January 10, 2005
LESS THAN ROBUST...:
Anemic Statistics in Germany and France Underline Risks to a Less Than Robust Recovery in Europe (David Mchugh, 1/10/05, AP)
The European Central Bank is expected to leave interest rates alone when it meets later this week at its Frankfurt headquarters, even as warning flags go up about flat growth in France in the last three months of 2004 and rising unemployment in Germany. [...]Posted by Orrin Judd at January 10, 2005 9:17 PMEurope is struggling to free itself from rigid labor market rules and boost domestic economies instead of relying on exports to support growth. But it has watched in recent years as the United States, an ally but also a competitor to united Europe, has far outpaced it economically.
That is attributed to factors ranging from excessive bureaucracy and welfare-state policies in western Europe -- where jobs are increasingly departing for cheaper labor markets to the east -- to a more work-focused culture and more business-oriented universities across the Atlantic.
This week, labor unions in France are considering a protest march to protect their 35-hour workweek...
This is why the Dollar is down. Not American Deficit spending, which is not larger than Euro deficit spending.
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at January 10, 2005 9:53 PMEurope has to lower interest rates and weaken the Euro. If France and Germany are hurting, imagine what the feeling is in the newer membership which is trying to grow out of Communist torpor.
Posted by: Bart at January 11, 2005 7:46 AM