tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36227136.post1529683311974190650..comments2024-01-16T08:40:53.682+00:00Comments on <a href="http://www.openeurope.org.uk">Open Europe</a>: Are Cypriots really wealthier than Germans? And is there some great hidden wealth that southern Europe can tap into?OEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556463374230498875noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36227136.post-12415953542976481462013-04-11T12:37:01.886+01:002013-04-11T12:37:01.886+01:00As John L above has said the supposition behind th...As John L above has said the supposition behind this article is extraordinary for a think-tank that is supposed to understand its subject.<br /><br />The reason wealth measured in € in the southern countries is so high is because the € is so overvalued for those nations. German wealth is underpriced because the € is undervalued against what it should be we're it valued in DM.<br /><br />This is THE distortion as caused by the invention and management of the EZ. It is causing havoc to all and sundry and must be broken up and very, very quickly before it brings the world economy to its knees, which in turn will cause more wars.<br /><br />These wars will not necessarily be in Europe but will have been caused by the project designed to end wars in Europe. When will the Euro-federalists wake up and understand that? Ian Campbellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36227136.post-77348980199059795452013-04-10T22:52:16.456+01:002013-04-10T22:52:16.456+01:00The hidden assumption behind this posting is that ...The hidden assumption behind this posting is that the main problem of the euro-zone is public sector funding and that extra taxes would be the answer, leaving the issue of what extra taxes as the main question.<br /><br />But this is wrong. the main problem of the euro-zone is divergence in competitiveness between national economies, plus the euro itself, which divides economies into "silos" even when they share a currency.<br /><br />Imposing new taxes will simply slow growth without solving any of the important economic issues.jon liveseynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36227136.post-62136074864893207572013-04-10T17:21:19.965+01:002013-04-10T17:21:19.965+01:00Median deposit is nowhere near the size of the gov...Median deposit is nowhere near the size of the government guaranteed deposit - might explain why the bankruns were what they were in Cyprus. I suspect that the commentators who did expect huge crowds might be out of touch with how the majority actually lives. A 'let them eat cake' moment of today ;-)<br />Or maybe there is something more sinister behind it, economists seem to say whatever they're paid to say.<br /><br />About the savings people do have, they seem to be affected by two related areas:<br /><br />1. Low taxes allows people to save more of their incomes<br />BUT<br />2. The low taxes doesn't allow for funding of extensive social protection programs and therefore people will have to save money themselves to cope with possible costly life-events.<br /><br />I read a Swedish comment about foreign aid: It is about poor people in rich countries collecting money that ends up with rich people in poor countries. Donating money to organisations with limited transparency is an act of faith and the recipient organisations in this case haven't covered themselves in glory over the past few years.Jespernoreply@blogger.com