[PEN-L:4453] Re: Becker Letter to President Clinton

[Dennis R Redmond <dredmond@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, 19 Mar 1999, Louis Proyect wrote:

> Check out the article in the latest Economist on Germany
> (www.economist.com). Here's the conclusion:
> Above all, Mr Schröder must find the determination to mend a broken
> economy. Germany has become the sick man of Europe: growth
> is slowing, exports, the traditional motor of the economy, have
> dipped. Unemployment remains high (10.5%) and Mr Schröder?s ?alliance for
> jobs?, embracin government, unions and employers, is unlikely to help
> much, not least because businesses remain suspicious of centralised plans
> for creating work.

Ha, ha, ha! I love it when the Economist tries to think. When the US
stagnates for a quarter, it's a "growth pause"; when Germany stagnates for
a quarter, it's a terminal illness. Total external trade is only 10% of
the EU economy; Germany's biggest problem is lack of internal EU
demand, nothing more. But interest rates are 3% and heading lower still,
meaning a refinancing boom in Spain, Italy and Scandinavia (as well as
Eastern Europe, where the EIB is propping up demand via low-interest
loans). Meanwhile that mighty British economy is... sinking, I believe.

Maybe they're just mad because BMW owns Rover or something. A bad case of
euro-envy.

-- Dennis