Europe

Here’s What’s In That Economist Article That Has France Outraged

"Here are some key bullets from the report. Public spending is 57% of the nation's output. Debt-to-GDP is 90%. No new company has entered the CAC-40 stock market index since 1987. Nobody gets fired. Unions protest over any reforms. France still has a high standard of living, and has some of the best companies in the world, but growth has stalled. Unemployment is 10%. Youth unemployment much higher. France can still borrow cheaply, but it's also resting on past laurels (it's still a gigantic tourist destination). New President Francois Hollande is ostensibly powerful, but his approval rating has plunged." Continue reading →

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Spain’s Anti-Tax “Carrot Rebellion”

"If there was a prize for fighting back against tax authorities, the Italians would probably deserve first place. I’m not aware of any other country where tax offices get firebombed. The Italians also believe in passive forms of resistance, with tens of thousands of boat owners sailing away to protect themselves from the government. But the Spanish are beginning to get into the swing of things, perhaps because they are increasingly upset by the plethora of tax hikes imposed by the supposedly right-of-center government in Madrid." Continue reading →

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French officials furious at Economist “time-bomb” taunt

"French officials angrily rejected a charge by Britain's The Economist weekly on Friday that France was the 'time-bomb at the heart of Europe' and a danger to the euro single currency, accusing the magazine of sensationalism. French public spending accounts for 56 percent of gross domestic product, the highest level in the euro zone, and public debt reached 90 percent of GDP this year. Hollande's deficit-reduction strategy is based two-thirds on tax increases, much of it on businesses, and one-third on spending cuts." Continue reading →

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Spain halts evictions of vulnerable homeowners

"Spain announced Thursday a two-year halt to evictions of the most vulnerable home owners as a public outcry mounted over suicides linked to desperate people facing expulsion. The Spanish Banking Association announced Monday it was freezing mortgage-related evictions for two years in extreme cases. Savings banks, too, suspended expulsions while awaiting new government rules. Many people were shocked by two suicides in 15 days by indebted homeowners facing expulsion in Spain, where both banks and borrowers were hammered by a 2008 property crash." Continue reading →

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UK survey finds one new ‘legal high’ goes on sale every week in Britain

"A record 57 new legal highs have been detected so far this year, with the EU’s early warning system reporting the appearance of more than one new psychoactive drug on the market every week. The rise and rise of legal highs is being driven by an explosion in the number of online retailers selling the new drugs in Europe, which has risen from 170 in 2010 to a record 693 internet 'head shops'. The European drug experts say those manufacturing the drugs are trying to evade attempts to ban them by using ever more obscure chemical groups to synthesise them; a rising number of products now include several psychoactive substances." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUK survey finds one new ‘legal high’ goes on sale every week in Britain

The Crack-Up of the Eurozone Detailed in One Chart

"Keep in mind that Greece is in such bad shape that it didn't even make this chart. Only Germany of the Eurozone Big 5 is showing positive industrial production [growth] over the last 7 plus years. Germany will not be able to bail everyone else out. It comes down to European Central Bank money printing which will result in a devalued euro, making the debt easier to payoff in the cheaper euros, or it is collapse of the Eurozone." Continue reading →

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Immigration Patterns in the Eurozone

"Watching immigration patterns is a very good way to get a sense for where the more vibrant economies are. There's a lot of immigration, legal and otherwise, into the US from Mexico. Not so much from Canada. People don't immigrate when they are content, which is why the immigration patterns within the eurozone are another signal of the problems in the southern eurozone countries. The number of Greeks moving to Germany jumped 78% in the first half of 2012 from a year earlier, Germany's statistics office reports. Spanish, Portuguese moving into Germany was up 53%." Continue reading →

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Berlin Becomes Latest ‘Bitcoin Hotspot’

"While Bitcoin’s traction has primarily occurred online through exchanges and with merchants who sell online, its use as a payment method for purchases at bricks-and-mortar retailers and for in-person trade is not found that widely just yet. There is progress though and it is occurring in geographic areas where clusters of Bitcoin enthusiasts exist. In these areas are the first real-world merchants that are finding commercial success from accepting the cryptocurrency. A growing cluster growing in Berlin is the latest (and potentially the largest) to form." Continue reading →

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German tax officials raid UBS clients’ homes

"German authorities have launched nationwide raids on suspected tax evaders in connection with a probe into several hundred Germany-based clients of Switzerland’s biggest bank, UBS. The raids were ordered by state prosecutors in Bochum. They were acting on data purchased by the authorities in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where Bochum is situated. Opposition lawmakers in the German Bundesrat say the latest developments could further undermine the German government's attempt to secure a tax deal with Switzerland. The treaty is due to come into effect on January 1, but still needs to be ratified by both houses of parliament." Continue reading →

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Merkel booed as she praises austerity cuts in bailed-out Portugal

"Police deployed in large numbers in Lisbon, blocking off some streets and keeping at bay demonstrators who booed Merkel as she arrived at the presidential headquarters. Activists brandished banners reading: 'She wants to kill the Portuguese, she wants supremacy in Europe!'; 'Portugal is not Merkel's country'; 'Angela Merkel assassin'; and 'A European Germany yes, a German Europe no'. Demonstrators released black balloons in a sign of 'mourning' and covered several Lisbon monuments in black sheets to show their discontent." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMerkel booed as she praises austerity cuts in bailed-out Portugal