Germany, France May Face Bailout of Nations, Not Just Banks

[Outlander]

Bloomberg.com: U.K. & Ireland

Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Germany and France may be forced to contemplate the bailout of entire nations rather than just individual banks as European government budgets buckle under the weight of recession.

“When push comes to shove Germany, France, the larger players will bail out those smaller peripheral players,” said Alex Allen, chief investment officer of Eddington Capital Management. “You can’t let one part of the system fail because it leads to failure of the whole system.”
Allen’s betting that the risk at least one nation will leave the bloc is higher than the market currently expects.

Any state-funded rescues may meet with opposition from the ECB, which has repeatedly said the Maastricht Treaty forbids bailouts.
“The no bailout rule is an important pillar on which the European Union was founded,” says Stark, who helped draw up the fiscal rules underpinning the euro.

At the same time, the treaty says that EU nations can grant financial assistance to a member state if a country is “threatened with severe difficulties” caused by “exceptional occurrences beyond its control.”

For now, finance officials say that market concerns are not justified. ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said in Rome on Feb. 14 he’s confident countries will work towards sustainable public finances.

The article generally suggests that the Euro group will not allow a member to default. The sting for us may be in the comment from Mr. Trichet - how close are we to working towards "sustainable public finances"? Indeed considering the mounting toll of banking scandals, how close are we to sustainable private finances?

There may be hope for us - the EU may come to the rescue - but only if we show willing and clean up our act.

[jon]

It's simple,
we will do whatever Germany "ALLOWS" us to do or "TELLS" us what to do.
We are an annoying little pimple on the âŗšė of Europe that means nothing in the scheme of things.

[Pauli]

It's simple,
we will do whatever Germany "ALLOWS" us to do or "TELLS" us what to do.
We are an annoying little pimple on the âŗšė of Europe that means nothing in the scheme of things.

That is indeed a very realistic assessment.

[sandar]

germany hasnt the money to bail anyone el;se out, its mnot in as a bad a state as ireland or the uk, due to the fact that its own boom started somewaht later so the bubble which has burts hadnt such a biog effect, but they are still not going to be bailing the rest of us out.

[Oldira1]

I certainly would prefer to go back to the stone age than be bailed out by the sons and daughters of Nazis.

[Dios]

I certainly would prefer to go back to the stone age than be bailed out by the sons and daughters of Nazis.

Wow.

That is all.

[goosebump]

I certainly would prefer to go back to the stone age than be bailed out by the sons and daughters of Nazis.

Godwins Law on Post #5.

Surely a record?

[dapman]

I certainly would prefer to go back to the stone age than be bailed out by the sons and daughters of Nazis.

Unbelievable.

No sorry, sadly believable.

[ruleAsISeeFit]

I certainly would prefer to go back to the stone age than be bailed out by the sons and daughters of Nazis.

Ill bet you were a remedial student at school. Either way your a straight up joke. Get off the boards is all, we dont need more celtic jerseys 'contributing'.

[MuchToDo]

It's simple,
we will do whatever Germany "ALLOWS" us to do or "TELLS" us what to do.
We are an annoying little pimple on the âŗšė of Europe that means nothing in the scheme of things.

These will probably be measures we should be implementing anyway. I don't even believe FG/Lab can acheive much if they take over, so in this instance some outside interference would be acceptable.

As regards us annoying others in Europe - well, plenty of us here in this country have found our government's actions acutely irritating. Also it would seem that through the actions of the elite in Ireland, the country has basically scammed the rest of the world over the last decade or so. Why wouldn't other countries find it irritating that we managed to attract so much foreign investment just because we provided a "Wild West" environment.

However, there are plenty who recognise that each country in the Union plays a particular part in the grander scheme of things, and each country has its drawbacks too (and indeed despite our current situation, plenty of other countries are not a picnic). Even Germany needs external influences to counter some of the national/regional tendencies. Even UK Euroscepticism is a necessary component to the EU - it would be disasterous for the EU if it ever ceased to have British influence too.