: : : : : : : : : :

The Europhoria in the markets on the 1 trillion safety net for the Euro is already over. Stock Markets from Japan to Europe close in the red and shed some of yesterday’s gains. I am only really surprised that they fell for it in the first place. As a real optimist, who thinks everything will work out just fine in the end, I panicked after the news of the Euro deal broke. WTF were they doing with our money? But, as always, there are people out there in the web, who are so much better, when it comes to putting what matters into words:

Eurointelligence:

The euphoria is evaporating. Market commentators have taken a closer second look at the package, and they start not to like it. In our view the sentiment was best expressed by what Kevin Gaynor chief markets economist of RBS who called the EU’s strategy “Bailouts rather than integration”. They are not solving the problem, they are throwing money at it. Another appropriate comment came from Marek Belke, the EU head at the IMF, who compared the rescue package to a dose of morphine with the purpose to stabilise the patient.(read more)

And on the futility of it all:

Credit Writedowns says wait for May 19th!

Nouriel Roubini warns in an interview with Der Spiegel, that there is more to come:

Today the markets are very worried about Greece, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Increasingly, bond market vigilantes have woken up in places like the UK and Ireland. Even the US and Japan will have problems because of their huge budget deficits. Maybe not this year, but they will eventually. In the US, states like California, Nevada, Arizona, New York and Florida have immense fiscal problems. The growing budget deficits and the huge government debts are really what worry me most. (read whole interview)

And looking away from “irresponsible” spendthrift Europe into your own back yard:

American conservatives, particularly the fiscal variety, tend to hold up the European Union as a model of irresponsible, big-spending economic policy. But consider this: According to E.U. rules, member countries cannot maintain budget deficits above 3 percent of gross domestic product; nor can their total debt rise above 60 percent of GDP. As Veronique de Rugy points out in this issue, the U.S. budget deficit in 2009 was three times the E.U.’s limit, and total debt will zoom past the 60 percent threshold sometime this year. Washington makes Paris look frugal. (read more)

You can find more useful links on this and other subjects at nakedcapitalism, which has turned into one of my favourite sites. Outside TheZoo, that is.

Don’t judge this book by its cover, this is still our open thread. Don’t hold back!