31 Quotes by Holger Schmieding

This is the worst thing we've had from the German economy for some time.

Still, the precise wording of the ECB statement on Thursday could provide some vital clues.

The bank hiked rates aggressively in late 2003 and early 2004 to cool down an economic boom fueled by an explosive rise in house prices, and clearly attained that goal.

It seems as if the labor market would stabilize even if it's still too early to speak of a change in trend. It's good news for consumption, but faced with high oil prices, a real improvement doesn't seem very likely for now.

They were slightly more dovish than I expected. There is a bit of a conflict between the bank's statement, and the numbers they gave.

Slow growth last year is still affecting the labor market.

The last 24 hours were the worst setback for reform hopes in Europe in a long time.

Germany is reaping the fruits of wage restraint and painful structural reforms. In addition, the change in government seems to have improved the business climate even if Merkel has so far done hardly anything in terms of serious economic reforms.

This has weakened his claim to be the one who could lecture other financial ministers on how to run their economies. He should publicly apologize to the IMF staffers whom he scolded last time for being too pessimistic on the U.K.