The Real Economic Crisis Will Start In Europe And It Will Be Triggered By The Global Recovery

Summary

• The EU is not only one of the hardest-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, but also the weakest, most problematic economy due to pre-crisis problems.
• The pandemic is not the cause of the impending crisis, it just accelerated trends that were already in place. The entire Eurozone is set to fall into a debt trap.
• The trigger of the crisis will be the global recovery, as was the case with the Greek crisis a decade ago.
• Inflationary pressures and a return of higher interest rates will overwhelm over-indebted countries and the magnitude of the problem will be too big to bail out.

If it would be just me saying it, perhaps it would carry very little weight. When the likes of George Soros will declare that the EU may not survive this crisis, perhaps it is time to take it seriously and much of the MSM did. He is advocating for the passing of the EU recovery fund, but I do not believe that the $826 billion bailout will make any difference in this regard because the EU's economic problems predate the COVID-19 crisis. All that is happening now is just an acceleration of events, not a cause of the events that are about to unfold.

EU problems are much deeper and predate the current crisis

Even before the COVID-19 crisis, the EU was struggling with economic and institutional dysfunction with very deep roots, which were only getting deeper. The 2008 global financial crisis may have been sparked by the US sub-prime mortgage fiasco, but in the end, it was the EU that saw the worst outcome of all major economies, because it led to a Eurozone debt crisis, mostly because of Greece. Now that we have another crisis this time originating from a viral outbreak in China, it seems the EU is once again set to bear the brunt of the economic damage.

The main dysfunction of the EU, which is directly responsible for the bailout dilemma faced by its members stems from the deeply flawed monetary union of a number of countries with different needs. As I explained many times in previous articles, the Euro currency benefited the likes of Germany, not so much because of its social policies, budget discipline and other such factors that are too often invoked. It benefited because it is home to powerful global brands, which are benefiting in terms of global competitiveness due to a Eurocurrency that is perpetually weaker than it would be if it were to only reflect the German economy. The reason why it is perpetually weaker is that the Euro currency is perpetually stronger than it would be if it were to only reflect the strength of a country like Italy and its domestic brands which have much less of a presence outside the EU. In other words, one economy is stuck in a perpetual virtuous cycle thanks to the fact that the other is stuck in a vicious one.

Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

I should note that 2015=100 in the chart above, meaning that since the beginning of this century until 2019 Italy's industrial output has shrunk by about a quarter while Germany's increased by about 20%. The EU as a whole saw an increase of about 15%.

There are of course always skeptics who will argue that the Euro is not responsible for the underperformance of Italy compared with Germany, but the industrial production data for the decade of the 1990s, before the Euro was introduced shows that Italy was doing just fine before the common currency came into force.

Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Keeping in mind that the chart I am using is calibrated for the year 2015 to equal 100, as we can see, Italy was always above 110 for the decade before the Euro was introduced. In fact, in the second half of the decade, it was constantly over 120. Germany on the other hand never surpassed 80 for the decade. Overall for the decade, Italy seems to have performed just slightly better than Germany while each had its own currency. It is hard to ignore the correlation between the introduction of the Euro and the reversal of fortunes for these two major EU economies.

The EU stimulus package that might never be

If the EU were a state, perhaps such issues would not come up. The reality is that the EU has some state-like attributes, but it is a club of states. The 750 billion Euro rescue fund is currently opposed by a number of prominent countries as well as a few of the newer members in the Eastern part of the union. Some of it has to do with the overall issue of moral hazard, invoked mostly by Denmark, Netherlands, Austria, and Sweden. Data source: Bloomberg

As we can see, Italy, Greece, and Spain are the main targets of the recovery fund when population size is factored in. It is supposed to take into account how hard a country was hit by the virus, as well as overall economic health. Poland stands out because the virus did not hit them hard compared with its EU peers, while its economy remains solid. Belgium on the other hand is set to see a much deeper hit, yet it is not set to see much help from the fund. There is already some talk about having to rethink the parameters used to decide on the distribution of the funds.

If the recovery fund will pass, it will still fall far short of what is needed to fix the EU's economic woes

Assuming that all the necessary compromises will be made to push the stimulus package through, it still doesn't mean that all is fine with the EU. Economic growth will continue to be sluggish, for there is nothing to drive activity higher. It is estimated by the EC that by the end of 2021 the economy will still be below the end of 2019 levels. The debt/GDP ratio is set to rise this year from 86% to about 103% in the Euro area. It is basically a debt trap for an increasing number of countries.

Source: EC

As the chart shows, the Hellenic countries, in other words, Greece and Cyprus, as well as the Latin countries, namely Portugal, Spain, Italy, and France are all set to see their debt/GDP ratios rise above 100%. Portugal, Italy, and Greece were already there before the crisis. Belgium is also set to join the mostly Southern club in this regard. What this means is that these countries will never be able to tolerate an increasing yield curve on their debt again, unless they will do something to bring their debt under control. If all these countries are unable to tolerate higher interest rates, it means that the entire Eurozone is stuck in a debt trap.

One last point I want to make, which I believe best illustrates the fact that things will not be alright for the EU, even after the virus outbreak will be brought under control is in regards to where the union's industrial production trajectory was headed even before this crisis.

Source: Eurostat

While the recent plunge in industrial production stands out in the chart above, we have to pay attention to the fact that a steady decline in production already set in at the end of 2017. The reason why I think it is important to mention this trend is that it should be taken as an indication in regards to what a post-pandemic recovery will look like, not only in terms of industrial production but for the overall economy.

Whenever the EU economy will finally recover to pre-crisis levels, it will then most likely resume its overall stagnation mode. Industrial production in particular may never regain its pre-crisis output levels. It will most likely recover to some extent from the steep decline we are seeing now and then resume its more gentle decline path. In other words, the peak seen at the end of 2017 may end up being a permanent peak, which in turn will contribute to an overall stagnated economy.

Once the pandemic becomes subdued, assuming that it will be neutralized in some way eventually, the EU will still have to contend with the Eurozone dysfunction. It will still find itself struggling to keep up technologically with the US and China. There is also the matter of an ideological issue in relation to the drive to unilaterally continue reducing EU emissions, which is causing the EU to self-inflict a net competitive disadvantage on its industry and other economic activities. There are many other aspects of the EU that contribute to its lack of competitiveness relative to its major peers, such as a burdensome set of rules and regulations, a stagnation in the decision-making process due to a lack of consensus, and much more. It is, therefore, safe to assume that the EU's problems will be far from over once the COVID-19 crisis will fade.

Investment implications

While the overall economic situation in the EU looks grim from my perspective, there are nevertheless investment opportunities, although there are also many pitfalls given economic prospects of the domestic market for EU firms. Entire sectors, such as banking can be considered to be too risky. The fact that a growing number of EU governments are becoming excessively indebted makes it unlikely that a more normal interest rate environment will prevail. This, in turn, means that banks will continue to struggle. Deutsche Bank's (DB) stock value has gone from a high of over $150/share in 2007, to under $10/share currently, which illustrates to a great extent the trouble that the sector is in. For a broader measure, the iShares MSCI Europe Financials ETF (EUFN) lost almost 15% of its value since it started trading in 2010. It is down 23% YTD. Not even the slashing of 60,000 banking jobs in 2019 helped to revive the fortunes of Europe's banking sector. The poor performance of Europe's banking sector is likely to continue going forward, given the lack of prospects for a more profitable interest rate environment. Investors may be tempted by seemingly cheap stock prices, but in this case, the low price is more than justified.

I used to believe in the European auto sector. I thought that luxury brands such as Daimler (DMLRY) or BMW (OTCPK:BAMXF) will navigate the EV trend successfully, given their extensive resources, and also the fact that EVs sell to the same demographic as luxury cars. So far they mostly failed to keep up with pure EV maker Tesla (TSLA). There is still time for them to recapture the initiative in this regard, but the window of opportunity is closing while a growing number of the income demographic segments that traditionally bought conventional luxury cars are opting for an EV instead.

While the luxury car makers absolutely need to get their act together on EVs the likes of Volkswagen (OTCPK:VWAPY) need to preserve their people's car brand, in other words, cater to Europe's middle class as well as the growing middle class of the developing world. Yet it is betting its entire future on EVs. It has announced that it will cease development of its ICE and related technologies by the middle of this decade. The main problem with its strategy is that EVs that can be priced at a level that the global middle class can afford simply do not have the range utility needed to be more than just a city car.

It can be safely assumed that the global auto industry is set to experience a hard time at least for the first half of the decade, given not only the brutal effect that the current crisis is having on car sales but also due to other challenges such as the EV trend, environmental objections to driving and so on. The EU auto industry was already weakened by the emissions scandal even before the new challenges came to the fore. Adding to the troubles that the EU car industry is facing, it seems that domestic demand already took a hit at the beginning of this year, even before the effects of the pandemic caused demand to grind to a halt.

Source: ACEA

The months of January and February did not include any lock-down measures, yet there was already a significant decline in auto sales. When things will get back to normal or what will be perceived as a new normal the fundamental reasons why auto sales declined will still be there. In other words, we will see a recovery from the current bottom, but once recovery plays out, we will likely resume the old trend of decline.

There are of course also stocks which have things going in their favor. For instance, Nokia (NOK) and Ericsson (ERIC) are likely to see a boost from the 5G trend. Engineering giants like Siemens (OTCPK:SIEGY) will continue to provide the world with technological solutions and meet a wide variety of needs. These are all companies that mostly depend on the global market, not so much on the local economy and their products and services are likely to be in demand.

The timing and trigger of the crisis

Finally, I want to point out when and how an EU crisis is likely to unfold. As it was the case back in 2009-2010 when the global economy started recovering from the financial crisis, the Eurozone went into a secondary crisis, mostly caused by the realization that Greece's finances were not viable. The factor that exposed that reality was the start of money once more chasing higher returning assets such as stocks. Greece's bond yields started skyrocketing as a result by the fall of 2009. By early 2010 its bond yield was well over 10% and there was no way of servicing it, given that debt/GDP made up about 120% of GDP. In other words, simply paying interest on that debt was set to eat up about 12% of its GDP.

Once we will start seeing an economic recovery around the world, regardless of whether the EU will manage to pass its recovery package, it will be faced with massive fiscal issues, especially among weaker Eurozone member states, such as Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal and even perhaps France. On the growth and therefore revenue side, all these countries will experience significant hardship as all of them are heavily dependent on tourism revenues. The other sectors of their economies, such as industrial output will resume their path of shrinking. On the expenditures side, more money for social spending as a way to make up for lack of economic growth, as well as rising debt servicing costs will make it increasingly impossible to produce a sustainable fiscal path. The markets will realize it and investors will ask for higher and higher yields to make up for the growth in perceived risk. Higher yields will in turn fuel even more doubts about fiscal viability.

There are three major institutions or entities which will be called on to rescue the finances of these countries. The ECB will be the first line of defense and it might also be the first line to fall, which will make it very hard for other entities to bail out the weaker part of the EU economy. The ECB already increased its balance sheet by about 1.5 Trillion Euros since the crisis began this year and it is expected to do much more in the coming months. The danger is that the ECB may be called upon to start defending the value of the Euro or to fight inflation, at which point it will have to stop buying up debt. It may even have to start reducing its balance sheet, at which point it will add to the bond supply. I am aware of the unusual call of expected inflation down the road. The general market consensus right now is for deflation to continue for as far as the eye can see. But I do think it is feasible, as I explained in a recent article.

In the absence of the ECB stepping in to buy EU debt, the IMF as well as the northern EU members do not have what it takes to bail out countries the size of Italy. In fact, Northern countries like Germany, Austria, and The Netherlands will see their own interest costs rise once the ECB will be neutralized. The rates will not be unsustainable by historical standards but we should keep in mind that these countries became accustomed to not having to pay any interest on their debt, so even a modest rise in interest rates will mean a significant extra burden on their budgets. A decade ago we saw fears of a Greek meltdown keep the whole world in suspense. This time around it could be Greece again, as well as Italy, Spain, Portugal, and perhaps France, which will make the magnitude of the crisis about 20 times bigger. It is most likely enough to trigger a massive EU and then global crisis.

Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Comments

[James Hanshaw]

Excellent article. It adds to points I have made recently about the euro in seekingalpha.com/... and seekingalpha.com/...

[kimbillro]

The ECB like the Fed is committed to do what it takes. I think the ECB will save the EU.

[TheDabbler]

I cannot see a convincing case here. The central tenets of the author are either dated or based on flawed assumptions and distorted facts. Conclusions are not compelling. In any case they are unrelated to Covid-19.

Discussing some major points:

1. [Flawed system of Euro currency system]
>>> The main dysfunction of the EU, which is directly responsible for the bailout dilemma faced by its members stems from the deeply flawed monetary union of a number of countries with different needs. [...] It [Germany] benefited because it is home to powerful global brands, which are benefiting in terms of global competitiveness due to a Eurocurrency that is perpetually weaker than it would be if it were to only reflect the German economy.

The same reasoning could be applied to the Dollar, California [highly competitive economy, home of powerful global brands], and the collective of Midwestern or Southern states ( Texas and Florida excluded from the latter ). There would be no obvious difference to the (Euro, Germany, 'Club Med').

It has often been argued that the Euro has deprived the (unquestionably) disparate national economies of the last - in the face of the Interior Market - method of adjusting their competitiveness, namely devaluation of the national currency.
However, this is not a convincing claim here: The US is much more integrated politically and culturally than the Eurozone, so if the reasoning was sound it should apply to the US to a greater extent.

2. [The measure of national industrial output]
>>> the Euro is not responsible for the underperformance of Italy compared with Germany, but the industrial production data for the decade of the 1990s, before the Euro was introduced shows that Italy was doing just fine before the common currency came into force.

It is unusual, to say the least, to measure the well-being of a national economy by its industrial output. After all, it does not account for the _efficiency_ of industrial production. The same could be said about the GNP but at least it comprises all sectors - and for the period of 2000-2008 Italy's GNP doubled (in fact it grew slightly more than Germany's).

3. [EU stimulus package]
>>> The 750 billion Euro rescue fund is currently opposed by a number of prominent countries as well as a few of the newer members in the Eastern part of the union.

This is true. However, the opposition is targeted against a relief package without obligation to repay and to implement structural changes to the economy. There is no such opposition (by EU heavyweight, at least) against loans from a rescue fund.

4. [EU debt trap]
The limit that the author seems to set to distinguish between sustainable and trapping debt levels (ie. 100% debt/GDP) is mostly arbitrary. There are other factors that must be considered, eg. composition of debtor pool ( bonds held by domestic households are less critical than debts abroad ).

5. [Industrial production as a proxy for the economy as a whole]
That's dubitable methodology at best. One would rather expect the tertiary sector, in particular high-tech services and digital products, to be complementary to industrial output. Thus the evolution of industrial production has little predictive value.

6. [Climate change action]
>>> There is also the matter of an ideological issue in relation to the drive to unilaterally continue reducing EU emissions, which is causing the EU to self-inflict a net competitive disadvantage on its industry and other economic activities.

First let's state that the issue is scientific and socio-political, not ideological. The putative competitive disadvantage may quickly turn in to an advantage when it comes to the leadership in innovative environmental tech. There is the precedent of the regenerative energy sector, a dynamic sector originating with a 'competitive disadvantage' of stricter environment protection regulation that has generated growth and several hundred thousands of quality jobs throughout the past 2 decades (not to mention the improvement of quality of living).

7. [Automotive sector / EV]
>>> While the luxury car makers absolutely need to get their act together on EVs the likes of Volkswagen (OTCPK:VWAPY) need to preserve their people's car brand, in other words, cater to Europe's middle class as well as the growing middle class of the developing world.

This is precisely what they are doing in their move towards EV. The well-educated middle class and their growing concern about the future of the planet in the short run (which translates into concern about the future of their children) drives the adoption of environment-friendly(/ier) products and behavior by the customer base. While the effect is hard to quantify, it is certainly

>>> Yet it is betting its entire future on EVs. It has announced that it will cease development of its ICE and related technologies by the middle of this decade. The main problem with its strategy is that EVs that can be priced at a level that the global middle class can afford simply do not have the range utility needed to be more than just a city car.

How much more range than 250 mi / 400 km do you need for most if not all car journeys? In particular from a non-US perspective with smaller distances in everyday live. Moreover the argument ignores technological progress as much as economies of scale. Granted, both bets are inherently unsafe, but even with improvements in the near future (ie. at lab stage / under construction) range should not be an issue.

PS:
The article talks a lot about impending economic and social crises, comparing the US and the EU. The US baseline, however, seems quite unstable to me. Let's wait for another half year and reassess ...

[Peter Peeters - old]

There is not one Europe. You should start to make a difference between North and South Europe. Recovery time , debts, financial problems are extremely different. I do not know how long the "North" is going to stay any more with the rest of Europe.
But also in the US will get into financial and debt problems but main problems will get the developing countries.

[kimbillro]

What about the North and East divide?

[Peter Peeters - old]

I think this will be of less difference. Both want to be economic successful, at least the Northern East European countries.

[Little, Einstein]

In markets, whoever takes the words of others as a source of investment, they never go anywhere.

[kimbillro]

Don't say never.

[Little, Einstein]

If the black swan CV19 finally strengthened the economies, as you can see, mainly in the American indices, where it was the epicenter of the swan.
How can you have such a gloomy vision of the future of the markets ....
Everything that is depressing news stops here, but in the end the markets do everything differently from these crystal balls.

[kimbillro]

My crystal ball shattered on the swimming pool deck.

[Discard4]

I can remember when ideological children were not allowed to comment on SA.

[kimbillro]

Now they can.

[AadvdV]

"What this means is that these countries will never be able to tolerate an increasing yield curve on their debt again": What about the US? What is the level of public debt for Central Government plus the individual states? Even worse than Europe? And don't forget the pensions.
You are right. The situation is not rosy in Europe. But I doubt the situation in the US is any different. And what about China?
For Europe I can imagine a split between the North and South due to the difference in culture which also expresses itself in economics. Hopefully for the north, if this happens, it will happen soon enough.

[kimbillro]

A North and South split just like was in the US at one time.

[Zoltan Ban]

Thank you for your comment AsdvdV. Keep in mind that the US cannot be compared with the EU average. The EU average number in terms of Debt/GDP looks alright. But with countries like Italy headed for a debt/GDP ratio of 160% or higher, Greece over 200%, these countries cannot tolerate any significant increase in interest rates. Especially given their economic growth prospects. US could still grow out of the debt trap, with perhaps some wise leadership, some discipline and so on. My personal opinion is that the same crisis will come here as well eventually. But Europe will be first.

[anonysubscribe]

grim. the us is not the centre of this mess!

[kimbillro]

Who is at the center of this mess then @anonysubscribe ?

[AEGISBMD]

@kimbillro

That would be me. I'm the center of the world.

[kimbillro]

I believe you are @AEGISBMD . Happy stock picking!

[mahagen]

@Zoltan Ban

All Europe needs to do is raise interest rates. Counterintuitive? Of course. The US enjoyed success after 2008 because it did raise interest rates. Changing interest rates changed the flow of capital into our debt markets, ultimately into our equity markets. It really is that simple. Europe and Japan have both languished in little to no growth all because they don't get a strong flow of capital. Germany is a great case for this. They have high savings rate, financially strong as a country, a robust manufacturing industry contributing to thier gdp, but have negative rates. Negative rates keep them from growing. When the world has laggards like Europe and Japan, it suppresses every countries gdp growth.

[kimbillro]

I disagree @mahagen , all Europe cannot afford to raise interest rates.

[Lotsdawg]

*"A Bright Shining Lie*" indeed. Would you believe me if I said there was no War going on for the past 20 Years?

OF COURSE YOU WOULD!
We are nothing but peace and love and this is the 1960s!
long $tsla Tesla Motors
Strong buy

[kimbillro]

Tesla has been as high as $1,027 per share @Lotsdawg . Yikes!

[bobcatone]

Ahh, just reading this made me more tired than the day's work. the world's population and those that count beans and those that push the idea that the cart is ready for liftoff need to take a deep breath, as in yoga, and spend the next half decade believing that this is Nirvana and it's OK to not expect a V-recovery and some sail wind economic boom.

[kimbillro]

Does all happiness depend on a V recovery?

[leeo268]

EU Monetary system is designed to export deflation from wealthy members to the poor members, cause economic decay there. The poor member that kept their own currency like Poland continues to thrive. Italy, Spain, Greece need to restore their own currency to revive its economy.

[kimbillro]

Will the system ever change @leeo268 ?

[leeo268]

If the people of those countries raise up and demand to restore their currency and reduce EU regulations, then they got a chance to change it. However, a lot of these countries are under the EU debt trap. If they get out, they will be put under tons of debt like the Germany Weimar Republic. People won't be able to enjoy the cheap Euro loan and welfare anymore. The new currency might not be able to handle the stress short term. If they get through the initial tough period and maybe bankruptcy, then their new competitive export will bring back lots of jobs, investment, and talents.

[kimbillro]

How are the people going to raise up @leeo268 when they are tired and love their couches and beds?

[slashinvestor]

“ The EU is not only one of the hardest-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, but also the weakest, most problematic economy due to pre-crisis problems.”

When the article starts off like this you know the extreme bias the rest of the article will have. For if you add the numbers the hardest hit area is the United States and it is now having a second wave. The second wave has thus far failed to materialize in places like China and Europe.

The rest of the article simply states hyperbole... btw what is really galling is the lack knowledge wrt to Greece. Their economy is doing relatively well. They only shrank a bit less than 2%.

de.reuters.com/...

[Capitalism2015]

The US is not as tourism- and fashion industry-dependent as the Mediterranean coast of the EU.

[slashinvestor]

And on June 15 the borders open up for the tourists. Your point being? I did not make this a Europe vs USA thing. I pointed out that the USA has a higher covid problem.

[kimbillro]

Thanks you for clarifying yourself @slashinvestor .

[Diottica]

Interesting and thought provoking article, thank you. Marred slightly by citing Soros and the MSM, neither of whom have any credibility with me. Soros has his own agenda (globalism, immigration) and the MSM just parrot what the three main news sources (Reuters, AP and Bloomberg?) dish out.

The EU started as a centralised (i.e. globalist) project - called the European Coal & Steel Community. I assume the aim is to either have the project complete i.e. one European Govt with the Euro or it will fail and break up. However, the intervening period, which your aticle deals with, will be very interesting times.

[kimbillro]

Yes it will be interesting.

[buzzler]

Bullshit. Sorry for being rude... But bullshit.

[Diottica]

@buzzler

Bullshit? Soros, MSM or the EU bit or all of it..? Please expand your comment/thinking here.

[European Opportunities]

Good article with lots of food for thought!

[kimbillro]

Does thought feed on food?

[Jonathan Loewer]

I think you hit the nail on the head. This is very likely to be the next 'black swan event' that will cause a snowball effect pulling down on the whole world economy.

[kimbillro]

We have already had a black swan event.

[Jonathan Loewer]

You are correct. I guess I was thinking "the COVID outbreak is the catalyst for the black swan event", but you're right a pandemic is a black swan event.

As a side note to that, if we do have a global debt catastrophe, I hope the history books do not blame it on COVID-19. That would be wrong. With regards to debt, we've been "kicking the can down the road" since before the end of the Cold War. We've used debt as the band-aid for every recession, to invent and fund countless social problems, and even to pay for wars in the Middle East, and almost none of the countries in the Western World have really dealt with their debt situation in a meaningful way; even the countries that were negatively accused of 'austerity' after the 2008 recession were not even paying down their accumulated debts.

[FutureOK]

Global financial collapse will eventually happen, no matter how many band-aids are placed and how much QE or stimulus added. The world(US and Europe) has lived way above it's means for decades. When the economic failure occurs, the US will likely be the tallest economic midget in the room. It will be better to be in the US than most other countries when this happens, except Norway, Switzerland, and a few other small countries. Southern Mediterranean countries will continue to drag Europe into a black hole.

[kimbillro]

A wall of money will meet any financial collapse.

[jack kreg]

When you mention: "the likes of George Soros", I think of Karl Marx and Mao. just saying!

[Zoltan Ban]

Thank you for your comment Jack. He recently transferred $18 billion of his wealth to his political activism institutions. It is understandable why he tends to carry a much bigger reputation in that regard. But he is nevertheless someone who needs to be respected in terms of his understanding of economics. That is who he made those $18 billion and a lot more.

[Simont]

@jack kreg : Nonsense!

[danjohnson7687]

@jack kreg When you think of a hedge fund billionaire, you think of a dictator who outlaws the private ownership of capital? What is it like to live with a big hole in your brain?

[ger kort]

The EU is already a corpse. Only the leaders of the EU pretend that they don’t know this.

[kimbillro]

The leaders are living well above the others.