POTUS Donald Trump may go down in history as the U.S. president who exposed the European Union for what it has become since the end of the Cold War: A gaggle of ungrateful, Left-wing pretenders who have taken advantage of American generosity for decades.
Following in the footsteps of French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is channeling her monstrous predecessor, Adolph Hitler, in calling for a European army so the European Union can fulfill his objective of conquering the continent while getting rid of the United States military presence there.
In a speech in Strasbourg, Merkel called for a “real, true” EU army in what was seen as a direct rebuke to POTUS Trump, the U.K.’s Daily Mail reported. Continue reading
Tag Archives: IFO Institute
The Sanctions Debate
ECB risks crippling political damage if Greece forced to default
If Greece is forced out of the euro in acrimonious circumstances – a 50/50 risk given the continued refusal of the creditor core to acknowledge their own guilt and strategic errors – the country will not only default on its EMU rescue packages, but also on its “Target2” liabilities to the European Central Bank.
In normal times, Target2 adjustments are routine and self-correcting. They occur automatically as money is shifted around the currency bloc. The US Federal Reserve has a similar internal system to square books across regions. They turn nuclear if monetary union breaks up.
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A Greek default – unavoidable in a Grexit scenario – would crystallize these losses. The German people would discover instantly that a large sum of money committed without their knowledge and without a vote in the Bundestag had vanished.
Germany’s ascendancy over Europe will prove short-lived
Although the article has a point and the population is truly in decline, Germany should not be counted out. Germans have the know-how, a very modern infrastructure, are still the most industrious and forward thinking people with a vision that no other on the European continent has or can be compared to. It didn’t literally give its manufacturing base to the Chinese.
Germany has peaked. Its hegemony in Europe is a “power illusion”, a confluence of fleeting advantages soon to be overwhelmed by the delayed effect of error and the crush of historic forces.
If demography is destiny, it may be clear within five years that ageing Germany is going the way of Japan. Within 20 years it may equally be clear France and Britain are regaining their 19th century role as the two dominant powers of Europe, albeit a diminished prize. Continue reading