"The AfD is a party that is not bringing together society and not offering the appropriate solutions for the problems, but it is stirring up prejudice and polarizing.”
That’s from Angela Merkel who spoke last Saturday to Bild am Sonntag about the threat she believes the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party poses to the country.
Apparently, voters weren’t listening.
Submitted by Pater Tenebrarum via Acting-Man.com,
A Whiff of Panic
Ahead of Thursday’s ECB meeting, there was a widespread consensus that Europe’s chief printing press supervisor would make up for the alleged “mistake” of under-delivering on monetary lunacy last time around. Therefore, a sizable dose of fresh absurdities had to be expected, with only small disagreements on the details. It is fair to say the man didn’t disappoint.
Draghobert the Terrible, trying to assault the euro again
Negative interest rates may or may not be a thing of the past (many thought that the ECB had learned its lesson, and then Vitor Constancio wrote a blog post showing that the ECB hasn't learned a damn thing), but the confusion about their significance remains. Here is Deutsche Bank's Dominic Konstam explaining how, among many other things including why Europe will need to "tax" cash before this final Keynesian experiment is finally over, negative rates are merely the logical failure of globalization.
Misconceptions about negative rates
Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,
As a direct result of Europe's refugee crisis, new and very unpleasant social fractures have started to emerge.
One particularly troubling issue is the extent to which officials have tended to “blame the victim" in the ever more frequent sex attacks resulting from Europe's refugee surge, something we first touched upon earlier this week. For instance, Cologne mayor Henriette Reker drew sharp criticism for suggesting that it was German womens' duty to prevent assaults by keeping would-be assailants “at arm’s length.”