10:20 – Work on the new batch of biology kits is proceeding apace, but we’re now down to just two chemistry kits in stock. Fortunately, we have everything we need to build 15 more quickly, but then the well runs dry. So, as soon as we finish this batch of 30 biology kits, we’ll start on another batch of 30 chemistry kits. The chemistry kits outsell the biology kits about 1.5:1, and kit sales have slowed seasonally, so the new batches should last us at least a month, if not through the end of November. Of course, starting in late November, kit sales tend to pick up for Christmas and second semester, so we’ll need to get more in the queue.
It’s difficult to see how things in the eurozone could be much worse on the eve of the first full EU summit since June. French and German leaders always hate each other, and Hollande and Merkel are no different. The difference this time is that they’re not keeping it private. Ordinarily, the French and German leaders meet on the eve of an EU summit and essentially agree on the agenda and decisions ahead of time. This time, Merkel and Hollande are in disagreement on everything, and are tossing public barbs at each other. The Greek talks with the Troika have collapsed entirely, with Greece saying there’s no way it’ll agree to the Troika terms. That means Greece runs completely out of money in the next six weeks, with no prospect of getting any anywhere. The markets are closed to them, the IMF won’t bail them out, and the EU won’t bail them out. That means Greece will default, not just on bonds but on public salaries and pensions and payments to the companies that are importing desperately needed food and medicines, or were importing them until they stopped getting paid. Meanwhile, as its price for continuing to support any EU bailouts, Germany is apparently now insisting on an EU fiscal overlord, which simply isn’t going to be accepted by other EU members. Obviously, Germany has already decided that enough is enough, but instead of just saying “nein” explicitly, they’re setting conditions that they know will never be accepted. That way, Germany can at least say “we tried” when the whole pathetic euro edifice collapses.
14:46 – Oh, wait. The Troika and the Greeks have kissed and made up. (Now there’s a disgusting image…) Greece says it’s going to get the long-delayed bail-out tranche in time to avoid catastrophe. The Troika says they and the Greek government have agreed on “broad outlines” of the terms needed to allow the bail-out to go ahead, albeit without additional IMF funds. The truth is, the IMF, the EU, and the ECB are all terrified at what’s going to happen when-not-if Greece collapses. When they talk about contagion from a Greek collapse being “containable”, they’re whistling past the graveyard, and they know it. Of course, as they say, the devil is in the details, and it wouldn’t surprise me if this latest deal, like so many others, collapses as a result of those little details. Yet one more attempt to buy time with smoke and mirrors. The trouble is, they’re running out of time. And smoke and mirrors.