credit crunch
Covering the worldwide economic crisis from the heart of European banking and finance at Frankfurt stock exchange, I had the privilege to watch the credit crunch emerging first hand and talk to some of the people who created this whole mess in several interviews, live on Bloomberg TV in English and German. One of the most exciting moments was to watch the reaction of traders at Frankfurt stock exchange, when the VW-stock raised over 1.000 EUR, mainly as a result of trades and press statements by Porsche. An event that burned millions of investor's money and lead to the dead of German entrepreneur Merckle.
"Capitalism is eating its children" was my first spontaneous thought.
My personal focus: the emerging markets, in particular Africa and Latin America. There I met some outstanding personalities who are genuinely involved in investing in Africa and who seem not only to believe, that fair trade with emerging is the best form of development aid, but who are actively involved in making this happen. I just hope history proves them right.
In March 2009 my assignment for Bloomberg TV ended, as the company closed down its "foreign language channels" worldwide. One of the effects of the credit crunch. Out of a sudden I was personally affected by the worldwide economic crisis I used to report about. And I just think it's great to be always being reminded about the dignity of each individual, when we talk about "1000 jobs to be cut..." and similar news that used to make the stocks of the cost-cutting companies rally.
If you ever want to understand why capital has become totally disconnected from the people, the goods and the resources that actually created this capital, you have to spend just some time on the Bloomberg terminal. There you're just one click away from the people in charge of this mess.
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