The Bavarian cabinet is proposing a law allowing cars to be washed on Sundays and holidays. But only in the afternoons, you understand, so as not to interfere with church attendance. This is something like progress.
Now, since on average 7 percent of Germans attend services on Sundays, you may well ask what about the other [...]

Bloomberg’s Mathew Lynn has been pretty consistently skeptical about the workability of the common currency. Personally I find it difficult to disagree with the following:
“The euro, the common currency shared by 12 EU nations, will weaken considerably as Europe enters a long period of political instability. Recriminations from the collapse of the constitution will be [...]

The UK housing market is gradually grinding to a standstill, in price terms that is. The latest report from Nationwide indicates that:
“Average property prices as measured by the mortgage lender increased marginally by 0.3 per cent between April and May. This pushed the annual inflation rate to 5.5 per cent, a level not seen since [...]

The press this morning are busily assimilating the result of yesterday’s Netherlands referendum. The FT reports on a survey by Dutch polling organisation Interview-NSS, which identified up to twenty different issues which influenced the no vote.
Top of the list the list was a fear that the Netherlands would lose influence in a Europe that would [...]

I’ll keep tracking the euro again today, and updating as appropriate. I’ve just posted some stuff in the comments section of Afoe:
Looking at the newspapers the euro steadied up overnight, but seems to be on its way down again in Tokyo. As I write it is trading at $1.2194, ten minutes ago it was [...]

The first exit polls have just been announced in the Netherlands. The first estimate is 63% No, 37% Yes. (I may have to update this, as I have no numbers on abstention).
Let the debate continue!
Update: The euro just broke under the $1.22 level, it is currently at $1.2179 in US trading. Tomorrow is going to [...]

Over on Crooked Timber, Maria Farrell is being haunted by the sheer gaul of them, and consequently expressing her irritation with France and the French, not just
[f]or falling asleep at the wheel in 2002 and letting back in to the Elysee a fraud who has no vision for France, no values apart from expediency, [...]

In some ways I think this story may run and run over the months to come. Bloomberg have an update on their earlier article. According to the latest account:
1/. The German Finance Ministry have declined to comment on the Stern report that discussions took place last week between Finance Minister Hans Eichel, Bundesbank President Axel [...]

Having been asked by AFOE to write a couple of posts for them in the coming weeks I am both honoured and horrified and apologize in advance for occasionally butchering the English language. A very short introduction: I am a Dutch translator now living in France after 30 odd years of residence in Belgium. I [...]

For those who are not old enough to remember, these are the immortal words of Mandy Rice Davies.
Now throwing a link quickly back across the Atlantic, Dave Altig at Macro blog picked up my ECB post and added a response from Hans Eichel.
But, the plot does thicken a bit.

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