Realistically, a 5% tax rise should prompt a 5% spending cut, with the earning power lost to inflation adding more belt tightening. You can't squeeze blood from a stone. Workers have no money.

Russian tanks, planes, and troops are reportedly crossing the border with eastern Ukraine after the referendum there which violated the terms of the truce between Ukraine and Russia.

Festivities for the 25th anniversary of “Die Wallfall”, the fall of the Berlin Wall between the old Communist East Germany and the rest of the world were rather subdued because the now free German railroad workers went on strike. Strikes were illegal in the old German “Workers' Paradise”.

The Eurozone is suffering from restricted growth according to the European Commission which now forecasts that 2014 growth will be 0.8% overall for the 18 countries in the currency bloc. This is well below the earlier forecast of 1.2% growth, which was already low.

The gold price drop is more a temporary result of the stratospheric rise of the dollar against other currencies rather than a lack of appeal from the yellow metal. But as I warned last week, I have no idea when this will reverse.

Italy urged the European Union to resume efforts to set up a financial transaction tax to raise money.