My man Simon Johnson, he of the weak fiscal knees, is back in form here as he unloads on a lead soloist among the chorus of hypocritical Euro-toads now croaking over the rumbling Greek sovereign bond volcano, and particularly upon one dark Teutonic ogre named Axel Weber, the jowly scowly man shown at left apparently driving home a mordant point with ye olde skunk eye.
Why him? Beacuse this legendary back room Issimo is a man of steely credit grip and utterly "insider-only" moneymaking; and
unfortunately he is waiting in the wings to become the next Kaiser of the Euro zone, succeeeding the toxic troll Trichet.
Heeere's Simon:
"... As Mr. Weber aspires to European-level leadership, here is the big issue. Is it his intention to manage the currency zone to suit the preferences of the core nations (i.e., Germany), while letting those on the periphery be whipped around by policies that are not suited for them?... German officials [like Weber] are keen to criticize the southern periphery of the eurozone, but let’s face it – eurozone monetary policy was highly procyclical (exaggerating the boom and the bust, e.g., in Spain), and regulators looked the other way as northern/core banks extended credit to the Mediterranean and East European neighbors.Simon makes nice fun of Axel's role in the vast coverup (sorry... sublation) of German bank hyper-leveraging, or rather hyper-losing, in the recently hyper-popped civilized land lot credit frenzy.The upside benefited German exporters; the downside is now being laid entirely at the door of “profligate” nations... Germany and Mr. Weber have been central in building a version of the Bretton Woods fixed exchange rate system within Europe. The entire burden of adjustment is placed on deficit countries (talk to Greece); it is considered beyond the pale to even suggest that German fiscal policy may be too tight, that Germany needs to expand domestic demand, or – heaven forbid – that Germany’s intention to export its way back to growth (with a current account surplus, in their view) is not exactly a model of enlightened economic leadership.... On top of this, and unlike Bretton Woods, there is no mechanism for adjusting exchange rates within the currency union."
Oh little ones of Greater Sweden, rise up! join your Latin brothers and sisters! Stop this Kraut mug on his brutish progress to the throne of torture and bondage. You too have nasty chains to break. Look closely, comrades -- the links are right about your throats.
Comments (16)
no good will come of the university of konstanz
(+n->Krötenkapelle)
Posted by spelling nazi | February 19, 2010 8:38 PM
Posted on February 19, 2010 20:38
no good will come of the university of konstanz
(+n->Krötenkapelle)
Posted by spelling nazi | February 19, 2010 8:38 PM
Posted on February 19, 2010 20:38
http://moneywatch.bnet.com/economic-news/blog/maximum-utility/europes-sovereign-debt-problem-causes-and-solutions/475/
nice guy mark thoma has a solution
"establish a bail out or insurance fund with the contributions for individual countries linked to their compliance with the rules regarding permissible debt loads (e.g. a debt to GDP ratio no larger than 60%)...countries must face penalties of some sort in order to change their behavior. If they know they will be bailed out if things fall apart and that no penalties will be assessed, there’s no reason to avoidy risky high debt strategies."
amazing
as if gubmint borrowing is an addictive behaviour
err like that other great horror
a policy of deliberate high inflation
of course neither is
in and of itself anything of the sort
the government unlike say a huge corporate entity like citi bank
has no constraints that are not ultimately self imposed
including joining a rigged crap game like the euro zone
Posted by op | February 19, 2010 9:56 PM
Posted on February 19, 2010 21:56
lacewell gets 175 comments
axel gets ..some entity calling itself the spelling nazi
once again it's made plain
what matters and what doesn't
when will i learn
i guess i'm just too musty
Posted by op | February 19, 2010 10:10 PM
Posted on February 19, 2010 22:10
spelling Nazi,
With op some sort of oblique reference to 'Die Rote Kapelle' may be woven in to this title. I can't figure it out, if that is the case.
Posted by Boy, N. K. | February 19, 2010 10:10 PM
Posted on February 19, 2010 22:10
Is there a new lacewell post? where? where?
Posted by Boy, N. K. | February 19, 2010 10:20 PM
Posted on February 19, 2010 22:20
op, You are at your best in the morning. The roar of Ahab, the moans of Hamlet. I've been hearing that stuff in my head all day.
Posted by Boy, N. K. | February 19, 2010 10:25 PM
Posted on February 19, 2010 22:25
Yeah, and the spelling nazi double-posted too... your comments count is artificially inflated, op. Maybe you should remake yourself as Michael Eric Dyson, conveniently wedged in between Geraldo Rivera and the Grand Wizard.
Posted by gluelicker | February 19, 2010 10:29 PM
Posted on February 19, 2010 22:29
Owen, the Bracegirdle-Spanakopitas of the world draw so many comments because they're like one of those infuriating toy clowns; the kind that emits giddily psychotic squeaks and grating cackles when you pull the ring on the back. The irritant factor is enormous. But Weber and his lard-sucking colleagues are merely evil.
Posted by Al Schumann | February 19, 2010 10:36 PM
Posted on February 19, 2010 22:36
I know how to get people to read this post. You need a...
... giant bunny! That should help.
Posted by Al Schumann | February 19, 2010 10:41 PM
Posted on February 19, 2010 22:41
Helps, but distracts. Try stuffing one of those carrots down that bunny! Gonna be one unhappy bunny. See?
Posted by Boy, N. K. | February 19, 2010 10:59 PM
Posted on February 19, 2010 22:59
op, have you been following the Iceland kreppa? Despite the assistance of Michael Hudson awhile back, there seemed to be a bias there in favor of Eurozoning. That's the way I took it, at least.
Posted by Boy, N. K. | February 19, 2010 11:06 PM
Posted on February 19, 2010 23:06
l'il n.k.:
iceland
isn't all about fish and high finance
it has other fine export products too
http://www.grapevine.is/media/w490/c0d62d21715e75fa.jpg
Posted by op | February 20, 2010 6:59 AM
Posted on February 20, 2010 06:59
super Al
that lord among the bunny kind
might just make a euro czar
both halves of the zone could hate
oh and the carrots ??
looks like they have a few places in iceland they might get stuffed
Posted by op | February 20, 2010 7:03 AM
Posted on February 20, 2010 07:03
glue
i always run up my comment count
and geraldo is a favorite of my
he once showed me how to echo fart
out a pre dwan north carolina
hotel window
Posted by op | February 20, 2010 7:14 AM
Posted on February 20, 2010 07:14
op, in my case the low comment count has to do with my ignorance of European financial wranglings. Therefore a holographic projection of my universal feelings toward interest (bad idea) and money-fetishism (worse idea) should be considered applied, where warranted.
Posted by CF Oxtrot | February 20, 2010 4:52 PM
Posted on February 20, 2010 16:52