The German newspaper whose web site is now marginally better organized has two reporters based in the United States for its main news section. One, Matthias Rueb, is said to be one of the paper’s heavy hitters. They post him where they want to have an impact, certainly within German debate, and if possible at a European level or in the host country. (The paper has several such correspondents.) This is not his story.
Continue reading
Author Archives: Doug Merrill
Obligatory Hamlet Reference
Since I don’t know much about Danish law, I’m guessing that the country — like many EU counterparts — has laws against fomenting religious or racial hatred. Do they only cover acts that take place in Denmark, or do they apply to Danish citizens wherever they may travel?
If it’s the latter, would the imams who took their dossier to the Middle East be prosecutable? Would it be smart of the authorities to bring such a case to trial? And what does the answer to that question say about the rule of law versus mob rule?
Premature Evaluation, pt 1 (On the Brink: The Trouble with France)
What to do when you haven’t finished a book but find yourself with something to say about it?
Convention dictates that one should finish a book before reviewing it (although I have my doubts about any number of published reviews), but on the other hand, the market for reviews of revised editions of books on France originally published in 1998 is bound to be small. So out with the convention, in with the thoughts.
Continue reading
Expansiveness
I’ve been editing reports on Central and Eastern Europe for a bank that’s well regarded for its links to the region. (Since the reports aren’t in circulation yet, I won’t name it.) Its authors believe that Bulgaria and Romania will join the EU on schedule in 2007. They think that the delivery of Ante Gotovina to The Hague has helped Croatia’s chances, but they see the schedule nontheless slipping from 2009 to 2010, at the earliest.
In the summer of 2004, I laid down my bets here. I had all three joining in time to vote in the European Parliament elections in 2009. I think I’ll stick with that estimate.
A Brief Note…
from our internal discussions. I recently remarked to Edward that for much of the US government’s foreign policy apparatus, Russia is still Not Europe. This view is a legacy (still) of the Cold War period in which most of the decision-makers and working-level staff were trained and gained experience. It shapes basic reflexes toward Europe and the post-Soviet space, and knowing the background may at some level help outsiders understand this or that about official US approaches. (There are of course many levels of complexity, not least Congressional politics, commercial interests and ethnically based politicking, but this is meant to be a brief note.)
Continue reading
Terence, This Is Stupid Stuff, Part 2
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single quotation on the cover of a book is not a reliable guide to its contents.
Continue reading
Terence, This Is Stupid Stuff
The German newspaper whose website is now a little better organized (but no so well organized, you understand, that I can actually provide a link to the story in question) published what ought to be an interesting tale of changing tastes in toys, “Per Modellbahn aufs Abstellgleis” or, roughly, “By Model Train onto the Siding.” There would even seem to be comparative advantage in such a story, as toy-making is one of Germany’s traditional industries. Or as defenders of the romantic image would have it, handicrafts.
Continue reading
A Big Problem?
Just a brief query: Can anyone think of the last time one of the big four countries in the EU — Germany, France, Britain, Italy — had a successful presidency of the Union?
It looks like the UK’s turn at the top will end without a budget agreement, which is fine for Blair’s domestic politics, but not so good for running the 25-country EU. Italy’s last run was marred by an initial spat between Berlusconi’s government and the European Parliament and never really got back into gear. Germany’s last presidency, back in ’99, featured the resignation of the Commission, the resignation of Germany’s finance minister and the war in Kosovo. The French presidency in 2000 ended with the summit in Nice, one of the least productive EU summits in memory. (EU mandarins from Central Europe still haven’t forgotten how Chirac gratuitously slighted them at Nice, setting the tone for his approach to enlargement.)
Breakthroughs seem to come during the presidencies of smaller countries. In recent years, think Ireland and Denmark. In the interests of better governance, maybe the Union should ban big countries from holding the presidency?
Consumption in Germany
In comments here, Edward has addressed a question I was also thinking about this morning. He writes, “So the new coalition’s ‘play’ will be to try and really push-start domestic consumption in 2006. Obviously they hope some consumption will be brought forward in order to avoid the tax.”
Tax and a positive contribution from the ECB are important, of course, but I wonder if there aren’t other hindrances to domestic consumption. I’d be hard pressed to think of an upswing in the German economy that wasn’t led by exports and fed by investment. Domestic consumption brings up the rear.
Add to that strong admonitions in the culture that consumption is bad. Look at any apartment building and count the number of “No ads please” stickers on mail slots. Add in the Öko (“ecological”) position that the best contribution to the environment is to consume as little as possible. Add deep cultural mistrust of credit. Add some of the demographic trends that Edward has written about in detail. All of these suggest that there are barriers to a recovery sustained by domestic demand that go beyond fear of the taxman.
Or I could be wrong. Americans, after all, have famously overthrown their Puritan heritage and consume enough to keep the world economy afloat. The hard-core economists could be right, and culture might play no role at all in household decisions. I honestly don’t know what to think about German consumption. Further thoughts, anyone?
The System of the World
Sorry, this is not a post proclaiming a political theory of everything. It’s a note saying “‘Tis done!” I picked up Neal Stephenson’s The System of the World sooner than I thought and finished it up right quick.
Previous posts on the Baroque Cycle are here, here, here and here. The argument of the trilogy and further thoughts below the fold. Spoilers abound. Doug Muir, I’m finished, we can discuss.
Continue reading