i need a backrub :(

Last time Germany was highly negatively effected by the US economy it didn't work out too well...

burndtdan: i need a backrub :(

Head to the next meeting of heads-of-state and dress up like a German Chancellor. Protip: don't go with the Hitler look.

cameroncrazy1984: Protip: don't go with the Hitler look.

good call.

I laughed!

holiday_inn_in_cambodia: I'm busy.

Lemon party in progress??

Podna: Lemon party in progress??

Little too young overall. Go with Cheney, Biden, and McCain.

Run with it.

fosborb: Podna: Lemon party in progress??

Little too young overall. Go with Cheney, Biden, and McCain.

Run with it.


yes run with it. in a direction that is away from me.

fosborb: Little too young overall. Go with Cheney, Biden, and McCain.

Run with it.

You owe me a new keyboard.

I puked on it

HowlingFrog: You owe me a new keyboard.

I puked on it

Satyagraha: Those of you world leaders with a clue, raise your right hand

I haven't seen that one before. Jeez that guy needs to get off the world stage so the adults can get to work trying to pick up the pieces after him. What a farking joke.

US economic policies??? What has beenthe German unemployment rate over the last 8 years? How many recession have they had. Sounds to me like somebodyu is trying to divert blame. Did not Hitler blame the Jews?

From stratfor.com:

"For Germany, monetary policy is trickier. For all practical purposes, the country has no central bank. Serving that function is the relatively autonomous European Central Bank (ECB), which might have a strong Germanic disposition but does not report directly to Berlin - and does not respond well to prodding by individual governments. The ECB has cut rates in 2008 and is receiving liquidity support from the United States. But it is not free to serve merely as an instrument of Berlin's domestic economic policies."

"European banks on the whole are not nearly as healthy as their American counterparts. Spanish banks aside, most European banks have not been as involved in subprime lending, but that is where the favorable column ends. Scandinavian banks are heavily involved in the Baltic tiger economies, all of which are now in recession. Austrian banks are exposed to Balkan markets, which are notoriously fickle. Central European banks are inexperienced and undercapitalized. German banks' corporatist links make for some creative accounting at times, while British banks are awash in Russian assets with questionable intentions. French banks have to put up with a higher degree of state intrusion, while Italian banks are not exactly the pinnacle of human financial achievement.

The point of all that being that while Europeans are correct in that subprime is not nearly as dangerous to them as it is to the Americans, any credit crunch - regardless of its cause - is going to hammer Europe far harder than it will the United States because the European financial structure is weaker than its American counterpart.

And that is before one even considers solutions. The European equivalent of the U.S. Federal Reserve - the European Central Bank - lacks the authority to regulate bank policy; that power remains in the hands of the union's 27 members. And there is no Europe-wide equivalent to the U.S. Treasury Department. So most potential policies that could deal with the rising credit crisis at the European level essentially need to be formed ad hoc by 27 different states - each with veto power. And even the United States couldn't get a bailout plan through Congress on the first try."

hasty ambush

What you posted may be true but it has nothing to do with Merkel's criticism. The crisis originated in the US. Do you deny that?

hasty ambush: US economic policies??? What has beenthe German unemployment rate over the last 8 years? How many recession have they had. Sounds to me like somebodyu is trying to divert blame. Did not Hitler blame the Jews?

From stratfor.com:

"For Germany, monetary policy is trickier. For all practical purposes, the country has no central bank. Serving that function is the relatively autonomous European Central Bank (ECB), which might have a strong Germanic disposition but does not report directly to Berlin - and does not respond well to prodding by individual governments. The ECB has cut rates in 2008 and is receiving liquidity support from the United States. But it is not free to serve merely as an instrument of Berlin's domestic economic policies."

"European banks on the whole are not nearly as healthy as their American counterparts. Spanish banks aside, most European banks have not been as involved in subprime lending, but that is where the favorable column ends. Scandinavian banks are heavily involved in the Baltic tiger economies, all of which are now in recession. Austrian banks are exposed to Balkan markets, which are notoriously fickle. Central European banks are inexperienced and undercapitalized. German banks' corporatist links make for some creative accounting at times, while British banks are awash in Russian assets with questionable intentions. French banks have to put up with a higher degree of state intrusion, while Italian banks are not exactly the pinnacle of human financial achievement.

The point of all that being that while Europeans are correct in that subprime is not nearly as dangerous to them as it is to the Americans, any credit crunch - regardless of its cause - is going to hammer Europe far harder than it will the United States because the European financial structure is weaker than its American counterpart.

And that is before one even considers solutions. The European equivalent of the U.S. Federal Reserve - the European Central Bank - lacks the authority to regulate bank policy; that power remains in the hands of the union's 27 members. And there is no Europe-wide equivalent to the U.S. Treasury Department. So most potential policies that could deal with the rising credit crisis at the European level essentially need to be formed ad hoc by 27 different states - each with veto power. And even the United States couldn't get a bailout plan through Congress on the first try."

Ding ding ding, winning post.

Looks like it's time to invade Poland again.

Me thinks the Bosch are going to have little harder time at it this go around than last.

Is the concern 0% interest rates, which is where we're heading.

That might be a real concern, especially since the problem is about confidence and debt rates. Getting people to borrow MORE money might not be the smartest thing to do.

Also, the debt is just being moved around, from the private sector to the public, but it is still going to have to be paid off.

The US has managed to avoid a recession by borrowing money, but now it faces a huge problem that will make you wish you had had a few small recessions over the last 20 years.

Debt has to be paid down, but at the same time people need to spend to keep the wheels turning. How do you lower your debt and keep spending?

I've always been prudent about debt, but at the same time I've joked if everyone was like me the economy would crash. Now I look around and everybody is becoming like me and I'm concerned.

michaeld5 Ding ding ding, winning post.

Looks like it's time to invade Poland again.

Me thinks the Bosch are going to have little harder time at it this go around than last.

What could be harder than painting this?

coco ebert: What you posted may be true but it has nothing to do with Merkel's criticism. The crisis originated in the US. Do you deny that?

While it's true that defaults started in America, that they have effected any other country at all is entirely that country's fault.

Nicholas Urfe

While it's true that defaults started in America, that they have effected any other country at all is entirely that country's fault.

So the smart money is the money that's magically not associated with any first world financial institution?

I saw Angela Merkel in Heidelberg once. I yelled and waved, and she looked at me.

/that is all

Like we care what a stupid Ossie says.

Nicholas Urfe: coco ebert: What you posted may be true but it has nothing to do with Merkel's criticism. The crisis originated in the US. Do you deny that?

While it's true that defaults started in America, that they have effected any other country at all is entirely that country's fault.

The crisis in the US merely served to expose the problems with the European Banks. They were responsible for creating their own messes. Spain's subprime mess did not orginate with bad US paper but their own cheap credit. They were giving out home loans with no credit checks. Ireland was almost as bad.

Germany's banks are more heavily tied to corporations than even in the US and this has lead to some Enron like accounting. The banks overvalued the assets/collateral of the corporations they loaned money to.