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In fact, there's lots more troubling than he explained. Moreover, nothing from Brussels augurs well for working households across Europe. More on that below.
Nonetheless, other countries also expressed concerns, including Hungary and Sweden, saying they won't relinquish control of their corporate tax policy. What about their people policy? Only harder than ever hard times are planned.
Italy's opposition Northern League expressed strong disapproval of a deal they called a "holdup," not a budget.
Munich's Ifo think tank cut its 2012 German GDP forecast, saying:
"The dependency of economic developments on the decisions made by Europe's politicians complicates the forecast considerably by making radically different plausible scenarios possible."
In other words, bad decisions assure bad results. At issue only is how bad at a time weak Eurozone countries are heading south, and nothing's being done to stop it.
Greece looks vulnerable to bankruptcy, exiting the Eurozone, and devaluing its currency massively. Signs point clearly in those directions. In the past year alone, capital flight lost 40 billion in deposits, equal to 17% of GDP.
In fact, over 30% of it exited in September and October alone, signaling lots more to come. Troubled Greece is Europe's canary in its coal mine. Its economies aren't close to resolving enormous debt, growth, and other structural problems.
They're getting worse, not better. Expect 2012 to show bad conditions deteriorating. The short, intermediate and longer-term outlooks look dire.
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