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In Germany, the people continued to live as they always had, soberly and carefully guarding their money. But the investment bankers were played for suckers by the bond creators in the US and elsewhere, and were the last rubes still buying Credit Default Swaps when everyone else was selling. It strikes me (though this isn't really stressed in the book) that German bankers are now holding much of the sovereign debt of countries that may default, especially Greece. These were in many cases bad investments, and on some level the banks deserve to lose money on them. But they have the advantage of a very powerful government serving as Collection Agency for them- since Germany basically runs the European Central Bank, they are in charge. Germany has replaced their military control of the past with economic control in the present.
Finally there is a chapter about the mess in state and especially local governments in the US, with a focus on some cities in California (San Jose, Vallejo). These cities have given away the store to public sector unions, and have future liabilities that they can't possibly pay- in the case of San Jose they can't pay because the People won't accept tax hikes, and in Vallejo it's more of a Greece situation in which the place is bankrupt.
Depressing stuff.
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