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I thought George Friedman had some interesting perspectives on the Greece, Germany and the dept crisis. In this video [0], Friedman explains that keeping all c

by wsc981 11y ago

I thought George Friedman had some interesting perspectives on the Greece, Germany and the dept crisis. In this video [0], Friedman explains that keeping all countries in the Euro is very important for the German economy (export + welfare state). And it seems the Greece government uses this knowledge in their negotiations with the EU. --- [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeLu_yyz3tc&t=1545 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeLu_yyz3tc&t=1545

netcan 11y ago
Wow. Fascinating perspective. I had just commented with my own bias/perspective on what the central problem is (I have some background in economics, hence a relatively mature opinion set) and this is another undeniably key piece of the problem, this time from a political economy rather than an institutional perspective. I will definitely follow this guy. Very convincing. thanks
ExpiredLink 11y ago
Greece is 2% of the EU economy ...
- netcan 11y ago
  ..but more than 2% of germany's export market. Also, Greece is a sort of canary for larger countries: Italy, Spain, Portugal, and to an extent, France.
  - eamsen 11y ago
    In 2014, Germany's exports to Greece grossed ~5 billion Euro [1] which is less than 0.5% of Germany's total exports. [1] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wirtschaft_Deutschlands https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wirtschaft_Deutschlands (for the lack of a better source)
    - netcan 11y ago
      I stand corrected. *edit, does this include interest payments?
- zhte415 11y ago
  Germans have to put their money somewhere. A significant proportion of the Eurobubble / PIGS mess was German savings leading to German banks funding banks in outer Eurozone that in turn funded bubbles and speculation, and the bigger the bubble, the more they received from German banks.
furyg3 11y ago
There are some perspective's that think that having the Greece in a crisis (but not a collapse) is also very useful for countries like Germany because it weakens the Euro which strengthens their exports.

by wsc981 11y ago

netcan 11y ago

Wow. Fascinating perspective. I had just commented with my own bias/perspective on what the central problem is (I have some background in economics, hence a relatively mature opinion set) and this is another undeniably key piece of the problem, this time from a political economy rather than an institutional perspective. I will definitely follow this guy. Very convincing. thanks

ExpiredLink 11y ago

Greece is 2% of the EU economy ...

netcan 11y ago
..but more than 2% of germany's export market. Also, Greece is a sort of canary for larger countries: Italy, Spain, Portugal, and to an extent, France.
- eamsen 11y ago
  In 2014, Germany's exports to Greece grossed ~5 billion Euro [1] which is less than 0.5% of Germany's total exports. [1] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wirtschaft_Deutschlands https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wirtschaft_Deutschlands (for the lack of a better source)
  - netcan 11y ago
    I stand corrected. *edit, does this include interest payments?
zhte415 11y ago
Germans have to put their money somewhere. A significant proportion of the Eurobubble / PIGS mess was German savings leading to German banks funding banks in outer Eurozone that in turn funded bubbles and speculation, and the bigger the bubble, the more they received from German banks.

furyg3 11y ago

There are some perspective's that think that having the Greece in a crisis (but not a collapse) is also very useful for countries like Germany because it weakens the Euro which strengthens their exports.