else?): Berlin. Oh yeah, and Bremen, Schleswig-Holstein and Saarland. And just to stick with Berlin, how high is this city in debt? It’s only around something like sort of 62 billion freakin’ euros (17,140 euros per resident).

And how does this way cool debt-brake work? That’s easy. If the states promise to be good in the future (2011 to 2019) they will get an additional 800 million financial support from the federal government each year. You know, just like the way they do it down in Greece. I can’t wait to hear the next lecture.

In den betroffenen Ländern wurden bereits Sparmaßnahmen ergriffen. Im Gegenzug erhalten sie von 2011 bis 2019 Finanzhilfen von insgesamt 800 Millionen Euro pro Jahr, um die Schuldenbremse einzuhalten und ihre Defizite abzubauen.

“Die Noch-Supermacht”

April 20, 2011 By Hermann Observer in Heconomy Tags: Berlin, Crisis, Debt, EU, Euro, Finance, German, Germans, Germany, Greece, Humor, Satire, USA 6 Comments

Like S&P, Germany ITSELF believes that it’s time for “the yet superpower” to start saving big time and pronto. And I for one would listen (you know, like listening to E. F. Hutton when they used to talk?) because the Germans have had a whole lot of experience in giving good advice like this as of late. Just look at how their recommendations have helped Greece, for instance.

“The danger is that the Americans are still lulled into a false sense of security.”

“Möglich, dass Obama dann (nach der Wiederwahl) wirklich anfängt zu sparen.”

Ground Zero? Here?

May 21, 2010 By Hermann Observer in Heconomy Tags: Berlin, Debt, EU, Euro, German, Germans, Germany, Greece, Humor, Satire 1 Comment

“Ground zero of Europe’s debt-currency-banking crisis isn’t in Greece, or Portugal, or Ireland or even Spain. It’s in Germany.”

“At one end is a powerful and highly efficient industrial export engine that generates a large trade surplus with the rest of the world, including most other countries in the eurozone. Instead of spending this new export wealth on a higher standard of living, however, parsimonious Germans prefer to save it, handing it over to thinly capitalized German banks that have proved equally efficient in destroying said wealth by investing it in risky securities issued, not coincidentally, by trading partners that need the capital to finance their trade deficits with Germany.”

“What Germans won’t accept is that they wouldn’t have been able to sell all those beautifully designed cars and well-engineered machine tools if Greeks and Spaniards and Americans hadn’t been willing to buy those goods and German banks hadn’t been so willing to lend them the money to do so. “

Austerity aw schmerity

May 4, 2010 By Hermann Observer in Heconomy Tags: Berlin, Debt, EU, German, Germans, Germany, Greece, Humor, Satire Leave a comment

Hey, the Europeans learn fast: If you’re going to abandon your economic principles, you might as well do it in a big way.

European governments and the International Monetary Fund have agreed to provide Greece with €110 billion ($145 billion) in loans over the next three years and, in the process, accept junk bonds from Greece as collateral for the humongous aid.

Gee, I could have done that. I sure hope this doesn’t affect the national debt(s) or anything.

As the largest state among the 16 countries belonging to the euro zone, Germany’s contribution to the bailout package will be the biggest.

Observing Hermann

“Was interessiert mich mein Geschwätz von gestern?”

Tag Archives: Debt