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The rest with the exception of the UK are all net receivers. The German people are getting robbed and enslaved by the EU. It's a new Treaty of Versailles.
That's not true and I don't share your opinion on that robbing/enslaving thing.
1. Among the net contributors are also France, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Austria, Sweden and Luxembourg.
There's a simple reason why Germany is continuing to single-handedly breathe life into the EU -- it's in their financial best interests.
Without the EU, and more specifically the Euro, Germany's exports are significantly less competitive. Competitive German exports is what makes Germany the stable economic power that is has become.
Not only do the Germans benefit from easy trade within the EU where other countries who have adopted the Euro have had their currency artificially inflated on the back of the Germans, they also benefit from lesser countries bringing the value of the Euro down a bit.
Germany currently has one of the strongest, most stable economies in the world. Imagine how much more valuable the Deutsche Mark would be against other currencies given the strength of the German economy. Nobody would be able to afford German goods because they'd be too expensive. Why do you think China manipulates its own currency? Germany is doing the exact same thing, just in a much more deceptive, roundabout way.
Germany needs the Euro more than any of the other EU nations. If anything, I'd say countries like Greece are hurting themselves by staying in the EU and accepting Germany's austerity measures. They'd probably be better off exiting the EU, defaulting their debt, and going back to the drachma.
So I'd hardly consider Germany the victims here, or claim their people are being "robbed" or "enslaved". Suggesting that is purely ignorant. Germany's economy will only remain strong as long as they can cheaply sell their goods abroad, especially given the currently depressed nature of the global economy.
Last edited by DrVanNostrand; 11-04-2012 at 01:48 PM..
germany is the captain of the eurozone ship , it would have dumped greece ( and possibley others ) overboard a long time ago only the risk of being dragged down is apparently too great
Germany will never drop Greece or the other beleaguered Eurozone nations - Germany may be a net contributor to the EU budget but it probably benefits the most out of any country.
Germany will never drop Greece or the other beleaguered Eurozone nations - Germany may be a net contributor to the EU budget but it probably benefits the most out of any country.
The "average" German has been the biggest loser of the Euro. The Euro is enslaving the German people on the benefits of their export industry. Wages in Germany have been stagnant for the last 15 years.
At the end of this Euro-mess. Germany will look exactly like Weimar Germany. But I know, the Germans should just shut up and pay the bill for the meal they never had. I am very glad that I left Germany last year and moved to Switzerland. The future of Germany looks very bleak. In about 20 years Germany will face a demographic catastrophe. On top of that the German tax payer has to pay the bill of the rest of Europe. But screw the hard-working Germans, afterall they are just Nazis and deserve what they get.
Germany has to leave the Euro or its future will end in disaster.
I'm a huge fan of the 15-year mortgage, or paying of the 30-year one in 15 years. If more people did that, it would change the whole picture.
I'm not a troll. I didn't ask you for statistics just to play a game with you. This info you've posted really clarifies the picture. It's good to know that nearly 1/3 of homes are paid off. It just goes to show how radically times have changed, too, with mortgage rates being in such a state of flux. Back in the day, there was no need to refinance a mortgage. Except, I suppose, during the Carter era, when interest rates reached 14%.
Sorry for the rant. For some reason I seem to attract trolls every time I try to make a serious point.
My mistake.
The introduction of HELOCS changed home ownership from a way to stabilize expenses to a way to access higher and higher lines of credit.
I don't ever remember anyone in my parents’ generation ever refinancing their homes, and as a result most people had their home paid off a good 15 or 20 years before they retired. Of course the lengths of loans were shorter then also.
Banks today seem to pressure people to tap their home equity in what I feel is an irresponsible way, and really an abuse of their fiduciary responsibility to their customers.
The result is banks make more money writing more loans and the average people far farther into debt.
I see more bigotry from you. Are you implying people from this country (Germany) that are alive today welcomed Hitler with open arms? Considering how many millions of people were killed by america excluding slavery and the holocaust of the native Americans we have no room to talk. But it really displays your ignorance, bigotry and self-righteousness.
Look I did not start this. It was the other poster who began an unwarranted attack on the US for the Vietnam War.
That being said we have a saying in this country that you should not throw stones from glass houses.
After instigating two world wars, the people of Germany / Austria have little room to criticize anyone.
The "average" German has been the biggest loser of the Euro. The Euro is enslaving the German people on the benefits of their export industry. Wages in Germany have been stagnant for the last 15 years.
At the end of this Euro-mess. Germany will look exactly like Weimar Germany. But I know, the Germans should just shut up and pay the bill for the meal they never had. I am very glad that I left Germany last year and moved to Switzerland. The future of Germany looks very bleak. In about 20 years Germany will face a demographic catastrophe. On top of that the German tax payer has to pay the bill of the rest of Europe. But screw the hard-working Germans, afterall they are just Nazis and deserve what they get.
Germany has to leave the Euro or its future will end in disaster.
Germany didn't receive any money, Germany only gave money and is still giving money away. Germany only received loans after WW2 which were fully paid back. Germany paid a lot of reparations though. Germany is one of the few net payers for EU funds. The rest with the exception of the UK are all net receivers. The German people are getting robbed and enslaved by the EU. It's a new Treaty of Versailles.
Rather than blame other countries who are in fact victims in this situation, the people of Europe need to understand that the EU like the Federal Reserve is a tool by which world bankers have made public, private debts of banks in order to en-richen themselves.
There is no country in which the common people are benefiting from the current situation. The EU was formed in order to keep the countries of Europe from being able to act in their own best interests.
Instead policy is created to make less affluent countries dependent on debt in order to purchase goods from more affluent countries, which in turn must finance that debt publicly.
The bankers and corporation meanwhile reap all the profits without risk of financial losses because their losses are made public while their profits are kept private.
Meanwhile the currency can be manipulated in order to keep inflation constantly providing a penalty for saving while at the same time encouraging debt and driving corporate profits higher.
Placing blame on other countries keeps the focus off what the banks and corporate bosses are getting away with and exploits people’s natural tendency towards prejudices.
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