Gnomes of Zürich

What’s the world coming to when a chaps Swiss bank account isn't between him and the 12 digit code that he obtained anonymously?

Gnomes Of Zurich

I mean where's one to stash his cash, if not in some quiet little spot where it can coyly hide from the rude attentions of tax men everywhere?

Lessons Of History

Spain is in full-blown economic meltdown .... a 'depression' rather than a 'recession', with the overall unemployment rate at 23.6 per cent, which is comparable to the US/Europe in the depths of the Great Depression of the late 1920's and 1930's (with the youth unemployment rate over 50 per cent) .....

Communist and Nazis Street Fights - Berlin

This simply can’t carry on without risking the kind of social breakdown last seen in the 1930's (Street fighting and extreme political parties on the march .... Communists and Nazis), as the rise of the Far Right and Left in France, and perhaps more worryingly the Far Right  'Chrysi Avgi' ('Golden Dawn') in Greece illustrates.

Extremist Parties Rise In Economic Crisis

This is an era that modern Europe is starting to replicate in ever more faithful detail.

Greek Political Factions Fighting Over Economic Ruins

The 30's depression only ended after countries exited from the gold standard, which is the equivalent  of an exit from the Euro today, and the restoration of national currencies .... as an alternative to carrying on imposing ever-harsher austerity on countries that were already suffering Depression levels of  unemployment. However its the course of  imposing ever-harsher austerity that the European governments and ECB have reinforced.

It's hard not to conclude that rather than admit that the policies being followed are wrong, most European leaders seem determined to drive their economies and their societies into the ground  ..... you would think the Germans and the French leaders would be worried. Certainly many others fear that the whole world may pay the price.

Spot The Difference

If you go far enough in the circle of politics, then you meet your enemies coming from the other side. It’s often forgotten that both the fascists and communists, considered themselves to be “Socialists” e.g. Until 1914, Benito Mussolini was the leader of the Socialist Party of Italy and Hitler said “There is more that binds us to Bolshevism than separates us from it”, he allowed converts from Communist parties to join the Nazi party because they could do so with little mental effort.

Nothing illustrates this truism more, than politics in France where in the both the far Left and far Right are attracting wow audiences and ratings .... with often very similar anti capitalist policies.

He Could Be A Far Right Or Far Left Voter.

The far right is still anti-immigrant but has tempered the language ....  They have linked concerns about French identity with the economic crisis, stating that capitalist globalisation has taken French jobs and that its the European elite and the European dream, that has turned into a nightmare and wrecked French lives. This has gained them about 17% in the polls.

The far left has also got a lot of attention and has seen their poll ratings shoot up to 14 or 15% by stating that international finance and austerity - as embraced by the European Union - is destroying the lives of ordinary people.

Neither will actually win the Presidency, which will go to the main stream right or left candidate, but its interesting that essentially the same economic message, packaged from the far left or far right gains about the same amounts of support.

Repérer la différence?