Jeroen Dijsselbloem, Dutch finance minister and president of the Eurogroup finance ministers, is in hot water today over derogatory statements regarding peripheral Europe.
This compounds Dijsselbloem’s already significant problems as his party was trounced in the recent Dutch elections. Spain and Portugal now seek his ouster in addition to an apology.
Please consider Protests Mount Over EU Dealmaker’s ‘Booze and Women’ Slur.
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, a key euro area dealmaker, is facing calls to resign after he suggested that southern European countries had squandered their money on “booze and women”.
The Dutch finance minister was already under pressure after his Labour party was crushed in last week’s elections in the Netherlands. This had raised questions over whether he would retain his position as minister and be able to see out his term as president of the eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers — a crucial role that places him at the heart of negotiations on fiscal policy and bail-outs.
In an effort to stress the responsibilities that come with being in a currency union, Mr. Dijsselbloem said that northern Europe had shown “solidarity” with the south during the crisis, but that solidarity comes with “duties”. “I cannot spend all my money on booze and women and beg for help afterwards,” he said, adding this applies on a personal, national and European level.
The comments have been seized on by politicians across southern Europe, including Portuguese prime minister António Costa, as an offensive stereotyping of nations that bore the brunt of the euro area’s sovereign debt crisis.
Mr. Costa on Wednesday called for Mr. Dijsselbloem’s resignation, saying “Europe will only be credible as a common project” when he has stepped down and “made a clear apology to the countries and peoples who were deeply offended by his comments”.
Describing the comments as “absolutely unacceptable” and “very dangerous,” he said that they showed another face of populism, expressed by people “dressed in sheep’s clothing” and making comments that were “racist, xenophobic and sexist”.
Carlo Calenda, Italy’s economic development minister, said: “Without heartfelt, clear, formal and public apologies, his ability to remain in the job should be questioned.”
Good Riddance
Former Italian president Matteo Renzi entered the fray with “The sooner he resigns the better it is. If he wants to offend Italy, he should do it in a sports bar back home, not in his institutional role.”
Dijsselbloem expressed regret over the interview but said on Wednesday he would not step down.
Dijsselbloem’s term expires at the end of 2017 and he will not be reappointed. In the unlikely event the Netherlands forms a new coalition government soon, he will be forced out at that point.
Given that he is gone anyway, he may as well apologize. Instead, this may simmer for another nine months.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
Is he wrong though?
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Yes he is wrong, and thereby is very offensive too, especially so given his Eurogroup position.
The explanation of the true position has been given often by amongst others Michael Pettis of Peking University, including at http://foreignpolicy.com/2013/05/07/no-the-spanish-cant-be-more-german/
Pettis shows that because of the common Euro currency with single interest rate and free capital movement, excess German savings inevitably were lent to Southern borrowers and eventually such borrowings could not be serviced when returns weakened as recession ensued. Note in passing the Spanish government finances very amongst the most robust in the world prior to the Euro crisis.
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Pettis argument is incomplete and wrong. He overestimates the power of trade unions and underestimates the power of market forces. German wages grew slower, because the companies became uncompetitive, because investment in Spanish real estate had higher returns on investment than investment in German companies. Spain could have answered this with draconian laws on lending for real estate, e.g. very high down payments etc. If the Eurozone overall had in the early 00s an unemployment problem, the EZB should have lowered rates according to the conventional economics within as well Pettis argues regularly in other situations, but strangely enough not in this case. But even lower rates would have increased the real estate problem in Spain even more, if Spain had continued its wrong course. As well Spain could have of course increased savings as well by running much larger gov’t surpluses, e.g. 5-6%. This would have drained demand in Spain as well and allowed the ECB to reduce rates further to increase demand in Germany and the Netherlands.
Simply said, rates were too high for Germany and too low for Spain. Germany couldn’t run higher deficits because of the Maastricht treaty (Germany actually already broke it with too much spending). So it couldn’t do much to increase the appropriate rate. Spain could have easily changed politics to make a lower rate appropriate with more German-like policies.
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Well that does it for Jeroen’s political career. Doesn’t he know politicians are not allowed to say the truth? Only Trump can get away with that, but Trump was never a politician until recently.
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Booze, fast cars, and women can’t be all wrong, otherwise Italy wouldn’t count prostitution as a net addition to GDP, the hypocrites.
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It shouldn’t be the pleasure of only politicians to enjoy those.
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They spent it on booze and women and then wasted whatever was left-over.
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Ah!
He’s complaining about their preferences. Perhaps he thinks cannabis and rent boys is a better spend.
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“I cannot spend all my money on booze and women and beg for help afterwards,”
…
Hey, it works for celebrities
Anyways, Dijsselbloem fails to mention that $$s for booze and women only comes after the banks get their ~90% cut of bailout moneys. A 6pk of schaefer and truck stop women … yippee …
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Nothing makes a person (or a country) madder than the truth.
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If there’s not truth in it – they just laugh it off.
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Let’s see, Southern European bankers spend all of their money on booze and women, then go bankrupt. Northern European bankers then demand their money back from the taxpayers of Southern Europe. The taxpayers end up in mass unemployment and have their pensions cut to a pittance. While their governments take out loans to pay back Northern European bankers so they can spend it on booze and women.
Great system for some.
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Doesn’t it also illustrate a form of culturalism in the EU.
A Northerner in a position of influence denigrating Southerners. Insinuating a lack of discipline and self-control. Next they’ll be saying Southerners sleep all afternoon.
Now – if that was anyone saying something about migrants there would be uproar. Merkel et al would be out tut tutting.
Another example of hypocrisy in the EU.
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Booze and women (men excluded?) is mostly what cheap socialist netherlanders like him do when they fly to Southern Europe on vacation. Maybe that’s why he is so confused about it. Locals spent borrowed money in real estate and luxuries instead. Much like anybody else in the world, I guess.
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Yes, they spent a lot of money on drinks, women and fancy cars.
The rest of it they wasted.
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Let Rome have her Coliseum and Athens the Parthenon.
It’s Paris, London, New York and Luxor that are home to Cleopatra’s needles.
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Southern Europe wasn’t offended because this is what they were doing before they even joined the EU. They’re only offended by having to pay the money back.
EU Parliament is most offended. And that’s because they expected to be paid back so THEY could blow the money on the same crap southern Europe does. The EU Parliament already bows the money that way, but they were looking to ramp up – they’re offended because they won’t be able to, it’s why they’re looking for 60 billion out of Britain.
Mr. Costa on Wednesday called for Mr. Dijsselbloem’s resignation, saying “Europe will only be credible as a common project” when he has stepped down
The project has already lost all credibility. Welfare states cannot be fixed with better bureaucrats and better treaties.
European nations can’t even fight each other militarily anymore – the best they could do is hope the US military decides to split up into 26 teams and have battles between itself. The sad part is the DoD and John McCain would think this is a brilliant idea as far as padding their own pockets is concerned. At this point, terrorism is every European nation’s best chance at regaining sovereignty, but even THAT they’ll farm that out to ISIS and any other splinter group the CIA can create.
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Frustration among EU leadership is beyond the point of containment. Somebody needs a time-out.
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I always thought that was how politicians spend our money. Look at the scandal of Clinton and Melendez taking those little trips to fantasy island. It was swept right under the rug and Melendez is still in congress indignant and morally outraged as ever before.
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“apology to the countries and peoples who were deeply offended by his comments” shows you the real reason that the native Europeans aren’t reproducing in adequate numbers to replace their populations, there is a complete lack of testicular fortitude in Europe.
When people stop worrying about transient ‘feelings’ and start dealing with facts and hard realities, and set up a few guarded and enforced boundaries (physical and/or behavioral), then real work gets done. Until then it is all Leftist crybabies trying to gulp down as much milk from the Euro-Baba before the supply runs out. And then the fist fights begin.
Gonna make sure that my lemonade stash and lawn chair are deployed accordingly when the SHTF.
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what a load of rot. Italians are a very hard working people and hard headed too![I lived there for 11 years] .The Greeks work longer hours than the rest of Europe. Italians have a better understanding of the work/life balance. The “protestant work ethic” is actually driving civilization over the cliff as work, work, work, consumes, consumes, consumes and it has to stop. You know; the finite world problem. A total rethink is due, overdue, well overdue.
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tell him that, not us.
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The Italian and Greek people (the citizens) might be hard working… the Italian and Greek politicians are drunks, sexual deviants, fraudulent, liars, and thieves.
And its the politicians demanding infinite bailout money
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So that makes them just like the other politicians, yes? Not all are deviants but all are greedy for handouts and all brown nose their sponsors. All are economically illiterate ,all give poor service to their communities. so don’t play favourites, that doesn’t work.
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Forget about Italy and Greece enjoying life Dijsselbloem just made a major fundamental error – 50% of Europeans are women and won’t like the obvious slur implying southern (or all) women are sluts for the taking. Or maybe he is just upset thinking that his wife or northern women will head south too! Did he do any research?
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Finally something sensible is said (did not expect it from the Eurogroup Honcho) and there is a scandal. He used this as a figure of speech. Who it applies to is irrelevant. Of course we are not talking about the general population here; The politicians squandered, borrowed and begged. Only natural that those that borrow show a modicum of respect for those that lend. (throw down the pit).
Those screaming outrage should first try to understand what the issue is.
To much focus on PC sissyness and not enough thought for real issues.
In the end it is the EUR currency and politicians that are to blame here. These comments should not even be reported on.
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Good job Nigel Farage didn’t say the same thing.
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“I cannot spend all my money on booze and women and beg for help afterwards.”
Uh … you’re a politician; I thought that was part of the job description.
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LOL!
Dominique Strauss-Kahn is greatly offended at Mr. Djesselbloem’s comments.
Why, because of the insinuation of womanizing? No, he’s outraged at the thought of being considered a southern European.
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