Daily Archives: June 16, 2013

Dr Alf’s Top Six Blogs – Last Seven Days

June 16, 2013 By in People, Politics, Society Tags: , , , , , , 3 Comments

I thought that it might be interesting to share a list of my top six blogs in the last seven days. They are ranked by the number of hits, with most popular first:

  1. Dr Alf’s Two Cents – If we can now talk about spending on the elderly, George Osborne will have another reason to thank Ed Balls – Telegraph Blogs
  2. Dr Alf’s Two Cents: Hail the outbreak of honesty about Greece’s bailout – FT.com
  3. Dr Alf’s Two Cents: Even Labour has set its sights on pensioners | Ros Altmann | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
  4. A Hard Look at Childhood Obesity in the UK – John Gelmini
  5. Dr Alf’s Two Cents: It is time for Lord Ashcroft and the Tory party to part company – Peter Obone – Telegraph
  6. A Hard Look at Jeremy Heywood Cabinet Secretary Downing Street – John Gelmini
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Dr Alf’s Two Cents: German leadership: Overcoming the demons | The Economist

June 16, 2013 By in Austerity, Berlin, Business Administration, Central banks, Central Government, Democracy, Euro Crisis, Germany, Growth, Immigration, Keynesian, Neoliberal, ordoliberalism, People, Politics, Unemployment Tags: , , , , 1 Comment
Subregions of Europe (The World Factbook)

Subregions of Europe (The World Factbook) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Europe Simulator

Europe Simulator (Photo credit: wigu)

English: The Fall of the Berlin Wall, 1989. Th...

English: The Fall of the Berlin Wall, 1989. The photo shows a part of a public photo documentation wall at Former Check Point Charlie, Berlin. The photo documentation is permanently placed in the public. Türkçe: Berlin Duvarı, 1989 sonbaharı (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Germany

Germany (Photo credit: sanctumsolitude)

This is a brilliant MUST READ article in the Economist. Check it out!

German leadership: Overcoming the demons | The Economist.

Personally, I have been an optimist as far as Germany is concerned over the last two years. To date, the German approach has been largely incremental rather than radical. I have a healthy respect for the German vision of making Europe more competitive. To date, Germany has effectively been vetoing both fiscal and monetary expansion in Europe which has been extremely painful for Southern Europe.

The Economist article looks forward to the year 2020, with two very different scenarios, one rosy and the other full of gloom. The article shrewdly paints the upside opportunities and shares the downside risks. The article looks to the changes required from the German political classes; it highlights that Germany needs to place more focus on economics rather than legalistic solutions. Ultimately, after the election, Germany must lead more effectively, taking the rest of Europe with her; this does not necessarily need to be a federal model.

In my view, the downside case remains a disaster scenario.

What do you think?

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