2010-02-12

Merkel nixes bailout

Angela Merkel dashes Greek hopes of rescue bid, or as I might put it, Merkel delivers fiscal sanity to Europe:
"Germany is stepping totally on the brakes on financial assistance," said a senior EU diplomat. "On legal grounds, on constitutional grounds and on principle." Another senior diplomat said of the Germans: "They're not waving their chequebooks."
...
The split meant 16 finance ministers could not agree a common position before the summit. "Germany cannot justify its taxpayers having to finance the lovely lives of the Greeks," said a senior diplomat.

Rather than bailing out Athens, Berlin is insisting on rigorous policing of the Greek austerity programme by a triple force from the commission, the ECB and the International Monetary Fund, an exercise never attempted in the eurozone.
Euro took a nice hit in Europe today, CurrencyShares Euro (FXE) will at least open at a new low today. The ProShares UltraShort Euro (EUO) should have another decent performance.

Also, here's a great line from Frankfurter Allgemeine, to show that Merkel's position has domestic political support:
Die Gewerkschaften rufen zum Generalstreik, und die Griechen gehen auf die Straße, um gegen die Verschiebung des Renteneintrittsalters von 61 auf 63 Jahre zu protestieren. Sollen die Deutschen künftig nicht mehr bis 67, sondern bis 69 arbeiten, damit die Griechen den Vorruhestand genießen können?
The Greek unions are protesting an increase in the retirement age from 61 to 63, should the Germans have their retirement age increase from 67 to 69 to pay for the Greek's early retirement?

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