Could we get rid of austerity already?

I mean, it seems pretty obvious to me that reducing public spending just when the public most needs it will be counterproductive, but, as Atrios always says, the Very Important People see the world differently. Well, here's how it's working out: England is watching its recession lengthen, joining its austerity pals Ireland and Spain, and now Italy joins the disaster, with ripples that even Germany can no longer ignore. Wake up, before it's too late! This is the time to spend, because if nobody does, we're all going to be out of work!!

Sometimes the nicest people surprise you

That is, who knew there was deep civil strife in Belgium?? Enough that there's serious talk about partition, which might already be underway except for the difficult question of who gets Brussels. No, really.

Rocky road for EU?

The European Union has been getting a lot of admiring coverage lately, based in part upon the increasing shift of currency investors from the dollar to the Euro. However, that confidence may take a bit of a cautious shift if it turns out that the European Union has a hard time coming into official existence. With French officials now predicting that their national referendum will reject the EU constitution, it may be back to the drawing board for the internationalists. Those centuries of separate languages, cultures, and border envy may be harder to overcome than first thought...

(via pstupidonymous)

Update: the Euro is already taking a hit...

Playing to the folks at home

I did wonder, when I heard clips from Bush's victory lap diplomatic tour of Europe, whether anybody was being convinced. I mean, when a reporter asked whether he would be inviting Chirac to his ranch soon, his laugh almost made the hair stand up on the back of my neck -- no disguising the "I'm playing nice for mom, but I wouldn't let that guy touch my toys" tone there. Apparently, nobody in the EU is being fooled either.

Javier Solana [EU foreign policy chief] disputed the American view that last month's elections in Iraq had vindicated the U.S. decision to invade and questioned whether the Bush administration's promises of a new era in relations with Europe meant anything.

He's not so dumb, I guess. I also liked this Rumsfieldian jab:

Peter Mandelson, the EU trade commissioner, said European leaders realize that Mr. Bush "is the president Europe has to deal with, rather than the one it might want to deal with."

Yeah, I know how you feel.

(via Sisyphus Shrugged)

Update: apparently a classic-Bush-style "town hall meeting" with German citizens has been cancelled because die Deutscher are unwilling to play to a script (or sign loyalty oaths, who knows which).

Big players take a grim view of the dollar

On top of general observations that foreign bankers are increasingly turning to the Euro, now comes news that Bill Gates is shorting the dollar (joining his pal Warren Buffet, who's been betting against the greenback since 2002).

Gates's concern that widening U.S. budget and trade deficits are undermining the dollar was echoed in Davos by policymakers including European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

The dollar fell 21 percent against a basket of six major currencies from the start of 2002 to the end of last year. The trade deficit swelled to a record $609.3 billion last year and total U.S. government debt rose 8.7 percent to $7.62 trillion in the past 12 months.

Gee, what are they so nervous about? Don't they know that we're the primary purveyors of wealth and freedom in the world?

The U.S. budget shortfall is "the No. 1 risk, disregarding geopolitical risks" to the global economy, German Deputy Finance Minister Caio Koch-Weser said in a Jan. 27 interview in Davos. He urged Bush to present a "credible" plan for getting the deficit under control.

I'm sure a credible plan will be immediately forthcoming. As soon as we finish sketching out our strategy for spreading our military involvements into Iran... ($billions more needed? what billions??)

(via corrente)

More financial rumblings

The destabilization of our economy continues behind the scenes:

1. The Chinese central banks own us (they have something like 86% of our debt). (via kos, clearly)
   
2. Meanwhile, central banks around the world are increasingly choosing the Euro over the dollar. (via Pandagon)

When you put those two together, you could start getting sleepless nights (with dreams of banana republics) . . .

They keep telling us we're improving...

The economy is supposed to be looking better and better, but it's hard not to notice the trend in the valuation of the dollar. Hmmm, what other event spans the 18 months in which the dollar has lost a third of its value?

Losing the global culture wars

An interesting article at Salon discusses the increasing coherence of the European Union and the degree to which it is gradually taking over from us as the example to the world of how moral values and economic success can coexist. Markos excerpts solid chunks and adds his own view that we've been lapped and will be so increasingly...

Twenty-two percent of American children grow up in poverty, which means that our country ranks 22nd out of the 23 industrialized nations, ahead of only Mexico and behind all 15 of the pre-2004 EU countries. What's more horrifying: the statistic itself or the fact that no American politician to the right of Dennis Kucinich would ever address it?

Too much to hope that we might still learn something from our onetime allies?

More ripples from Tuesday

(having nothing to do with either terrorism or "values" but real policy expectations)

America's economy takes on shades of Argentina, as the dollar falls against the Euro and China starts unloading dollar-linked assets...

(via Atrios)