they should get together and do some debt collectin'

Oh, is this the same President of France that intimated that there might be war or revolution over the crisis? He's a real winner. Nice job, Frenchies.

What I don't like is that it's THEIR currency, but they're begging US, the United States, to bail them out. Riiiiight, like we don't have money troubles of our own.

..it's like surrendering to Germany is a national pasttime

Bring back the DM!

And so today Germany many sucessfully do what it tried to do 71 years ago.

So is this like a re-occurance of a battered woman syndrome where the guy (Germany) beats the woman (France) but she keeps going back to him cause isn't willing to do without?

Europe must be "refounded" he said, with France and Germany at its heart to ensure "a zone of stability".

Is this the same France that rushed out an $11 billion package of austerity cuts and tax rises? Or is it a different one? Je suis confused.

So you dont need an army of storm troopers to conquer Europe, just an army of bankers.

Kit Fister: RedTank: And so today Germany many sucessfully do what it tried to do 71 years ago.

Hitler never died. he came up with a scheme to carefully manipulate france into a Stockholme-esque position of desiring Germany and begging to be taken...

You mean his Wall St. handlers did.

Conjuring Hitler (new window)

groppet: So you dont need an army of storm troopers to conquer Europe, just an army of bankers.

Not just Europe. I've been saying this for the past 10 years (since 2001): the next war will not be fought with guns and soldiers. The next war will be fought through economic means. It's cleaner, it's easier, doesn't destroy the property that the winning side desires, and makes the winning side look good.

The school bully has evolved to being a loan shark, but one that's been legally blessed.

Maybe they should start with just the Sudetenland first and see how things go.

Dude, too soon.

Hunter-gather bands -> Feudalism -> Nation-states -> Super-states

The US is a super-state. The USSR used to be, wants to be again. Europe wants to be a super-state.

US states GDP equivalent countries

About the nation-state

We always think we're at the end of history. But really, we're just at the beginning.

The last time there was a big ole' depression, it was followed by a shooting war. This financial disruption almost certainly won't lead to a shooting war, but it might change countries.

This disruption is a result of a lot of bad loans being made. Usually, lenders don't make bad loans, as they're interested in being repaid. This time however, they got the bright idea that they'd sell the loans, so they didn't care about whether they'd be repaid. That basic issue has not been addressed.

This looming disruption is about who's gonna pay. Who's gonna be the bag holder.

The Bestest: ..it's like surrendering to Germany is a national pasttime

Sweet Surrender - Sarah Mclachlan