Berlin Boost

By Econ70 | 11/13/2013
A man in a suit and tie standing on stage.

Since 2006, Germany has been running annual trade surpluses of over 6% of GDP, making it hard for Southern European nations to export their way to prosperity. While the EU is employing harsh adjectives with Berlin in an attempt to make Germany change its way, Europe’s best hope is to have the left-leaning Social Democrats…

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One Currency, No Leaders

By Econ70 | 07/10/2013
A logo of the western states director education foundation.

The virtue of the gold standard was that countries with trade surpluses saw their gold holdings rise, which increased their money supply, raised prices and reduced exports. Conversely, countries that ran deficits lost gold, which caused their money supply to decline, pushing prices down and boosting exports. Today, euro-using Germany runs chronic surpluses, yet won’t…

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Unfunded Liabilities

By Econ70 | 06/22/2011
A man in a suit and glasses is holding his hands up

Advanced economies with aging populations have made lavish spending promises that are unafforadable absent huge tax increases. In Canada the “unfunded” amount is 7 times GDP. In Korea it is 6.8, in Spain it is 6.5, here in the USA it’s 5, in Australia it’s 4.8, in the UK 3.3, in Germany 2.8. France 2.7,…

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