Technical recession. Recession nonetheless. The ECB has a real problem with asymmetry. Can't cut rates just for Germany. At the same time there's high inflation in Austria, Slovenia and the Baltics.
It's as if a single currency and a single central bank for 25 different economies with different levels of debt, doesn't really work that well in every situation.
> At the same time there's high inflation in Austria
Inflation in Austria is now mostly due to greedflation. If you cross the border into Germany the same goods are suddenly cheaper.
The major difference between states is tax rates. Labor, transacting, anything else economically is practically transparent and frictionless.
Also tax spending. For example there's no central EU funded military but each member budgets it differently, just like how there's no New York military and Pennsylvania military.
This has limitations and reduces how analogous it can be to the US' and its member states.
Even a country like Greece. As bad as the single currency was for Greece, outside the EU and Eurozone, Greece could very likely have been closer to Venezuela with even fewer resource wealth to benefit from.
That's why we have this massive inflation. No real value is created, yet everybody is flush with the money. Pandemic was just a perfect excuse for BS that is brewing since at least 08 crisis.
Indeed. Most of EU's economic growth since the 2008 crash was just printing money and propping up assets. A bunch of wealthy boomers buying expensive houses from one another does not mean actual economic prosperity.
We just printed our way into prosperity but Covid supply chain disruptions, the energy shortage, and the Ukraine conflict exposed the EU emperor had no clothes.
Who cares if everybody and his or her dog can discuss emotional intelligence, yet we end up relying on China more and more? Both to import crucial stuff and export crappy extravaganza nobody else is buying.
The green whatever plan is great example. Let's fuck over our farmers and kick out remaining manufacturing. Just to pretend we're soooo environment-friendly. And then import fuckton of stuff from far away. Thankfully there will be CO2 import tax. But CO2 regulations is not the only thing curbing local economies while faking low CO2 reports in far away countries may be a lucrative industry...
But maybe that's worth it, or maybe the Brexit will turn out great like pg said due to them not having stringent EU-type regulations on things like AI and banking (though if you're a founder leaving the EU i don't see why you'd go to the UK over the US or Canada).
Italy and Spain are heavily based on tourism and snobbery (e.g. high fashion). They ain't competing against US/China/India. And that's OK. But they need different economical policies than, for example, Germany.
Except Italy alas.
Economists in the EU must have understood this and if I had to guess they assumed a fiscal union would develop at some point?
They almost certainly did, there are two other groups who may not have done - European politicians ... and European voters.
Although it's more likely that politicians did understand it, but were reluctant to talk about, at least in front of the voters.
Gas prices have already dropped to a level where it is slowly getting in the range of pre-covid
A recession helps controlling inflation...
However, alternatives are readily available. Inland areas beyond the coastlines offer affordable living and plentiful housing.
But enough about government subsidies given to Elon!
this lecture is better pointed at the naive.. look at system rules in place, benefiting "stall" politics and high tax on labor, local govt zoning, and access to capital projects. You explain to me how "Noah's Bagels" makes multi-hundred franchise with high-end remodelling, to sell bagels. A person "exercising personal initiative" goes out of business in less than half a year! Also construction contractors..
hollow platitudes work when the system is flush.. dont be surprised to get serious pushback with that
For the individual, the only realistic option is out-migration to lower density areas.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_party_strength_in_Ne...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_party_strength_in_Ca...
Neither of those claims are supported by those links (and even the control that actually is shown by those links may be misleading, in that it ignores things like “controlling all of the separately elected executive offices and having majorities in both houses of the legislature is insufficient to govern California since it takes a legislative supermajority to make tax changes that involve any increases, and, prior to 2014, to even pass an annual budget”.)
In any case, the fact that that situation is even possible is support enough for folks to move to lower density areas.
then why am I being asked to bail out a generation's college loans?
then why is food bank use at an all time high?
then why are more six-figure earners reporting to be living paycheck-to-paycheck?
then why is personal credit card debt at an all time high?
Because handing out money tend to give votes.
because the previous generations fucked it up and pulled the ladders up behind them.
Wouldn't that fit perfectly with the comment you're responding to? Because the money is there. In fact I'd expect us to be bailing people out as we get richer. Less govern
> then why is food bank use at an all time high?
Food insecurity is no where near an all time high. https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/fo...
So perhaps there are just more people! (Anything can be an "all time high" or "record X" if you ignore this fact). Or local trust in food banks has risen. Or food banks have more money now to hand out more food.
> then why are more six-figure earners reporting to be living paycheck-to-paycheck?
Because the popular report you're citing here, sponsored by lending service LendingClub, includes buying groceries on a credit card as "living paycheck to paycheck" even if you're paying it off each month and only doing it for the points.
> then why is personal credit card debt at an all time high?
Because there are more people! Or are you actually talking about debt as a percent of income which is a more realistic stat? Because people spend less on their debt now than almost ever. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/TDSP