Europe : Recession Over ?

Looks like good economic news for Europe

France and Germany return to growth
By Gerrit Wiesmann in Frankfurt
Published: August 13 2009 09:07 | Last updated: August 13 2009 11:27

An unexpected rebound in French and German growth helped push the eurozone to the brink of economic recovery in the second quarter, delivering a further signal that the worst of the global crisis may be coming to an end in Europe.

Gross domestic product in the 16-nation currency bloc fell 0.1 per cent in April, May and June, the European statistics office said on Thursday, cheering economists who had expected a decline of 0.5 per cent after a drop of 2.5 per cent in the first quarter of the year.

“The overall story is that the eurozone economy has been pulled out of recession by a combination of the revival in the global economy and government fiscal stimulus,” said Nick Kounis, an economist at Fortis Bank in Amsterdam.

Many economists said they expected the eurozone to swing back to growth in the second half of the year, although they also warned that unemployment, fragile bank lending and an end to stimulus spending still may challenge European economies.
“Several headwinds are still present in the economy,” said Clemente de Lucia at BNP Paribas in Paris, warning that joblessness could hit consumer spending, and bank write-downs may rein in lending to industry in the coming months.

Component figures released by national statistical offices over the past days showed that most economies shrank at a slower rate in the second quarter than earlier in the year, with Germany and France reporting a surprise return to growth.

Robust consumer and public spending - buoyed by large government stimulus programmes - helped both economies grow 0.3 per cent in April, May and June, according to data released by both countries’ statistical offices today.
The trends surprised economists.
They had been expecting both economies to contract again – by 0.3 per cent - after German GDP plummeted 3.5 per cent and French GDP shrank by 1.3 per cent in the first quarter.
“This is the pleasant surprise of the summer for both France and Germany,” said Marc Touati at Global Equities in Paris, although he warned risks to growth remained as stimulus spending ended and the euro remained strong.

The export-led Germany economy suffered a precipitous fall after financial crisis triggered global recession last year. But signs have mounted recently that a resurgence of foreign demand could quickly stabilise the economy again.
Christian Dreger at the DIW Economic Research Institute in Berlin said German industry appeared to have come through the worst of the crisis as the global economy recovered. “It looks like the recession’s over,” he said.

While Greece and Portugal grew 0.3 per cent in the second quarter, the Austrian and Belgian economies shrank 0.4 per cent, Italy’s 0.5 per cent, and the Dutch economy by 0.9 percent. Although the economies shrank, the rates were slower than in the first quarter.

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.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it" - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.

Good luck! Here in the US we have a real wingnut in the White House who thinks that the best way to restore our economy is to run the country deeper in debt. I just hope that he doesn't drag the rest of the world down as he finishes up wrecking our economy. While he was campaining, he said that he was going to redistribute the wealth. Well he did. Instead of having the rich, middle class, and poor......now we only have the poor. The rich moved away and the middle class have been taxed into poverty.

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One life, one chance. Don't waste it!

LOL! Where's ol' George W. when you need 'em, eh? He'd sure get you out of your mess - and quick like...LOL!

So you liked "W"? I was glad that his term was up. No, he would have bunged it up just as bad as Wingnut. I was hoping that Ron Paul would get a chance. Oh well, Wingnut will only last four years at the rate that he is going, and then maybe the American people will have the sense to elect non-Republicans and non-Democrats into office. It probably won't happen, but we can still hope.

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One life, one chance. Don't waste it!

LOL! You obviously missed the boat early on while the rest of America endured 8 years of ol' George W. LOL! Who do you really think sunk the US into this quagmire? I presume you'd probably say Clinton...

I don't care much for economics I wouldn't be smiling until they grow through productivity increases, economies growing on the back of gov stimulus spending is hardly sustainable growth.

BIS recently said something along the lines of "stimulus packages may provide no more than a temporary boost to growth, and likely followed by an extended period of economic stagnation."

Easy credit caused the problem, throwing more around obviously isn't going to fix it.

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Steve
CyclingForums.com

You could say almost everyone is a co conspirator

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Steve
CyclingForums.com

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Steve
CyclingForums.com

Clinton's fault...... W's fault......Obama will deliver us....
Translation = We are screwed!

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Dope,when training and talent just aren't enough.

Incredible. The number of "Chicken Littles" that have been hatched now that there has been change in the White House...incredible...Very predictable, however, considering how change affects many people...still incredible though...

We been screwed for years and just because you like the present administration ,for whatever reason, don't make everything rosey.
I hope he does a hell of a job but so far I don't see anything that will help me live a better life.

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Dope,when training and talent just aren't enough.

So you've been screwed for years? That's not the sentiment I read in your previous entry. It's clearly an indication that you're now screwed only because Obama's in office to attempt to clean up the mess left by the previous executive.

Whether I like him or not is irrelevant. What is relevant is the fact that so many of you "Chicken Littles" will not even give the guy a fair shot at being successful because of the obvious reason that needs no mention...

I'm not going to hijack this thread any longer...I'm done.

You only read into my post what you you wanted to read into it. I'll give anyone a fair shot I just don't see any logic in what he is doing, I see the same special favors to special interest only the name have changed but I agree to be done also and we can comment say... next July. That will give everyone better picture of what is going on.

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Dope,when training and talent just aren't enough.

In fairness to President Obama, he's been handed a basketcase economy by that turd Bush.

A pattern of economic mismanagement seems to be evident when it comes to the Republicans.

Clinton inherited a basketcase from George Bush snr - and he succeeded in turning it all around.
Handing over an economy is superb shape, Turd Bush made a complete bollox of the economy which President Obama has to try to clear up.
I wish him well.

Although I do take Wolfix point made here years ago, a Dem President with a Republican Congress or vice versa, might be a possible reason for past solutions.

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.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it" - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.

Regardless of what most people think, here in the US it is Congress that is responsible for what spending takes place or does not take place (hence, the economy). The President only signs the bills he agrees with and vetoes the bills he opposes. Congress can still over ride the veto with enough votes though. What has really screwed things up are the damned "earmarks". This is additional funding for pet projects that are added to the bill and are not debated at all. They pass if the bill passes and fail if the bill fails. If you want to fund a questionable project, you only need to attach it as an earmark to a popular bill and it will be funded. The President could veto it to kill the earmark but then would be accused of being against the popular part of the bill, not the earmark. This is why Bush pushed for the Line Item Veto, so he could kill earmarks without losing a good bill. The Democratic Congress would not pass it, mostly because they were doing everything that they could to torpedoe Bush's Republican Presidency. Obama promised in his campaign speeches that he would not approve any bill that had earmarks in it, however he approved his $800,000,000,000 (rounded off) stimulus plan which had 9,000 earmarks in it! He also promised that the unemployment rate would not rise above 8% if the stimulus plan was approved. It is nearly 10% now. It is clear to me that we have another liar in the White House and it is time to clean house by not electing any Democrats or Republicans but only independent or third party candidates. It is the fighting between the elephant and the jackass that is bringing our country down. As for Clinton turning the economy around, it looked good on paper but they badly cooked the books (re: Enron). The Clinton term is partly to blame for the mess we are in. A lot of the policies that were passed during his time in office came to fruition during "W"s presidency. Old "W" just made them worse.

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One life, one chance. Don't waste it!