(Created page with "What really caused the eurozone crisis? World leaders probably spent more time worrying about the eurozone crisis than anything else in 2011. And that was in the year that f...")
 
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What really caused the eurozone crisis?
 
  
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World leaders probably spent more time worrying about the eurozone crisis than anything else in 2011.
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=== Preamble ===
  
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And that was in the year that featured the Arab Spring, the Japanese tsunami and the death of Osama Bin Laden. What's more, 2012 looks set to be not much different. But as eurozone governments hammer out new rules to limit their borrowing, are they missing the point of the crisis?
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A quick glance at the GuruPlug schematics will show it incorporates a Genesys Logic GL850G 4 Port Hub Controller and Genesys Logic GL836 USB2 Flash Card Reader Controller.  
  
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    * The eurozone has agreed a new "fiscal compact"
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The Flash Card reader connects to two micro SD connectors:
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    * Eurozone leaders have agreed to a tough set of rules - insisted on by Germany - that will limit their governments' "structural" borrowing (that is, excluding any extra borrowing due to a recession) to just 0.5% of their economies' output each year. It will also limit their total borrowing to 3%. These rules are supposed to stop them accumulating too much debt, and make sure there won't be another financial crisis.
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* J3 an Internal connector (Storage device 0), not populated on my board and  
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    * But didn't they already agree to this back in the '90s?
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* J4 which is the external micro SD card slot.
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    * Hang on a minute. They agreed to exactly the same 3% borrowing limit back in 1997, when the euro was being set up. The "stability and growth pact" was insisted on by German finance minister Theo Waigel (centre of image). What happened?
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    * So who kept to the rules?
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    * Italy was the worst offender. It regularly broke the 3% annual borrowing limit. But actually Germany - along with Italy - was the first big country to break the 3% rule. After that, France followed. Of the big economies, only Spain kept its nose clean until the 2008 financial crisis; the Madrid government stayed within the 3% limit every year from the euro's creation in 1999 until 2007. Not only that - of the four, Spain's government also has the smallest debts relative to the size of its economy. Greece, by the way, is in a class of its own. It never stuck to the 3% target, but manipulated its borrowing statistics to look good, which allowed it to get into the euro in the first place. Its waywardness was uncovered two years ago.
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    * 3/9 Italy
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      Worst offender
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    * 5/9 Germany
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      First to break rules
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    * 6/9 France
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      Offender
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    * 9/9 Spain
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      Top of the Class
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    * But the markets have other ideas
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    * So surely Germany, France and Italy should be in trouble with all that reckless borrowing, while Spain should be reaping the rewards of its virtue? Well, no. Actually Germany is the "safe haven" - markets have been willing to lend to it at historically low interest rates since the crisis began. Spain on the other hand is seen by markets as almost as risky as Italy. So what gives?
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    * So what really caused the crisis?
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    * There was a big build-up of debts in Spain and Italy before 2008, but it had nothing to do with governments. Instead it was the private sector - companies and mortgage borrowers - who were taking out loans. Interest rates had fallen to unprecedented lows in southern European countries when they joined the euro. And that encouraged a debt-fuelled boom.
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    * Good news for Germany...
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    * All that debt helped finance more and more imports by Spain, Italy and even France. Meanwhile, Germany became an export power-house after the eurozone was set up in 1999, selling far more to the rest of the world (including southern Europeans) than it was buying as imports. That meant Germany was earning a lot of surplus cash on its exports. And guess what - most of that cash ended up being lent to southern Europe.
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    * ...bad news for southern Europe
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    * But debts are only part of the problem in Italy and Spain. During the boom years, wages rose and rose in the south (and in France). But German unions agreed to hold their wages steady. So Italian and Spanish workers now face a huge competitive price disadvantage. Indeed, this loss of competitiveness is the main reason why southern Europeans have been finding it so much harder to export than Germany.
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    * ...and a nasty dilemma
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    * So to recap, government borrowing - which has ballooned since the 2008 global financial crisis - had very little to do with creating the current eurozone crisis in the first place, especially in Spain (Greece's government is the big exception here). So even if governments don't break the borrowing rules this time, that won't necessarily stop a similar crisis from happening all over again.
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      Spain and Italy are now facing nasty recessions, because no-one wants to spend. Companies and mortgage borrowers are too busy repaying their debts to spend more. Exports are uncompetitive. And now governments - whose borrowing has exploded since the 2008 financial crisis savaged their economies - have agreed to drastically cut their spending back as well. But...
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== usb start ==
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    * Cut spending...
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    * ...and you are pretty sure to deepen the recession. That probably means even more unemployment (already over 20% in Spain), which may push wages down to more competitive levels - though history suggests this is very hard to do. Even so, lower wages will just make people's debts even harder to repay, meaning they are likely to cut their own spending even more, or stop repaying their debts. And lower wages may not even lead to a quick rise in exports, if all of your European export markets are in recession too. In any case, you can probably expect more strikes and protests, and more nervousness in financial markets about whether you really will stay in the euro.
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Starts (scan) USB controller:
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    * Don't cut spending...
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    * ...and you risk a financial collapse. The amount you borrow each year has exploded since 2008 due to economic stagnation and high unemployment. But your economy looks to be chronically uncompetitive within the euro. So markets are liable to lose confidence in you - they may fear your economy is simply too weak to support your ballooning debtload. Meanwhile, other European governments may not have enough money to bail you out, and the European Central Bank says its mandate doesn't allow it to. And if they won't lend to you, why would anyone else?
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<PRE>
 +
Marvell>> usb start
 +
usb start
 +
(Re)start USB...
 +
USB:  Register 10011 NbrPorts 1
 +
USB EHCI 1.00
 +
scanning bus for devices... 3 USB Device(s) found
 +
      scanning bus for storage devices... Device NOT ready
 +
  Request Sense returned 02 3A 00
 +
2 Storage Device(s) found
 +
</PRE>
 +
 
 +
== usb restart ==
 +
 
 +
Reset (rescans) USB Controller:
 +
 
 +
<PRE>
 +
 
 +
Marvell>> usb reset
 +
(Re)start USB...
 +
USB:  Register 10011 NbrPorts 1
 +
USB EHCI 1.00
 +
scanning bus for devices... 3 USB Device(s) found
 +
      scanning bus for storage devices... Device NOT ready
 +
  Request Sense returned 02 3A 00
 +
2 Storage Device(s) found
 +
</PRE>
 +
 
 +
== usb tree ==
 +
 
 +
Shows USB Device Tree:
 +
 
 +
<PRE>
 +
Marvell>> usb tree
 +
 
 +
Device Tree:
 +
  1  Hub (480 Mb/s, 0mA)
 +
  |  u-boot EHCI Host Controller
 +
  |
 +
  +-2  Hub (480 Mb/s, 100mA)
 +
    |  USB2.0 Hub
 +
    |
 +
    +-3  Mass Storage (480 Mb/s, 500mA)
 +
          USB Storage 000000009909
 +
</PRE>
 +
 
 +
== usb info ==
 +
 
 +
Shows available USB Devices:
 +
 
 +
<PRE>
 +
Marvell>> usb info
 +
1: Hub, USB Revision 2.0
 +
- u-boot EHCI Host Controller
 +
- Class: Hub
 +
- PacketSize: 64  Configurations: 1
 +
- Vendor: 0x0000  Product 0x0000 Version 1.0
 +
  Configuration: 1
 +
  - Interfaces: 1 Self Powered 0mA
 +
    Interface: 0
 +
    - Alternate Setting 0, Endpoints: 1
 +
    - Class Hub
 +
    - Endpoint 1 In Interrupt MaxPacket 8 Interval 255ms
 +
 
 +
2: Hub, USB Revision 2.0
 +
-  USB2.0 Hub
 +
- Class: Hub
 +
- PacketSize: 64  Configurations: 1
 +
- Vendor: 0x05e3  Product 0x0608 Version 119.96
 +
  Configuration: 1
 +
  - Interfaces: 1 Self Powered Remote Wakeup 100mA
 +
    Interface: 0
 +
    - Alternate Setting 0, Endpoints: 1
 +
    - Class Hub
 +
    - Endpoint 1 In Interrupt MaxPacket 1 Interval 12ms
 +
 
 +
3: Mass Storage,  USB Revision 2.0
 +
-  USB Storage 000000009909
 +
- Class: (from Interface) Mass Storage
 +
- PacketSize: 64  Configurations: 1
 +
- Vendor: 0x05e3  Product 0x0726 Version 153.9
 +
  Configuration: 1
 +
  - Interfaces: 1 Bus Powered 500mA
 +
    Interface: 0
 +
    - Alternate Setting 0, Endpoints: 2
 +
    - Class Mass Storage, Transp. SCSI, Bulk only
 +
    - Endpoint 1 In Bulk MaxPacket 512
 +
    - Endpoint 2 Out Bulk MaxPacket 512
 +
</PRE>
 +
 
 +
== usb storage ==
 +
 
 +
Shows details of USB Storage Devices:
 +
 
 +
<PRE>
 +
Marvell>> usb storage
 +
  Device 0: Vendor: Generic  Rev: 9909 Prod: STORAGE DEVICE
 +
            Type: Removable Hard Disk
 +
            Capacity: not available
 +
  Device 1: Vendor: Generic  Rev: 9909 Prod: STORAGE DEVICE
 +
            Type: Removable Hard Disk
 +
            Capacity: 1910.0 MB = 1.8 GB (3911680 x 512)
 +
</PRE>
 +
 
 +
== usb dev [dev] ==
 +
 
 +
Show or set current USB Storage Device:
 +
 
 +
<PRE>
 +
 
 +
Marvell>> usb dev 1
 +
 
 +
USB device 1:
 +
    Device 1: Vendor: Generic  Rev: 9909 Prod: STORAGE DEVICE
 +
            Type: Removable Hard Disk
 +
            Capacity: 1910.0 MB = 1.8 GB (3911680 x 512)
 +
... is now current device
 +
</PRE>
 +
 
 +
== usb part [dev] ==
 +
 
 +
Prints partition table of selected or all USB device(s):
 +
 
 +
<PRE>
 +
Marvell>> usb part 1
 +
 
 +
Partition Map for USB device 1  --  Partition Type: DOS
 +
 
 +
Partition    Start Sector    Num Sectors    Type
 +
    1                  63        1044162      c
 +
    2              1044225        2867455      83
 +
</PRE>

Latest revision as of 05:11, 7 April 2013

Preamble

A quick glance at the GuruPlug schematics will show it incorporates a Genesys Logic GL850G 4 Port Hub Controller and Genesys Logic GL836 USB2 Flash Card Reader Controller.

The Flash Card reader connects to two micro SD connectors:

  • J3 an Internal connector (Storage device 0), not populated on my board and
  • J4 which is the external micro SD card slot.

usb start

Starts (scan) USB controller: 

Marvell>> usb start
usb start
(Re)start USB...
USB:   Register 10011 NbrPorts 1
USB EHCI 1.00
scanning bus for devices... 3 USB Device(s) found
       scanning bus for storage devices... Device NOT ready
   Request Sense returned 02 3A 00
2 Storage Device(s) found

usb restart

Reset (rescans) USB Controller: 


Marvell>> usb reset
(Re)start USB...
USB:   Register 10011 NbrPorts 1
USB EHCI 1.00
scanning bus for devices... 3 USB Device(s) found
       scanning bus for storage devices... Device NOT ready
   Request Sense returned 02 3A 00
2 Storage Device(s) found

usb tree

Shows USB Device Tree: 

Marvell>> usb tree

Device Tree:
  1  Hub (480 Mb/s, 0mA)
  |  u-boot EHCI Host Controller
  |
  +-2  Hub (480 Mb/s, 100mA)
    |   USB2.0 Hub
    |
    +-3  Mass Storage (480 Mb/s, 500mA)
          USB Storage 000000009909

usb info

Shows available USB Devices: 

Marvell>> usb info
1: Hub,  USB Revision 2.0
 - u-boot EHCI Host Controller
 - Class: Hub
 - PacketSize: 64  Configurations: 1
 - Vendor: 0x0000  Product 0x0000 Version 1.0
   Configuration: 1
   - Interfaces: 1 Self Powered 0mA
     Interface: 0
     - Alternate Setting 0, Endpoints: 1
     - Class Hub
     - Endpoint 1 In Interrupt MaxPacket 8 Interval 255ms

2: Hub,  USB Revision 2.0
 -  USB2.0 Hub
 - Class: Hub
 - PacketSize: 64  Configurations: 1
 - Vendor: 0x05e3  Product 0x0608 Version 119.96
   Configuration: 1
   - Interfaces: 1 Self Powered Remote Wakeup 100mA
     Interface: 0
     - Alternate Setting 0, Endpoints: 1
     - Class Hub
     - Endpoint 1 In Interrupt MaxPacket 1 Interval 12ms

3: Mass Storage,  USB Revision 2.0
 -  USB Storage 000000009909
 - Class: (from Interface) Mass Storage
 - PacketSize: 64  Configurations: 1
 - Vendor: 0x05e3  Product 0x0726 Version 153.9
   Configuration: 1
   - Interfaces: 1 Bus Powered 500mA
     Interface: 0
     - Alternate Setting 0, Endpoints: 2
     - Class Mass Storage, Transp. SCSI, Bulk only
     - Endpoint 1 In Bulk MaxPacket 512
     - Endpoint 2 Out Bulk MaxPacket 512

usb storage

Shows details of USB Storage Devices: 

Marvell>> usb storage
  Device 0: Vendor: Generic  Rev: 9909 Prod: STORAGE DEVICE
            Type: Removable Hard Disk
            Capacity: not available
  Device 1: Vendor: Generic  Rev: 9909 Prod: STORAGE DEVICE
            Type: Removable Hard Disk
            Capacity: 1910.0 MB = 1.8 GB (3911680 x 512)

usb dev [dev]

Show or set current USB Storage Device: 


Marvell>> usb dev 1

USB device 1:
    Device 1: Vendor: Generic  Rev: 9909 Prod: STORAGE DEVICE
            Type: Removable Hard Disk
            Capacity: 1910.0 MB = 1.8 GB (3911680 x 512)
... is now current device

usb part [dev]

Prints partition table of selected or all USB device(s): 

Marvell>> usb part 1

Partition Map for USB device 1  --   Partition Type: DOS

Partition     Start Sector     Num Sectors     Type
    1                   63         1044162       c
    2              1044225         2867455      83
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