Britain could soon be Europe's sick man again - Europe shifts - Franco-German axis set to split

Daily Telegraph (London) ^ | 05/09/2005 | Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

[stylin19a]

Her putative finance minister, Paul Kirchoff, wants a 25 per cent flat tax and calls for the abolition of 90,000 tax rules. "We will smash down the tax barriers, break the cycle of resignation. I'll be there myself on hand with a big sledge-hammer. We want to give the citizens back their freedom and let them decide for themselves what they want to do with their incomes," he said last month. For good measure, he wrote the landmark 1993 ruling on the Maastricht Treaty as a top constitutional judge, defying the primacy of EU law in the most piercing assertion of national sovereignty ever issued by the supreme court of an EU state.

Hope OUR guys are watchin this.

[satchmodog9]

I wonder if you remove all the cars from the trade imbalance, what it would be. How many cars do you think Germany imports? Just a question.

[Betaille]

"Germany has overtaken America to become the world's biggest single exporter"

And they've been in recession for 10 years with unemployment above 12%. This is the mercantilist fallacy at work "Exports good, Imports bad".

[seppel]

You must be dreaming.

Schröder has managed to trick the majority again and will come through in the last minute. Theatrics, lies and appeals on the gut level. Most Germans decide through their bellies, not their brains.

Germany is structurally socialist. When "conservatives" govern, it is an anomaly.

The economy will keep going south as Germans become ever more godless.

Remember. Many companies manufacture in Eastern Europe and Asia, and their head offices in Germany report the numbers here.

[aft_lizard]

Are they figuring in export trade amongst EU nations?

[denydenydeny]

Her putative finance minister, Paul Kirchoff, wants a 25 per cent flat tax and calls for the abolition of 90,000 tax rules. "We will smash down the tax barriers, break the cycle of resignation. I'll be there myself on hand with a big sledge-hammer. We want to give the citizens back their freedom and let them decide for themselves what they want to do with their incomes," he said last month....not to mention the flat-tax fire-breathers Poland, Slovakia and the Baltics

I wonder if the John Kerrys of the world will continue to demand that we emulate our European brethren?

[cynicom]

If the world economy sneezes because of oil, Germany will have walking pneumonia.

[Lessismore]

If the world economy sneezes because of oil, Germany will have walking pneumonia.

Not a chance. This time they will do whatever deal with the Russians, Ukraines, etc. is needed to get Caspian Basin oil. Maybe even with the Turks to get Iranian oil.

[manx]

From the CIA fact book:

Germany's affluent and technologically powerful economy - the fifth largest in the world - has become one of the slowest growing economies in the euro zone. A quick turnaround is not in the offing in the foreseeable future. Growth in 2001-03 fell short of 1%, rising to 1.7% in 2004. Germany's aging population, combined with high unemployment, has pushed social security outlays to a level exceeding contributions from workers. Structural rigidities in the labor market - including strict regulations on laying off workers and the setting of wages on a national basis - have made unemployment a chronic problem.

[ClaudiusI]

One europe, one economy, one leader?

[.cnI redruM]

>>>>>"We will smash down the tax barriers, break the cycle of resignation. I'll be there myself on hand with a big sledge-hammer. We want to give the citizens back their freedom and let them decide for themselves what they want to do with their incomes,"


Sounds like what I wish the US government would do. I understand Bill Thomas has a tax bill along similar lines that's being bottled up in committee.

[snowsislander]

Barely noticed, Germany has overtaken America to become the world's biggest single exporter, shipping the hardware that powers the rising economies of Asia and eastern Europe.

I looked at this a while ago when I first noticed that Germany was leading the league. If memory serves, Germany is indeed the world's largest exporter of goods by dollar value, but that's because the dollar is so weak compared to the euro. Were the exchange rate to go from the current US$1.24 to buy one euro to, say, $0.90 to buy one euro, then Germany's exports by dollar value would not look so strong.

However, China is a real contender. Their exports of goods are growing very rapidly indeed; in just the first six months of this year, China is reporting that they have already exported $342 billion worth of goods -- and the second half of the year is their strong season. That is, I believe, a 32.7% increase year-on-year for the same period from 2004.

Unit: US$100,000,000
	Jun.		Jan.-Jun.
	Absolute Value	Increase ±%	Absolute Value	Increase ±%
Total Import and Export	1,222.4	23.0	6,450.3	23.2
Total Export	659.6	30.6	3,423.4	32.7
Total Import	562.8	15.1	3,026.9	14.0
Import and Export Balance (Surplus is +; deficit is-)	96.8	497.5	396.5	--

 

(Source: Network Center of MOFCOM) (URL = http://english.mofcom.gov.cn/aarticle/statistic/ie/200508/20050800326088.html)

[Old Seadog]

Angela Merkel

[Owl558]

"The profits made by German companies are running at over 33 per cent of national income, the highest in 40 years."

These German companies, they are like locusts...

[/sarcasm]

[Grampa Dave]

If Angela Merkel replaces the socialists in charge of Germany, then we will be investing in Germany.

There is an easy way to do this:


iShares MSCI Germany Index (EWG)

Until then we will stick with the ishares MSCI Austria Index (EWO).

Below is a link to a 5 year comparison chart between EWO (Austria index) and EWG (German Index).

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=EWO&t=5y&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=EWG

[CzarNicky]

just an anecdotal observation but I work as an importer and the sheer volume of goods imported from Germany and the other EU states dwarfs that of China. It's not just cars that we import from them it is machine parts and capital goods, what do we get from China? skateboard parts.

[satchmodog9]

and crappy trinkets

[Mike Darancette]

This time they will do whatever deal with the Russians

I thought that Russia is busily building pipelines to China.

[Mike Darancette]

This time they will do whatever deal with the Russians

I thought that Russia is busily building pipelines to China.