Hey Bruce, I don`t know why Germany is the one bright spot in Europe, but in one of Krugman`s pieces he said they allowed a dab of inflation and ran a trade surplus. Now running that "trade surplus", I think is the key. I would also add that Europe`s immigration problem is the silent tape-worm that`s draining it`s host, although Krugman would never go there. And in the case of France, Le Pen was the only one running that would address that issue. To put trade in "farmer terms" if I hire my planting done, I write a check...have the elevator spray and spread fertilizer, I write more checks I hire a chap to combine, write more checks.. hire the grain hauled to town, write more checks...have the elevator dry it, write more checks...store in town write more checks ...pay for marketing advise and buy "puts" and "calls" once more write more checks. When I finally sell that grain it will be a miracle if I wouldn`t have to borrow money to put in next years crop. See, even if a "immigrant" will work cheaper or they can manufacture what a country needs overseas cheaper, there does come a pay day for those that have done all that work for you. In the case of a country it can be masked with government debt, but there will be a day of reckoning nonetheless.
