For Forms of Government let fools contest; whatever is best administered is best.
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved May 23, 2010, from BrainyQuote.com Web site: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/alexanderp159987.html
I guess the European Union politicians did not learn anything from the political ramifications of TARP in the United States. First there was TARP. Then there was the Stimulus package. Then there was high unemployment and a stagnant economy. Once you start down the bailout path there are few options available. One option is always available, the politicians can retire. This says a lot about the people who want to server our country.
It increasingly looks like Germany is simply being out-voted and out-maneuvered, thus forced into effectively bailing out the Eurozone as the largest and strongest Eurozone economy.
In regards to the latest European plan:
It is clear, however, that the two German members of the ECB’s council voted against the move, a revelation that may cause a catastrophic political backlash in Germany.
Axel Weber, ultra-hawkish head of the Bundesbank, told Boersen-Zeitung that the emergency move over the weekend had been a mistake. "The purchase of government bonds poses significant stability risks and that’s why I’m critical of this part of the ECB’s council’s decision, even in this extraordinary situation," he said. The rebuke is devastating. The ECB draws it authority from the legacy and aura of the Bundesbank.
…
The European Commission made matters worse by announcing the decision in the small hours of Monday morning before the ECB had spoken, fueling suspicions that monetary policy is being dictated by the political authorities. French President Nicolas Sarkozy further enraged Berlin by claiming that 95pc of the $1 trillion "shock and awe" rescue package was based on French proposals.
There even doing regulatory back-flips to avoid German opposition:
The eurozone will create a Special Purpose Vehicle able to marshal a further €440bn. This is to be a outside the EU institutions on German insistence in order to circumvent the EU’s "no bail-out" law. The hope is to head off trouble at Germany’s constitutional court, though it is certain to be challenged anyway.
Germany Was Out-Voted And Forced To Bail Out Europe
Vincent Fernando, CFA
Tue, 11 May 2010 07:25:00 GMT
As an engineer who lived in Houston for eighteen years I am fascinated with the engineering problem BP is facing. Its not my field but I guess that the pressure from the well and the buoyancy of the oil is enough to float the 100 ton structure. They probably are concerned with the riser integrity, too. If they stop one leak the pressure might cause a leak to open elsewhere on the riser.
It bothers me that they did not make the hole at the top of the structure big enough with a reducer they could slide over. It is interesting that the riser pipe has not clogged up yet.
As a farmer who is intimately familiar with frozen pipes, I can see why they are trying to jump start the flow. Once you get it flowing, friction should keep it from clogging but the calculations are probably pretty dicey when you are under 5000 feet of water. I suppose they tried getting one of those remote operated vehicles to stick its arm down the hole and keep the hole clean till the flow gets started. They must be pretty close to the right size opening on the structure.
AP – A novel but risky attempt to use a 100-ton steel-and-concrete box to cover a deepwater oil well gushing toxic crude into the Gulf of Mexico was aborted Saturday after ice crystals encased it, an ominous development as thick blobs of tar began washing up on Alabama’s white sand beaches.
Deep-sea ice crystals stymie Gulf oil leak fix (AP)
Sun, 09 May 2010 02:02:44 GMT
