The whole article here.
Ursula Von Der Leyen: Europe's next generation will benefit from stimulus package
For the ones that don't know, this "stimulus" package is €1.85 trillion!
The best part is this one:
As much of the funding will be financed by borrowing on the financial markets, concerns have been raised that a new generation of Europeans will find themselves paying for the rescue package. But Von Der Leyen said that the funding was specifically built with that generation in mind.
"More important is that we have a pact with the next generation - that we say: ‘Yes, we have to raise money now and invest it, but we will invest it the European priorities that are so important for you.
Maybe Miss Ursula has a different definition of investment, but giving away money to cover deficits to different states is NOT an investment. An investment should make a profit, big enough to cover the costs of the loan. Not in this case. As a good politician, you just have to mix some buzzwords as new generation, European priorities and invest and you sold a good one.
So where the money is (actually) coming from:
- taxes (or raised taxes)
- "printing" money from ECB; this spells eventually inflation since you can print money, but you cannot print wealth. Inflation is an indirect tax.
- loans from financial markets; in a normal economy where saving will be encouraged that would make sense. But with ECB promoting negative interest rates, the whole situation is fuc*ed.
Just to be clear, ECB was doing QE over the last years intensively. It's the reason why Italy (and Spain, France, etc) still have banks operating. And it's expected to hit €5 trillions this year!.
p.s. after not even two weeks, a new article on (so biased) euronews.com is trying to convince us that printing money out of thin air is an investment:
Opponents of the EU's coronavirus rescue package must understand it's an investment in the European economy.
They were the words of the EU's budget commissioner Johannes Hahn.
With emphasis on must.
