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BÜCHER


Das Geheimnis
der Wirtschaft -
Lösung der
globalen Systemkrise:
Trennbankensystem
und produktive Kreditschöpfung


Schiller-Institut:
Die Weltlandbrücke
wird Realität

Jetzt mit Leseprobe:
Vorwort: Das Ende
der "freien"
Marktwirtschaft -
Wir brauchen
Gesetze zur Rettung
des Gemeinwohls!


Lyndon LaRouche: Die kommenden 50 Jahre

Das Prinzip von Entwicklung: Dynamik, nicht Statistik

Von der Ehrlichkeit gegenüber der Natur

Max Planck zum 150. Geburtstag

Überlegungen zur Klimahypothese:
Von der Physik der Atmosphäre aus gesehen, gibt es kein Klima. In der Atmosphäre spielt nur das Wetter eine Rolle.

+++ 29. September 2012 +++

The Myth of the 3% Deficit to GDP Ratio, in Its Inventor's Own Words

Throughout the European Union, people are being told that they must suffer so that the deficit not exceed the Gross Domestic Product by more than 3%. But just where does that sacrosanct figure of 3% come from? Contrary to what many Europeans believe, it's quite a bit older than the Maastricht Treaty criteria, and it was not invented in Germany, but in France.

Indeed, after French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault again promised on Sept. 27 to reduce the deficit to that "magical" figure, Le Parisien decided to meet the man who came up with the ratio in the first place. His name is Guy Abeille, and he was at the time a high-ranking civil servant in the Finance Ministry. He admitted quite frankly to Le Parisien that he had invented it one evening in late June of 1981 and that it has no basis in economic theory!

However, he said, at the time, President François Mitterrand was looking for an "easy to remember, round figure", which he could use to stop his ministers from overspending.

Back on Oct. 1, 2010, Abeille had published in the financial daily La Tribune, a thorough (and flippant) account of that fateful June 1981 evening. There, he says that he and a colleague in the Budget Department were approached by their boss with the request from Mitterrand, to be given a "simple, utilitarian rule, bearing an expert's chrism, and thereby unquestionable," which he could use to curb spending.

Accordingly, Abeille and his colleague considered different statistical measurements that might be used, and they finally decided on the deficit (something that sounds bad to everybody), and on GDP (which he calls the "universal life jacket" for economists who are having trouble finding a proper reference).

In fact, Abeille wrote in La Tribune, that ratio itself is completely irrelevant, it's "like dividing cabbages by carrots". Because the deficit is the debt that has to be contracted now and paid back over the years, while GDP is only the wealth produced in one year. The only relevant criterion, he writes, is thus the ability to reimburse the debt when it comes due.

And why did they take 3%? Easy! because the GDP forecast for 1982 compared to the planned deficit was just under 3%! "The only basis for it is the circumstances" of that time. 1% would have been too little, he said, and 2% too restrictive. So they brought the 3% magic formula to the head of their Department, who forwarded it to the government.

By August, for the first time in public, Budget Minister Laurent Fabius referred to the deficit-GDP ratio, putting it at 2.6%. After various press reports on the 3% presidential directive, Mitterrand himself declared in June 1982, that the deficit could not exceed the magic, totally made-up, number.

Over the years, it became a mantra. And finally became European-wide, written into "Mitterrand's Baby", the Maastricht Treaty.

By the way, Monsieur Abeille seems to be completely oblivious (or indifferent) to the ravages his cynical calculations have justified.





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+++ 17. Mai 2013 +++

Breakthrough in the United States:
Senator Harkin Introduces Bill to Reinstate Glass-Steagall

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+++ 17. Mai 2013 +++

Austrian Government: Arming the Syrian Opposition Is Illegal under International Law

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+++ 17. Mai 2013 +++

Benghazi, Political Targetings, Blanket Confiscations:
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Salon.com ran a banner headline on May 14, asking "Which Obama scandal will inevitably lead to impeachment?" "The IRS, the AP or Benghazi?" Indeed, the White House was still being rocked by the hearin... [weiter]

+++ 17. Mai 2013 +++

French Party Presents Draft Bill for Glass-Steagall-Type Bank Separation

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+++ 14. Mai 2013 +++

Brecht aus dem Euro aus, um die Finanzoligarchie zu besiegen!

Das große deutsche Magazin Focus berichtete in seiner Ausgabe vom 13.5., was wir schon schon mehr als einen Monat zuvor aufgedeckt hatten: daß die EU das „Zypern-Modell“, d.h. die Enteignung von Bankg... [weiter]

+++ 14. Mai 2013 +++

“Benghazigate”: Threat of Impeachment Hangs over Obama

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+++ 14. Mai 2013 +++

Ex U.S. Defense Minister Robert Gates Opposes Intervention into Syria

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+++ 14. Mai 2013 +++

Glass-Steagall LaRouche-Aktionskomitee demonstriert Stärke in Washington

Ab dem 6.5. veranstaltete das LaRouche-Aktionskomitee eine intensive Aktionswoche in Washington, in der es auf sämtliche Ebenen der Regierung einwirkte, um den Druck auf den US-Kongreß, das Glass-Stea... [weiter]

+++ 14. Mai 2013 +++

Global Times: Schiller Institute Rep. Comments on “Chinese and American Dreams”

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+++ 10. Mai 2013 +++

Week Of Action in Washington:
Pass Glass-Steagall Bank Separation Law Now!

The LaRouche Political Action Committee held a week of action in the United States from May 6-10 to rally support for immediate legislation to restore a strict separation of banks, in compliance with ... [weiter]

+++ 10. Mai 2013 +++

An Urgent Appeal for Glass-Steagall from Helga Zepp-LaRouche

Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder of the international Schiller Institute, issued an urgent appeal from Germany for the citizens of the United States and the U.S. Congress to immediately act to reinstat... [weiter]

+++ 10. Mai 2013 +++

New Greek Party Calls for Return to Drachma and Bank Separation

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+++ 10. Mai 2013 +++

Syria Crisis: Russia and United States Agree on a Major Diplomatic Move

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+++ 10. Mai 2013 +++

Syrian General Idriss, Handpicked by the West, Admits He Controls Nothing

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+++ 7. Mai 2013 +++

Alternative für Deutschland:
Eurokritik als Deckmantel für National-Monetarismus

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+++ 7. Mai 2013 +++

AfD: National Monetarism in “Anti-Euro” Clothing

The new political party, “Alternative for Germany” (AfD), which was founded last February in apparent opposition to the Eurozone policy, has since received surprisingly wide coverage in the mainstream... [weiter]

+++ 7. Mai 2013 +++

South-West Asia on the Verge of All-out War?

Twice within 48 hours, on May 3 and 5, Israel launched missile attacks against targets inside Syria, prompting Syrian President Bashar Assad to accuse Israel of declaring war on his country, in allian... [weiter]

+++ 7. Mai 2013 +++

Südwestasien vor einem umfassenden Krieg?

Israel hat zweimal innerhalb von 48 Stunden Ziele innerhalb Syriens mit Raketen angegriffen. Der syrische Staatspräsident Baschar al-Assad nannte dies eine Kriegserklärung Israels gegen sein Land im B... [weiter]

+++ 3. Mai 2013 +++

2008-2012: Shocking Figures of Youth Unemployment Soaring in Europe and the United States

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+++ 3. Mai 2013 +++

New Book Demonstrates "Why Austerity Kills", and Needlessly So

The European Union and the United States have imposed deadly cuts in social spending over the past years in a futile effort to bail out the bankrupt trans-Atlantic banking system. The toll on people h... [weiter]

+++ 3. Mai 2013 +++

Russian Anti-Drug Czar Proposes Economic Development to Counter Drug Trade

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