Germany

By Sober Look Analysts often talk about how the weak euro helps exporters in the Eurozone, particularly Germany because of its massive export sector. But is Germany the main beneficiary? Which other nations want the euro to weaken further?…

Last year I predicted that the route that Europe would go would be fiscal integration coupled with explicit mechanisms for allowing an exit from the euro zone. For example, in November during the Italian crisis I wrote: I continue to…

Here’s round two of the links, this time on Europe. It is mostly about the ECB and the rumours about unlimited liquidity. I have already written about this twice today so I won’t say any more. But I will note the Reuters article on how…

This week's second weekly-length post is just another review of the Price Waterhouse Coopers study that is big news in the German press. I have now seen the numbers in a bit more granular detail and I wanted to run through them for me…

Why is the global economy hamstrung by heavy debts and weak banks? Or put another way, why doesn’t deleveraging happen, and the weight of debt reduce, and why doesn’t the economy expand so the weak banks can once more become robust and…

In the German press, there have been a number of stories recently that indicate that the German government will not commit any more money to bailouts in the euro zone. Specifically, the reports of greatest interest have to do with Germany's…

As the Eurozone recession (which started months ago) worsens, the area's manufacturing activity, as measured by the PMI index, is contracting at a pace not seen since 2009. A great deal of this decline however is now driven by Germany…

Mario Draghi has a specific plan in mind for how the ECB will be able to arrest the sovereign debt crisis. Two Bloomberg central bank sources told the news agency that ECB President Draghi will have talks with Bundesbank President Jens…

Mario Draghi's comments earlier today showing the ECB's commitment to the euro to do whatever it takes to keep the single currency intact were greeted by most with a sense of relief. In Germany, there was consternation within the German…

I want to revisit Richard Koo's comments three weeks ago after his meeting with a number of German policymakers. I think they are illuminating in terms of why Euro crisis policy is as it is. And given the downturn in German economic…