Debt Rattle July 7 2015
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DPC Main Street, Buffalo, NY 1900 • ECB Turns The Screws On Greek Banks (Kathimerini) • Greece Should Immediately Begin To Print Drachma (Martin Armst
[See the full post at: Debt Rattle July 7 2015]@ Kunstler
The Greeks insist on living the 20th century deluxe industrial age lifestyle, complete with 24/7 electricity, cheap groceries, cushy office jobs, early retirement, and plenty of walking-around money. They’ll be lucky if they land back in the 1800s, comfort-wise. The Greeks may not recognize this, but they are in the vanguard of a movement that is wrenching the techno-industrial nations back to much older, more local, and simpler living arrangements.
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Just what planet does Jim live on? And, for what reason does Kunstler hold some messianic following of sycophants who evidence no ability at critical thinking?
His picture of Greek society, which he propounds to know, is not the one I see; or know through my parents, who lived in Greece for many, many years.
Ilargi, why the hell do you value this man’s homophobic/racist views? Because he actually gets a point or two correct?
Hell, even a broken clock is correct twice a day, no?
Kunstler gives homophobes and blatant racists fee reign, with almost no moderation; bans no one IME.
Kunstler makes a living predicting a future that is “always a day away” (Annie); he a flim flam man, pure and simple…I’m lost: Kunstler openly rails against the “Corn-pone racists” of the American south which he expects will rise and behave as stupidly and violently as ever. I believe he is himself Jewish, and I’ve missed any homophobia at least in his popular articles. Do you have something I can read on this?
I believe his point on Greece is the same one he makes far more often concerning Japan: that in a world with ever-decreasing oil and energy, the technological clock will tick backwards into more primitive, more localized, and probably more feudal patterns. That’s really a key peak oil argument, not a race/culture one, although naturally the core falls last.
The problem with him being hyperbolic and wrong on timing is very true but also pretty familiar on Doomer sites, although one would think he would adjust accordingly. That’s alright I guess: very few have although the slow burn or muddle through thesis seems to be winning.
Surprising that Germany, by holding its production costs down, became such a powerhouse.
“Those outside of Europe may be surprised to learn that Germany’s exports ($1.5 trillion) are roughly equal to the exports of the U.S. (1.6 trillion), and compare favorably with China’s $2.3 trillion in exports, given that Germany’s population of 81 million is a mere 6% of China’s 1.3 billion and 25% of America’s population of 317 million.”
Good chart entitled “The Mercantilist Nation – Consumer-Debt Nation Cycle”. You can see how it all falls apart, once the periphery nations get loaded with cheap debt.
“Though German wages are generous, the German government, industry and labor unions have kept a lid on production costs even as exports leaped. As a result, the cost of labor per unit of output — the wages required to produce a widget — rose a mere 5.8% in Germany in the 2000-09 period, while equivalent labor costs in Ireland, Greece, Spain and Italy rose by roughly 30%.”
https://www.oftwominds.com/blogjuly15/ragin-contagion7-15.html
A VERY large part of Germany’s economic success has been due to the fact they are forbidden to spend money on an army. Just like Japan has been; though Abe is trying to reverse that. Not only does no “defense” industry mean more money and workers for the real economy, it eliminates a huge amount of corruption, where industries bribe in secret to get contracts with no end…
@Greenpa #22213 +++, The U.S. would be much better for our people if there was not the Military Industrial Complex.
Greenpa/bluebird – good point on the cost of having an army. Of course, Germany has got American troops parked there, so Germany gets to have an army without paying for it, and they get the added benefit of the Americans living there, buying their products.
I did find it interesting, though, that Germany exported so much. I read somewhere that 60% of all exports leaving China are from U.S. multinational corporations, and I wonder who gets to claim these as exports – China or the U.S. Does anyone know? It certainly would change things if China’s exports were actually 60% less and U.S. exports 60% more.
It’s my belief that China was engineered and manufactured by the U.S., that she could never in a million years have ramped up the way she did without a tremendous amount of U.S. help. China is U.S.-made.
I was idly wondering about the possibility of a consumer boycott of Germany, to focus their minds, and I realised I have no idea what I buy from them. Food and clothing have their origins marked (I’m in Britain), but not much else does. What is it that they’re exporting? Beer and cars? I don’t buy those already.
@ Raleigh re: “…exports leaving China are from U.S. multinational corporations, and I wonder who gets to claim these as exports – China or the U.S.”
According to this source, Chinese export statistics would even include all the value-added contained in components imported into China and then “re-exported” to the United States:
“The US multinationals allocate their low-end manufacturing segments based on the global value chains in China, making lots of their manufacture and service value-added segments transfer to China directly. When the manufactured goods are re-exported from China to the United States, the total value-added contained is fully brought into China’s exports by the current trade statistics system.”
From page 365 of “Education Management and Management Science”, Dawei Zheng, CRC Press, Jul 7, 2015
[This proceedings volume contains selected papers presented at the 2014 International Conference on Education Management and Management Science (ICEMMS 2014), held August 7-8, 2014, in Tianjin, China.]@ Caith:
Top 10 German Exports to UK
Germany’s exports to the UK amounted to
$105.8 billion or 7% of its overall exports.1. Vehicles: $31.8 billion
2. Machines, engines, pumps: $15.3 billion
3. Pharmaceuticals: $8.1 billion
4. Electronic equipment: $7.8 billion
5. Plastics: $4.2 billion
6. Medical, technical equipment: $3.8 billion
7. Gems, precious metals, coins: $2.3 billion
8. Iron or steel products: $1.8 billion
9. Paper: $1.8 billion
10. Aircraft, spacecraft: $1.8 billionFrom
https://www.worldsrichestcountries.com/top-germany-exports.htmlRegarding food, the supermarket chains Aldi and Lidl are German companies.
Doc Robinson – thank you so much for the information! I’ll have to reread the info at the link a few times, just to get used to the terminology. So if Apple ships a component to China (in order for more parts to be added to said component to make it a “whole”, like an iPhone), that counts as an import for China and an export for the U.S. Then when China adds to that component (i.e. puts a cover on it or adds some buttons, finishes off the product, whatever), and then exports product back to the U.S., that’s considered an export from China and an import to the U.S.
Since China makes so much for the multinational corporations (U.S., German, Swiss, etc.), I wonder, if you stripped this multinational production out, how much China would really be exporting on her own.
It’s something that’s always intrigued me. When I get the time, I’ll look into it some more. Thanks, Doc Robinson.
Yves Smith has this post from Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: Tsipras Never Wanted to Win Referendum; is ‘Trapped’ and ‘Depressed’
Then there’s Karl Denninger’s letter to the Troika: Dear Frau Merkel, Herr Tusk and Herr Juncker. Yikes, it’s a good read!
“The debt which you seek to collect was, in the main, unlawfully contracted. Many international banks conspired together with the previous administrations to unlawfully present a false view of the nation’s finances. Further unlawful and fraudulent acts occurred thereafter, including during the bailout a few years ago when Merkel herself, it has been revealed, knew she was negotiating a loan that could not be repaid under any reasonable commercial terms.
Fraud vitiates all contacts and this is no exception. As such the debt you seek to collect is, under both Greek and International law, invalid, never mind that the present administration cannot be compelled to honor it even were it to have not been fraudulently contracted.
We therefore present the following:
While we are obligated to honor none of the outstanding debt as a gesture of good will we will honor one fourth of the approximately €330 billion owed on a renegotiated basis, or €82.5 billion. These old bonds shall be tendered to our Treasury in exchange for new Greek bonds with a 10 year maturity at 17 basis points over the current yield of German Bunds, or a 1% rate of interest. We shall pay said interest in the amount of €825 million euros due annually in fourths on a quarterly schedule, with the first payment to be made on September 30th and then quarterly thereafter, as is standard in the international community. We further reserve the right, but do not have the obligation, to prepay and extinguish up to 1/10th of this remaining indebtedness (€8.25 billion) at any time during each of the next 10 years.
With the rest of the alleged debt certificates we will hold a ceremonial bonfire on the steps of Parliament tomorrow morning at 08:00.”
https://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=230325
Read on.
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