Quotes/Trends Quotes

“The euro still has the notes and coins. But in almost every other sense, it is no longer really a currency.” Matthew Lynn: When will the euro collapse? It’s already dead, Commentary: It’s just the shell of a real currency, In: Market Watch, August 15, 2012

“I am worried about a eurozone collapse, of course. It will depend on how we handle the situation in some countries like Greece and Spain. It also de- pends on how individual eurozone countries react to documents that concern strengthening European integration... I see a eurozone breakup as realistic as holding together, 50 to 50.” Robert Fico, Slovakia‘s prime minister

”Western democracies now play such a large part in redistributing income that politicians who argue for cutting expenditure nearly always run into well-or- ganised opposition from one or both of two groups: recipients of public-sector pay and recipients of government benefits.” Niall Ferguson, Harvard professor, In: The Telegraph, August 27, 2012

”The vision of a Europe without nations, with nothing to kill or die for, is very valuable. Although imagining it isn’t hard to do, building it is. By stating the vision, the euro’s fathers claimed all the glory. The difficult details were left to their successors, who must now either make good on Europe’s promise or recognize that this wonderful project was premature and try to unwind it in the least costly way.” Luigi Zingales: Banking Union Is Last Gambit to Save Euro Dream, In: Bloomberg.comJuly 30, 2012:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-29/banking-union-is-last-gambit-to-save-euro-dream.html

”The current EV market gives a confused outlook. Currently, fewer than 13 million cars are sold in the U.S. each year, and EV (including hybrids) account for only 2% of the market.” Qineqt: Model S Makes Inroads For Tesla, In: Seeking Alpha, September 4, 2012: http://seekingalpha.com/article/844561-model-s-ma-kes-inroads-for-tesla

”If Barack Obama is re-elected, he may allow the George W. Bush tax cuts to expire at the end of 2012. That step could force Congress to the nego- tiating table and produce a large, balanced deficit- reduction programme that would boost confidence, the stock market and private investment.” Roger Altman: The US economy may surprise us Roger Altman: The US economy may surprise us all, In: FT.com, September 3, 2012:http://www.ft.com/