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Belgium is one of the original six and home to a lot of EU institutions and administration, so it has extra kudos.
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Fri Jan 21st, 2011 at 09:33:06 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Yes, if they get attacked by "the market" there won't be the same sneering condescension from Germany and the Netherlands as in teh case of the "PIIGS"...

Or maybe there will - blame it all on the French speakers and take the attacks as a way to apply a "good bank/bad bank" solution to Belgium, along linguistic lines...

Keynesianism is intellectually hard, as evidenced by the inability of many trained economists to get it - Paul Krugman

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Jan 21st, 2011 at 09:38:40 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Van ROmpuy is Belgian. Doesn't that disqualify Belgians for the ECB?

I think it's clear Germany has been lining up its ducks by not bidding for any major EU post in the 2009- cycle.

Keynesianism is intellectually hard, as evidenced by the inability of many trained economists to get it - Paul Krugman

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Jan 21st, 2011 at 10:34:25 AM EST
[ Parent ]
It probably does. Which would also rule out Maystadt and Reynders.

Is Draghi totally evil for having worked for GS? Is there not a tiny parcel of good in every human being? </desperate>

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Fri Jan 21st, 2011 at 10:57:14 AM EST
[ Parent ]
There's this:
"The euro is solid," Draghi told a gathering of market operators in Naples," but he called on the EU to extend and reform its economic structures "with the same vigour it devoted over the years to consolidating government budgets."
Though everything I've seen regarding Draghi's GS ties is really wretched. And Germany resents him for being associated with the use of derivatives by Greece and other EU countries to get around the German Stupidity Pact.

Keynesianism is intellectually hard, as evidenced by the inability of many trained economists to get it - Paul Krugman
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Jan 21st, 2011 at 11:08:25 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Back in 2009, when governments needed to be convinced to do some stimulus, there was this:
There were even the lies contradicting the Governor of the Bank, Draghi, who had said something true, namely that there are 1,600,000 Italians who risk finding themselves completely up the creek if they lose their job, because there is no social safety net to soften the blow. Probably the number is even more than 1,600,000, but the fact that the Governor said this was already an interesting fact. Berlusconi, who was evidently asleep during Draghi's speech, as often happens, afterwards said: Draghi made an excellent Berlusconian speech. Later he found out that Draghi had said that there were 1,600,000 people who stood to lose everything while the government was doing nothing, and at that point Berlusconi says: the data are not true. Actually the data are true, and may even be underestimates.


Keynesianism is intellectually hard, as evidenced by the inability of many trained economists to get it - Paul Krugman
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Jan 21st, 2011 at 11:10:18 AM EST
[ Parent ]
This from 2007 by de Gondi:
It appears that the only revolutionary left in Italy is the head of Italian fed reserve, Mario Draghi who insists that workers be paid more.


Keynesianism is intellectually hard, as evidenced by the inability of many trained economists to get it - Paul Krugman
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Jan 21st, 2011 at 11:11:28 AM EST
[ Parent ]
With ideas like that he doesn't stand an earthly.

We're fucked.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Fri Jan 21st, 2011 at 11:23:51 AM EST
[ Parent ]
The point is that only Weber clones stand an earthly, so we're fucked in any case.

I mean, is there a German candidate we would like? Weber, Stark and Regling are obviously hawks, though it is unclear whether Regling would oppose having his EFSF give Greece a relatively cheap loan so Greece can repurchase its bonds...

Keynesianism is intellectually hard, as evidenced by the inability of many trained economists to get it - Paul Krugman

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Jan 21st, 2011 at 11:33:05 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Well, even the FDP agrees: Brüderle backs big pay rises as economy booms - The Local
Workers hungry to share in the spoils of Germany's booming economy through higher wages have been given encouragement from a surprising place: the country's pro-business Economy Minister Rainer Brüderle.
Now, to talk about a "booming German economy" in October 2010 is a bit too celebratory, but still...

Keynesianism is intellectually hard, as evidenced by the inability of many trained economists to get it - Paul Krugman
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Jan 21st, 2011 at 12:45:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]
They certainly have been accumulating political capital with their paucity of candidates. But they've also been pissing away political capital with their grandstanding and inflation psychosis. So their ducks are not quite in a row at this point.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Fri Jan 21st, 2011 at 11:28:40 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Reportedly, the Netherlands, Finland and Austria support Weber.

This really is about surplus vs. deficit countries, and the deficit countries have no other weapon but the nuclear option: to default.

Keynesianism is intellectually hard, as evidenced by the inability of many trained economists to get it - Paul Krugman

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Jan 21st, 2011 at 11:34:37 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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