I have yet to hear a good reason why Germany should try to prevent the Unicredit takeover of #Commerzbank. Yet the political spectrum is united in its opposition. - ThreadSky

codendahl.bsky.social • 198 days ago

I have yet to hear a good reason why Germany should try to prevent the Unicredit takeover of #Commerzbank.

Yet the political spectrum is united in its opposition.

Comments

domw.bsky.social•196 days ago

Because even I wouldn’t put Frankfurters in a carbonara.

nvondarza.bsky.social•197 days ago

Pure personal expression: German pride is currently deeply hurt, the 'nothing works here' anymore low morale makes this another symbolic blow to German imagined economic superiority, not least towards Italy.

aphclarkson.bsky.social•197 days ago

One reason the austerity driven disasters around Deutsche Bahn are so humiliating in German public discourse is that Italian and Spanish high speed rail systems now vastly outpace Germany in terms of efficiency and technological sophistication.

The Eurozone era crisis hierarchy flipped upside down

aphclarkson.bsky.social•197 days ago

The Economist needs to find a good acronym for struggling Northwest European economies like France, UK and Germany. FUKG seems a little too problematic

judah-grunstein.bsky.social•197 days ago

France:

aphclarkson.bsky.social•197 days ago

In defence terms, think of how Berlin still hasn't processed that if the US withdraws, Germany's military security is basically reliant on other European states that still have functional armed forces aka France, Italy and Poland

alanbeattie.bsky.social•197 days ago

Another data point for my "Britain and Germany are more like each other than either would care to admit" thesis.

albertonardelli.bsky.social•196 days ago

Another data point: Both regularly lose to Italy in major football tournaments

codendahl.bsky.social•196 days ago

Nice try. But Spain is our joint nemesis now.

albertonardelli.bsky.social•196 days ago

They’re everyone’s nemesis

golwar.bsky.social•196 days ago

You don't give enough credit to the English. The English referees at least. Prime German nemesis, this summer.

fernmonkey.bsky.social•196 days ago

Not quite as much as Britain and the Netherlands though, IMO

brokenbanker.bsky.social•197 days ago

can confirm having lived & worked there for 9 years. the major difference remains sense of humour, which was confirmed early by my first boss telling me excitedly how much he liked Rowan Atkinson. 'Oh, because of Blackadder ?' I asked. 'No, I love Mr. Bean !' said the otherwise somewhat dour chap.

fernmonkey.bsky.social•196 days ago

To be fair, advanced English and a bit of British history are prerequisites for enjoying Blackadder, but Mr Bean is much more accessible. My dad taught ESOL and he would show Mr Bean to the students at their end-of-course party because everyone could enjoy it.

codendahl.bsky.social•197 days ago

Ja, the humour is quite ... different.

alanbeattie.bsky.social•197 days ago

OK you say that but there is a streak of absolutely bone-dry German humour. Remember this? So good that the Guardian and all sorts ran "I admit faking Varoufakis video" stories.

https://www.dw.com/en/middle-finger-satire-video-on-varoufakis-wins-top-german-tv-prize/a-19104060

codendahl.bsky.social•197 days ago

Yes, absolutely. There is Loriot, too. I mean it: it's different.

mariannevelvart.bsky.social•197 days ago

I happily 'care to admit it'! Germany presently struggles but on the whole has way better grip on reality than the abysmally class ridden UK.

alanbeattie.bsky.social•196 days ago

True on EU issues (obvs) and econ but Germany still out to lunch on foreign policy esp Ukraine and Russia AFAICT.

mariannevelvart.bsky.social•196 days ago

Not hard to approximate why they're shy of being party to all out war.
But I agree, they should act. They've done well up till #Ukraine The whole of Europe is on thin ice. All we need now is a gauche, terracotta toned Narcissist to jump on that ice sheet and be winched to safety by Putin.

alanbeattie.bsky.social•196 days ago

Slightly harsh description of Gerhard Schröder but fair enough ;)

golwar.bsky.social•196 days ago

To be fair, it's almost a tradition by now that Germany and Britain fluctuate between "we are pretty much twins" and "we are nothing alike".

Or in other words: Standard sibling experience.

vlrbltzfrnc.bsky.social•197 days ago

If I may, a heartful suggestion to the much admired and cherished German population: come to Brazil. 😬 Spend a week here. Then you’ll know, for sure, what “nothing works here” really means. 😆 Promise you’ll see Germany very differently and your pride and morale will be fully restored in a jiffy! 😉

codendahl.bsky.social•197 days ago

Haha! I might come back to you on that invitation. Winter is coming here.

vlrbltzfrnc.bsky.social•197 days ago

Oh, boy. That’s true. 🥶 But I wouldn’t wish “Hell de Janeiro” on anyone. It’s been scorching down here. 🥵 Hope El Niño will give us a break next year. It’s been Summer for 9 months already, 😩and Summer is coming back again in three months. 😬

codendahl.bsky.social•197 days ago

Ok, on second thought, I might just go to Portugal then.

vlrbltzfrnc.bsky.social•197 days ago

😆 Excellent choice. 😊

alvespina.bsky.social•196 days ago

Might just be too much for Weidmann to be owned by an italian again.

codendahl.bsky.social•196 days ago

Damn, Goncalo.

codendahl.bsky.social•198 days ago

And as @olafstorbeck.bsky.social et al report, there is very little the German government can do to prevent it from happening. https://on.ft.com/4euTVG5

katiecannon.bsky.social•198 days ago

Geeze.

🥺

brokenbanker.bsky.social•198 days ago

'oh no, our incredibly fragmented domestic banking model leaves the funding to the Mittelstand open to other EU banks, why didn't we think of this before ?'

ryanwalshaw.bsky.social•197 days ago

Scholz seems to be suggesting that because Commerzbank is a major lender to the Mittelstand it would be dangerous to allow it to fall into ‘foreign’ hands— the Ver.di union has called for it to be classed as critical national infrastructure to stop the takeover!

codendahl.bsky.social•197 days ago

I doubt that is a problem, to be honest. In a crisis, would UniCredit curtail credit in Germany to benefit Italy? Possible, but the political force with which Germany, the much stronger player, would interfere in that case would probably solve that problem.

euantaylor.bsky.social•197 days ago

Is this an admission of state backed loans to the Mittelstand?!

mrasia1962.bsky.social•198 days ago

There is no reason. This needs to happen soon. The fundamentals speak volumes for Unicredit

nullnein.bsky.social•198 days ago

I said the same thing to an editor on Monday. The one point I would make tho, and that’s not a reason to prevent: It probably also doesn’t help with fragmentation of the Ger banking system

rudyremo.bsky.social•198 days ago

You live outside of the German social hierarchy, and the people who oppose it live within.

Banks are social constructs and the people who control them have power over the communities they operate in.

It's a power struggle, and that's about as primeval a reason as it gets.

codendahl.bsky.social•198 days ago

yeah, exactly. So not a good reason then.

rudyremo.bsky.social•198 days ago

It's beyond good or bad.

Sky is blue, water wet.
Good? Bad?

rudyremo.bsky.social•198 days ago

The only legitimacy of power is the acceptance from its milieu.

Should Monkey A take power from Monkey B?
Depends which the other monkeys prefer. That's all there is to it.

grimmse.bsky.social•198 days ago

https://x.com/robin_j_brooks/status/1838478211648254095?t=sYvmGX-3RL-dnL5xIrBlTw&s=19

unmariuss.bsky.social•198 days ago

Lol I sometimes wonder if he is a troll, some of his takes are so out there that they make me wonder about the validity of anything he says.

grimmse.bsky.social•198 days ago

Would you mind specifying your criticism?

unmariuss.bsky.social•198 days ago

Of him? That tweet should serve as a good enough example. One can’t claim both that the banking union (and the euro itself, really) is not undercut & also that the value of euros held on some bank’s books is inferior to the value of euros held in other bank’s, depending on where those banks are.

codendahl.bsky.social•198 days ago

Ok, so this is a subsidised bank taking over a … well, rescued German one. What is the downside for the German economy though?

grimmse.bsky.social•197 days ago

Good point. Still, I find his point valid, too. Would be helpful to have a debate on this, particularly for non-economists like myself.

codendahl.bsky.social•197 days ago

I think there is no doubt that the ECB's decision to become a mature central bank, including being lender of last resort to governments, has helped European banks (German banks included).

codendahl.bsky.social•197 days ago

Today, Italian banks are in relatively good shape, having gone through a (too long) period of balance sheet clean-up. I don't think the ECB decision favours Italian banks *today*, and all banks in Europe can work with the ECB decision, hold Italian govies etc.

codendahl.bsky.social•197 days ago

Bank mergers are just one part of banking union, and without the changes to regulation, national laws on, say, insolvency, mortgages, business law etc., it won't be enough. Esp the home/host issue (which those opposing the merger argue is an issue for the German economy) needs a solution.

brrpzn.bsky.social•198 days ago

Yeah, most economists seem to be supportive of consolidation, some disagree b/c "too big too fail"-blabla but that's negligible.
May even be good old anti-Italian stereotypes + Ampel just feel embarassed. The latter with good reason.

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