Reply to: The economy is in big trouble

[ThomasSoerensen]

You can scoff, but the Eurozone isn't out of the woods yet. Perhaps we'll be better off in the long run.

I agree, that is why I am on my way out of the Euro. I think it will be weakened quite a bit in the short to medium term.

[OwlHoot]

I recommend you guys start demanding that your contracts are paid in Euros or another more stable currency.

You can scoff, but the Eurozone isn't out of the woods yet. Perhaps we'll be better off in the long run.

[ThomasSoerensen]

and on top of all that blabber you are also blessed with inflation of 4-5% compared to Germany which had 1.1% in 2010.

Does that make you feel competitive and optimistic?

I recommend you guys start demanding that your contracts are paid in Euros or another more stable currency.

[AtW]

Yes. And a virtual motorbike fetish to boot!

Don't forget eco shed...

[shaunbhoy]

Is a haemaphrodite a shemale with a vampire fetish?

Yes. And a virtual motorbike fetish to boot!

HTH

[Mich the Tester]

Well I hope he has bought up the image rights for models of shortarsed tubby haemaphrodites with large foreheads. Boomed if he has!!

Is a haemaphrodite a shemale with a vampire fetish?

[shaunbhoy]

That and sasguru of course.

Well I hope he has bought up the image rights for models of shortarsed tubby haemaphrodites with large foreheads. Boomed if he has!!

[AtW]

Rumours are that the debt which China has bought will be repaid in Gold. As its the only thing of value left in Europe.

That and sasguru of course.

[Old Greg]

That remark was for OG rather than you Atw - I am quite aware of the TimeLines of the West and Eastern Roman Empires !

Post Constantine the last 300 years of the Western Empire was that of a steady shambolic decline - sounds like fun ?

That's a bit of a slip from Cicero to Constantine time-wise. But even looking at the West post the battle of Adrianople A.D. 378 (which pretty much lit the fuse for the end in the West), it can be seen not as the fall of an Empire, but the transition of Roman Christian civilisation from a single Empire to separate kingdoms ruled by 'barbarians' who were Christian and Romanised - Goths, Vandals etc. This is certainly the experience in Western continental Europe. It was the fate of what is now England to be invaded by non-Romansied barbarians, hence our differences from Western Europe in terms of common law vs Roman law etc.

[Mich the Tester]

Rumours are that the debt which China has bought will be repaid in Gold. As its the only thing of value left in Europe.

There's lots of valuable stuff in Europe that the Chinese new-rich would just love to get their hands on. Art, vineyards, architecture etc. Trouble is, do Europeans really want to have to sell all the works of Michelangelo, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Picasso, Dali, Miro, etc etc to Chinese mutli-gazillionaires or ship Venice brick by brick to Shanghai? I don't think so. At least I hope not.

In fact, Europe is almost incalculably rich if you look at the products of European culture and the possessions handed down through the centuries; trouble is, we need cash. Right now Europe looks a bit like some drunken old aristocrat sitting on a huge pile of as yet unproductive wealth while maxing out all his credit cards at Majestic wines and a rather seedy casino.

[gricerboy]

As Stephanie Flanders pointed out on last night's 9 o' clock news bulletin, inflation was running at a whopping TWENTY FIVE PERCENT during the 1970s so we can't really compare the present situation with that period in our history.

[lilelvis2000]

Rumours are that the debt which China has bought will be repaid in Gold. As its the only thing of value left in Europe.

[Freamon]

Caught between a rock and a hard place.

Can't raise interest rates or the fragile recovery will be derailed, repossessions will rise as people can't pay their mortgages and the housing market will collapse.

Can't not raise interest rates as inflation will then gallop ahead, the real value of everything, including the pound, will fall, investors will move to the safe haven of the Euro, Dollar or Remnimbi.

The doom of 2008 was not averted, just postponed.

Hopefully the Conservatives will not draw it out any more, it will be quicker with a short, sharp shock.

So let's raise interest rates, squeeze inflation to under 2% and live within our means. Devil take the hindmost.

The problem with this is that it assumes the BoE can do what they want with rates.

In reality, there's simply not enough demand from creditworthy businesses or consumers to lift rates above their current levels. In such circumstances, if the BoE wanted to raise rates, they would have to drain so much liquidity from the system to force rates up that it would push the banks over the edge.

[AlfredJPruffock]

FFS, that was many HUNDREDS of years after words that you posted - balanced budget remark was spot on and was made at the good times of Roman Empire - they did not borrow cash from barbarians to finance their gladiator fights, did they?

That remark was for OG rather than you Atw - I am quite aware of the TimeLines of the West and Eastern Roman Empires !

Post Constantine the last 300 years of the Western Empire was that of a steady shambolic decline - sounds like fun ?

[AtW]

On the contrary Ate Cicero saw the writinn on the wall - public spending and increasing millitary expenditure was unsustainable

Quiet, poor Roman Empire only lasted another 500 years.