BERLIN- It was only a matter of time. With many of its debt-ridden euro partners in recession, Germany could only swim against the tide for so long.
Figures Thursday showed that output in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, contracted by more than anticipated in the last three months of 2012. And it was the German drop that lay behind a deepening of the recession across the economy of the 17 European Union countries that use the euro.
Eurostat, the EU’s statistics office, said the eurozone’s annual economic output shrank by 0.6 percent in the final quarter of 2012 from the previous three-month period. The decline was bigger than the 0.4 percent drop expected in markets and the steepest fall since 2009, when the global economy was in its deepest recession since World War II.
There are hopes, though, that the fourth quarter of 2012 will mark the low point for the eurozone, and Germany in particular. Many economists are predicting that the eurozone recession may end in the first half of the year.
Nevertheless, Thursday’s figures highlight the scale of the problems that have afflicted the single currency zone over the past year. Fears of a break-up, if not a collapse, of the currency dented confidence at a time when many governments were embarked on fairly severe debt-reduction programs.
Read More at OfficialWire . By David Rising.
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When everything collapses, a war is inevitable. Who owns what and who loses what and who wins what. Destroying the Currency always ends in War. Always has always will.
With America’s (mostly unreported) decline in full swing, it’s no surprise that Europe and other nations interlocked with our economy will be in decline. When we collapse under the weight of our debt, the West will follow soon. We simply can’t get to the bottom fast enough for the present Administration, it seems. And when we are in full-blown Depression, we will be easier prey for those who would like to see the West gone for good.
War is certain, willyrho, and those who don’t see it that way soon will. “Peace in our time?” Didn’t work for Chamberlain’s day, and it won’t work today, either.
Are the islamofacists going to be able to claim victory for their “prophet”?
“Fears of a break-up, if not a collapse, of the currency dented confidence . . .” Is this really past tense?