Tags
arbitrage, Berlin, commercial property, correlation, Debt/GDP Ratio, Deutsche Mark, Eurobonds, Europe, European sovereign debt crisis, Eurozone, GDP growth, German bunds, German property, Germany, Highway to Hell, Leverage, Manhattan, Margin of Safety, Net LTV, quantitative easing, rental yield, residential property, safe-havens, unemployment rate
Continued from here.
Economy:
Germany’s by far the largest & strongest (major) economy in Europe, with an average real GDP growth rate in excess of +3.3% in 2010 & 2011. Growth remains positive in 2012, while 2013 GDP growth’s forecast to be +1.7%. Far better than most EU growth rates in the same period…
It’s one of the few countries with a primary budget surplus. Actually bested by Italy, what a surprise! Germany’s Debt/GDP ratio at 81.6% isn’t much better (also surprising) than the EU average of 88.2%. But the majority of citizens (& investors) remain supremely confident in Germany’s ability to manage its own finances – and rightly so, I believe. [An important point to make: Now, really, an 88% Debt/GDP ratio? What crisis..!? I think not. I’d venture we can trace the current market hysteria squarely back to the bumbling & foot-dragging of Europe’s politicians. A clear message for US politicians as they merrily race down their own fiscal/debt Highway to Hell. An inability to learn from history’s unfortunate, but perhaps forgivable – an inability to learn from today’s headlines, however, just makes you a complete f**king idiot,sir!]