Economic success is officially a bad thing now...

You'd think that when you're running a competitive business with global demand for quality products, based on successful economic policies and maintaining top-notch production infrastructure, your resulting trade surplus would be well deserved... well, think again!

According to US Secretary of Treasury Jacob Lew's latest report, Germany's trade surplus is a bad thing, "hampering the world economy", and our success is "at the expense of other countries".
What?! This guy is even more of a clown than Timothy Geithner!!

I agree with Holger Görg at the Kiel Institute for World Economy that "Germany is being reprimanded for the fact that it's economy is competitive [...] This is like telling the kid at the top of the class to slow down so the others can catch up."

Is this the American idea of how the free market works now? Thank you 'Murica! I don't want to live on this planet anymore...



Links:

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Germany Seethes at US Economic Criticism

DW:German exports skewing trade, US report says

reply to post by ColCurious


The second article has some good info:

"The question is what happens with the imports," she said. "A nation can import goods for consumption, or it can import goods with a view to fuel investment."

By pushing investment, countries could see a medium-term negative balance turn into a positive on long-term, because those who buy investment goods transfer values into the future can collect the yield on their investments at a later stage.

The biggest portion of German shipments abroad is actually investment goods from the construction and engineering sectors. "That's why deficits resulting from trade with Germany shouldn't be seen in such a negative light at all," Kolev said.

Yeah, if Germany is making all that money exporting the tools other people are building their economies with, they need a pat on the back, not a reprimand.

reply to post by ColCurious


From the source:

"A day after a US Treasury Department report bluntly denounced Germany's economic model, accusing it of hampering the euro zone recovery and hurting global growth, Germany called the conclusions "incomprehensible" and challenged the US to "analyze its own economic situation."

Damn, that's a good answer. Of course what the Treasury Dept. means is that Germany's making us look bad. Not that that's hard to do....

Its all part of the plan.

Recently Warren Buffet released his thoughts on the markets

Market correction

Historically 4th quarter really is never a good quarter for the stock market since everyone wants to take their earnings and run. So what is so different this year/ quarter? and why are so many Billionaires running with their money quietly?

Billionaires dump Stock

Look around the world and what is happening that we don't see in the news, Germany what are they up to and know?

Why does Russia want to dump the US dollar, China has already talked about it.

Why is there no talk about the debt ceiling and budget fix coming from Washington?

We are being told that things are going good, what are they covering up and know, are we going to take a massive hit and return us back to were we were 5 years ago? Don't know but something smells.

Global Ecomony Outlook

accusing it of hampering the euro zone recovery and hurting global growth

reply to post by Ex_CT2


If you recall just this past year Germany collected up all its gold from all those countries that were holding it for protection during the Cold War, also Germany came out and said it was going to leave the EU and Euro.

reply to post by ColCurious


it's enough to make one believe in conspiracies.

nearly about 100 years ago same complaints, for pretty much the same reasons.

"Germany is being reprimanded for the fact that it's economy is competitive [...] This is like telling the kid at the top of the class to slow down so the others can catch up."

actually it's much worse than that, then and now, it's the school bully making the demands, not just any dumb kid.
and planning to steal the kid at the top of the classes lunch money, shoes, bike, homework and science project.

reply to post by 19KTankCommander

19KTankCommander
If you recall just this past year Germany collected up all its gold from all those countries that were holding it for protection during the Cold War [...]

Not really.
While it is an open secret by now that the world is heading towards a multi-currency reserve system (so Germany's preparations are absolutely reasonable) the plan was to repatriate only 700t (of ~3400t in total, estimated ~140bn €) of Gold from the US and the UK.

The thing is... the "US"-FED didn't even consider it necessary to allow German auditors to even VIEW the stored Gold! Some suspected because there is no Gold left in US vaults...
Way to gamble away global confidence in the US.

19KTankCommander
[...], also Germany came out and said it was going to leave the EU and Euro.

I wish this was true but it is not... yet.