This today from Georg Soros – enemy of western civilization. Now, what he’s doing here is a typical game of pilpul and critique: he’s saying europe at all costs, when in fact, germany is done either way because her prosperity is built on just car exports the same way america is build on just home construction.
Germans should consider the following thought experiment: withdrawal from the euro. The restored Deutsche Mark would soar, the euro would plummet. The rest of Europe would become competitive and could grow its way out of its difficulties but Germany would find out how painful it can be to have an overvalued currency. Its trade balance would turn negative, and there would be widespread unemployment. Banks would suffer severe losses on exchange rates and require large injections of public funds. But the government would find it politically more acceptable to rescue German banks than Greece or Spain. And there would be other compensations; German pensioners could retire to Spain and live like kings, helping Spanish real estate to recover.
This is me in 2010.
- Germany Should Exit The Euro and Return to The Mark
- Riffing On Scott Sumner: German Membership In The Euro Is Preventing The Advancement Of The Poorer Countries
- Understanding Greece And Germany In Terms Of The Economics Of Human Action Rather Than Moral Sentiments And Class Envy