Germany posts record budget surplus in 1st half of 2014

[Tender Branson]

BERLIN: Germany posted a budget surplus of 16.1 billion euros in the first half of 2014, highlighting the strength of the country's finances at a time when Berlin faces pressure to loosen the fiscal reins and spend more to boost flagging growth in Europe.

The data from the Federal Statistics Office showed that the federal government posted a surplus of 4.0 billion euros in the first six months of the year, the first time it has not registered a deficit in the period since 1991.

The overall surplus - grouping federal, state and local governments as well as the social security system - amounted to 1.1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

That puts Germany on track to post its third straight budget surplus in 2014. Last year its surplus represented 0.3 percent of GDP, while in 2012 it was 0.1 percent.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/business/germany-posts-budget-surplus-as-pressure-rises-to-boost-growth/articleshow/41416978.cms

And what do we have ? Deficit after deficit ...

Sometimes you have to envy the Germans and the Swiss.

[Simfan34]

Highly admirable.

[Negusa Nagast 🚀]

16.1 billion Euros that would be better spent stimulating their contracting economy.

But I suppose sacrificing growth on the alter of austerity is preferable in the eyes of a masochist.

[Franzl]

Großartig

[swl]

That's where you see the important differences between France and Germany. I lived with German people and we had the same kind of incomprehension at the personal level than we have at countries level. ^^

Why does it make you happy to have some money knowing you are not going to do anything with it?

[ingemann]

That's where you see the important differences between France and Germany. I lived with German people and we had the same kind of incomprehension at the personal level than we have at countries level. ^^

Why does it make you happy to have some money knowing you are not going to do anything with it?

Well there's the fable with the ants and the grasshopper.

[PiMp DaDdy FitzGerald]

Great, now invest it. If nothing is done with it, all that it is going to be doing is depreciating in the reserve.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Germany's huge surpluses is the primary reason why southern Europe's economies can't recover.

[Unimog]

There are enough debts to pay back, so there is in reality nothing to spend.

Not Germany's surplus is the reason for the failure of the mediteranian economies. it is the the failed policy of those countries.

You can't spend more money than you earn in the long run.

[swl]

That's where you see the important differences between France and Germany. I lived with German people and we had the same kind of incomprehension at the personal level than we have at countries level. ^^

Why does it make you happy to have some money knowing you are not going to do anything with it?

Well there's the fable with the ants and the grasshopper.

Everyone forgot to end this fable, so here I go:
"and at the end, they all died".

[Landslide Lyndon]

Not Germany's surplus is the reason for the failure of the mediteranian economies. it is the the failed policy of those countries.

You can't spend more money than you earn in the long run.

You should get your facts straight before spewing this generic conservative nonsense. There was no common economic policy among mediterranean countries that failed.
And even if there was, how the hell are they going to recover now when there is no capital flow from the wealthiest countries of the north?

[Gustaf]

A capital flow isn't something handled out by governments to be charitable. You attract capital by putting in place a decent system.

It also would appear that some people don't understand how a surplus work. It lowers the government debt. And god knows Germany has plenty of debt to pay off.

And they need to save up so they can keep bailing out Southern Europe.

[Unimog]

A capital flow isn't something handled out by governments to be charitable. You attract capital by putting in place a decent system.

It also would appear that some people don't understand how a surplus work. It lowers the government debt. And god knows Germany has plenty of debt to pay off.

And they need to save up so they can keep bailing out Southern Europe.

This.

@Landslide Lyndon

I don't mind to be corrected, if i'm wrong. But I fear, that your facts need some straightening. I never talked of policies among the mediteranian countries. I meant the individual policies of france, italy, spain, etc. they all spent (and spend) too much.  This is perverting John Maynard Keynes.

As I see your avatar, my wife has greek parents. So i know a little something about the state of things in Greece. I admire what has been achieved in Greece, but France and Italy will have to go the same way.

[Landslide Lyndon]

@Landslide Lyndon

I don't mind to be corrected, if i'm wrong. But I fear, that your facts need some straightening. I never talked of policies among the mediteranian countries. I meant the individual policies of france, italy, spain, etc. they all spent (and spend) too much.  This is perverting John Maynard Keynes.

As I see your avatar, my wife has greek parents. So i know a little something about the state of things in Greece. I admire what has been achieved in Greece, but France and Italy will have to go the same way.

And you still don't know what you're talking about. Spain was running surpluses before the 2008 financial crisis. Italy had very small deficits even after that. There was no profligate spending as you say. That's a lie conservatives continue to repeat even though it's been repeatedly discredited.

As for capital flow, nobody talked about handouts. What everyone (even Draghi) asks from Germany and the other northern European countries is to ease monetary policy and let their inflation rise a little because southern Europe is in imminent danger of entering a deflationary vortex.

[ingemann]

@Landslide Lyndon

I don't mind to be corrected, if i'm wrong. But I fear, that your facts need some straightening. I never talked of policies among the mediteranian countries. I meant the individual policies of france, italy, spain, etc. they all spent (and spend) too much.  This is perverting John Maynard Keynes.

As I see your avatar, my wife has greek parents. So i know a little something about the state of things in Greece. I admire what has been achieved in Greece, but France and Italy will have to go the same way.

And you still don't know what you're talking about. Spain was running surpluses before the 2008 financial crisis. Italy had very small deficits even after that. There was no profligate spending as you say. That's a lie conservatives continue to repeat even though it's been repeatedly discredited.

As for capital flow, nobody talked about handouts. What everyone (even Draghi) asks from Germany and the other northern European countries is to ease monetary policy and let their inflation rise a little because southern Europe is in imminent danger of entering a deflationary vortex.

What you ask are for the Germans to impoverish a generation of German pensionists, whose pension are in long term low interest savings.

[Cassius]

@Landslide Lyndon

I don't mind to be corrected, if i'm wrong. But I fear, that your facts need some straightening. I never talked of policies among the mediteranian countries. I meant the individual policies of france, italy, spain, etc. they all spent (and spend) too much.  This is perverting John Maynard Keynes.

As I see your avatar, my wife has greek parents. So i know a little something about the state of things in Greece. I admire what has been achieved in Greece, but France and Italy will have to go the same way.

And you still don't know what you're talking about. Spain was running surpluses before the 2008 financial crisis. Italy had very small deficits even after that. There was no profligate spending as you say. That's a lie conservatives continue to repeat even though it's been repeatedly discredited.

As for capital flow, nobody talked about handouts. What everyone (even Draghi) asks from Germany and the other northern European countries is to ease monetary policy and let their inflation rise a little because southern Europe is in imminent danger of entering a deflationary vortex.

The issue is not so much about the deficits of those countries (well, it is partly, but I digress), but the unsustainable levels of debt that the PIG countries (I'll exclude Spain and Ireland since they were less profligate) ran up prior to the financial crisis, after which they piled a further amount when the financial crisis hit. Now, the latter is forgiveable, since you can't simply let banks go bust by the dozen. However, the slapdash management of the public finances prior to the crash by the governments of countries such as Greece and Portugal can't be ignored. That is not a 'conservative lie'; it is a fact. Although, to be fair, Grece and Portugal should never have been allowed to join the Euro in the first place (in fact, the Euroe was always a bad idea generally, but again, I digress).

[Gustaf]

@Landslide Lyndon

I don't mind to be corrected, if i'm wrong. But I fear, that your facts need some straightening. I never talked of policies among the mediteranian countries. I meant the individual policies of france, italy, spain, etc. they all spent (and spend) too much.  This is perverting John Maynard Keynes.

As I see your avatar, my wife has greek parents. So i know a little something about the state of things in Greece. I admire what has been achieved in Greece, but France and Italy will have to go the same way.

And you still don't know what you're talking about. Spain was running surpluses before the 2008 financial crisis. Italy had very small deficits even after that. There was no profligate spending as you say. That's a lie conservatives continue to repeat even though it's been repeatedly discredited.

As for capital flow, nobody talked about handouts. What everyone (even Draghi) asks from Germany and the other northern European countries is to ease monetary policy and let their inflation rise a little because southern Europe is in imminent danger of entering a deflationary vortex.

Spain was running a surplus due to their economy overheating. Running up debt is not the only kind of failed policy there is.

Monetary policy is set by the ECB, not by any individual country. Which, I'll grant, is retarded but you guys all insisted on this euro project so much.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Monetary policy is set by the ECB, not by any individual country. Which, I'll grant, is retarded but you guys all insisted on this euro project so much.

Oh really? Mario Draghi and Wolfgang Scheuble will certainly be very amused if they read your post.

[Landslide Lyndon]

And here comes deflation...

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/05/business/international/ecb-cuts-interest-rate-further-paving-way-for-more-drastic-measures.html?_r=0

[Velasco]

What you ask are for the Germans to impoverish a generation of German pensionists, whose pension are in long term low interest savings.

Your reply reflects a psychological syndrome existing in Germany related with hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic. Nobody is advocating for sky high inflation rates, just for easing the rigidity of a restrictive monetary policy and let inflation rise a bit. I think German pensioners won't be impoverished as a result of some flexibility, but Lyndon is right in saying that deflation is an actual danger for some countries.