Interesting 2011 number just released from Eurostat. 45% of all Greeks and 39% of Italians have never used the internet . This compares with 15% of Germans and 11% of Brits .
From Goldmans . The Chinese economy is growing so quickly that it adds on output equivalent to the GDP of Greece every 130 days.
McDonalds says that it plans to open a new outlet in China every day this year.
So far 59% of corporations reporting their Q4 numbers have beaten expectations. The average uplift has been 11.5%. Without Apple and AIG this would fall to just 1%.
Not strictly to topic Angus, but knowing your interest
ReplyDeleteFrom Today’s FT
“Hopes for an agreement were raised by Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, who indicated that he was willing to forgo profits on the bank’s €40bn in Greek bonds, a move that could wipe up to €15bn off of the country’s debt load………………………………………..
…….Mr Draghi said the bank could not accept losses on its Greek holdings because this would amount to the central bank directly financing the Greek government. Such “monetary financing” is illegal under European Union treaties.
But he signalled that the bank was willing to forgo profits on the €40bn portfolio, which would pay out an estimated €55bn if redeemed at maturity. “If the ECB distributes profits to some of its member countries … that’s not monetary financing,” he said, speaking at a press conference after the central bank’s monthly governing council meeting.”
So that’s alright then. “Distributing profits..to member countries” is NOT, definitely NOT, did you hear me? NOT monetary financing – because that would be illegal.
Well thank God for Italian flexibility or is it Goldman Sachs thinking? When logic is perverted like this one begins to truly feel the corruption of integrity, morals, judgement and decency that lies at the rotten heart of the Euro. Draghi’s is not a big crime in the scale of things but when a supposed ‘honest’ central banker, playing according to the rules, can come out with hypocrisy like this one shudders to contemplate what politicians are capable of.
It is of course a mark of the desperation that our political masters feel that even Draghi has to scrape the bottom of the barrel to find €15bn – not an insignificant amount, that’s true, but in the context of the Greek tragedy, pitiful. And who will see this €15bn? Not Greek pensioners, that’s for sure.