Stodgy Netherlands is nation that’ll blow up euro - Matthew Lynn's London Eye. By Matthew Lynn LONDON (MarketWatch) — Which euro-zone country is most deeply in debt? The profligate Greeks, with their generous state-funded pensions? The Cypriots and their banks stuffed with dodgy Russian money? The recession-hit Spaniards or the boom-and-bust Irish?
None of the above. Consumer debt in the Netherlands has hit 250% of available income, one of the highest levels in the world. The Netherlands has turned into one of the most heavily indebted countries in the world. Holland has always been one of the most prosperous and stable nations with Europe — and one of the most pro-EU. But instead it has started to play out a depressingly familiar script. Low interest rates, set mainly to benefit the German economy, and lots of cheap capital led to a property boom and an explosion of debt. Europe house of the week: London triplex This five-bedroom apartment in Hampstead on the site of a Georgian-era poorhouse was voted by WSJ.com readers as Europe's House of the Week. BLINDE VLEK. Robin Fransman Robin Fransman constateert dat de verstandige mensen bij het CPB, DNB en het IMF een blinde vlek hebben: de private schulden.
Er waart een spook door de Westerse wereld. Het spook van de private schulden. Het zijn de private schulden die ons de crisis, de zwakke financiële sector, de recessie en de overheidstekorten brachten. Maar als je kijkt naar de publicaties en beleidsaanbevelingen van DNB, het IMF en de Europese Commissie, dan is het spook onzichtbaar, want onbesproken, niet onderzocht, niet gemodelleerd, niet geadresseerd. In plaats daarvan hebben we een bijna exclusieve focus op overheidsschulden. Overheidsschulden worden gezien als het grote kwaad, het begrotingstekort moet naar bijna nul, de schuld omlaag en dan komt het vertrouwen terug, gaan de investeringen omhoog en groeit de werkgelegenheid. Maar in een situatie met hoge private schulden gaat dat ietsiepietsie anders.
Het vertrouwenseffect waar deze instellingen op hopen is dan ook op lucht gebaseerd. Geschiedenisles: hoe schuldkwijtschelding Duitsland en Europa redde na WOII. Analysis: They're back! Yield hunt pushes funds into CLOs, CDOs. Beste bankier…. Brieven vertellen het persoonlijke verhaal van de crisis. Elders in de wereld lijkt de studiemarkt op de huizenmarkt. Het leek zo mooi. De staat bespaart geld door universiteiten af te knijpen (want god verhoede dat je de belastingen verhoogt). Universiteiten verdienen geld door vol voor winst te gaan. En studenten lijken het allemaal te kunnen betalen, omdat ze ogenschijnlijk voor een prikkie kunnen lenen.
En zo’n studie, die betaalt zichzelf toch terug? Nou niet dus. In de VS wordt de snelste route naar het verwezenlijken van de Amerikaanse droom afgeknepen omdat studeren simpelweg te duur wordt. Studeren is niet alleen een opstap, maar een recht, zo is het jarenlang gebracht. Die return on investment laat echter op zich wachten, zeker in een recessie.
Dit belooft nog wat voor het leenstelsel dat in Nederland binnenkort het beurzenstelsel zal veranderen. "Captured Europe" by Simon Johnson. Exit from comment view mode. Click to hide this space WASHINGTON, DC – Europe’s policy elite – the people who call the shots at the national and eurozone level – are in serious trouble. They have mismanaged their way into a deep crisis, betraying all of the lofty promises of unity and prosperity issued when the euro was created. The currency union may survive, but, for millions of people, the euro has already failed in its mission of sustaining growth and ensuring stability. The Greek, Portuguese, Irish, and Italian economies are reeling under fiscal austerity – with budget cuts and higher taxes as far as the eye can see. But that is only part of the problem.
There is a simple way to deal with a debt overhang: reduce payments by restructuring the debt. In both cases, the main argument for not removing the debt overhang came from bankers, who claimed that it would create havoc in financial markets for two reasons. Did all hell break loose? Dááág dure pieper, Grieken kopen wel van de eigen boer - Schuldencrisis. Does inequality lead to a financial crisis? U.S. Leads Other Nations in Deleveraging - Real Time Economics. Geert Mak: jonge generatie wordt geofferd. De Nederlandse Publieke Omroep maakt gebruik van cookies. We maken een onderscheid tussen functionele cookies en cookies voor het beheer van webstatistieken, advertenties en social media. De cookies bevatten geen persoonsgegevens en zijn dus niet tot een individu te herleiden. Met de cookies voor advertenties en social media worden mogelijk door derden gegevens verzameld buiten de websites van de Nederlandse Publieke Omroep. Bij instellingen kun je aangeven deze cookies niet te accepteren.
Waarom cookies? De Nederlandse Publieke Omroep maakt gebruik van cookies. Klik hier voor meer informatie over cookies en een overzicht van de sites waar je toestemming voor geldt. Cookie instellingen aanpassen? De cookie instellingen voor de websites van de Nederlandse Publieke Omroep zijn te allen tijde te wijzigen. Cookie-instellingen aanpassenAkkoord. M.guardian.co.uk. We are meeting one November morning in a Starbucks near Bank Station, in the heart of the City.
In his late 20s, this investment strategist at an investment bank is of Asian descent, the son of immigrants of modest means. He is the sort of person to text you when running five minutes late. Dressed in a suit ("my only one") and a shirt he talks exhaustingly fast, while you suspect his thoughts go faster still. He will interrupt his speech and ask 'am I going too fast? ', then resume firing off one observation after another. He says his superior maths skills got him a scholarship for one of the best private schools in the land, followed by a place at a top university ("I was very bored there"). "There's no loyalty in this industry, either way. "Back before I became a father, money was not an issue. "I am an investment strategist focused on emerging markets. "As a strategist I go over a range of possible outcomes and see if they are appropriately priced. Nederland kan door hypotheeklast zo maar een probleemland worden - Schuldencrisis.
Bezuinigen: denk aan de JSF! De Nederlandse Publieke Omroep maakt gebruik van cookies. We maken een onderscheid tussen functionele cookies en cookies voor het beheer van webstatistieken, advertenties en social media. De cookies bevatten geen persoonsgegevens en zijn dus niet tot een individu te herleiden. Met de cookies voor advertenties en social media worden mogelijk door derden gegevens verzameld buiten de websites van de Nederlandse Publieke Omroep.
Bij instellingen kun je aangeven deze cookies niet te accepteren. Waarom cookies? De Nederlandse Publieke Omroep maakt gebruik van cookies. Klik hier voor meer informatie over cookies en een overzicht van de sites waar je toestemming voor geldt. Cookie instellingen aanpassen? De cookie instellingen voor de websites van de Nederlandse Publieke Omroep zijn te allen tijde te wijzigen. Cookie-instellingen aanpassenAkkoord. Greece in talks to repay debts with solar power | Environment. EU's energy commissioner Gunther Oettinger, the director general for energy Philip Lowe, and the head of the EU's Athens task force Horst Reichenbach have discussed the idea of enabling Greece to repay some of its debts to EU member states, such as Germany, by providing them with solar energy. EurActiv has learned that the EU's energy directorate general has been asked to investigate the idea's potential, which is so far hampered by a lack of enthusiasm from EU nations.
"Several German companies have expressed interest in the idea but it would clearly be more interesting if several member states were involved," a senior source told EurActiv. Marlene Holzner, a spokesperson for the energy commissioner Gunther Oettinger, confirmed that talks were ongoing. "There is a task force in the European Commission where we have energy experts looking into the question of how energy could help Greece to grow economically," she told EurActiv. Richard (RJ) Eskow: One More SEC/Citigroup Sweetheart Deal: 5 Reasons to Be Outraged. The President says he understands the frustration behind the Occupy Wall Street movement. That's nice. But the anger will keep growing as long as the government keeps handing out free passes instead of perp walks to bankers at serial corporate criminals like Citigroup.
The Administration is finally talking the talk, but without criminal investigations it's not walking the walk. Iit's still not too late. While the SEC's latest deal should outrage you, the Administration can makes things right with two decisive actions. Get-Out-of-Jail Free Card The SEC announced yesterday that Citigroup agreed to pay $285 million to settle charges that it misled (synonyms for that word include deceived; lied to; tricke and defrauded) investors in a mortgage securities deal, telling them it was a good investment when it knew otherwise and was secretly betting it would fail.
That's not just slimy. Here are five reasons you should be outraged. 1. Forgiveness is noble, but it only if the offender asks for it. Jared Bernstein: The Self-Imposed Limits of Reaction to a Crisis. Ezra Klein has penned a fascinating account of the process, politics, and policy reaction to the Great Recession. It's a critical piece -- given the current economy, how could it be otherwise? But the critique is crafted with insight into the factors that led the government to under-respond to the crisis, and in this regard, Klein makes what could and should be an invaluable contribution.
He's written a cautionary tale. We should read this piece not just to look backwards about what we got wrong, but to figure out how to fix the process going forwards. I'd like to add two points. First, though Klein tightly summarizes what it is, specifically, that makes a financial recession so difficult to get out of, I'd like to flesh that point out a bit more. If we learn nothing else from the economic pain we're still going through, we should at least recognize the damage done by bubbles, especially debt bubbles, and ever more especially, housing debt bubbles. Debt and Its Specific Discontents. Het bankiersperspectief. Ik pakte gistermiddag net het staartje mee van RTL-Z, maar het interview met Jan Kees de Jager is vast wel meer te zien geweest op de Nederlandse TV en ook zijn collega Mark Rutte verkondigt een vergelijkbare boodschap : we gaan het monster van de staatsschuld echt killen .
Stoere taal van bankiers die hun klant slecht nieuws komen brengen over de toestand van zijn bedrijf (transcript van mij, video RTLXL ): [Voice Over, filmpje met winkelend publiek] De economische vooruitzichten worden steeds somberder. De eurocrisis en de gevolgen daarvan voor onze economie zorgen er voor dat het kabinet er rekening mee houdt dat er volgend jaar extra bezuinigd moet worden [De Jager]: We bekijken dat van jaar op jaar, en als het echt nodig is om ook in te grijpen dan zullen we dat ook doen maar het is nu al te voorbarig om daar in concrete zin over te spreken [VO]: Het kabinet gaat al voor 18 miljard Euro bezuinigen, maar misschien is dit niet voldoende. Gure tijden Het gaat slecht met de economie. [H. As the dream of economic growth dies, a new plan awaits testing | George Monbiot. Illustration by Daniel Pudles How much of this is real? How much of the economic growth of the past 60 years?
Of the wealth and comfort, the salaries and pensions that older people accept as normal, even necessary? How much of it is an illusion, created by levels of borrowing – financial and ecological – that cannot be sustained? Go to Ireland and you'll see that even bricks and mortar are a mirage: the marvels of the new economy, built on debt, stand empty and worthless. To sustain the illusion, we have inflicted more damage since 1950 to the planet's living systems than we achieved in the preceding 100,000 years.
Once our needs had been met, continued economic growth did most people few favours. Now, bar the shouting, it's over. Nor can the current economic system address the environmental crisis. So far governments have responded to the renewed crisis of capitalism by frantically seeking to invoke the old magic again, to start the engine of creative destruction once more. GOP candidates slam Obama after downgrade. Washington (CNN) – Republican presidential candidates issued harsh criticism of President Barack Obama Friday after the credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s announced it was downgrading America’s long-term debt status.
“America’s creditworthiness just became the latest casualty in President Obama’s failed record of leadership on the economy,” Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said in a statement. “Standard & Poor’s rating downgrade is a deeply troubling indicator of our country’s decline under President Obama. His failed policies have led to high unemployment, skyrocketing deficits, and now, the unprecedented loss of our nation’s prized AAA credit rating.” The Obama administration cites a calculation error by Standard and Poor’s for the downgrade, saying the firm was off by $2 trillion dollars in their calculation of America’s debt. Rep. “This president has destroyed the credit rating of the United States,” Bachmann said. “I understand the U.S. Kerry's 'Tea Party Downgrade' Comment Causes Outbreak of Right Wing Whining. Right wing blogs are all in a huff today because Sen. John Kerry said the dreaded words, “Tea Party downgrade.”
“This is the Tea Party downgrade because a minority of people in the House of Representatives countered even the will of many Republicans in the United States Senate who were prepared to do a bigger deal,” Kerry said today on NBC’s “Meet the Press.’’ What I don’t get: Tea Party leaders wished out loud for the US to default on its debt payments, so why are they whining now when people blame them for the S&P downgrade? I mean, they didn’t get everything they wanted; they didn’t get to cause a full-fledged economic disaster. But they did manage to force the first US credit downgrade in history, and that’s not too shabby. Maybe next time the apocalypse.
Be proud, Teabaggers! US government loses triple-A credit rating - Business - Stocks & economy. Moody's and S&P: The Debt Ceiling Hypocrites - The Curious Capitalist - TIME.com. There are many aspects of the debt ceiling talks that are untoward. The political posturing. The lack of compromise. The somewhat terrifying reality that the U.S. might not be able to pay its bills. But one part of the whole affair is really irritating: the righteous indignation of the rating agencies.
On Thursday S&P warned that there was a 50/50 chance it could cut the U.S. credit rating if debt ceiling talks between the White House and Republicans remain at an impasse. OK, which analogy best applies to these announcements? (MORE: Is It Time to Stop Listening to the Rating Agencies?) Whatever: it’s just a bit painful to see the high-and-mighty rating agencies scolding the U.S., and holding all the cards, when they helped create this mess in the first place.
Yes, at the crucial juncture America needs a strict parent to make the kids go into their room and work something out. Analysis: Investors break their bonds to ratings agencies. Ratings agencies rattle cages in U.S., Europe. More BullSweet Stress-Free Tests of European Banks. Bernanke Interferes in Fiscal Policy Yet Again, This Time Hoping to Place the Blame on Congress Rather than the Fed.
Pas op voor de kredietbeoordelaars. Bank of America Forecloses…On Itself - Deal Journal. Looking for Love in all the Wrong Places? Contrary Investor Examines Misguided Fed and Obama Admin. Efforts to Increase GDP Via Increased Consumption. De G20 top: Tweede Kamer laat financiële regulering weer lopen. Maatschappelijk betrokken bezuinigen.
Griekse misverstanden. The Rise and Rise of the European Micro Lending Internet Platfor.