tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740067042613887004.post3501752939869263493..comments2024-03-24T11:47:12.059+01:00Comments on Those Who Can See: Building a Better Currency UnionM.G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06817230141673953233noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740067042613887004.post-70577709952936421372017-02-26T11:06:10.467+01:002017-02-26T11:06:10.467+01:00Just received a check for over $500.
Sometimes pe...<b>Just received a check for over $500.</b><br /><br />Sometimes people don't believe me when I tell them about how much you can earn <b>by taking paid surveys</b> online...<br /><br />So I show them a video of myself <a href="http://opinion-surveys.syntaxlinks.com/r/TakeSurveysForCash" rel="nofollow"><b>getting paid over $500</b></a> for filling paid surveys.Bloggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07287821785570247118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740067042613887004.post-9781383843185471692012-06-01T11:22:11.327+02:002012-06-01T11:22:11.327+02:00To whom is all this debt owed? I'd like to see...<i>To whom is all this debt owed? I'd like to see a real listing of who is collecting what.</i><br /> <br /><a href="http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Screen-shot-2011-06-20-at-4.01.10-AM.png" rel="nofollow">Here</a> is a chart showing the countries most exposed to Greek debt (public and private institutions).<br /><br />There's also a Telegraph article, <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/8556698/The-big-fat-Greek-sell-off.html" rel="nofollow">The Big Fat Greek Sell-off</a>, which lists some assets Greece is selling off and to which creditors:<br /><br /><i>Already advisers have been appointed to around 15 privatisation programmes, with the OTE telecoms stake earmarked as first to be sold.<br /><br />The advisers and sell-offs being set up include:<br /><br />• Deutsche Bank and National Bank of Greece on the sale of OPAP, the state gambling monopoly<br /><br />• Credit Suisse on state lotteries<br /><br />• Rothschild and Barclays appointed for road concessions<br /><br />• PriceWaterhouse selected for railway firm OSE<br /><br />• France's BNP Paribas and Greece's National Bank on the extension of an operating lease on Athens International Airport.<br /><br />• Lazard on exploiting the commercial activities of the Greek trusts and loans funds.</i><br /><br /><br />The whole debacle is a master class in moral hazard. 'You shouldn't have borrowed from me!' 'Well, you shouldn't have lent to me!' (But the taxpayers will pick up the bill anyway, so when can we start this merry-go-round again?)<br /><br />I see it as just one more symptom of our highly feminized modern age--High-risk behavior shouldn't have any consequences, big momma government will wrap you in her bosom and save you from yourself, if you <i>promise</i> not to do it again. (Lather, rinse, repeat.)M.G.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06817230141673953233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740067042613887004.post-8758745914514801332012-05-31T17:39:30.202+02:002012-05-31T17:39:30.202+02:00Quote:
" Once they had joined the euro zone,...Quote:<br /><br />" Once they had joined the euro zone, Europe's southern countries gave up trying to sort out their finances, says [ex-Finance Minister] Papantoniou. With a steady flow of easy money coming from the northern European countries, the Greek public sector began borrowing as if there were no tomorrow. This was only possible because the country, in becoming part of the euro zone, was also effectively borrowing Germany's credibility and credit rating. "<br /><br />Who was doing the lending? For every irresponsible borrower, there has to be an equally irresponsible or greedy lender. Why should the lenders be insured by the taxpayers against the possibility of any losses? <br /><br />To whom is all this debt owed? I'd like to see a real listing of who is collecting what.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740067042613887004.post-90551621452706308522012-04-23T16:52:32.328+02:002012-04-23T16:52:32.328+02:00Hail--
There are three clear 'tiers' in th...Hail--<br /><i>There are three clear 'tiers' in this data set, that is, three clean breaks in the data.</i><br /><br />Looked at ethnically, it's hard to deny. I know national IQ gets a lot of attention these days, as it should, but I myself am far more interested in character traits. (Or 'cultural values' if you will.) Those old race scientists were great for that, that Gehring quote is only one example but his whole book ('Graeco-Latins and Teutons') is just bliss. It really shows you how barren our anthropological education is today--Economics PhDs confidently asserting that if only Greece would mimic Germany's <i>tax and labor laws</i>, why, you'd have a little Germany on the Aegean! I think future generations will look back on us as deeply indoctrinated.<br /><br /><i>I hope we see commentary soon on the election</i><br /><br />Those Majority Rights commenters said it well, esp. this: <i>'Basically the days of mass immigration into France are over - it will never happen again'</i>. You can't call a political party 'extreme' anything if one in five people vote for it. Period. Marine Le Pen's <i>FN</i> has de-tabooed ethnic nationalism and I can only applaud them for it.<br /><br />This:<br /><br /><i>How many of these [votes] were likely cast by persons of Non-European ancestry?</i><br /><br />is in fact a question I've been looking into recently. It's illegal for the government to ask for racial origins on the census in France, so this is devilishly hard to get to the bottom of. I've got some decent French-language sources that give estimates for different regions, though. I'm going to round them up and maybe do a post on it after the final electoral round in two weeks.M.G.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06817230141673953233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740067042613887004.post-53223935848050210292012-04-23T16:11:33.489+02:002012-04-23T16:11:33.489+02:00Audacious Epigone--
What are, generally speaking, ...Audacious Epigone--<br /><i>What are, generally speaking, the consequences for violating EU policies and agreements?</i><br /><br />For the Eurozone, they're laughably weak. <a href="http://www.civitas.org.uk/eufacts/FSECON/EC10.htm" rel="nofollow">To wit:</a><br /><br /><i>How does the Stability and Growth Pact work?<br /><br />The original SGP said that all countries in the Eurozone should aim to keep their annual budget deficit below 3% of GDP, and keep total public debt below 60% of GDP. If a country broke the rules, it had to take measures to reduce its deficit. If it broke the rules in three consecutive years, the Commission could impose <b>a fine of up to 0.5% of GDP</b>.</i><br /><br />Yes, an insolvable country whose citizens are sleeping <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17095225" rel="nofollow">in the streets</a>, begging NGOs <a href="http://euobserver.com/851/113841" rel="nofollow">for health care</a>, and committing suicide in public over <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17620421" rel="nofollow">slashed pensions</a> no doubt has .5% of its GDP just sitting around to send over to Brussels. Not too well thought-out that one.<br /><br />But the rules were moot from the get-go, because the big boys broke them first:<br /><br /><i>Once the Euro was launched, many countries had difficulty meeting the SGP rules. In 2003, the largest economies in the eurozone, France and Germany, broke the rules [their budget deficits exceeded 3%]. However, because these countries <b>promised</b> to reach the SGP targets as soon as possible, the Commission did not take strong action against them.</i><br /><br />Promises, promises...Then it came out that Greece <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-26/greece-cheated-to-join-euro-sanctions-since-were-too-soft-issing-says.html" rel="nofollow">lied</a> about its budget numbers to get in in the first place. Now what do you do? The whole Greek government is corrupt--who watches the watchers? This is why you have have Merkel calling for <a href="http://euobserver.com/19/114075" rel="nofollow">'permanent supervision'</a> of Greece and the Greeks calling the Germans 'Nazi occupiers', etc. Just a mess. It's a little like the Articles of Confederation--the whole thing's either going to to give itself a stronger executive, or break up.M.G.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06817230141673953233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740067042613887004.post-76016013090091209122012-04-23T04:50:56.397+02:002012-04-23T04:50:56.397+02:00M.G., given your familiarity with France, I hope w...M.G., given your familiarity with France, I hope we see commentary soon on <a href="http://majorityrights.com/weblog/comments/marines_six_million" rel="nofollow">the election</a>, particularly addressing this <a href="http://majorityrights.com/weblog/comments/marines_six_million#c127589" rel="nofollow">difficult question</a>.Hailhttp://hailtoyou.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740067042613887004.post-36093190136711959042012-04-23T04:47:41.916+02:002012-04-23T04:47:41.916+02:00The corruption graph you reproduce is remarkably-s...The <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2ciC18YzOzE/T5MoZJAkW2I/AAAAAAAAA0A/6ZZICqM9mNs/s1600/Greece+Corruption+with+EU+compared.png" rel="nofollow">corruption graph</a> you reproduce is remarkably-stark. Shown are 17 European nations, the USA, and Canada.<br /><br />There are three clear 'tiers' in this data set, that is, three clean breaks in the data.<br /><br />Top Tier (least corrupt): (Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Canada, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Norway, Switzerland, UK). Eight are Germanic states. One is heavily-Germanic-influenced Finland.<br /><br />Second Tier (middle): Austria, USA, Ireland, Germany, Spain, France, Belgium, Portugal. Within this middle-tier group, Germanic and heavily-Germanic nations still have the edge.<br /><br />Bottom Tier (most corrupt): Greece, Italy. South-Mediterranean states with reputations for shiftlessness, laziness, inefficiency. [Greece is so corrupt, it may even deserve a 'fourth tier' of its own].<br /><br />Only those who are blind would not be able to see <a href="http://foseti.wordpress.com/2011/10/05/piigs-and-nordic-assistance/" rel="nofollow">a pattern</a>.<br /><br />(Note that if this data is based on self-reporting, it's possible that Germany's and Austria's scores are artifically-depressed by ongoing post-1945 cultural pessimism, even if just by a point in total, otherwise making them tier-one states).Hailhttp://hailtoyou.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740067042613887004.post-24915857242060351932012-04-23T01:37:45.398+02:002012-04-23T01:37:45.398+02:00Thanks. I'm pretty ignorant about the workings...Thanks. I'm pretty ignorant about the workings of the EU. What are, generally speaking, the consequences for violating EU policies and agreements? Nothing more than just that, some Brussel bureaucrats solemnly shaking their heads and expressing their "deep concern"? Potentially being kicked out of the union, which is probably a pretty hollow threat, especially if it's one of the big, net productive players like Germany doing the violating?Audacious Epigonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07495507254628580077noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740067042613887004.post-35235130143098585632012-04-22T23:48:35.657+02:002012-04-22T23:48:35.657+02:00Bonjour M.G. :
On this post: Wow. Masterly. Is t...Bonjour M.G. : <br /><br />On this post: Wow. Masterly. Is this the development of a whole new discipline, HBD-aware Economics? <br /><br />The question is, is there a money-making future - realistically - in doing HBD-aware financial consulting? <br /><br />Your posts are getting more scholarly and engaging, heartfelt congrats from the Paris Boum Boum of the faschosphère, <br /><br />Bien à vous, <br /><br />- Artur <br /><br />ps: Have you seen these guys ? : <br /><br />galliawatch.blogspot.com/Arturhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12411800265189549526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740067042613887004.post-87723507240826624492012-04-22T12:48:04.986+02:002012-04-22T12:48:04.986+02:00Maybe early EU dreamers thought that such a union ...<i>Maybe early EU dreamers thought that such a union would work itself out in the same way.</i><br /><br />Not only did they, they still do now. I hear all the time how we need a 'United States of Europe' to fix this mess. What they never counted on I think was the language/culture barrier. If things look bad in Massachusetts, you can move to Mississippi with little real difficulty. But a Portuguese just up and moving to Belgium is really tough. Outside that little MBA class of English-speakers, it's not that common, the culture etc. is just too different.<br /><br />Also the 'bail-out solidarity'--Detroit, which is going under, looks to Michigan to save its bacon, and MI taxpayers aren't thrilled but they'll pony up. Ditto a state, California's been flirting with bankruptcy but if push came to shove US taxpayers would suck it up (look how little we resisted bailing out our rootless internationalist banking class). I don't think anything near that level of solidarity exists between euro member states, esp. not Germanic and Latin ones. For the average German, the profligate Greek can starve for all he cares, and if Merkel won't make it happen he'll vote in someone who will. <br /><br />Which is the unsolvable problem of the Eurozone--nobody is in charge. If Michigan unilaterally decides to stop sending its federal taxes to D.C., national troops could march right in and take them. If Greece unilaterally reneges on every treaty obligation it's made to the EU, what happens? A bunch of eurocrats fly in to give them a stern scolding then fly out again. The Greeks are laughing. At some point this headless body's going to wander off a cliff.M.G.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06817230141673953233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740067042613887004.post-80950513020174475192012-04-22T02:20:18.110+02:002012-04-22T02:20:18.110+02:00It's interesting to me that the economic situa...It's interesting to me that the economic situations of states within the US don't really seem to mirror the attributes of their residents in the same somewhat 'predictable' fashion that they do in Europe. Mississippi, our least intelligent state, <a href="http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/compare_state_spending_2012pH0c" rel="nofollow">is arguably in better financial shape</a> than Massachusetts, our most intelligent one, is. Of course, there are federal subsidies to untangle, but politics appear to matter quite a bit, too. <br /><br />Maybe early EU dreamers thought that such a union would work itself out in the same way.Audacious Epigonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07495507254628580077noreply@blogger.com