> Does this mean the end of the German bank-borgs (at least in their current
> form)? Is this the herald of 'shareholder power' in Germany? Is this the
> start of the end of Europe as we know it? Do I ask too many stupid
> questions?
No, no, these are very profound questions, and the answer depends on the Euroleft. The elite BankBorg are mutating to match their erstwhile American masters (rather like how the Americans once borrowed certain airs from the British hegemon). But it's worth stressing that the infrastructure of the EU's developmental state is expanding on the local level -- the EIB is setting up venture capital funds, and a powerful state banking sector continues to channel investment into industry, not the pockets of rentiers. What's happening is a selective deregulation: the BB are going global, setting up multinational shareholder networks, and punting the euro. The Euroleft (I'm not talking the official neoliberal orthodoxy: we all know that the SPD is the Party of Deutsche Bank) could block some or all of this, through greater regulation of EU financial markets, doubling the size of the EIB, or an EU-wide wealth tax. Crisis is opportunity!
-- Dennis