June 10, 2020 — Evidently France is re-reading Strange Defeat, a 1940 book by Marc Bloch that analyzed how the country fell so quickly to German invasion in World War II.
Germany’s Defeat of France in 1940
Category Archives: Europe
It’s Finally Time for German Fiscal Stimulus
September 30, 2019 — As long as the German economy was doing well, as it was during the recovery from the 2008 global financial crisis, there existed a coherent rationale for German fiscal austerity. The national commitment to budget discipline was enshrined in the 2009 “debt brake,” which limits the federal structural deficit to 0.35% of GDP, and by the 2011 “schwarze Null” (that is, “black zero”) policy of fully balancing the budget. Indeed Angela Merkel’s government proudly achieved a balanced budget in 2012 and surpluses in 2014-18.
The euro’s first 20 years
January 28, 2019 — In Europe, twenty years ago this month, 11 long-standing national currencies disappeared and were replaced by the new single currency, the euro. Since then, the euro has had its successes and failures.