Enquiring minds might find this table from SocGen of passing interest,
The standout lines are that the French and Belgiums earn more per hour than do German workers, which is a straight turnaround from 2000 when the Germans made more per hour.
That of course suggests that the Germans suffered relatively poor wage gains but stayed competitive with low unemployment and strong exports.
Everyone else saw wages go up, and competitiveness reduce and now they're looking for German handouts.
Except the UK where earnings per hour have fallen dramatically since 2008 which is demonstrative of the British taking their medicine.
Onlookers should remember, many things have gone very wrong in the UK but to our credit we started to face up to problems immediately after the crisis. There is a ton of unfinished work in the UK but at the time, the French swept most of their bad news under the carpet and hoisted a sign that said, "no problems here (especially in their banks), nothing to see, move along now."
Guess what.... your problem, grow up, stop whinging and deal with it.
"They're so unsporting. They don't do things for the sake of doing them like the English. We play the game for the sake of the game. Other nations play the game for the sake of winning it."
Captain Paul Waggot, Whisky Galore
After last Sayurday's debacle, the two Crumble boys played rugby at school. One had an easy win, slicing through the oppo and had a "job jobbed," feeling at the end of it. The other boy's team was squarely beaten but he was upbeat given he had a good match, played in a new position and put some useful tackles in. The boy who lost had a better and more rewarding game. Call me old fashioned but having read the press this week most of the England team, management and the RFU still don't get it, (and this is the last I'll say about England).
It wasn't leaving the tournament early that has made people up and down the country in the clubs and schools angry; it's the manner of the defeat. Play, play as hard as you can and if you're going down don't make it easy for them. On that basis, supporters from inumerable other countries enjoyed a more fulfilling tournament, Russia, Japan and Canada are just a few worth throwing out there.
Anyway, over to the Welsh. I'll be joined by a few friends to enjoy some sausages, (formerly known as the pigs Mac & Mabel), an ale and will do my best to be big hearted and support Wales. Not much of a choice emotionally is there, Wales or France but not for me the churlish attitude of the Andy Murrays of the world, (support anyone playing England), so for 80 mins I'll be a boyo. Good luck to them.
In the highly unlikely event that any passing Welshman doesn't know the rules then heres a refresher. Have a great weekend!
It's around about now, when things generally are going to hell in a handcart, that my old driver Bombardier Clark, full of expectation as to how his new boss planned to dig himself out of the proverbial, would utter the helpful phrase, "Well Sir, things are bit fvcking fvcked up now aren't they Sir,"
This phrase is probably becoming well worn in the Ministry of Defence and I'm sure they're glancing over to the Foreign Office and No 10 with that same bemused air as Libya starts to come apart at the seams and we approach a pretty important fork in the road.
It's clear that little has been learned from previous conflicts, not least of all the vacuum of diplomatic activity before we embarked on what some people obviously thought would be a tidy and quick little war where the bad guys would fall over in quick time and no one would have the temerity to shoot back. We're left now with a coalition consisting almost only of Britain & France but, with a myriad of vested interests hanging around the fringes but not wanting to get their hands dirty. Meanwhile Libya is descending into the chaos that we earlier thought probable and the fork in the road points to deeper involvement or cutting and running.
The clearest signal that the engagement is unravelling is that the allies are all beginning to blame each other. This never looks good in the Arab world, especially at a time when Gadaffi is sending envoys and letters across the world asking for a ceasefire and peace whist we're dropping 1000lb bombs on antiquated pieces of armour.
As time drags on and Gadaffi is able to consolidate after the earlier shock attacks, France and Britain may be faced with a stalemate that will inevitably lead to partition and Gadaffi remaining in situ. Whether he remains or not, the tribal make up of the country would suggest maps will be redrawn whatever the outcome and there will be the obvious rebuild cost to us for that. You simply can't wander around blowing up things and not be left with a bill at the end of it.
One of the first lessons traders learn is, "the first cut is the cheapest," and as for trading the same is true of warfare. If we've made a mistake, and I think we have, we must extract ourselves quickly. The national interest of the UK lies further East in the Gulf and we must maintain stability there at all costs. To maintain our involvement in Libya we will have to lever up our participation and engage on the ground; it can be the only outcome and that is not something that most British people would sign up to, not that anyone expects to be asked about these things.
It has been said that David Cameron is quick to admit mistakes. Where we go from here is going to drill down to exactly that; a politicians pride and vanity or the common good. As it is, we are now at risk from terrorist strikes............ (quick and tidy wars do not exist outside of Hollywood), and the further dilution of sparse assets that are required elsewhere. The Americans decided early on it wasn't worth the trouble and the Germans and Spanish didn't turn up at all. It's make your mind up time Mr Cameron.........
David Cameron obviously doesn't hold the centuries long held conviction that Frenchmen are there for Englishmen to practise shooting arrows at.
The ridiculous defence agreement with France, which David Cameron signed yesterday, brought back some memories of when your intrepid, and at that time much younger, writer played his own small part in the Entente Cordial.
In the far off halcyon days of the Cold War, when there was order in the world and we knew who our enemy was, I took part in an exercise in Germany called Tripex. The friendly forces consisted of a battalion of Jocks, (1 RHF), a US tank regiment, which carried the nickname "Hell on Wheels," and French Artillery. Working with the French was somewhat unusual at the time because they weren't NATO members and spent most of their overseas time skulking around the darker parts of Africa. They also had a presence in Berlin given they were one of the Berlin powers, mostly as a result of three inebriated Frenchmen hitching a lift on a British Churchill tank in Normandy and accidentally arriving in Berlin at the end of the war.
The aim of the exercise, which was politically driven because it would have been suicide in practice, was for the battle group to punch a corridor through Eastern Germany to relieve Berlin should it again be blockaded. In reality of course, the undertaking would have been like A Bridge Too Far, only we would have lasted 20 mins against 3rd Shock Army rather than the full 3 hours of the movie.
Despite being an utter nonesense I expect it ticked a few boxes in Washington, London and Paris........ just as yesterdays agreement ticks a few boxes in London and more importantly for them, Paris.
The point of the agreement has nothing to do with military capability or sensible husbandry of reduced defence spending, because even stupid people in Whitehall know that the French can't be relied upon to do anything, with anyone or anywhere unless it favours their own direct self interest. Rather, it is to give the French an alternative to the Franco-German alliance that has bestrode Europe for the last fifty years.
In European terms, the winner from the recent financial crisis has been Germany. It's fiscal discipline, sense of common purpose and strategic industrial base has seen it emerge stronger than it's European partners. The geo political centre of Europe has moved from Paris to Berlin. Germany is not without it's own internal tensions and stresses but in geo political terms, they are in the driving seat. That worries the French.
This agreement then, simply expands France's options and is a starting gesture to diluting Germany's growing political influence over the extended EU.
So, sending some special forces to crawl about in the dark with knives between their teeth is a modern version of the old Tripex exercise. That however, didn't end quite so well.
Unsurprisingly, the Jocks and the septics rubbed along together just fine and the Americans soon learned to stop leaving their shiny new bits of kit lying around. That was until.................... until we had a couple of days off and were billeted in Sennelager Camp. Soldiers from various cap badges gathered in the huge NAAFI there and everything was going just fine until one very large septic knocked down the tower of empty beer cans that the boys from C Company had been diligently building all night. Then it all went off.
The instigating American immediately had a 5'6'' Jock hanging off his shoulders and bodies were soon flying in all directions, including one or two that went airborne, exiting through the windows. Tables, chairs, beer cans and the odd REME artificer were flying from one side of the room to the other as the whole place erupted in a bar fight worthy of a John Houston western.
Unremarkably, the French were nowhere to be seen.
After a while, the scenes of carnage and chaos quietened down with the arrival of the guard, some RMP's and some over enthusiastic barky, bitey guard dogs. Of course, the Jocks and septics suddenly became the best of friends and resumed drinking, swapping tales and kit.
Note to David Cameron, families fight but they're still family. For one thing........ they speak the same language.
This week in our regular Friday geopolitical update we take an in depth and detailed look at France. Some people question the importance and relevance of France in todays world and even suggest that it's influence is waning. Here at Junk HQ we sweep such sniping to the side and continue to focus on France as one of the more critical centres in world affairs. Lets take a look at a summary of events over there,
No, I haven't a clue what she's saying either but somehow, the world just seems a brighter place for having watched her. What is there not to love....?
Tuesday, December 20, 2011 at 4:06PM 
