German Politics at its Best

German politics and the German media have largely blamed the U.S. for the current financial crisis. Germany's cherished "social market" policies, so the unified chorus, would have never produced the reckless behavior of banks witnessed in the country of profit maximization, the U.S. In particular, German regulatory bodies and rules - according to the saga - would not have allowed German banks to invest in toxic assets. So, why oh why didn't the U.S. follow Germany's admirable policies?

This WSJ article tells a slightly different story. German politics blew it big time.

• MAY 29, 2009

German Regulator Warned of Hypo Bank Problems Before Bailout

BERLIN -- Germany's financial regulator warned of serious problems  Hypo Real Estate Holding AG six months before the lender was rescued in a massive bailout, but the regulator lacked powers to act and the government ignored its warnings, according to documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal. (...)

For months, Germany has lectured the U.S. and others on the need for stricter regulation of financial markets, holding itself up as a model. The German parliament probe into the €102 billion ($142.6 billion) rescue of Munich-based Hypo, however, suggests Germany struggled as much as the U.S. or Britain to control the risks the country's banks were taking.

Hypo's funding problems and huge losses on complex securities make it the worst of Germany's problem banks, though it is one of many. German banks could face total losses in the current financial crisis of €200 billion to €300 billion, according to several estimates, of which only around €100 billion has been written down. (...)

Overall, banks in Western Europe could lose about $1.4 trillion in this crisis, more than expected losses in the U.S. banking system, according to the International Monetary Fund. (emphasis added)

Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück, who has repeatedly said the "center of gravity" of the global financial crisis lies in the U.S., earlier this month rejected publishing stress tests on German banks, saying it could undermine confidence in the banking system.

A Finance Ministry spokesman said Wednesday that top officials including Mr. Steinbrück were aware of problems in capital and banking markets in 2008, but had no specific indications that Hypo was in difficulty at that time. The failure of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in the U.S. last September was the event that pushed Hypo toward insolvency, the spokesman said.

However, documents produced by the German parliament investigation show that on March 20, 2008 -- months before Lehman's collapse -- financial-markets regulator Bafin passed on to the German Finance Ministry a report Bafin had requested from the Bundesbank on Hypo's funding.

The Bundesbank's report, which included a special audit of Hypo's Dublin-based Depfa Bank PLC unit, raised an alarm about Hypo's massive short-term borrowing needs, as well as its risk management. The report also said that Hypo's compliance with key banking regulations on managing liquidity and other market risks "must be seen as nonexistent."

The Finance Ministry in November told parliament in a letter that an unnamed senior Finance Ministry official to whom the March report on Hypo was addressed never saw it, because he was on vacation. It was reviewed by lower-ranking officials, and when he returned to work, the report had been filed away, the letter said. The Finance Ministry declined to comment.

Avoiding transparency and public scrutiny at all costs is a major concern of German politicians, since the results might "undermine confidence" in the system.

Anyway, the U.S. is the culprit, so why ask silly questions about German faults... Also, an American investor is going to lose his investment, which adds a bright spot to the story:

In April, a month after the Finance Ministry had received the preliminary audit report with its damning verdict on Hypo's risk management, a group of investors led by U.S. financier J.C. Flowers announced their intention of buying a 24.9% stake in Hypo, which they followed through on.

Those investors now stand to lose most of their investment, as the government plans to fully nationalize Hypo as a fraction of its former value.

Comments

[Tropby]

"Avoiding transparency and public scrutiny at all costs is a major concern of German politicians, since the results might "undermine confidence" in the system."

You can replace ´German´ with ´any´. Look e.g. at the US, were Republicans and Democrats blame each other ... standard M.O. in every democracy.

"Those investors now stand to lose most of their investment, as the government plans to fully nationalize Hypo as a fraction of its former value."

The value of their investment had already dropped to near 0 when Hypo was about to go bust. The state intervened to bailout Hypo and paid them a multiple of the real market value of their shares. The shareholders, who would have lost nearly everything, got a sweet deal.

A normal investor buys shares for e.g. € 10.000,-- in a company. The company becomes insolvent, his shares may be valued at € 100,--. Shit happens. Now the state intervenes and rescues said company, paying him € 1.000,-- for his shares. The unwise investor should be happy ...

I believe that the state bailout of banks was a mistake (on both sides of the pond), but stop whining about Germany nationalizing a single company, when the US does the same e.g. with Chrysler and GM while giving shares to the unions.

[garydausz]

@Trobby
Seems like you missed the point again. Let me help you:
-German responsibles knew much earlier than they claimed about the coming crisis.
-Didn't do nothing to prevent it.
-Blame US, as usual, for everything.

Please comment this.

[Tropby]

"Seems like you missed the point again."

I commented on the second half of your post starting with ´avoiding´. I did not know that 50% of your article was missing the point, sorry.

"-German responsibles knew much earlier than they claimed about the coming crisis. -Didn't do nothing to prevent it. -Blame US, as usual, for everything."

Duh. Politicians/bankers/economists blame somebody else and deny any culpability. What a surprise.

The article by Murdoch´s WSJ admits that the problems started at an Irish subsidiary of Hypo, which is not subject to German financial regulation. Germany called for more international regulations, and even such an anti-German pro-Thatcher paper as The Economist agrees today.*

The WSJ does not like this approach. Surprise. It calls itself the ´The Wall Street Journal´ for a reason.

It is, as I already mentioned, owned by Murdoch. He is a known appeaser of tyrants and owner of such junk as Fox News Channel. His so called news channel had the chutzpah to claim a right to lie in its news ... Murdoch media are no serious sources, sorry.

One can attack Germany on many points, and quite a few are legitimate points of criticism, but you tend to miss them.

* http://www.economist.com/finance/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13760587&source=features_box2

[Pamela]

IT'S A MIRACLE!!

I agree with everything in Tropby's first post. I must need more coffee.

But this

It is, as I already mentioned, owned by Murdoch. He is a known appeaser of tyrants and owner of such junk as Fox News Channel. His so called news channel had the chutzpah to claim a right to lie in its news ... Murdoch media are no serious sources, sorry.

The Murdoch acquisition of WSJ is VERY recent. As a long-time reader the only change I have detected is on the opinion pages - more liberal voices, e.g., Thomas Frank. There is much to criticize about ALL American news channels but far less vis a vis Fox.

[German In Name Only]

Well all I´m saying is don´t buy any covered bonds. Your pfandbrief is as safe as the prime of the year vacation of a senior finance ministry official. And the weaseling government has no bigger concern than bribing out that unwanted American locust, so that the toxic assets in the HRE mess can be covered up without any careers of German politicians being closed.

Instead of feigning surprise over banks attempting to undermine regulations, the entire issue must be made transparent to the people. The case in question represents the lion´s share of infrastructure financing in this country. To be precise, exactly which public infrastructure objects carry subprime mortgages? Will the trustees please put stickers on them so that we all can see?

Various capitalist economies act out various types of market spasms / irrational behavior in response to the crisis. Pyramid family economies build housing like crazy, consumerist economies erect skyscrapers, export economies do the same with transport infrastructure. Find the single biggest toxic asset in the portfolio of the bank in the epicenter of the crisis for a given country, and you have found the respective national money hole. Those money holes use to warp the mind of politicians in their orbits worse than Erich von Daeniken on LSD.

/John Frum for Bundesfinanzminister

[americanbychoice]

The German Psyche is incredible, although predictable.
When I read the German papers I never cease to be amazed at the automatic Anti- American Sentiment. Take the Opel negotiations for instance.
The american delegation said "no" to one demand. Media: It is the Americans fault that negotiations stalled. Whenever we say no to anything or have a different opinion the nasty AMIS are verbally abused and belttled. I do understand that the only thing that matters is the "Uebermenschen's" position, nothing else matters. GM practically gave tem the property, patents and a manufacturer for nothing in return. GM kept them in business for 80 years, no thanks for that, only grief. At least they can't blame us anymore when they ultimately go totally broke. This is inevitable. They want to continue like before without any reduction in numbers even though Opel has a minus of $2.8 billion in 2008. It does not take an economist to figure out where that will lead.

Sometimes I wish the Russians had taken over Germany after the war instead of the Americans. At least Everyone would be the same, miserable. Free speech, forget it, no complaining like they can under a democratic system.
Some of the things I am in Favor of:
Take the 15 Billion of the Marshall Fund and make it a rotating international Fund. Now it is used to support German Entrpreneurs.

Change our Tax laws to give incentives to American corporations to return home.

Leave NATO and withdraw all troops from Europe, forcing the Euro peons to shoulder their own defense. We need the money

Give over the job of World Police to someone else.

The German Goebbels style Media has indoctrinated their citizens to such an Anti-American sentiment, they need to focus on their friends, the Russians, OOps, I forgot, they would be freezing in the winter because you just don't talk about them and not be punished.

etc.,etc.

[German In Name Only]

Uebermenschen? This is the poisonous influence of aristocracy in German politics. The inclusion of aristocrats into the Nationalversammlung 1848 was the root cause of the Bruderkrieg of 1866, the rise of Bismarck, and the horrors of the 20th century. A ruler who treats his own people as peons cannot sustainably treat other rulers any better, and once aristocracy is established all kinds of rivaling oligarchies will follow to scorch the Earth. How many members of Frau Merkel´s cabinet are aristocrats?

Could the German emigrants have given the first knowledge of the nuclear bomb to someone else? The Russians were busy mutilating their government in paranoia to miss purging any traces of aristocracy. The Americans, with their record of being despised as runaway peons with no aristocracy of their own, obviously appeared to be a more fitting recipient.

[americanbychoice]

German in name only,

Merkel has 3 aristocrats in her cabinet. Just to point that out. However, That is completely against my point. I was talking about the Uebermenschliche denken that is still present in the German mindset. "Wir sind Weltmeister" in ....... is written on a weekly basis in some media publication where there isn't even a contest. The average German needs to be assured of his/her superiority in the world on a regular Basis.
Today the "aristocracy" has been replaced by the Politicians who are carefully placed in position according to party loyalty. By the way, can you name ONE poor aristocrat in Germany, or for that matter, Europe?

It doesn't matter whether Obama or Bush is the President of the USA. Germany will forever loathe America, it is inherent.After all Americans are just those dumb, ignorant people who dared leave the Vaterland.

[Scout]

"... Americans are just those dumb, ignorant people who dared leave the Vaterland."

And I, for one, am eternally grateful that my ancestors did exactly that. They obviously understood Europe quite well.

[German In Name Only]

The mindset of the people reflects the system we are born into. Our culture of patriotism has long been a toxic asset as well, more competitive than sustainable in its tiresome cognitive dissonance, and it has been getting worse since the election of Obama. In Hessen the same conservative party which once declared Saudi bribes as Jewish inheritances has made a Faustian bargain with the Pro-Köln group against the five-party system, and in Bayern, well she had only 2 at the beginning of her first term.

As to dropping a name, take e.g. Matthias Graf von Krockow, a notorious loser of toxic assets, such as a family ranch in Poland to the reorder in the aftermath of WWII, and now the principal bank of Germany´s most unfair employer to the financial crisis.

[german observer]

Hopenchange at Spiegel?

http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,627926,00.html

[Account Deleted]

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[German In Name Only]

This cartoon was printed in the ad journal which is distributed freely in Frau Merkel´s electoral district carrying her campaign ads on the front page.

For your analysis and debate: Ein Besuch in den USA...

[German In Name Only]

Broken link fix: Ein Besuch in den USA...

[Account Deleted]

how would you put it in your own words. and again not homework i PROMISE. just want to compare mine to yours.
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