Merkel Says She Is Open to Stimulus for Greece

[opebo]

The federal CDU's numbers are above what they got in the last federal election, Merkel's in positive approval territory, and at least regarding her austerity politics within the EU, the vast majority of voters support her. (Last poll I saw indicated 80% approval nationwide for discontinuing aid to Greece if they failed to stick to the saving agreements.)

Oh ok, truly, this is interesting.  I'm glad to know about it, as I was beginning to have some hopes for the Euro zone.  Now I will forget about those.

[Beet]

Merkel's now thrown her weight behind the Papandreou referendum. I assume this means Germany will not kick Greece out of the Euro, it wants Greece to make the decision if it will leave.

[ag]

Merkel's now thrown her weight behind the Papandreou referendum. I assume this means Germany will not kick Greece out of the Euro, it wants Greece to make the decision if it will leave.

She didn't - at least, she is denying it. It sounds to met, she told the Greeks that the June election is their euro referendum - and they misunderstood what she said.

[You kip if you want to...]

Merkel's now thrown her weight behind the Papandreou referendum. I assume this means Germany will not kick Greece out of the Euro, it wants Greece to make the decision if it will leave.

She didn't - at least, she is denying it. It sounds to met, she told the Greeks that the June election is their euro referendum - and they misunderstood what she said.

So, vote right and stay or vote left and leave? What a lovely, balanced, level-headed woman.

[Franzl]

Merkel's now thrown her weight behind the Papandreou referendum. I assume this means Germany will not kick Greece out of the Euro, it wants Greece to make the decision if it will leave.

She didn't - at least, she is denying it. It sounds to met, she told the Greeks that the June election is their euro referendum - and they misunderstood what she said.

So, vote right and stay or vote left and leave? What a lovely, balanced, level-headed woman.

It's not exactly about "Right" and "Left" at this point in Greek politics.

[© tweed]

yall and your f.king illusions -- you'd think centuries of this game would shut you up

[opebo]

yall and your f.king illusions -- you'd think centuries of this game would shut you up

You mean capitalism?

[Vosem]

yall and your f.king illusions -- you'd think centuries of this game would shut you up

You mean capitalism?

It's amazing how people still don't support capitalism after centuries of existence, yes. But I do have hope for a solidly capitalist future.

[© tweed]

yall and your f.king illusions -- you'd think centuries of this game would shut you up

You mean capitalism?

It's amazing how people still don't support capitalism after centuries of existence, yes. But I do have hope for a solidly capitalist future.

it's egalitarian-emancipatory revolution or extinction.  far more likely the latter o/c.

[Vosem]

yall and your f.king illusions -- you'd think centuries of this game would shut you up

You mean capitalism?

It's amazing how people still don't support capitalism after centuries of existence, yes. But I do have hope for a solidly capitalist future.

it's egalitarian-emancipatory revolution or extinction.  far more likely the latter o/c.

Neither of those options make any goddamn sense (assuming I'm interpreting you correctly). Could you elaborate?

[© tweed]

why don't you, you act like centuries is a long time, and by some definitions it isn't even centuries, just between 100-200 of this sh**t.  capitalism is a blip.  it will end.  it will end very soon, in its own death or the death of the progress (let me use the term please) of civilization.

[opebo]

why don't you, you act like centuries is a long time, and by some definitions it isn't even centuries, just between 100-200 of this sh**t.  capitalism is a blip.  it will end.  it will end very soon, in its own death or the death of the progress (let me use the term please) of civilization.

Well, we'll all be dead by then Tweed, so why should we take any comfort in that?  We might be under the bridge next week, so the system's comeuppance in 100 or 200 years (as unlikely as it is) is really no help at all - why, even if you imagine a guillotine, it won't be the same necks under it that put us under the bridge.

[Beet]

Germany's Schäuble calls for elected EU president

"We must now create a political union in Europe," the German finance minister said. Schäuble also called for European institutions to be strengthened to help unite the bloc, though he cautioned that such changes would have to be gradual.

http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,15957169,00.html

[Beet]

A German inflation rate could be above the Eurozone average to assist struggling members of the single currency area a Bundesbank official told members of the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, in Berlin yesterday.

Germany's annual inflation rate is currently at 2.2%, compared with the Eurozone rate of 2.6% and last weekend, Wolfgang Schäuble, the finance minister, said Germans deserved wage increases as workers held strikes across the country demanding higher pay.

http://www.finfacts.ie/irishfinancenews/article_1024319.shtml

It looks some people in Germany are waking up to reality. Whether it's too late or not is another question.

It's always remarkable how talk of 3% inflation sends the inflation hawks into skitters about '1923' but 25% unemployment (elsewhere in Europe) doesn't bring mention of '1932'.

[Vosem]

why don't you, you act like centuries is a long time, and by some definitions it isn't even centuries, just between 100-200 of this sh**t.  capitalism is a blip.  it will end.  it will end very soon, in its own death or the death of the progress (let me use the term please) of civilization.

Well, no. The idea of people motivated by profit is one that was well-recorded by the ancient Sumerians, and likely predates them by not centuries, but millennia. And most of the progress over the past centuries has been globalization -- people torn from subsistence economies into the world of profit. 'Progress' is more capitalism, not less.

I realize I am making some very, very broad generalizations in the last two sentences.

Capitalism is the natural state of humanity, and so long as there are people, most of them will be capitalists (or, more simply, motivated by profit).