Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Macron says €300B in EU savings sent to the US every year will be invested in EU

old.reddit.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

151–160 of 216 posts

Re: Macron says €300B in EU savings sent to the US every year will be invested in EU

#151

Post by pipes »

alephnerd wrote: post #135
the_mitsuhiko wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That Europe is incapable of doing anything bold is a different topic. You don't have to tell me how fundamentally screwed we are because of the consensus issue. But Europe could, without introducing capital controls, implement something. The US did, there is no fundamental reason why Europe could not either. It's just a question of political will

If something is hypothetically possible but practically impossible, then the mental exercise is a waste of time, and distracts from thinking about an actual solution. For example, Trump could impeached and removed from office, but that isn't happening. So what's the solution?

I think if people were forced to invest their pensions in shitty EU stocks there would be push back. Also moving public sector pensions into EU stocks won't deliver the growth required, they are already unsustainable.

Re: Macron says €300B in EU savings sent to the US every year will be invested in EU

#152

Post by crote »

wtcactus wrote: post #145
pseudony wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but also no. Pension funds around these parts are big, we are often forced to pay into them. Years ago, I noticed they started advertising green funds. Would not be surprised to see options that exclude the US too. If you look at Trumps polls across EU countries, it is heavily in the negative and a lot of us are wanting to put our money where our mouth is about it.

> Pension funds around these parts are big Not really. Most EU countries don’t even have noticeable state pension funds (and one of the biggest culprits is actually France). They just rely on younger people to support the pensions of the retired ones.

You're forgetting about private pension funds. Those are massive, and often mandated by a collective bargaining agreement.

Re: Macron says €300B in EU savings sent to the US every year will be invested in EU

#153

Post by Gud »

dogma1138 wrote: post #141
jacquesm wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As long as they lose less than they lose by keeping it in $ they're coming out ahead.

They don’t have a choice, they sell they get back dollars. What are they going to swap 8 trillion dollars into? And an even better question how? $8 trillion is about half the M3 of the Euro. In fact there are only about 20 trillion dollars right now, there isn’t even enough liquidity to cash out.

For one, they can stop feeding Microsoft and other American conglomerates and develop Free Software alternatives.

Re: Macron says €300B in EU savings sent to the US every year will be invested in EU

#154

Post by wtcactus »

crote wrote: post #152
wtcactus wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Pension funds around these parts are big Not really. Most EU countries don’t even have noticeable state pension funds (and one of the biggest culprits is actually France). They just rely on younger people to support the pensions of the retired ones.

You're forgetting about private pension funds. Those are massive , and often mandated by a collective bargaining agreement.

Not in France they aren’t. And not in most EU countries that still rely in pay as you go pension systems.

For comparison. France’s pension funds (total public and private) are 12% of their GDP. Total EU pension funds are also around 20% of total EU GDP. USA pension funds are 170% of their GDP!!!

Re: Macron says €300B in EU savings sent to the US every year will be invested in EU

#155

Post by darkhorn »

pipes wrote: post #150

Can someone explain what he is actually suggesting? What $300B he is talking about, and on what it will be invested in instead. Also why is he wearing sunglasses?

I think $300B is about everything. Pension funds, investment, military spending etc.

The glasses are due to eye redness.

Re: Macron says €300B in EU savings sent to the US every year will be invested in EU

#156

Post by pseudony »

wtcactus wrote: post #154
crote wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're forgetting about private pension funds. Those are massive , and often mandated by a collective bargaining agreement.

Not in France they aren’t. And not in most EU countries that still rely in pay as you go pension systems. For comparison. France’s pension funds (total public and private) are 12% of their GDP. Total EU pension funds are also around 20% of total EU GDP. USA pension funds are 170% of their GDP!!!

It's not either-or, necessarily.

Yes, we have a pays-as-you-go pension system in Denmark (sigh). But regulations were also changed a while back such that employees must pay into a pension scheme of their own. In our case, that's handled via your employer and there's a minimum contribution limit and often incentives to pay a higher level.

((not my area of expertise))

Re: Macron says €300B in EU savings sent to the US every year will be invested in EU

#157

Post by onraglanroad »

jll29 wrote: post #98
pupppet wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably just a broken blood vessel in the eye.

There once was a lady in France, Whose right fist struck as if by chance; Her husband, called M...on, Said his eyesight was gone, “Just an eye infection, come on!”

Is this a really bad attempt at a Limerick or some other form I'm not familiar with?

Re: Macron says €300B in EU savings sent to the US every year will be invested in EU

#158

Post by yread »

abirch wrote: post #19
nradov wrote: post #5

Macron is making up numbers. Unless the EU member states actually impose capital controls, investors will continue to send their capital wherever it can earn the highest returns. Profitable investment opportunities in the EU remain slim and so far they seem uninterested in pursuing a growth policy.

Unfortunately the US Dollar is devaluing. In the past year the dollar went down by 11%. That means SP 500 which has gone up 13% in the past year has only gone up 2% for a European.

Not if the European invested in currency hedged vanguard sp500s

Re: Macron says €300B in EU savings sent to the US every year will be invested in EU

#159

Post by ffsm8 »

graemep wrote: post #47
bhouston wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Politics drives decision making in addition to just seeking returns, especially for government affiliated funds, e.g.: https://www.reuters.com/business/swedish-pension-fund-alecta... https://www.cbsnews.com/news/danish-pension-fund-treasuries-... (And remember that India and China combined reduced their holdings of US treasures by at least $50B in 2025: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/amid-global-...…

How much do EU government run funds invest in the US?

The governments can quiet easily influence private investment decisions by adding additional taxes to us-based market trades for example.

It'd be quiet easy if the EU governments actually wanted to do so - I'm not sure they actually do right now, however.

Re: Macron says €300B in EU savings sent to the US every year will be invested in EU

#160

Post by dogma1138 »

Gud wrote: post #153
dogma1138 wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They don’t have a choice, they sell they get back dollars. What are they going to swap 8 trillion dollars into? And an even better question how? $8 trillion is about half the M3 of the Euro. In fact there are only about 20 trillion dollars right now, there isn’t even enough liquidity to cash out.

For one, they can stop feeding Microsoft and other American conglomerates and develop Free Software alternatives.

Ok, but that doesn’t answer the question how do you cash out on $8 trillion dollars and convert them into another currency.
Post reply on HN