

Readers' comments


Connect The Dots

Ironically in Eastern Traditions, 2012 is the Year of the Dragon.

....The best time in 12 years to get married, have a baby or get born, buy a house, start a business, begin a new enterprise or take out a big loan.

It predicts a ground breaking year. And we are not even half way through.

Jasiek w japonii

KAL, Europe's problem is not a debt problem but a balance of payments problem! Not only you but a lot of people are badly misunderstanding. It is not about stock but flow that is a problem this time.

Curate's Egg

Somewhat hard to believe that even the Economist propagates the half-true myth of the Euro crisis being that of a fiscal crisis.

How many times does it need to be repeated that except for Greece, none of the PIIGS had a problem with government spending and public debt? The inherent contradictions of the common currency for such disparate economies were what really caused the crisis.

The funnier thing is, the European correspondents for the Economist gets it right but KAL doesn't. I guess the Economist does not provide economics training to its caricaturists?

Curate's Egg in reply to HyunSmith

Thanks to you and people who thumb up your comment, I am getting a crash course on the following:

- how people just ignore inconvenient facts to fit the reality into their preferred worldview
- how stupidity reigns supreme in the world

Didn't I just say that this is not a debt bubble, and give a damned good reason why it's not? To that, your response is 'It is a debt bubble, party is over!' and people think you are right.

Wow. Just wow.

I personally disagree that the the Euro lies at the heart of the crisis. I think it has serious deficiencies and has aggravated the situation for some but has been more beneficial then harmful. That the southern countries have histories of solving problems through devaluation doesn't mean that that should continue so. Take Ireland, with a "strong" currency before the Euro, also hit hard by this crisis. That the Euro doesn't allow devaluation as a way out may be detrimental on the short term but offers the chance to change things in the south and get rid of the stagnation there.
I guess people had already made up their minds that the crisis in Europe has more to do with debt than the common currency before reading HyunSmith's reply to your post and therefore recommended it.
In any case when you say
"how stupidity reigns supreme in the world"
non lesser than Albert Einstein had agreed with that some time ago, as you surely know.

-PasserBy- in reply to Curate&#039;s Egg

The Cartoon illustrates the real issue here and now, to put out the flames of of the Eurozone and restore confidence with a sufficient large Fiscal Stimulus Firewall, which if large enough will not need to be used, A banking union will be required.

Germany regardless of all the advice from Debt ridden nations on how best to dole out dole out it's cash to save Europe, will not foot the bill, without a more integrated Europe.


Anyone who knows history knows that crushing debt is not new. Debt is a fact of life. Debt naturally rises and falls over time. All of these alarmists out there simply get too much funding.

Typical humanum ignorantum. Yes, debt is fact of life, and also refinansing it. But at that moment when you *can't* repay your debt, your are screwed. That is what's happening right now. Money lenders don't want to lend money to certain parts of the Europe. I wonder what's their plan to survive.


Mrs Merkel should wears her red coat and black glasses

Inshai in reply to L2V

She is not doing cat walk in a fashion show nor is she lifegaurd on the beach to rescue drowing $,£ and Yen.

Chinese may bring their fire engines ,if the West could afford the price tag...


nice drawing, KAL. But the idea is as hard to see as that slim thing labeled Europe, and still harder when you try to figure out what shoulders you're talking about, when the Europe guy has the "load" on his back instead, and whom the speaker is talking to. Confused concept, well drawn. -- DR of the Crimson


The banking system and how it relates to the stock-market, short-term money exchange etc - Does Not Work. Change it or face the doom of Capitalism.
There are a small group getting rich out of this (the money had to go somewhere) and the money these billionaires are racking in will be worth nothing when the system has a great big GFC.

If you want my suggestion - tax each transaction on all stock exchanges of the world and each short-term currency exchange between countries; for a start. Yet, not even Obama as the cheek to do that. So we are facing an Epic Fail!!


A short thought for any depositor in Luxembourg....

With a Target receivable of about EUR 170bn, the central bank has lent these monies to someone in the EU...

Do not bet on Lux abel or willing to make up for the whole in case it does not get the money back...

Where does that leave the depositors....?


One man's debt is another man's savings. What we have right now is a crisis of confidence in the ability of debtors to repay.

HyunSmith in reply to pheebel_wimpe

You mean when people woke up and realized that Southern Europe was never as competitive s Northern Europe?

Thats not confidence thats a fact, Southern Europe is uncompetitive and if you loan them money it will be wasted.


Debt is the source of all our problems. Throughout the history, debt and living beyond our means has destroyed households, nations and civilizations.

Problem is that not living beyond our means would mean constant warfare, because no one would have anything substantial to live from. That's how Capitalism is built - while there is refinansing of the debt, you can go on, but when system and trust collapses, it's all over.


Latest blog posts - All times are GMT
Digital video: Veronica marred
Babbage 2 hrs 43 mins ago
EU and Russia sanctions: Putin untouched
Charlemagne 2 hrs 30 mins ago
Serbia's election: Vucic's victory
Eastern approaches 3 hrs 9 mins ago
Quitting business travel: Enough is enough
Gulliver 3 hrs 48 mins ago
French telecoms wars: Not over yet
Schumpeter March 17th, 17:16


Products & events