Pay up, Germany (The Week)

New York ? Germany long profited from the euro system that bankrupted Greece. Now it's time to pay for it

The other day, a financial friend repeated a joke. "A Greek, an Italian, a Spaniard, and a German walk into a bar. Who pays? The German of course ?"

Bzzzt. Let's stop the tape right there.

That joke ? and many comments like it ? reveals a broad misunderstanding in the U.S. about the currency crisis destabilizing Europe. Since that same crisis is ravaging U.S. financial markets, Americans ought to understand better.

The euro currency was not a favor done by Germany to the rest of Europe. In fact, you could much more convincingly argue that Germany was the biggest single winner from the euro ? and that the time has come for Germany to pay for it.

Imagine if today's Federal Reserve governors were jointly appointed by the governments of China and Saudi Arabia, and you get some idea of why Greeks riot in the streets.

Imagine a world in which Europe had proceeded with economic unification, but did not create the euro.

In such a world, as in our world, goods and workers would move freely from Warsaw to Lisbon. Europe's internal investment barriers would have largely vanished.

What then?

In such a world, Germany as the most productive economy would have begun to rack up large trade surpluses. As those surpluses accumulated, the value of the Deutsche Mark would have appreciated against Europe's other currencies. The cost of doing business in Germany would rise relative to, say, the Czech Republic or Slovenia. Investors would shift their operations out of Germany. Jobs would be created outside Germany and destroyed inside Germany.

The poorer European countries would face a very different environment in our non-euro world.

Investors worried about currency risk would charge significantly higher interest rates to countries like Greece. More expensive credit would have constrained their ability to run budget deficits.

Now back to the real world.

By folding all of Europe's currencies into the euro, Germany prevented its neighbors from reducing their costs ? thus enhancing German exports and preserving German jobs.

In the decade from 2000 to 2010, Germany's share of world trade rose by almost 9 percent (most of that being exports to other European countries).

The same currency that made German exports more competitive also made the exports of other European countries less competitive. Their shares of world trade declined over that same decade ? in France's case, by a spectacular 23 percent.

But the less competitive countries did get something out of the euro: Lower interest rates. The currency arrangement that enabled Germany to sell more enabled Greece, Italy, Spain, and France to borrow more.

Germany got the jobs. Greece and the others got the debts.

American ears may prick up with recognition here, because the deal explicitly struck between Germany and the rest of Europe in the 2000s looks a lot like the arrangement tacitly accepted by the United States and China over the same period.

An artificially cheap Chinese currency stimulated Chinese exports and jobs. An artificially expensive American currency stimulated American borrowing and consumption.

Americans don't take it very patiently when the Chinese present themselves as the virtuous victim of American extravagance. Nor should Americans do so. It was Chinese currency manipulation that called forth the American credit bubble.

Southern Europe faces an even starker predicament. Not only did the euro inhibit their job creation and enable their borrowing ? but it also adds greatly to the difficulties of repaying their debts. Unlike the U.S., which can at least repay in a currency it controls, southern Europe must repay in a currency it does not control ? and that is not managed in southern Europe's interest.

Imagine if today's Federal Reserve governors were jointly appointed by the governments of China and Saudi Arabia, and you get some idea of why Greeks riot in the streets.

So my friend's joke needs to be amended.

What the German is being asked to pay for is not the drinks. He (and the other surplus countries adjoining Germany) are being asked to help pay for the cleanup after a party at which they had most of the fun.

Don't worry. The Greeks and the other indebted southern Europeans will suffer ? and are suffering ? plenty. But to ask the Greeks and the other southern Europeans to suffer exclusively is to forget how this crisis was created in the first place.

View this article on TheWeek.com
Get Will Europe derail our recovery?

Opinion Brief: Goldman Sachs' Greek tragedy

The List: The Euro crisis: What it means for 6 key nations

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APNewsBreak: Syria mining Lebanon border

Syrian citizens carry their belongings, as they cross the Lebanon- Syria border illegally to return to Syria, from the village of Arida, north Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 31, 2011. Syrian official and witnesses say Damascus is planting landmines along parts of the border with Lebanon. A Syrian official familiar with government strategy said the mines are meant to prevent arms smuggling across the border. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Syrian citizens carry their belongings, as they cross the Lebanon- Syria border illegally to return to Syria, from the village of Arida, north Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 31, 2011. Syrian official and witnesses say Damascus is planting landmines along parts of the border with Lebanon. A Syrian official familiar with government strategy said the mines are meant to prevent arms smuggling across the border. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A Syrian army defector speaks to The Associated Press in the Lebanese border town of Arida on Monday Oct. 31, 2011. Syrian official and witnesses say Damascus is planting landmines along parts of the border with Lebanon. A Syrian official familiar with government strategy said the mines are meant to prevent arms smuggling across the border. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Syrian army positions near the Lebanese border town of Serhaniyeh whose residents say troops have laid mines nearby over the past days, seen on Monday Oct. 31, 2011. Syrian official and witnesses say Damascus is planting landmines along parts of the border with Lebanon. A Syrian official familiar with government strategy said the mines are meant to prevent arms smuggling across the border. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Syrian soldiers stand on their country's side of the border with Lebanon in the village of Arida, north Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 31, 2011. Syrian official and witnesses say Damascus is planting landmines along parts of the border with Lebanon. A Syrian official familiar with government strategy said the mines are meant to prevent arms smuggling across the border. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Syrian soldiers sit in a position on the border with Lebanon in the village of Arida, north Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 31, 2011. Syrian official and witnesses say Damascus is planting landmines along parts of the border with Lebanon. A Syrian official familiar with government strategy said the mines are meant to prevent arms smuggling across the border. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

SERHANIYEH, Lebanon (AP) ? Syria is planting landmines along parts of the country's border with Lebanon as refugees stream out of the country to escape the crackdown on anti-government protests, officials and witnesses said Tuesday.

A Syrian man whose foot had to be amputated after he stepped on a mine just across from the Lebanese village of Irsal on Sunday was the first known victim of the mines, according to a doctor at a hospital in Lebanon where the man was brought for treatment. He asked that his name not be published out of fear of repercussions by authorities because of the sensitivity of the case.

The Syrian exodus to neighboring Lebanon and Turkey has proven a deep embarrassment for increasingly besieged President Bashar Assad, who warned over the weekend that the Middle East will burn if foreign powers try to intervene in his country's conflict.

A Syrian official familiar with government strategy claimed the anti-personnel mines are meant to prevent arms smuggling into Syria. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. Witnesses on the Lebanese side of the border also told the AP they have seen Syrian soldiers planting the mines in recent days in two parts of Syrian territory: in the restive province of Homs and across from Lebanon's eastern Baalbek region.

"Syria has undertaken many measures to control the borders, including planting mines," said the Syrian official.

More than 5,000 Syrians have fled to Lebanon since the crisis began in March.

The landmines are the latest sign of Syria's increasing isolation and just how deeply shaken the Assad regime has become since the uprising began nearly eight months ago. Assad, a 46-year-old eye doctor who trained in Britain, still has a firm grip on power, although the cost has been mighty: The U.N. says some 3,000 people have been killed by security forces.

Syria is a regional nexus, bordering five countries with which it shares religious and ethnic minorities and, in Israel's case, a fragile truce. Its web of alliances extends to Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah movement and Iran's Shiite theocracy. Turkey, until recently an ally, has opened its borders to anti-Assad activists and breakaway military rebels.

The crackdown has eviscerated Assad's reputation, canceling out widespread hopes when he took power in 2000 that he might transform his late father's stagnant dictatorship into a modern state. Instead, Assad has reverted to the same tactics that have kept his family in power for more than 40 years, using fear and brute military force to try to break the popular revolt against his autocratic rule.

Three residents of the Lebanese border village of Serhaniyeh showed an AP reporter a long sand dune barrier along the frontier where they said Syrian troops laid mines. Ahmed Diab, 26, said several trucks carrying about a 100 soldiers arrived in the area on Thursday and spent the entire day planting mines on the side of the barriers that is toward Lebanon.

"Since they planted the mines, no one dares to go to the border line," said Diab, as he sat on his motorcycle near his home that overlooks parts of the Syrian province of Homs. Homs has seen some of the worst violence of the uprising.

Many Syrians cross the border into Lebanon regularly, some of them to flee the violence in their country. And the mines are the latest in a number of signs that Syria is working to prevent Lebanon from becoming a safe haven for the Syrian opposition.

There have been at least three cases this year of Syrian dissidents being snatched off the streets in Lebanon and spirited back across the border, Lebanese police say. The abductions have raised alarm among some in Lebanon that members of the country's security forces are helping Assad's regime in its crackdown on anti-government protesters, effectively extending it into Lebanon.

Syria had direct control over Lebanon for nearly 30 years before pulling out its troops in 2005 under local and international pressure. But Damascus still has great influence, and pro-Syrian factions led by the militant group Hezbollah dominate the government in Beirut.

There also have been reports of Syrian troops crossing into Lebanon to pursue dissidents. In September, the Lebanese army said in a statement that Syrian soldiers briefly crossed the border and opened fire at people trying to flee the violence in Syria.

A senior Lebanese security official confirmed that Syrian troops are planting mines on the Syrian side of the border, but said Beirut will not interfere with actions on Syrian territory.

"What concerns us are violations of Lebanese territory and Syrian troops' pursuit of people on the Lebanese side of the border," the official said on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Syria and Lebanon share a 230-mile (365-kilometer) long border, although it appears the landmines have been planted in Homs province ? where some of the worst violence of the uprising has occurred ? just across the border from Serhaniyeh, Lebanon. Mines also have been planted in the Baalbek region, which borders Homs and the Damascus countryside, witnesses say.

The crackdown has prompted the most severe international condemnation the Assad dynasty has seen. Sanctions from the European Union and the U.S. are chipping away at the beleaguered economy and many leaders have called on him to step aside.

Assad has responded with vague promises of reform, but the opposition has dismissed the overtures as meaningless while the military fires on protesters. As the uprising has dragged on, Assad has become more defiant, exploiting fears at home and abroad of regional turmoil, sectarian violence and Islamic extremism.

In an interview with Britain's Sunday Telegraph published over the weekend, Assad warned world powers fresh from their victory over Moammar Gadhafi in Libya that the Middle East will go up in flames if there is any foreign intervention in his country.

Syria "is the fault line, and if you play with the ground, you will cause an earthquake," he said in his harshest words so far regarding the potential for foreign intervention. "Do you want to see another Afghanistan, or tens of Afghanistans?" he asked, alluding to the 10-year war that has bogged down tens of thousands of foreign forces.

But given that NATO and the U.S. have made abundantly clear they have no appetite for another military intervention in Syria, Assad does not have to worry too much about a Libya-style operation against his regime. Still, increased international focus on his bloody crackdown could bring more sanctions and isolation on a regime that is showing signs of increasing desperation.

___

Bassem Mroue can be reached on http://twitter.com/bmroue

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-11-01-ML-Syria/id-a1cb572b783f410e9ac81b16ab181390

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WrestleMania XXVIII tickets on sale this Saturday

Don't miss your chance to see the most anticipated match in history when The Rock faces off against John Cena at WrestleMania XXVIII at Sun Life Stadium in Miami on April 1, 2012. (WATCH)

Tickets go on sale this Saturday at 10:00 a.m. ET and are available through:

Check back for more details on all WrestleMania Week events.

Source: http://www.wwe.com/shows/wrestlemania/28/wrestlemaniaxxviii-tickets

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Toyota shows machines to help sick, elderly move (AP)

TOKYO ? Toyota unveiled its ambitions for high-tech health care Tuesday, displaying experimental robots that the auto giant says can lift disabled patients from their hospital beds or help them walk.

The company aims to commercialize products such as its "independent walk assist" device sometime after 2013 ? seeking to position itself in an industry with great potential in Japan, one of the world's most rapidly aging nations.

Eiichi Saitoh, a professor in rehabilitation medicine, demonstrated the "walk assist" device on Tuesday, strapping the computerized metallic brace onto his right leg, which was paralyzed by polio.

He showed reporters at a Toyota facility in Tokyo how the brace could bend at the knee as needed, allowing him to walk more naturally and rise from a chair with greater ease than the walker he now uses. Wearing a backpack-like battery, Saitoh walked up and down a flight of stairs, smiling with delight.

Saitoh said he had tried Toyota's machines with patients and was confident they helped people recover more quickly from strokes and other ailments that curtailed movement.

"It may be difficult to predict the future, but the era of an aging society is definitely coming," he said. "We need partner robots to enrich our lives."

Toyota also demonstrated an intelligent machine with padded arms that can help health care workers lift disabled patients from their beds and then carry them around. Another mobility aid worked like a skateboard to help people relearn balance.

Toyota officials said technology for autos such as sensors, motors and computer software are being used in such computerized gadgets to help people get around, and what they learn about mobility for people will likely be of use in future cars.

Pricing and overseas sales plans of all the machines were still undecided, according to Toyota.

General Manager Akifumi Tamaoki said more tests were needed on more people to insure safety and reliability, and gain user feedback, but the commercial products in the works were going to be smaller and lighter than the prototype versions shown.

"We define gentle and smart machines as partner robots," he said.

Toyota has previously shown human-shaped robots that played the trumpet and violin, and those that move around and talk about Toyota cars at showrooms.

Rival Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co. has developed a sophisticated humanoid robot called Asimo, which can run, talk and dance. But Asimo has been limited to showrooms and labs and has yet to enter any hospital or home.

Toyota faces competition from other manufacturers that are all working on gadgets to tap into the health care business. Honda also has demonstrated machines worn on the legs that help people move, as have some universities.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/japan/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111101/ap_on_re_as/as_japan_toyota_robots

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Steelers stomp Pats

Roethlisberger passes for 365 yards, two touchdowns

Gregory Shamus / Getty Images

Ben Roethlisberger celebrates with Max Starks during the Steelers' victory over the Patriots on Sunday.

By WILL GRAVES

updated 7:41 p.m. ET Oct. 30, 2011

PITTSBURGH - The Pittsburgh Steelers no longer have a Tom Brady problem. And that may be a problem for the rest of the NFL.

Old, slow and over? Not quite yet.

Ben Roethlisberger picked apart the NFL's worst defense and the Steelers rattled the nearly unflappable Brady in a 25-17 victory on Sunday, putting an end to the two-time MVP's decade of dominance over the defending AFC champions.

Brady came in 6-1 all-time against the Steelers, putting up eye-popping numbers in the process. He never got the chance on a chilly day at Heinz Field. Pittsburgh (6-2) controlled the ball for nearly 39 minutes and never let Brady get into a sustained rhythm.

"It's been all Tom Brady versus the Pittsburgh Steelers and looking back on the past, how he's owned the Pittsburgh Steelers, and I think everybody forgot about our offense a little bit and the things they've been doing out there," Pittsburgh linebacker LaMarr Woodley said. "I think they took that a little personal."

Playing efficiently and working almost exclusively on short, safe, underneath routes, Roethlisberger completed 36 of 50 passes for 365 yards and two touchdowns as the Steelers won their fourth straight following a 2-2 start.

"We can be as good as we want to be," Roethlisberger said. "When we don't kill ourselves and stop ourselves, we can be pretty dangerous."

Brady passed for two touchdowns but threw for a season-low 198 yards. His attempt to lead the Patriots to an unlikely comeback ended when Pittsburgh's Brett Keisel sacked him, forcing a fumble that Troy Polamalu slapped through the end zone with 8 seconds left to provide the final margin.

"We all have to individually look in the mirror and figure out what we need to get better at," Brady said.

There was no sense of panic among the Patriots, who fell into a tie with Buffalo atop the AFC East. Yet the Steelers did something no team has been able to do this year: keep Brady under wraps.

Pittsburgh sacked him three times, held wide receiver Wes Welker ? on pace for an NFL record for yards receiving in a season ? to 39 yards on six receptions while limiting the Patriots to their fewest points since a 34-14 loss to Cleveland last year.

The Patriots punted four times, missed a field goal in the third quarter that would have drawn them within a touchdown and failed to recover an onside kick with just over 2 minutes remaining.

Not the kind of brisk execution that's been the hallmark of Brady and coach Bill Belichick's highly successful tenure.

"It just wasn't a really good day for us in any phase of the game, in any area," Belichick said. "We just didn't do a good enough job. That's really all there is to say."

Brady and Belichick remain tied with Don Shula and Dan Marino for most wins by a coach/quarterback tandem. Win No. 117 will have to wait at least a week after the Steelers emphatically awoke from an early-season slumber that included one-sided losses to Baltimore and Houston.

Pittsburgh didn't panic after the slow start. And while the Steelers weren't ready to declare they're back, there was a definite sense of vindication on a day that felt more like January than late October, and not just because of the chilly weather.

"It's a huge step," linebacker Lawrence Timmons said. "The New England Patriots have Belichick and Brady. This is a team that contends in the AFC every year and goes to the championship or the Super Bowl. So having this win, in our house, is huge and something to build on."

On both sides of the ball.

Roethlisberger has built a career and won two Super Bowls by chucking it deep with abandon. On Sunday he didn't complete a pass over 26 yards. He didn't have to.

Roethlisberger consistently found Antonio Brown (a career-high nine receptions), Heath Miller (a season-high seven grabs) and speedster Mike Wallace (seven catches) on short and intermediate routes.

The West Coast-style approach worked perfectly.

Pittsburgh's five scoring drives lasted 11, 16, 10, 14 and 11 plays. The Steelers converted 10 of 16 third downs and Shaun Suisham kicked three field goals.

"It's very frustrating," New England nose tackle Vince Wilfork said. "You talk about getting a team in second-and-longs and third-and-longs and taking advantage of those situations. We had them in those situations; we just didn't take advantage of them."

Despite being dominated for long stretches in the first half, the Patriots trailed just 17-10 at the break. Yet the magic Brady has been able to muster repeatedly against the Steelers throughout his career never appeared. On the same field where he won two AFC championships, Brady never really got comfortable.

"We had to beat them today," safety Ryan Clark said. "We're talking about this dominance that New England's had on us. I think we've won more Super Bowls, been to more Super Bowls than they have. It's not about history. We were excited to win today."

Notes: Woodley finished with two sacks to become the first Steeler to get multiple sacks in four consecutive games. ... New England RB Kevin Faulk ran for 32 yards on six carries and caught five passes for 20 yards in his first game of the season. ... Patriots lost for just the second time in their last 11 games coming off a bye and lost in October for just the seventh time since 2003. ... New England TE Rob Gronkowski set a career high with seven catches. ... The Steelers played without offensive captain Hines Ward and defensive captain James Farrior, who missed the game with injuries. ... New England defensive lineman Andre Carter had two sacks for the 11th time in his career.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Super Bowl rematch coming?

PFT's 10-pack: The Steelers and Packers appear to be on a collision course for a rematch, 18 years after the last time the two Super Bowl teams got back together for a second straight year.

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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45097782/ns/sports-nfl/

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Kyrgyzstan Presidential Election Begins

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan -- Voters in the turbulent Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan cast their ballots Sunday in a presidential election that many hope may set a democratic example for authoritarian neighbors.

While international observers have hailed the wide range of candidates and recent improvements to electoral legislation, several presidential hopefuls are crying foul and saying they will take all measures to combat what they have described as violations.

That language appears to raise the specter of a new wave of street protests in a country that has been shaken in recent years by a violent change of government and ethnic violence.

Kyrgyzstan, an impoverished nation of around 5 million people on China's western fringes, is home to both U.S. and Russian military air bases, making its fortunes the subject of lively international interest.

Outgoing President Roza Otunbayeva, who has been running the country as interim leader since 2010 when the nation's previous leader was driven from power, will step down later this year to make way for the election winner. That sets the stage for the first peaceful transition of power in this economically struggling ex-Soviet nation's history.

The election pitted front-runner Almazbek Atambayev against two popular nationalist politicians ? Kamchibek Tashiyev and Adakhan Madumarov. In the event that nobody garners more than 50 percent of the ballots, a runoff will have to be held within a month between the two top vote-getters.

Atambayev, who had the best-funded campaign and enjoyed significant public exposure by serving as prime minister until last month, voiced hope for an outright victory.

"It is time for our country to live, achieve harmony and flourish. People are tired of political battles and meetings," he said after voting.

With more than 12 percent of precincts counted, Atanbayev was leading the field with nearly 70 percent of the vote, but the figures can change later as the vote count proceeds. Just over 60 percent of the nation's 3 million eligible voters cast ballots, election officials said after polls closed.

The election is the culmination of a movement for political reform away from the strong authoritarian model that has prevailed in the country since independence in 1991.

Over the past two decades, elections have been purely formal exercises designed to lend a threadbare veil of legitimacy to the ruling elite. Former strongman leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev and his predecessor, mathematician Askar Akayev, left office only after being literally chased out of by angry mobs.

Speaking after casting her ballot at a music college in the capital, Bishkek, Otunbayeva said the election would consolidate the parliamentary system adopted under constitutional reforms approved last year.

"What is important is that we have chosen parliamentary governance in our country," Otunbayeva told The Associated Press. "People will choose the route of freedom ? freedom of speech, freedom of assembly."

Douglas Wake, deputy head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's election monitoring arm, lauded reforms to the electoral system and the broad choice of candidates on offers.

"It is a notable fact that both for Kyrgyzstan and for this region, we have a really active campaign with a large number of candidates who are really offering a competitive choice to voters," he said.

While the election has been praised by many as a victory for democracy, Atambayev's opponents argued that he has drawn on state resources to ensure his victory.

As polls closed, a group of presidential candidates, including Madumarov, complained to journalists that tens of thousands of people had been excluded from the electoral register. Other alleged violations included repeat voting and ballot box stuffing.

"We are willing to adopt all legal methods in order to protect our votes," said Madumarov, who failed to rule out street action as a means of protesting the outcome of the election.

Madumarov urged authorities to form a commission made up of party officials and candidates' representatives to investigate the alleged violations.

International observers said they were unable to comment on the conduct of voting, but there were scattered media reports of voting violations throughout the day.

At a polling station in the Kyrgyz National University in Bishkek, several teachers were seen by an AP reporter calling their students by telephone to urge them to vote. Large crowds of students were seen waiting in line shortly after polls opened to cast their ballot.

University teacher Izanat Gasanova, 30, denied she was forcing students to vote for any particular candidate.

"This is their personal choice, nobody is forcing them," said Gasanova, who said she was voting for Atambayev.

Earlier in the day, Otunbayeva, a seasoned diplomat who served as ambassador in Washington and London, said she was certain the election would be held in full compliance with the law.

"Any claims that administrative resources have been deployed or that the election is not being held according to the rule or unlawfully are unfounded," she said.

___

Leila Saralayeva contributed to this report.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/30/kyrgyzstan-presidential-election-2011_n_1066223.html

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Naked and drunk Moscow motorist crashes into 17 cars (Reuters)

MOSCOW (Reuters) ? A naked and drunk motorist sped through central Moscow Sunday, crashing into 17 cars before being stopped by police who chased him across a large part of the capital, state television said.

"When police made him open his door, it became clear he was completely naked," said state TV, showing lines of cars with shattered windscreens and battered sides.

Local media said the man, who appeared to be in his 40s, was from Moldova and showed a picture him grinning in the back seat of a police car.

State TV said preliminary tests showed the driver had an "abnormally high" level of alcohol in his system.

TV pictures showed distressed drivers with bloodied hands and faces sitting in their cars, but police said there were no serious injuries.

"The most dangerous part was when he almost hit a bus full of school children," police spokesman Gennady Bogachev told state TV, adding that four of the 17 vehicles were police cars.

(Reporting by Amie Ferris-Rotman; Editing by Karolina Tagaris)

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