Daily Archives: July 15, 2015

Germany’s Destructive Anger – Jacob Soll – The New York Times

July 15, 2015 By in Bilderburg, Business Administration, Economics, Fiscal Policy, Foreign Policy, ordoliberalism, People, Politics, Viral marketing Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

This is an insightful, must-read, op-ed article by Jacob Soll, published in the NYT. Check it out!

Germany’s Destructive Anger – The New York Times.

The article provides some light on the professional German economists who underpin German Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schauble. Schauble is a tax lawyer by background, although his university education was a mix of economics and law. Schauble’s austerity policies have received widespread criticism by the world’s top macro-economists.

The article highlights how the use of terms like ‘Nazi‘ and ‘terrorist’ went too far and triggered ‘Germany‘s destructive anger’.  One normally thinks of Southern Europeans as passionate and emotional in their culture – by contrast the concept of ‘Germany’s destructive anger’ is quite unusual.

Perhaps the ‘destructive anger’ described explains the severity of Schauble’s response this week?

Thoughts?

The birth of European macroeconomics | Ashoka Mody and Dae Woong Kang at Bruegel.org

July 15, 2015 By in Austerity, Business Administration, Business Strategy, Economics, People, Politics 1 Comment
English: Various Euro bills.

English: Various Euro bills. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is an outstanding, must-read article published by leading think-tank Bruegel. Check it out!

via The birth of European macroeconomics | Ashoka Mody and Dae Woong Kang at Bruegel.org.

The article examines the history of the Euro. Once again, it highlights that politics is subordinating economics.

After this week’s deal with Greece, I think that the Euro will once again come under intense scrutiny. Fiscal convergence seems to be for the birds. Big countries like France can flout the rules but small countries, like Cyprus, are held strictly accountable.

Perhaps, France will again try to gain momentum on less austerity and more investment? After all, it’s investment that creates jobs. Most leading economists are bitterly critical of excessive austerity as policy tool.

 

Thoughts?