“In some ways, it’s a battle of the politicians against the markets” and “I’m determined to win,” Merkel said May 6. “The speculators are our adversaries.”I think I remember some blogger or financial commentator who was nominally a libertarian talking about how Angela Merkel and the Germans "get it" and wouldn't do anything too drastic. Whoever that person was, I guess they were wrong. Not sure why that should be a surprise given that Angela Merkel is a long-time, youth-indoctrinated East German socialist.
Germany's BaFin regulatory agency is also in on the NPL:
“Massive” short-selling was leading to excessive price movements which “could endanger the stability of the entire financial system,” BaFin said in the statement.The war on reality continues, with more devastating consequences sure to follow.
More on Germany's short ban at Bloomberg.com.
You write:
ReplyDelete"I think I remember some blogger or financial commentator who was nominally a libertarian talking about how Angela Merkel and the Germans "get it" and wouldn't do anything too drastic."
Are you implying that the blogger is only "nominally" a libertarian because they got Merkel's views wrong?
The "youth-indoctrinated East German socialist" cannot be overstated in importance. Despite the spectacular failings of central planning, they harbor deep suspicions and fear of capitalism. The only solution they can contemplate is simply a different form of central planning.
ReplyDeleteHi Anon,
ReplyDeleteI think I was referring to someone who was nominally a libertarian for other reasons. However, I do want to stress that libertarians should not be fooled by central planners and politicians, even if they're foreign, and begin to believe that some of them "get it" and will "do the right thing."
That's not why these people get into power in the first place and it's not what they believe in deep down. So libertarians who do so are putting faith in an extremely unlikely circumstance-- a zebra changing its stripes.