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February 23, 2012
Soros damns German handling of euro crisis
Published: 26 Jan 12 15:54 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/money/20120126-40354.html
Prominent US investor George Soros launched a devastating broadside against the Germany's handling of the European debt crisis, saying the eurozone was on a “self-destructive” course.
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“The trouble is that the austerity that Germany wants to impose will push Europe into a deflationary spiral,” Soros said on Wednesday. “To be sure, I am not accusing Germany of acting in bad faith. Germans genuinely believe in the policies they are advocating.”
The investor said that beleaguered eurozone countries like Italy and Spain should have access to a lender of last resort composed of the European Central Bank (ECB), plus two rescue funds: the temporary European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), and the future European Stability Mechanism (ESM).
Backed by these guarantors, Soros said countries would be able to refinance their economies cheaply.
Soros sharply criticized Germany strategy of imposing austerity measures on debt-ridden countries and for forcing financial penalties on Greece as a condition for receiving its bailout packages.
“The rest of Europe is not like the rest of Germany. The fact that an unattainable target is being imposed creates a very dangerous political dynamic,” he said. “Instead of bringing the member countries closer together it will drive them to mutual recriminations.”
Soros also said that Germany was traumatized by its experiences with massive inflation, which was leading the country to underestimate the threat of deflation. He said deflation can lead to a permanent decline in prices and a decline in consumer spending that can hurt a recovery.
The Local/bk
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Your comments about this article:
It will result in the reconstruction of a lot of economies , in the end this could be better as the results of austerity succeed. You can not keep borrowing when you can not repay.
And something else, despite Britain spending £118 billions a year to be in this wonderful EU, for which we get very little except pain, if Britain was in trouble again the last country which would help us would be Germany !
Unfortunately the European Dream is falling apart at the seams. Germany is too powerful, too heavy like an elephant sitting on a see saw, all the other 16 euro countries are sitting on the see saw with their legs dangling in the air !
If Germany cared about the EU members in trouble, to end this disaster
it would withdraw from the EU and re-introduce the Mark, the value of this would increase and make German products more expensive.
However, this would lower the value of the euro which would ease the problems of EVERY other country in the eurozone. This of course in absolutely unthinkable ! An EU without Germany. Unless this is done the EU will struggle for years and then collapse
Don't think the ECB can help, this bank is loaded with toxic junk from every country in the EU.
It is also about who is in charge. The bankers or the elected politician¬s
The US dollar is toast because of stunning moronic mismanagem¬ent over several years.
The US, England and others are determined to suck the financial blood out of Germany thereby destroying the Euro.
The Euro is a real threat to the US dollars dominance hence the white-anti¬ng.
They should stop haranguing Germany and concentrat¬e in putting their own house in order by bringing their parasitic financial sector to heel.?"
This is not even selfish as many suggest, after all it would mean fat cats in the rest of Europe no longer buying Mercs.
The simple truth is that too many countries have overspent and now need to pay off their loans and start to live within their means.
The problem is how to get them to do so and how to manage the process while keeping their economies stable.
If he was just making bets on currency and government mistakes that would be fine. But. He is one of those people that is rich enough to influence currencies. Which he does through giving tons of money to orgs. that funnel said money to folks such as Occupy Wall Street. Why would a capitalist at heart donate so much money to all these left leaning anti capitalist folks? Because he makes money from the market/currency instability that these folks create. And donating to such folks. He has just enough distance to say he did not directly create the instability. He says he just wants equality for all.
Their politicians are no longer the "servants of the people" they have their own agenda for their CLAN'S benefit and ride on the sacrifice and hardwork of their citizens
All you need to understand is that the Euro is finished, when? very soon,the whole EU ponzi scheme coupled with insane Left wing Liberal shangri-la ideology that propped it up was doomed from it's conception.;
You can in the future!!,if possible tell your Grandchildren that you witnessed the final death throes of an ill managed abortion.
Prepare for the bloo@y worst.your self serving politicians have raped your countries and yourselves for their own interests.You are nothing more than fools that deserve all that you are going to suffer shortly,for you voted these imbeciles into power on the promises of a rich and easy life.Well just take a look round Europe now all that can be seen is violence,civil unrest,terrorism a detested multiculturism,oppressive laws and a loss of soverignty and freedom oh and poverty on a scale that is fast becoming the norm.