Free Republic

Almost half of Germans what to see the Deutsche Mark restored, with just 41 per cent saying they want to keep the euro. The YouGov-Institute survey, commissioned by the newspaper Bild, found that 49 per cent of Germans want their nation to have its own, independent currency again. Meanwhile, 41 per cent of those questioned wanted to stay with the euro, the single currency of the European Union (EU). Nearly 77 per cent of the 1,068 Germans quizzed thought they had not profited from the adoption of the euro currency. A decisive 60 per cent said they would vote against having...

A top economic adviser to US President Donald Trump bashed Germany for exploiting an undervalued euro to take advantage of its trading partners, the Financial Times reported Tuesday. The public rebuke of a major trading partner is the latest example of the brash tactic that has become a feature of the new US administration, with Trump himself using public attacks and Twitter to criticize businesses and allies, including Mexico. Peter Navarro, who advised Trump during the campaign and heads the White House’s new National Trade Council, said in an interview with the FT that Germany “continues to exploit other countries...

Fourteen years after the introduction of the Euro in cash, Germans are still holding onto their Deutschmarks (DM), mainly for the sentimental value attached to them. The DM, which was introduced in West Germany in 1948 under Allied rule and adopted in East Germany in 1990, was replaced by the Euro in 2002. On the 31st of December 2001, DM banknotes to the value of €76.57 billion were in circulation. Since then, “more than 95% of DM banknotes in circulation have been exchanged” for Euros, Dorit Feldbrügge from the Bundesbank (German Central Bank) told The Local. But that means that...

It hasn't been legal tender for 14 years, but in January a German supermarket chain will start accepting Deutschmarks again. Kaufland supermarkets will be accepting the former German currency at their cashiers. To support the campaign, many of the company's products will also be given a 1960s design to enhance the nostalgic theme. [...] (T)his is a limited campaign, lasting from January 4th until January 30th, and the aim is to get Germans to use the old currency they still have lying around. The estimated value of that currency is over €6 billion. ...

Through all the haggling and hair-pulling in the past months over more austerity, fewer creditors getting their money, and a dreaded “Grexit”—a scenario in which Greece would leave Europe’s currency union—at least four prominent economists in three major American publications have casually and quietly suggested there may be a third way: A German exit. That is, Germany should exit the euro, and clear the way for countries in the south of Europe—notably, Greece, Italy, Spain, and probably Portugal—to reconcile their debt with a greatly depreciated currency and maybe finally get a handle on their economies. The latest thinker to suggest...

Rather worryingly, Bloomberg is reporting a Handelsblatt report (due tomorrow) that Mrs. Merkel is investigating ways to enable countries to leave the Euro. Merkel's CDU Seeks to Make Euro Exits Possible (via Bloomberg)...