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In Finland, as I just posted, listen to the PM who out ranks the FM. The PM was the respected FM before becoming PM in June 2011. The current FM is considered under qualified and she has already gotten into trouble for making inappropriate statements as I recall. The PM has the power for...

This is what I thought Katainen's position was all along. He was the finance minister before becoming PM - voted best in Europe - and is very respected by business people in Finland. I like him too. I have a summer vacation each year in Finland. Finns won't do something stupid business-wise to...

Raising taxes like FTT going into recession is a very bad idea for Germany. Exporters are upset about hedging costs climbing with FTT, although the euro is dropping. Hopefully, recession will shelve FTT.

Taking on the Speculators: What Would a European Tobin Tax Really Mean? - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,808592,00.html Cover story tonight. Just starting to read it, no comments yet.

Stand corrected, I meant in spirit. Sarkozy is trying to win the socialist vote. Most media and economists supporting FTT are socialist-leaning too.

I will start referring to FTT as the "FTT Socialist Tax." FTT is not a "Wall Street Tax", as it mostly falls on the retail investor. This derisive term implies Wall Street is evil, and that is misplaced. It's not a "Robin Hood Tax", as its not stealing from the rich to redistribute money...

I'm upset with the Finns over this swing. My wife is from Finland and I have plenty of friends and family there. My wife worked for the last great Finnish bank who crashed and burned in the early 1990s. Plenty of Swedish friends too. In general, the Finns and French don't see eye to eye, but...

A coalition of the some-PIIGS desperatos, fringe-euro wanabees and Franco/German sycophants. Not a strong coalition of the willing, and not the nine needed for passage by a group within the euro zone. Sarkozy just needs to win his re-election and out talk the Socialists over attacking...

We need to fight hardest now and not get dismayed and discouraged. Yes, it seems like FTT may gain a foothold in France, Germany and the euro zone, but that is not a done deal yet. Yes, Sarkozy and Merkel are using a full court press, but I think it may be from weakness not strength. They are...

S&P should downgrade France and their banks over Sarkozy's FTT solo-FTT plan, if it happens. I think Sarkozy feels FTT and his agenda melting away, starting in Cannes at the recent G-20, when the G-20 powers said no to FTT. As he pushed hard for Libya, he is now pushing hard for FTT too._...

Sarkozy refuses to drop financial tax proposal - FT.com http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/2ed2a23a-3b90-11e1-a09a-00144feabdc0.html My comment on this FT article: Accepting FTT is caving into socialists. Center-right Sarkozy in France and Merkel in Germany are talking FTT to keep socialists...

PS. I do see a big legal fight brewing here. Like Bush vs. Gore in the Supreme Court and ObamaCare. The Brits won't swallow Franco-German tax bombs dropping on London. Not after many centuries of this type of political warfare. FTT makes no sense other than power politics. Germans won't pass a...

I just added this comment to the last FT article. I've been wondering for sometime about why NYSE/Euronex would merge with Deutsche Bourse, with Germany pushing FTT, and other punitive measures against banks, investment management, and traders. Post merger, would the NYSE be an escape...

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,806728-2,00.html Merkozy's Men: Advisers Seek to Bridge Euro Differences - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International Are these two officials, Musca from France and Meyer-Landrut of Germany going to be the key figures hashing out FTT in France...

France to push ahead with ‘Tobin tax’ proposal - FT.com http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/750c8722-36f2-11e1-96bf-00144feabdc0.html Sarkozy is accelerating FTT in France - by the end of this February - to help him win his May re-election against the leading Socialists. A center-right...

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/03/world/europe/future-in-mind-europeans-plan-for-less-unanimity.html As European Union Expands, Unanimity Breaks Down - NYTimes.com Happy New Year. Just back from vacation. This article lays out the EU-proscribed plan to counter a veto for unanimous...

European Governments Devise Unusual Ways to Prop Up Ailing Banks - WSJ.com http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204058404577108723777515602.html Article today on the theme I posted about last night, a few posts back. EU governments are feverishly working with banks to wheel and deal...

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/290946 Express.co.uk - Home of the Daily and Sunday Express | UK News :: Germans beg us to stay in the EU Is this an olive branch from Germany to the UK? Will the Germans drop FTT to get the UK back into the new fiscal pact? Encouraging step in the right...

FTT is a threat to compel banks to buy government bonds. I just had the following realization, which I sensed all along, but not this specifically. Perhaps, Germany and France are intimidating banks with FTT legislation mostly to compel banks to use their bailout liquidity provided by the ECB...

Read it. Total wishful thinking by the author and people he interviewed. Obama wants his bank liability fee in his budget, and not FTT, plus he no longer discusses that fee anyway. Obama can't afford to scare banks more in our recovery and while Europe melts down. FTT raises taxes on the...