Angela Merkel – Page 13 – Infinite Unknown

EU Draws Up Plans For Single ‘Economic Government’

March 30, 2010March 30, 2010 by Infinite

– Lisbon Treaty: Now EU Takes Charge Of Britain

– EU President Herman Van Rompuy Announces 2009 as ‘First Year of Global Governance’

– Climategate: Hacked emails include calls for ‘Earth Government’ as foundation of new world order, splitting of America

The EU President has NOT been elected. Herman Van Rompuy was appointed by the heads of the 27 EU member states.

Germany and France have tabled controversial plans to create an “economic government of the European Union” to police financial policy across the continent.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the summit of European Union leaders in Brussels

They have put Herman Van Rompuy, the EU President, in charge of a special task force to examine “all options possible” to prevent another crisis like the one caused by the Greek meltdown.

His mission will be to draw up a master-plan for the best way to oversee and enforce economic targets set in Brussels as a key part of a bail-out package for Greece.

The options he will consider include the creation of an “economic government” by the by the end of the year.

When The Gun Is In YOUR Mouth…. (CDS / Merkel)

March 11, 2010 by Infinite

… suddenly politicians “get religion” about making damn sure it has no bullets in it:

“We’re of the opinion that a quick implementation of actions in the area of CDS has to happen,” Merkel said. Citing “ongoing speculation against euro-region countries,” she called for the “fastest possible” implementation of new rules. Europe must “do everything to avoid unhealthy speculation,” said Juncker, who heads the euro-area finance ministers group.

Where ‘ya been Angie?

Oh, and you too Papandreou:

“Europe and America must say ‘enough is enough’ to those speculators who only place value on immediate returns, with utter disregard for the consequences on the larger economic system,” Papandreou said yesterday in a speech in Washington.

And, of course, Sarkozy.

Note that I’ve been calling for these things to be either exchange-traded with central counterparty “blinding” (on purpose) as is the case with the regulated option and futures markets or be torn up since The Ticker began publication.

Why? Because it is my position and remains so that unless you have this sort of market these contracts are all a scam.

They are a scam because:

Germany Snubs Greek Aid Plea As Protesters Seize Finance Ministry in Athens

March 4, 2010 by Infinite

See also:
– Greece passes new deficit cuts to avert ‘catastrophe’ (Telegraph)

George Papandreou, Greece’s prime minister, pauses during a conference organized by The Economist in Athens, on Feb. 2, 2010. (Bloomberg)

March 4 (Bloomberg) — Greece’s pledge to deepen planned budget-deficit cuts failed to yield an offer of assistance from Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, as protesters in Athens seized the finance ministry building and blocked roads in the city center.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said a meeting tomorrow with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou won’t be “about aid commitments.” Her finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, said the third round of deficit-reduction measures this year were probably enough to convince investors to buy Greek debt.

While Papandreou is risking a backlash at home to meet European Union demands for more deficit cuts before allies even consider providing aid, Merkel is facing domestic opposition to tapping taxpayers to extend a financial lifeline to Greece.

“There would be no understanding in Germany for bailing out Greece,” Henrik Enderlein, a political economist at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, said by phone. “It’s a bit of catch-22 situation: if you give in to Greece and you put 5 billion or perhaps even 10 billion into some kind of rescue package or into some guarantees, then the German government would look irresponsible. However, if it doesn’t, then European Union leaders might put a lot of pressure on Merkel and say, look, we have to bail out Greece.”

Storm over bailout of Greece, EU’s most ailing economy

February 10, 2010 by Infinite

– German Official: No EU, Bilateral Aid For Greece On EU Agenda (Wall Street Journal)

Athens will be paralysed today by a 24-hour strike against a government trying to stave off bankruptcy ? as fellow members of the eurozone squabble over how best to solve Greece?s debt crisis

Angela Merkel tried to calm fevered speculation in financial markets yesterday that Germany was preparing to lead a bail-out of Greece amid a split in the EU on how to handle its most ailing member.

The German Chancellor denied reports that her Finance Minister was conducting secret talks with Jean-Claude Trichet, head of the European Central Bank, and with other capitals on an EU rescue fund for Athens.

Mrs Merkel has staunchly resisted suggestions that the EU must swallow its pride and turn to the Washington-based IMF for a solution to the growing economic turmoil in Greece, with fears that its troubles in international finance markets will trigger a domino effect, toppling other weak members of the eurozone such as Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy.

But last night there were signs of a developing European split over calling in the International Monetary Fund, a move also strongly opposed by Brussels, with suggestions from Sweden’s Finance Minister and other officials that this might be better than the EU programme outlined last week.

Mrs Merkel has repeatedly rejected the idea that the 16-nation eurozone would need to look to the IMF, which is already overseeing recovery efforts in Latvia and Hungary – both EU members outside the single currency. Her insistence that the eurozone can keep its own house in order led to market speculation yesterday that an EU bail-out was imminent.

There were also reports yesterday that Wolfgang Schäuble, the German Finance Minister, was working bilaterally and at the European level on putting together a package to help Athens.

German government is rushing through a fresh package of measures to shore up ailing banks and prevent a second wave of the debt crisis suffocating large parts of manufacturing industry

December 1, 2009 by Infinite

Looting the taxpayer again!

There is no recovery.

– The Federal Reserve Doesn’t Want Banks to Increase Lending, Because of Inflation

This is the Greatest Depression.

Angela Merkel alarmed by worsening credit crisis

German Chancellor Angela Merkel: fears of new crisis Photo: EPA

“We are in a very critical situation,” said Chancellor Angela Merkel in her weekly radio address. “We are going to discuss with leaders of the financial institutions what can be done to head off a credit crunch.”

The move comes days after the Bundesbank revealed that German banks face a further €90bn (£82bn) of likely write-downs over the next year.

Leaders of the new coalition are to meet industrialists and bankers tomorrow to thrash out an emergency plan. The proposals include a €10bn scheme to purchase toxic securities from banks. The idea is anathema in Germany and faces stiff opposition from Mrs Merkel’s Bavarian and liberal partners.

The renewed sense urgency follows a flurry of warnings from economists and business groups over the risks of a credit contraction.

On the Edge with Max Keiser (06/05/09)

June 5, 2009 by Infinite

1 of 3:

German Chancellor Angela Merkel Blasts ‘Powers of the Fed’

June 20, 2009June 3, 2009 by Infinite

Merkel: “We must return together to an independent central-bank policy and to a policy of reason, otherwise we will be in exactly the same situation in 10 years’ time.”

Only this time it will only take about one year until everything falls apart and “the same situation” will also be much worse than before. An economic/financial disaster of epic proportions: The Greatest Depression.

angela-merkel
In a speech on Tuesday in Berlin, Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed ‘great skepticism’ over the clout of central banks and suggested their aggressive moves in Europe, the U.S. and the U.K. might backfire. She is shown here at a rally later in Saarbrücken, Germany, for European Parliamentary elections. AFP/Getty Images

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in a rare public rebuke of central banks, suggested the European Central Bank and its counterparts in the U.S. and Britain have gone too far in fighting the financial crisis and may be laying the groundwork for another financial blowup.

“I view with great skepticism the powers of the Fed, for example, and also how, within Europe, the Bank of England has carved out its own small line,” Ms. Merkel said in a speech in Berlin. “We must return together to an independent central-bank policy and to a policy of reason, otherwise we will be in exactly the same situation in 10 years’ time.” (Read excerpts of the speech.)

Ms. Merkel also said the ECB “bowed somewhat to international pressure” when it said last month it plans to buy €60 billion ($85 billion) in corporate bonds — a move that is modest in comparison to asset-buying by its counterparts, the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of England. Details are to be unveiled by the ECB’s president, Jean-Claude Trichet, Thursday.

The public criticism is unusual — and not only because German politicians rarely talk harshly about central banks in public. When politicians around the world do criticize their central banks, they almost always gripe that they are too tightfisted.

Standard & Poor’s said it may cut Spain’s credit rating; Euro Weakens to One-Month Low on ECB Outlook

January 13, 2009 by Infinite

The following picture depicts the future Euro/US$ exchange rate.
The US dollar will be destroyed.

A euro banknote is arranged for a photograph atop U.S. bills, in New York, Dec. 30, 2008. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News

Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) — The euro weakened for a third day versus the dollar, reaching a one-month low, as traders added to bets the European Central Bank will reduce interest rates, decreasing the appeal of the region’s assets.

The 16-nation currency also declined to the lowest level in more than a month against the yen after Standard & Poor’s said it may cut Spain’s credit rating. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition said yesterday it will spend 50 billion euros ($66.6 billion) to support Europe’s largest economy. New Zealand’s dollar fell to a four-week low after S&P said it may cut the country’s foreign-currency credit rating.

Related article: New Zealand’s AA+ Credit Rating May Be Cut, S&P Says (Bloomberg)

“There is more than enough room for the euro to fall further,” said Hideki Amikura, deputy general manager of foreign exchange in Tokyo at Nomura Trust and Banking Co., a unit of Japan’s largest brokerage. “The focus of the currency market is how far rates will fall in Europe, because the ECB is behind the curve compared with other central banks.”

Merkel makes £44bn U-turn to try to save sinking German economy

January 11, 2009 by Infinite

The taxpayer looting and unsustainable debt creating ‘Paulson-Bernanke-Brown’ virus spreads rapidly around the world. Even financially relatively sound countries are now affected. ‘Sound economics’ resistance is now at close to 100%.

Critic of UK’s ‘crass Keynesianism’ offers package of tax cuts and state spending

Angela Merkel will make her sharpest political U-turn since becoming German Chancellor this week when her government unveils a €50bn (£44bn) package of tax cuts and incentives to protect Europe’s biggest economy from deepening recession.

The “Pact for Germany” programme contains a battery of tax cuts, health insurance reductions and special government funds designed to stimulate an economy forecast to contract by 3 per cent this year.

The measures, expected to be agreed at a crisis cabinet meeting tomorrow, will be announced only weeks after Mrs Merkel’s grand coalition government heaped scorn on Britain for “tossing around billions” in its efforts to tackle the credit crunch.

Germany’s Finance Minister, Peer Steinbrück, went so far as to condemn Gordon Brown’s VAT cuts as “crass Keynesianism” and said that it would take Britain a “whole generation” to work off the debt. Mrs Merkel insisted that spending one’s way out of recession did not work. (Absolutely correct!)

Don’t Miss:
– Dennis Kucinich: Federal Reserve No More “Federal” Than Federal Express!

Yesterday, however, Mr Steinbrück announced plans to slash the basic tax rate from 15 to 12 per cent to persuade poorer families to keep spending.

Germany prepares new stimulus boost

January 5, 2009 by Infinite

The German government’s second fiscal stimulus could reach €50bn ($68bn, £47bn), nearly double the amount expected just a week ago, senior officials said on Monday, as leaders of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition met in Berlin to hammer out an agreement on the package.

Volker Kauder, parliamentary leader of Ms Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, said measures – a combination of infrastructure investments, modest tax cuts, job-supporting measures and help for business – would stretch over 2009 and 2010 and cost up to €25bn a year.

German carmakers: Sales collapse

December 3, 2008December 3, 2008 by Infinite

Car sales in the US collapse:

November Auto Sales: Porsche sales drop by half (Source: Forbes)

November Auto Sales: Daimler AG’s sales decline (Source: Forbes):
Total sales at Daimler’s U.S. operations fell 29.9 percent to 15,991 from 22,819 in November 2007
Sales of Mercedes-Benz brand vehicles last month declined 38.2 percent to 14,102 while the company sold 1,889 of its two-seater Smart models. Smart was introduced to the North American market in mid-January of this year.
Mercedes-Benz USA said its best-selling model family, the C-Class, had a 36.1 percent drop-off in sales, and E-Class sales fell by 49.3 percent.

November Auto Sales: BMW sales fall 26.8 percent (Source: Forbes)

Volkswagen November U.S. Sales Fall 19% on Economy (Source: Bloomberg)

Audi U.S. November sales fall 25.4% (Source: Market Watch)
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Berlin under fire as German car sales collapse

German car sales have plunged to the lowest level since reunification almost twenty years ago, increasing pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel to abandon budget restraint and back plans for an EU-wide rescue package.

Registrations fell 18pc in November, led by a drop of 36pc in Opel sales. “The crisis has again worsened dramatically,” said Volker Lange, of the VDIK motor vehicle association.

Volkswagen is to suspend production at its Wolfsburg headquarters this month. BMW has cut output in Leipsig to one day a week and Porsche is shuttering its Stuttgart plant for a week. It is just as bad in France where PSA Peugeot Citroen is halting production for a month at Sochaux, the country’s biggest industrial site.

The slump in Germany’s core industry has led to vocal criticism of the Left-Right coalition government. The Handelsbatt newspaper warned this week that the coalition faces a “rebellion” unless it faces up to the gravity of the crisis.

German government says ready to help Opel

November 17, 2008 by Infinite

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany said on Monday it was ready to help General Motors’ struggling German unit Opel, though it would make sure any aid did not seep over to the U.S. parent or trigger a flood of demands for support.

Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to meet Opel representatives at 1530 GMT on Monday. Opel has asked the federal government and German states to help it through a financial rough patch that has been aggravated by troubles at its parent GM.

“I think the government will do everything that is necessary to help the company but on the other hand, it will of course respect the consequences with regard to dealing with other companies,” government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said.

“This cannot be about taking action that we would then not be able to maintain with regard to similar cases,” he added at a regular government news conference.

Commerzbank accepts €8.2bn state funding

November 3, 2008 by Infinite

Commerzbank, Germany’s second-largest bank, today said it would accept a €8.2bn (£6.44bn) capital injection from the state and a further €15bn in guaranteed funding.

Commerz, which is taking over Dresdner, its smaller rival, said it had agreed to pay no dividends for the next two years. It will also scrap all boardroom bonuses in 2009 and 2010 and cap its chief executive’s salary at €500,000.

The bank made its moves as it reported a net loss of €285m in the third quarter when it was heavily exposed to both Lehman Brothers, the bankrupt US investment bank, and Iceland, the virtually insolvent country.

It said it made a combined operating loss of almost €900m through these two events. In the first nine months its pre-tax earnings of €2.3bn a year ago shrank to €419m.

Germany’s private sector banks have been under considerable pressure from chancellor Angela Merkel to join her government’s €500bn stabilisation package, with the biggest, Deutsche, creating a storm by saying it would be “ashamed” to take part.

Coming Soon: The 600 Trillion Derivatives Emergency Meeting

October 17, 2008October 14, 2008 by Infinite

Here is an update on the size of the derivatives market with the latest official figures (.pdf) from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). Hold your breath, as we are not anymore talking paltry billions but TRILLIONS of whichever fiat currency.

Current emergency meetings on banks and markets are still only in the stage where politicians and central bankers are bickering over how to create a few more hundred billions Euros and FRNs. But toxic MBS pale in comparison to the mushrooming growth of the derivatives market. According to figures released in the quarterly review of the BIS (pp A103) in September the total notional amount of outstanding derivatives in all categories rose 15% to a mindboggling $596 TRILLION as of December 2007.

Europe stuns with €1.5 trillion bank rescue, as France plays role of saviour

October 14, 2008 by Infinite

Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Holland and Austria have joined forces to launch the greatest bank bail-out in history, offering over €1.5 trillion in guarantees and fresh capital in a “shock and awe” blitz to halt the credit panic.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy Photo: PHILIPPE WOJAZER

The move – unveiled simultaneously in the six states to maximise the show of unity – throws the full weight of the eurozone behind global efforts to stem the crisis.

The move gave a tremendous boost to bourses across Europe, lifting the Euro Stoxx index by 9.53pc in the biggest one-day rally ever.

The pan-European plan – totalling over $2 trillion, or £1.17 trillion – completes the third leg of a dramatic restructuring of finance across the Western world. Sovereign states have now absorbed the brunt of the credit risk in half the global economy.

Europe to US: You messed up the rescue, too

October 13, 2008 by Infinite

The plans for a massive bank bailout by European governments differ strikingly from the U.S. approach.

PARIS (Fortune) — First you mess up the world’s financial system. Then you blow the rescue of it. Now let’s show you how to do it properly.

That, in a nutshell, is the less-than-flattering message European governments are sending to the U.S. as they mount their own gigantic bank bailout. The plans, announced Monday after two weeks of dithering, involve Britain, Germany, France and some others recapitalizing national banks that require help, and providing state guarantees and other measures to kick-start the stalled credit market. The details are strikingly different from the U.S. approach adopted by U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and the Federal Reserve Board. And there’s a big reason for that: The Europeans think Paulson got it badly wrong, and have watched aghast as he failed to restore confidence in the world’s financial system.

EU Nations Commit 1.3 Trillion Euros to Bank Bailouts

October 13, 2008 by Infinite

Oct. 13 (Bloomberg) — France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Austria committed 1.3 trillion euros ($1.8 trillion) to guarantee bank loans and take stakes in lenders, racing to prevent the collapse of the financial system.

The announcements came as Britain took majority stakes today in Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and HBOS Plc. The coordinated steps followed a pledge yesterday by European leaders to bolster market confidence as the global economy slides toward recession.

“What it should do is stabilize the banking system,” said Peter Hahn, a fellow at London’s Cass Business School and former managing director at Citigroup Inc. “Will it stop us from having a recession? No, nothing is going to stop us from having a recession.”

Only state intervention can save us now, says Merkel

October 12, 2008 by Infinite

BERLIN: Only the state can restore trust to financial markets now, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was quoted as saying on Sunday amid reports that Berlin was about to unveil a huge rescue package for its banks.

“Only action by the state is capable of restoring the necessary trust,” Merkel was quoted as saying by the Bild am Sonntag weekly following talks on Saturday in France with President Nicolas Sarkozy.

“In this it is important that countries do not act unilaterally but that we coordinate at European and international level and then implement the measures within our national responsibilities,” Merkel said.

IMF in global meltdown warning

October 12, 2008 by Infinite

Strauss-Kahn said rich nations had so far failed to restore confidence

The world financial system is teetering on the “brink of systemic meltdown”, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned in Washington.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn said rich nations had so far failed to restore confidence, but he endorsed a new action plan by the G7 group.

He also said the IMF was ready to lend to countries in dire need of capital.

The 15 eurozone leaders will meet in Paris later to try to establish a common approach to the markets crisis.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said they would present a number of proposals at the summit to ease the credit freeze that has caused the collapse of several leading international banks.

But after meeting in Paris on Saturday, the two leaders said the summit would not result in a joint financial rescue fund for Europe, in the model of a $700bn rescue by the US government.

Germany to allow domestic military deployment

October 6, 2008 by Infinite

BERLIN (AP) – Germany’s governing coalition partners want to change the constitution to allow for military deployment within the country if needed to combat terrorism, officials said Monday.

The proposal would allow use of the military only if police are overwhelmed and cannot properly respond to a situation themselves.

“It is not to be used generally, but only in very specific cases,” Interior Ministry spokeswoman Daniela-Alexandra Pietsch said.

The center-left Social Democratic Party – which makes up half of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition – had been opposed to the proposal but agreed late Sunday after working out an agreement that includes strict guidelines for domestic deployment.

Europe fights financial storm as bank deal collapses

October 5, 2008 by Infinite

Nicolas Sarkozy (C) flanked by Angela Merkel (L) and Gordon Brown

PARIS (AFP) – The leaders of Europe’s four main economic powers vowed to protect fragile banks in their fight against the global credit crisis as the biggest rescue in German financial history collapsed.

France, Germany, Britain and Italy put on a united front, promising a more coordinated approach to the credit crunch, although Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel insisted states would mainly act individually.

Der Spiegel: DID SAAKASHVILI LIE?

September 16, 2008 by Infinite

Part1: The West Begins to Doubt Georgian Leader

Five weeks after the war in the Caucasus the mood is shifting against Georgian President Saakashvili. Some Western intelligence reports have undermined Tbilisi’s version of events, and there are now calls on both sides of the Atlantic for an independent investigation.

AP
Georgia’s President Mikhail Saakashvili visits Gori last week.

EU threatens sanctions against Russia

August 28, 2008 by Infinite

The French foreign affairs minister, Bernard Kouchner, said sanctions were ‘being considered’. Photograph: Gerard Cerles/AFP/Getty Images

European Union leaders will discuss sanctions against Russia ahead of an emergency summit meeting, the French foreign minister said today, as western leaders increased diplomatic pressure on Moscow.

When asked what measures the west could take against Russia in the crisis over Georgia, Bernard Kouchner told a press conference in Paris: “Sanctions are being considered.”

Russia recognizes Georgia’s breakaway republics

August 26, 2008 by Infinite

MOSCOW, August 26 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s president signed decrees on Tuesday recognizing Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states and called on other countries to follow suit.

“This is not an easy decision, but it is the only way to protect people’s lives,”Dmitry Medvedev said in a televised address.

Israeli Ministers Mull Plans for Military Strike against Iran

June 18, 2008 by Infinite

The Israeli Air Force is known for its “inventive solutions to military problems,” says Bruce Riedel, a Middle East expert who has strong contacts to Israel. “Israeli military planners tell me it is mission doable.”

The Israeli government no longer believes that sanctions can prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons. A broad consensus in favor of a military strike against Tehran’s nuclear facilities — without the Americans, if necessary — is beginning to take shape.

Dani Yatom, a member of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, was invited to attend a NATO conference in Brussels last year. While reviewing the agenda, Yatom, a retired major general, was surprised to see that the meeting was titled “The Iranian Challenge” and not “The Iranian Threat.”

When a speaker with a French accent mentioned that a US military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities would be the most dangerous scenario of all, Yatom said, politely but firmly: “Sir, you are wrong. The worst scenario would be if Iran acquired an atom bomb.”

Yatom, 63, has spent most of his life in the military. He was a military adviser to former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and, in the mid-1990s, was named head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. Nevertheless, Yatom, a member of the Labor Party, is not some reckless hawk. Unlike most Knesset members, he flatly rejects, for example, a major Israeli offensive against the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

But Yatom’s willingness to strike a compromise ends when he is asked what he considers to be the best response to the Iranian nuclear program. “We no longer believe in the effectiveness of sanctions,” says Yatom. “A military operation is needed if the world wants to stop Iran.”

When Israeli Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz, a former defense minister, expressed similar sentiments 10 days ago, they were viewed, especially in Europe, as the isolated opinions of a card-carrying hardliner seeking to score points with the electorate in a bid to succeed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. In truth, however, there is now a consensus within the Israeli government that an air strike against the Iranian nuclear facilities has become unavoidable. “Most members of the Israeli cabinet no longer believe that sanctions will convince President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to change course,” says Minister of Immigrant Absorption Yaakov Edri.

The one question over which Israel’s various political groups disagree is the timing of an attack. The doves argue that diplomatic efforts by the United Nations should be allowed to continue until Iran is on the verge of completing the bomb. That way, Israel could at least argue convincingly that all non-military options had been exhausted.