Heres another person or two's experience in Europe, so we can flesh out the stats a bit more...
Have spent a bit of time in Europe down roads less travelled as well as the more upmarket spots.
Even tried running some projects there, and … some brief impressions
>In Portugal had a lot of trouble employing Portuguese in the country, who wanted to work a “normal days work”. Start time was always 30 mins late, Morning tea was like a brunch, Lunch took forever, and then there was afternoon tea before they all went home (on time) Productivity?
>In Fennoscandia the labor rules are very onerous and rigid. Cheaper to import labour from the Balkans, which is what a lot do…which breeds resentment, to say the least.
>A theme opening (more extensively) in many of the more industrialised European countries, is raw material shut out (by the Chinese). Basically Germans worried about getting access to the raw materials to make the metals that they need for making their cars etc… How do they secure? How do they compete?...
>I have never seen so many shanty dwellings going up in France.
..youth unemployment in France has been high for some time, but it has now climbed to 26 percent and climbing a lot higher, quicker. The ghettoes that ring cities like Paris are getting bigger, and the way of life in the ghettoes is challenging, to be polite. For decades, regardless of their political affiliation, lawmakers have been promising to create a better situation for the young people (not to mention the (we should not mention illegal) immigrants from Africa). But exactly the opposite has happened. Labor laws protect those who already enjoy steady jobs, while the economic crisis and recession have limited the number of new jobs created (ever tried to create a company in France…just a private one?). Meanwhile, housing has become both scarcer and pricier.
….and of course…"Something must finally be done," says Didier Dugast, director of the Mission locale in Moissy, who reports that the number of those seeking his assistance (unemployed, able, desiring job) has been jumping by some 10 percent each year (!).
A new program from Socialist President François Hollande for the creation of "future jobs" has been in effect since November 2013. It targets people much like young immigrants…. But ….the young immigrant just shrugs his shoulders and says: "We're used to politicians constantly coming up with new ideas."
And from the Red Cross…who have a different theme perhaps…
….Last year the Spanish Red Cross launched a national appeal to help people in Spain, the first ever. Suicides among women in Greece have at least doubled. Many employed in Slovenia have not been paid for months. In France 350,000 people fell below the poverty line from 2008 to 2011. One in five Finns born in 1987 have been treated for psychiatric or mental disorders, associated with the economic slump in Finland in the 1990s.
…"Many from the middle class have spiralled down to poverty. The amount of people depending on Red Cross food distributions in 22 of the surveyed countries has increased by 75% between 2009 and 2012. More people are getting poor, the poor are getting poorer."
..."As the economic crisis has planted its roots, millions of Europeans live with insecurity, uncertain about what the future holds. This is one of the worst psychological states of mind for human beings. We see quiet desperation spreading among Europeans, resulting in depression, resignation and loss of hope. Compared to 2009, millions more find themselves queuing for food, unable to buy medicine nor access healthcare. Millions are without a job and many of those who still have work face difficulties to sustain their families due to insufficient wages and skyrocketing prices.
Mass unemployment – especially among the young, 120 million Europeans living in or at risk of poverty – increased waves of illegal immigration clashing with rising xenophobia in the host countries, growing risks of social unrest and political instability estimated to be two to three times higher than most other parts of the world, greater levels of insecurity among the traditional middle classes
…Europe is sinking into a protracted period of deepening poverty, mass unemployment, social exclusion, greater inequality, and collective despair as a result of austerity policies adopted in response to the debt and currency crisis of the past four years, according to an extensive study being published on Thursday.
"Whilst other continents successfully reduce poverty, Europe adds to it," Lots more if you have the time..
https://www.ifrc.org/PageFiles/134339/1260300-Economic-crisis-Report_EN_LR.pdf.pdf
and from our own Kohler
… Europe’s largest banks still have to take huge write-downs and shrink their balance sheets, and in the meantime they are insolvent (!?)
The real reason the ECB is not engaging in quantitative easing to the extent that both the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan are, is that it can’t trust the securities that European banks will sell (Then who will ?). QE basically involves banks selling bonds and mortgage securities to the central bank for cash. It’s like a Cash Converters for the banks to pawn their belongings. But at least the mortgage securities that the banks hold in Japan and America now have some value; in Europe it’s an entirely different story.
Perhaps all is not well in Europe (Camelot)?
I have been travelling in Europe over the Northern Summer and have been impressed by the obvious wealth and consumption everywhere I have been. As a good statistician, I know better than to assume that one person's experience is valid evidence for what is typical, but I was still a little surprised when I read Matt O'Brien's assessment of Europe now, relative to the 1930's.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...30s-europes-recession-is-really-a-depression/
Here is a good pictorial summary:
O'Brien argues that the Euro is like the Gold Standard in the 1930's. Europe can only begin to recover when they dispense with this artificial construct, that doesn't reflect the economic realities.
It is interesting that O'Brien doesn't address the "elephant in the room" - the rise of fascism. In spite of a worse economic performance over the last six years, there has not been an equivalent rise in political extremism.
I think that the judge is still well and truly out on the wisdom of investing in gold has a hedge against geo-political uncertainty.
Enjoy the article.
