The ECB is asking the great banks to review the risks of a potential Brexit     The European Central Bank (EC) has asked the major banks that it oversees to analyze the risks they would be faced with if Great Britain were to exit the European Union (Brexit), a source close to the situation quoted by Bloomberg says. According to the aforementioned source, the ECB is working individually with banks and it is also urging companies to be prepared for everything that could impact them, in the event of a Brexit. The governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney recently warned that a potential exit of Great Britain from the EU would affect the country's financial City and would aggravate the threats to financial stability. Last week, Mark Carney said that if Great Britain were to leave the European Union, banks would probably move some of their businesses to the EU.  So far, some European banks, including "Deutsche Bank" AG (Germany) and "ING Groep" NV (Holland) have announced that they might move their employees from Great Britain if that country were to vote in favor of exiting the European block in the referendum scheduled for June 23rd. The British division of the biggest Spanish bank, "Banco Santander" SA, has informed, in its annual report concerning its financial results, that "it has evaluated the potential consequences of a potential British exit from the EU, and the potential impact of the market instability in the period before the referendum, respectively". At the end of last week, German publication Handelsblatt also wrote that lately, the possible consequences of a potential British exit would have on the financial markets and banks have been the main concern of the ECB.  Quoting a source from the ECB, the aforementioned newspaper notes: "The Brexit is the biggest threat to financial stability this year". (A.V.)

German MPs voted to back a third bail-out for Greece on Wednesday as Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte faced the threat of a no confidence vote over his decision to support the €86bn rescue plan. After a three-hour debate, the Bundestag approved a new rescue package for Greece with a majority of 454 votes to 13. Eighteen MPs abstained.  Within Angela Merkel's ruling Christian CDU-CSU coalition, 228 MPs voted in favour of the deal, with 63 voting against and three abstentions. In an earlier vote in July, 60 coalition MPs voted "no" to new aid for Greece. Wolfgang Schaeuble, Germany’s finance minister, told policymakers … there was “no guarantee of success” … “If Greece stands by its obligations and the programme is completely and resolutely implemented” … An immediate payment of around €13bn is expected to be handed to Greece shortly so the country can make a €3.2bn loan repayment to the European Central Bank on Thursday.’ Right, let me hand you a bucket of money so you can pay me back a bit of what you already owe me that you can’t pay back. Please. As Einstein (or Mark Twain or Ben Franklin, depending on where you look) is reputed to have said, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Surely a collective insanity is at work here, convincing otherwise sentient adults that giving a bankrupt money to discharge his debts, which he will then pay back, is insane...The total that is actually going to Greece itself will be around €3bn per year, peanuts in a €12.2trill annual GDP economy.

European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi unveiled bigger-than-expected quantitative easing measures on Thursday but still faced a fierce fight from Germany over any policy that could mutualise debt in the eurozone.  "The combined monthly purchases of public and private sector securities will amount to €60bn euros,” said Mr Draghi at a press conference following a meeting of the ECB’s governing council.  “They are intended to be carried out until end-September 2016 and will in any case be conducted until we see a sustained adjustment in the path of inflation," he added, meaning the package will amount to at least €1.1 trillion.  Mr Draghi’s package of asset purchases, including bonds issued by national governments and EU institutions such as the European Commission, is intended to boost the eurozone’s flagging economy and to ward off the spectre of deflation.  It took a dramatic toll on the euro, which dropped to an 11-year low against the dollar at $1.14. ....A trillion euros here, a trillion euros there... Before you know where you are, you;re talking real money....And still the fantasy rolls on...that somehow things will be OK in the end with the single currency, despite individual countries having different tax and fiscal regimes, different industrial, agricultural and commercial capacity, different wage and benefits structures...the list goes on and on. We all know that the Eurocrats love the idea of a superstate, and that such arrangement is the only way a single currency can work. Unfortunately for these dreamers, there are several problems along the way - by and large voters don't want it, national governments don't wish to lose power, the countries have wide differences in social and economic outlook. Fiddling the figures to pretend that certain late entrants to the Euroclub met the necessary requirements for entry was the beginning of the end of any credibility in the project. Doubtless QE will be another nail in its coffin. Little wonder that all the big banks have dusted off their plans for a return to the mark, franc, peseta, drachma et al... So much for German law and High Court. They'll do their usual faux debate, issue more faux warnings, etc. They have nothing better to offer. They look at the Dresden marches and see the ghost of old Prussia, Most Germans would sooner join Islam. What Draghi did is completely illegal, but it saves the Union. It was wink-wink from Berlin all along. Mutti has things under control, and Germans' only fear is that Mutti will step down. Last week the Reich outlawed marches offensive to violent religions--much to the relief of most Germans. Dhragi thus saves beer, bratwurst, cars for the foreseeable future, the past remains buried--which means no more Israeli blackmail--and beyond that a German has no business thinking about. Meanwhile, the Project shrugs and drags its carcass on to the next crisis. Like the Plague, all it has to do is stay alive for its next victim.

FRANKFURT—A top European Central Bank official said the ECB could make asset purchases if needed, as euro-zone policy makers increasingly float the prospect of deploying a tool that is commonly used by other major central banks but stirs deep divisions in Europe. The comments, by ECB Vice President Vitor Constâncio, are the latest in a string of assurances by top officials at the central bank that it still has an array of policy options in its arsenal, even after reducing interest rates to record lows earlier this month. Recent ECB references to the idea of asset purchases, known as quantitative easing, are "only as a possibility and nothing else. Everything is possible. That was what Peter Praet said," Mr. Constâncio told reporters on the sidelines of the 16th annual Euro Finance Week in Frankfurt."If our mandate is at risk we are going to take all the measures that we think we should take to fulfill that mandate," Mr. Praet, who also heads the ECB's powerful economics division, said in the interview last week. "The balance-sheet capacity of the central bank can also be used," he added. "This includes outright purchases that any central bank can do."The officials gave no indication that such a policy is under serious consideration now. Mr. Praet said in the interview that inflation risks are balanced after the ECB's rate cut, which brought its main policy rate to 0.25%. Mr. Constâncio on Tuesday said the ECB hasn't discussed how it would conduct quantitative easing technically. The euro largely shrugged off his comments.Still, simply raising the idea of quantitative easing marks a significant shift in rhetoric from the central bank. ECB President Mario Draghi sidestepped a question about the policy at his monthly news conference on Nov. 7, saying only that the ECB had "a whole range of instruments" that could be activated before hitting the floor on interest rates. It is "remarkable how the attitude of some ECB Governing Council members toward [quantitative easing] has changed," BNP Paribas BNP.FR +0.41%BNP Paribas S.A.France: Paris ^€54.01 +0.22+0.41% Nov. 20, 2013 10:29 am Volume : 575,621 P/E Ratio 12.83Market Cap€68.13 Billion Dividend Yield 2.78% Rev. per Employee €155,68211/13/13 BNP Paribas SA Buys Belgium's ...10/31/13 BNP Paribas's Interesting Lack...10/31/13 BNP Paribas Profit Rises Despi...More quote details and news »BNP.FR inYour ValueYour Change Short position economist Ken Wattret said in a research note. "What was once a taboo, then a last resort is now an option under consideration."

Angela Merkel's domestic policy in her third term will likely be confined to higher spending. But she has grand plans for Europe. SPIEGEL has learned she wants Brussels to have far more power over national budgets. It's a risky move that EU partners and the Social Democrats are likely to oppose.

In the end, the atmosphere became downright festive in the Berlin Hall of the Parliamentary Society, a building next to the Reichstag. Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) had met there three times in the last three weeks to sound out whether they could form a coalition government. The decision was still up in the air.

Merkel gave SDP Chairman Sigmar Gabriel a questioning look, and said: "Would you like to say something?" But Gabriel beckoned to her to speak. "I have my delegation's support for what we discussed," she said. "So do I," Gabriel replied.

The grand coalition took shape shortly before 3 p.m. last Thursday. For the third time in postwar German history, Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, together with its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), and the SPD are preparing to form a coalition government. The talks are expected to begin this Wednesday. The chancellor is in a hurry because she wants to have a new government by Christmas at the latest. "Christmas will be here sooner than you think," she told fellow members of the CDU executive board on Friday afternoon.  At the beginning of her third term, Merkel has more power in Germany and Europe than any chancellor before her. There hasn't been such a strong majority behind a government in Germany's parliament, the Bundestag, since the first grand coalition half a century ago. In the midst of the European crisis, Germany has become the undisputed dominant power in Europe.

The grand coalition will hand Merkel a majority she could use to shape Germany and Europe and address major issues, including constitutional reforms in Germany and the reform of European Union institutions.

Merkel, unlike SPD Chairman Gabriel, has been unchallenged in her own party since her election victory. Little is left of the accusations that critics had leveled at Merkel, except one: That she is a chancellor without an agenda, plan or vision; that her style of government is reactive rather than proactive; and that she doesn't know where she wants to take her government and Germany.

Big Plans for Europe - In the past, Merkel has treated governing primarily as repair work. The major issues of her first two terms in office, the financial crisis and the fight to save the euro, were suitable for that approach. Will that change, now that she has the necessary power and means? Hardly at all, when it comes to Germany. There are no major reforms in the works at government ministries, and the grand coalition will focus on increasing spending to fulfil some of the parties' campaign promises.

In contrast, officials at the Chancellery are forging plans for Europe that are practically visionary for someone like Merkel. If she prevails, they will fundamentally change the European Union. The goal is to achieve extensive, communal control of national budgets, of public borrowing in the 28 EU capitals and of national plans to boost competitiveness and implement social reforms. The hope is that these measures will ensure the long-term stability of the euro and steer member states onto a common economic and fiscal path. This would be the oft-invoked and ambitious political completion of Europe's monetary union -- a huge achievement.

It isn't a new goal, but what is new is the thumbscrews Brussels will be allowed to apply if Merkel has her way, including sooner and sharper controls and veto rights, as well as contractually binding agreements and requirements. In short, this would amount to a true reconstruction of the euro zone and a major step in the direction of an "economic government" of the sort the SPD too would like to see put in place.

Germany's current economic strength helps to explain these visions for Europe, since stricter budget controls wouldn't pose a threat to Berlin at the moment. Jobless levels are so low that the country has almost reached full employment, and the budget is in good shape, at least at the national government level. In fact, public coffers are so full that the government can afford to boost domestic spending.

More Money to Spend - And that's precisely what the members of that coalition intend to do. The first item on their agenda is to hand out benefits and spend money. Thanks to the strong economy, this won't even require raising taxes. In his financial planning for the medium term, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble anticipates growing national budget surpluses from the year after next: €200 million ($274 million) in 2015, €5.2 billion in 2016 and €9.6 billion in 2017.

In other words, the government will have an additional €15 billion at its disposal in the coming years. This gives Merkel and Schäuble the necessary leeway to fulfill the desires of the CDU/CSU and the SPD for more investment in infrastructure and education without having to raise taxes. There is talk of an €11 billion fund for infrastructure alone.

Prior to the election, Merkel and Schäuble had announced their intention to use the surpluses to pay off old debts. That won't happen now, and yet the conservatives are not plagued by a guilty conscience, noting that despite the additional spending plans, the country will still remain within its debt limit requirements.

The reorganization of the financial relationships between the national and regional state governments, which is on the agenda in this term, will likely be costly for the national government. Many states would have to cut billions from their budgets so that they can make do without new borrowing starting in 2020. Many state governors complain that it's a burden their states can't handle without national government assistance. They are hell-bent on demanding financial support from Berlin in return for agreeing to a reform of the system of transfer payments from richer to poorer German states.

The states' ability to block legislation in the Bundesrat, the legislative body that represents the states, will likely become costly for the new administration long before that. Merkel is worried at the way in which preliminary coaltion talks in recent weeks turned into haggling over money between the national and state governments. "We just had a national parliamentary election, not 16 state parliamentary elections," an irritated Merkel recently told the CDU/CSU parliamentary group.

There may also be a major restructuring in the way transport projects are funded, due to the states' lack of money. The CSU's pet project, the automobile toll, stands a good chance of being approved, since it would generate new revenues.

More Powers For European Commission - During the negotiations, CSU Chairman Horst Seehofer presented a plan for how the toll could become a reality. It calls for drivers to pay an "infrastructure fee" in the future. Germans would be able claim the fee as a credit against the motor vehicle tax, so that the cost could ultimately be imposed on foreign drivers. According to the document, prepared by Transportation Minister Peter Ramsauer, this would be possible under European law. The new coalition won't face serious resistance to its spending policies, not even from the opposition. With the elimination of the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP) from the Bundestag, the voice of moderation in budget policy has disappeared. Only the economic wing of the CDU/CSU is likely to put up weak resistance. So Seehofer will get his toll, the states will be kept happy with financial gifts and the social security offices will hand out benefits. This doesn't exactly sound like an ambitious program for Merkel's second coalition government with the Social Democrats. Instead, it feels like more of the same, or a program of minor improvements, at least on the home front. But regarding Europe, Merkel is heading for strategic decisions and is likely to show more courage to take political risks than usual.

Schäuble, the last dyed-in-the-wool European among Germany's top policymakers, can be pleased. Merkel wants tangible amendments to the European Union treaties: more power for Brussels, and even more power for the much-criticized European Commission. "Unfortunately, there is no other option," say government officials.

Carrot-And-Stick Approach - Last Thursday, after the final round of exploratory talks with the SPD, Merkel brought European Council President Herman Van Rompuy into the loop in a private conversation at the Chancellery. It was a back-door initiative of the kind so typical in EU policymaking. Documents are already being put together at the German Finance Ministry over how "Protocol 14" of the EU Treaty could be beefed up. It currently contains a few general statements on cooperation in and control of the euro zone. But now, if Berlin is able to implement its carrot-and-stick approach, tangible powers for the European Commission will be added to the protocol.

For instance, the Commission could be given the right to conclude, with each euro country, an agreement of sorts to improve competitiveness, investments and budgetary discipline. Such "contractual arrangements" would be riddled with figures and deadlines, so that they could be monitored and possibly even contested at any time. In return, a new, long-discussed Brussels budget will become available to individual countries, an additional euro-zone budget with sums in the double-digit billions for obedient member states. Protocol 14 could also be used to install the full-time head of the Euro Group. The influential job is now held by one the member states' finance ministers, currently Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem. Devoted Europeans like Schäuble have long dreamed of installing a "euro finance minister."

Resistance Against Merkel's European Plans - If Chancellor Merkel is focusing on an amendment of this central part of the EU treaties, it is a remarkable about-face. Still, the new course is risky, and it has many detractors and an uncertain outcome. None of this is to the chancellor's taste, at least not the chancellor we know. But Merkel has already deployed her key European strategist. The relevant department head in the Chancellery, Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut, outlined the German plan at a Brussels meeting in early October. It didn't go down very well. Opponents of the common currency are rapidly gaining popularity in almost all euro countries. Every change in the balance of power in Europe and every upgrading of the European Commission make governments more vulnerable to domestic political attacks. More power for "Brussels?" No way. There are even growing doubts in the European Parliament, albeit for completely different reasons. Both leftists and conservatives fear that anyone who opens the door to amending the treaties "won't be able to close it again that quickly," says a top Christian Democrat. Especially the British government, driven by the radical, anti-European UK Independence Party (UKIP), could use the opportunity to retrieve powers from Brussels, essentially renationalizing the European Union.

The SPD could raise objections. "The SPD won't support any arrangements if Merkel conducts parallel negotiations with Britain's David Cameron to transfer EU powers back to member states," Axel Schäfer, deputy leader of the SPD's parliamentary group, told SPIEGEL ONLINE. He added that the SPD won't accept any treaty changes that relate to referendums in individual EU states.

The president of the European Parliament, German Social Democrat Martin Schulz, has already warned Merkel privately that he won't back any change in EU treaties. He wants national governments to make the euro zone resilient to future crises by using the instruments created step-by-step over the last three years -- without treaty changes. Schulz fears that a treaty change would take too long and that referendums necessary in some countries couldn't be won given current poor public sentiment regarding the EU. "We will check all the chancellor's proposals to see whether they can be implemented in all EU states," says Schulz, who will be part of the SPD's negotiating team in the coalition talks, responsible for all issues pertaining to Europe.

But Merkel seems undaunted by these obstacles. And she already has a timetable. First she wants to wait and see what happens in the May 2014 European parliamentary election. Then the new president of the European Commission will have to be chosen once the second term of the current incumbent, José Manuel Barroso, ends in 2014. Merkel got him the job and ensured he got a second term. But these days, she doesn't even bother disguising her contempt for Barroso.

Once the new European Commission is in office, the political window for Merkel's European vision is expected to open. It doesn't seem to bother her that she will be in a clear minority when she embarks on her reform plans. She is familiar with this position from the first days of the euro debt crisis, when she wanted to include the International Monetary Fund as a key authority in distributing aid packages, and almost all other euro countries were against the idea. At the time, she said privately: "I'm pretty much alone here. But I don't care. I'm right."

NIKOLAUS BLOME, CHRSTIANE HOFFMANN, PETER MÜLLER, CHRISTIAN REIERMANN, GORDON REPINSKI, CHRISTOPH SCHULT

Lagarde was a Minister in the French UMP party. A  coincidence that she is in favor of maintaining financial UMP - in other words funny money. Tapering or whatever euphemism one uses for reducing the amount of money printing is going to be painful as markets are forced to realize the price of debt. Exit strategies are mathematically impossible as we all  know the Central Banks could only withdraw a fraction of the funny money they created.
The UK needs a new bonanza on the scale of North Sea oil to allow any unwinding of QE. Without it there would be a severe depression.
Our fiat currencies have been hijacked by a financial community that operates in  a parallel world to the real economy. There is no way out of this mess unless the masses are driven into poverty and unrest or the global financial system collapses. 

Laggard and Blancmange should both be long gone, having perhaps irreparably damaged a global institution called the IMF by trying to turn it into a French version of a € lifeboat

"The day will come when this period of exceptionally loose monetary policy... must end," she said in a speech to a global gathering of central bankers hosted by the US Federal Reserve in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday.

"We need to plan for that day, especially since we do not know exactly when it comes," said Ms Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

"Just as with entry, exit will take us into uncharted territory."

Speaking as the Fed's plans for slowing its $85bn-a-month bond-buying program have shaken emerging economy markets, Ms Lagarde said such "unconventional monetary policy" (UMP) approaches remained important.

"Let me say it up front: I do not suggest a rush to exit. UMP is still needed in all places it is being used, albeit longer for some than for others."

She said specifically that both Europe and Japan still have much to gain from such programmes, which mostly aim to enhance growth by pressing interest rates lower.

But she said the IMF and policy makers should be thinking about the ramifications of reeling in easy-money programmes.

"That includes the implications for global economic and financial stability: the whole system, not just one part of it."

ECB - Troubled bank balance sheets ...

Troubled bank balance sheets had the potential to “choke the engine of recovery” in the 17-nation bloc, and “exert a more persistent drag on economic growth,” said Mr Coeuré, who sits on the executive board of the European Central Bank (ECB). Mr Coeuré said ailing banks had to be repaired or shut down. Failure to do so could result in a decade of stagnant growth in the eurozone, similar to Japan in the 1990s. He said the eurozone crisis risked creating a Japanese-style wave of “zombie banks” in which lenders, fearful of falling foul of capital rules, chose to “evergreen” - or roll over - bad loans instead of recognizing losses on their books. This had led to the “perverse” practice of banks extending credit to insolvent borrowers, rather than lend to creditworthy firms, said Mr Coeuré. Banks then “gambl[ed] on the hope that [firms] would recover or that the government would bail them out”. Mr Coeuré called on leaders to complete the steps needed to implement the eurozone’s banking union. He also said measures were needed to tackle youth unemployment...

Meanwhile, Olli Rehn, an incompetent idiot, the European commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, said the next tranche of Greece’s bail-out could be paid in installments amid growing frustration with Athens’ slow pace of reform.

“It is possible, but not certain,” Mr Rehn said on Friday. “It all depends on whether Greece can meet all requirements that they are committed to.”  A separate report by the European Commission and the ECB showed that Spain’s troubled lenders did not need further taxpayer support. The eurozone’s fourth largest economy has so far received €41.3bn to recapitalize its banks....

German politicians have been vocal in their opposition to the EU Commission's plans for a single bank resolution authority, concerned that it could override a national decision on how to deal with a struggling bank. Yesterday finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble warned that the plans could require treaty change. I would strongly ask the commission in its proposal for a [single resolution mechanism] to be very careful, and to stick to the limited interpretation of the given treaty.  We have to stick to the given legal basis, as otherwise we risk major turbulence.  More on the plans for the so-called "single resolution mechanism" to be proposed by the EU Commission today.  If plans go ahead at the planned pace, a new agency within the European Central Bank will be in charge of the wind-down or rescue of failed banks by 2015. The eventual aim is for the ECB to draw from a common multibillion euro fund, supplied by eurozone banks. However, since it will take years to accumulate the €60bn needed for a bank resolution fund, it will be limited to overseeing national-level bank bail-outs to begin with.

 

My text may sound offensive, but such absolute opinions should be criticised strictly...

Angela Merkel has said youth unemployment is the biggest crisis facing Europe and urged other governments to do more to copy the German system – concentrating on apprenticeships and not simply academic study – to prevent the emergence of a "lost generation".

In an interview before a summit to tackle joblessness among young Europeans, the German chancellor said her country's tried and tested dual system – a mix of classroom learning and on-the-shop-floor work experience – was the best way forward at a time when almost six million under-25s in Europe are out of work.Typical Merkel, telling everyone 'you have to do it like we do in Germany'. The Chinese, Brazilian and German economies all have their own weaknesses that will surface sooner or later, they are not models for other countries.

Merkel eptiomises the smug, superior 'I 'told you so, we know better in Germany attitude' that appeals to the Bild reader but alienates everyone else. She's not capable of leading or setting an example in Germany let alone Europe. A leader withut any vision except beyond being reelected. Someone who turned down the invitation to attend Thtacher's funeral but a few weeks later found time to attend the all-German champions league final and cheered like a schoolgirl when Germany thumped Greece 4-0 in Euro 2012 shows she has no tact or diplomacy or sense of how her actions or behaviour are played out beyond her narrow constituency. She is not the leader of Europe's strongest nation we need. Unfortunately there is no one better on the horizon. Germany as a democracy is incapable of producing leaders of stature or vision....Merkel alone cannot push the solutions to youth unemployment in Europe. Other countries need to examine their own situations... How much nepotism plays a part in getting a job?
How can inter-generational mobility be improved, so that the young can look forward to better life?  How can the scam of unpaid internship be stopped?  Do the private companies have social responsibility in the period when public sector's ability is curtailed in the name of austerity?
Importantly, how can we embrace re-industrialization and leave behind the obsession with financial services sector, risk-taking with other people's money, and highly skewed wage-compensation structure? As we focus on manufacturing of surplus through production and innovation, we need to manufacture consent regarding distribution. We cannot expect to have healthy societies if we persist with the current model of production (outsourced abroad at the expense of domestic capacity) and distribution of rewards concentrated on one sector of the economy.

In a short televised speech, the Dutch Queen said it was time to place the nation “in the hands of a new generation”.

Queen Beatrix turns 75 in just a few days and is already the country’s oldest ever monarch. Both her mother, Queen Julianna, and her grandmother, Queen Wilhelmina, also abdicated and the Dutch do not see being king or queen as a job for life.

“I am not abdicating because this office is too much of a burden, but out of conviction that the responsibility for our nation should now rest in the hands of a new generation,” Queen Beatrix said, in a speech delivered from her Huis ten Bosch palace.

“I am deeply grateful for the great faith you have shown in me in the many years that I could be your Queen,” she added.

The Dutch Queen praised her eldest son, Prince Willem-Alexander, as a talented and capable successor 'fully prepared’ for his future role. As a history buff I can tell you that when Germany invaded the Netherlands in WW2 the Dutch Royal family fled to England under the sanctuary of the British King George VI and his Parliament and were safely tucked away in Ottawa Canada for the duration of the war and until all the nastiness was over.

Unlike the British Royal Family who were duty bound to remain in Britain throughout the Blitz and the threat of invasion.

The Netherlands were liberated by British and Canadian troops

in 1945 and since the Germans let the Dutch citizens starve sooner than capitulate or surrender the Allies even airlifted much food stuffs to the starving Dutch. Since the Dutch are considered Volks to the very similar Germans there was much collaboration with many Dutch who welcomed Hitler and there was not very much resistance at all until after the June Allied landing in 1944.

The Allies were prompt to bring this Dutch Royal Family and reinstate them and return to status quo and use this Royal group as a rallying point should the Russians rumble across Western Europe or worse scenario the starving Dutch might go Communist,so let`s rebuild with the Marshall Plan-shrewd and clever how Capitalism works.

I have a feeling that this whole economic situation is going to end up with a "boy who cried wolf" scenario....there have been so many "crisis" stories since 2007 that no one cares any more, then one day we will wake up and the Euro will be on its knees ....then the media will be happy because there will be an actual crisis to report on !

In the mean time...A "French expansionary policy' would have to be paid for with German, Dutch, Finnish money. These payees may agree if as part of the package deal there was real external control at a federal level over spending in France (and Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece) and as a result of this control see a roll back of many aspects of the huge government spending in France where 65% of GDP is direct government spending. What the payees want is a reform of rigid labor markets and money to be spent on supporting projects that will employ people and not on cradle to grave government largesse beloved of French socialists. On the other hand, the French ideal is an agreement where they get pots of other peoples money to allow them to carry on exactly as they where doing and even expand the dirigiste state more. Mr Hollande made lots of election promises (eg hiring 65000 more teachers that he now he is President he knows France cannot afford. He would love Germany to pay. France (and others) will never give up an iota of sovereignty over their economy, so don't expect the Germans and others to agree to mutualize debts....Well...It is really all a big scam. Governments borrowing money that they know they wont pay back, banks doing the same, senior politicians and banksters all know that they will be retired soon, into the sunset with their golden pensions and pots of cash. They wont be around to live in the hell they have created. Meanwhile, the workers, the poor, the unemployed, the pensioners will all pay the price of rising unemployment, failed social systems and rising crime. Eventually there will be an overthrow of the current system, but the crooks will all be gone to Dubai, USA or some other capitalist entity that doesnt ask questions about how they got their money. I live in the UK, the poverty is visibly worse every day and our politicians do nothing. Same everwhere I guess. Pity. Within weeks of taking office at the start of the year he was flooding Europe's banks with €1tn in cheap, short-term credit. Was that the same cheap loan scheme that was known as LTRO? Long Term Refinancing Operation? Either way Angela seems to have it well under control. She will play it her way, loosen the purse strings as and when necessary. The Germans really couldn't give a damn but if, in their desperation, the EU wishes to place the future of Europe in her lap, who is she, a mere frau, to refuse? Interesting times. Time for us to think about where's the EXIT maybe?

hahahahaha....

BUCHAREST, Romania — Romania’s center-left government won a clear victory in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, according to exit polls. The result could inflame the personal rivalry between the nation’s top two officials and bring yet more political upheaval. The prime minister’s governing alliance had about 57 percent of seats in the 452-seat legislature, according to a poll published after elections on national television TVR. Coming in second was a center-right group, allied to President Traian Basescu, which polled over 18 percent. A populist party headed by a media tycoon won about 13 percent, according to the poll. First results are expected Monday. Basescu and Ponta are bitter rivals after the government tried to remove Basescu from office in an impeachment vote in July, a bid that failed as too few people voted to make the election valid. Basescu has indicated he won’t appoint the 40-year-old Ponta again, calling him a “compulsive liar” and saying he plagiarized his doctoral thesis. Ponta says Basescu is a divisive figure who overstepped his role as president by meddling in government business. As he voted, Basescu again accused the government of the former communist country of failing to devote itself to democratic reforms. He said Romania must continue its “path toward the West” and show the world it is “headed toward Brussels, not Moscow, and Washington, not Beijing.” For his part, Ponta said he remains committed to leading Romania to a better future. Many Romanians are fed up with the power struggle between the top two leaders, especially as the country remains one of the poorest and most corrupt members of the European Union. Romania is enduring deep austerity cuts in return for a €20 million ($26 million) bailout to help its foundering economy. Sunday’s vote was hampered by heavy snow and authorities asked the army and the defense ministry to help clear roads closed by blizzards. About 250 polling stations were prevented from opening on time, officials said. Turnout was more than 30 percent three hours before the polls closed.

ITALY -Never a man to let defeat – or scandal – keep him down, the disgraced former prime minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi has anounced he will run once again for the country's top job.
With three colourful terms behind him, Berlusconi confirmed he would try for a fourth time to become premier, saying he was doing it out of "a sense of responsibility" days after his party withdrew its support for the technocrat government of the current prime minister, Mario Monti.

The media mogul told reporters he was running to win and that "the campaign is already on".

Monti took the loss of Berlusconi's support calmly, calling the situation "manageable", despite it increasing the likelihood of fresh elections. Although Italy's economy is still struggling, Monti is credited with calming the country's financial markets and rescuing it from financial disaster.

Monti, who is a life-appointed senator, has said he will not stand in next year's vote, but is willing to step in afterwards if the result is not clear.

The British betting firm Ladbrokes gave 3/1 odds on Berlusconi becoming the prime minister in 2013.

Berlusconi stepped down last year amid a severe debt crisis. Allegations of his involvement with an underage prostitute and reports that he hosted sex-filled "bunga-bunga" parties also clouded his premiership. He has since been convicted of tax fraud and faces low favourability ratings in the polls.

The three-time prime minister got his start selling vacuum cleaners and singing on cruise ships. In 1971, Berlusconi founded a local cable firm, Telemilano, which grew into the country's largest media company, Mediaset. He has since expanded his media empire to include Italy's largest publishing house, Mondadori, and the newspaper Il Giornale. Other business interests include owning the globally popular football club, AC Milan.

Berlusconi entered politics in 1993, forming his own party and naming it after an AC Milan chant used by fans, Forza Italia, which means "go Italy". He rose to power the next year, winning the elections, and went on over the next 14 years to win twice more and lose twice, both times to Romano Prodi.

Tying disparate countries to one exchange rate simply makes no sense

When will the polititians realize that tying disparate countries to one exchange rate simply makes no sense?... How can Greece share a currency and monetary framework with Germany? A totally idiotic concept. The Euro is the PROBLEM !!! A single currency cannot provide a solution. The eurozone was dealt a fresh blow as Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the region’s rescue funds and unemployment hit a new record high. The ratings agency cut its rating on the European Stability Mechanism to AA1 from AAA and maintained a negative outlook. It also lowered the European Financial Stability Facility’s provisional rating to (P)AA1 from (P)AAA. Moody’s said its decision was driven by its recent downgrade of France, because the credit risk and ratings of the rescue funds were “closely aligned to those of its strongest supporters” ...Klaus Regling, managing director of the ESM and chief executive of EFSF, said Moody’s decision was “difficult to understand.” He added: “We disagree with the rating agency’s approach which does not sufficiently acknowledge ESM’s exceptionally strong institutional framework, political commitment and capital structure.” It came as the EU’s statistics office said eurozone unemployment rose to 11.7pc in October from 11.6pc in September.... Have idiotic and arrogant politicians worldwide not realised that ideological half ars.ed constructions like the EU and the EZ always fail ? Are we really surprised that it was Europe with its history of fascism, communism, military dictatorship and undemocratic statist and authoritarian governments which has given birth to two of the most appalling and undemocratic constructions of the 20th century, the EU and the EZ ? They will fail just like the USSR failed. "Klaus Regling, managing director of the ESM and chief executive of EFSF said:  Moody’s decision was “difficult to understand.” They should get someone with more understanding. I wonder what he gets paid for having so little of the stuff? 150,000€ a year?.... Well, I must write to the EU and tell them that my 90 year-old Gran is currently available. She used to run a market stall and so understands economics. Sadly, she is now showing signs of senile dementia, but even so, it must be worth a go compared to the current lot.

The feeble EU will....

European banks have asked the European Commission to postpone the introduction of tougher global bank capital rules by a year to 2014 after U.S. regulators told lenders they did not expect the new regulations to take effect in 2013......The feeble EU will almost certainly cave in. Europe is SO bust that it needs the bankers, more than the bankers need the EU. This would show that the EU is no more than a grubby little exercise (or project) to allow politicians to borrow "however much it takes" to get as many European people "hooked for good" on Europe's spend, spend, spend socialist politicians as possible. And, later on, if US banks decided to play by less strict rules, then don't let them trade in Europe? The new Basel rules are not that strict anyway. They are only designed to try and make it a bit more difficult for banks to go bust when the next crash happens. It tries to raise the cover provided for banks debts turning bad from 2% to 7%. Meaning if more than 2% of the loan book goes bad now - the bank goes bust. The authorities have plucked a 7% figure out of the air as being sufficient cover for all future banking crises.

What's worse than an unelected hack steamrolling the lives of ordinary people?

Ireland's former attorney general, former minister for Justice and now practicing senior council one Michael McDowell was on national radio earlier today, wondering out loud why the country was not debating a Federal Europe that is being foisted on small countries by dint of an economic crisis exported from the core to the periphery. He wondered why Ireland was not paying enough attention to the UK's efforts to de-couple itself from core competencies and obligations being foisted on it by EU "Euro fascists" (my words). He wondered, if crossing the border from the Irish republic was going to be akin to crossing the border from East Germany into West Berlin during the dark days of the USSR. Entering the land of the free?I agree with his sentiments, federalism is a complete misnomer, buried deep inside the velvet glove of federalism is the Iron fist that will be used more and more boldly to smash the sovereign nation state. It is nothing less than a takeover of most states within Europe by Wolfgang, Von Rompuy and other egotistical men such as Barroso and Rehn. Dangerous people who know not what they are unleashing across the Eruopean continent. These are people who would barely get people to cross the road with them under their banner of a federalist Europe but who are marveling at the power an economic crisis has bestowed upon them. Small wonder they want to make crisis permanent? It is the UK once again who are standing up for what is left of democracy in Europe and god knows that in itself tells us a lot about how far the rot has gone because we know that democracy in Britain itself has been significantly eroded over the last 40 years.

Quarto RECH - well I wish you stupid Europeans good health and enjoy the german boot on your neck ...

On the "escrow" account:  The European citizens should know, however, that loans to Greece are paid into an "escrow" account and are used exclusively to repay past loans and to recapitalise near-bankrupt private banks. The money cannot be used to par salaries and pensions, or to buy basic medicines for hospitals and milk for schools. The precondition for these loans is more austerity, paralysing the Greek economy and increasing the possibility of default. If there is a risk to the European taxpayer losing their money, it is created by austerity.`The Greek message to Angela Merkel, Alexis Tsipras, The Guardian 8/10/12....What is needed is a full implementation of the promise to remove government liability for private financial sector banking debts, not only in Greece but in every EU nation state. This was mooted some time ago only to be followed by political elite class vacillation over whether or not pre-2012 debts could be included. The only way forward for the countries shouldering the burden of insolvent banks is to place responsibility for those debts back onto the banks and make the policy retrospective....Well,....Draghi enters lion's den to sell bond-buying plan (reuters)

Well actually it's just the Bundestag Budget and European Committees, but they're probably happy to be described as "lions". Given the amount of extra paperwork dumped on them by the Constitutional Court regarding EZ crisis-handling, they could do with being pepped up I expect.

It's a good report by Reuters, in any case.

I expect the big questions to be about Spain," said Guntram Wolff, deputy director of the Brussels-based Bruegel think-tank and a former Bundesbank economist.

"There is a lot of opposition to a programme for Spain. They are against it because they fear it would open the floodgates at the ECB. The concerns run very deep, also in the SPD."

Yes, the SPD are fiscal conservatives too.

But amid the concerns, there was general agreement that Draghi had done the right thing in offering to explain his policies at a time when many citizens in Europe feel momentous decisions are being taken without their input.

"One of the big problems of Europe is that European institutions only talk to voters through national governments," said Wolff. "So it's important to have a direct link to the people, and this is a step in that direction."

Yes. Draghi was really quite wise to make the offer to appear before the Bundestag committees.