Remember the 'Colonel's Coup'? Just as always, the US has the Military forces under it's thumb. _________________ 'And he (the devil) said to him: To thee will I give all this power, and the glory of them; for to me they are delivered, and to whom I will, I give them'. Luke IV 5-7.
A video and a list of other FACTS to set the record straight on the bs stories the corporate media continues to run to justify the banker enslavement of the people of Greece..
The corporate media continues to run bs stories about Greece to justify the banker enslavement of the people of Greece.
Popular talking points range from the people of Greece are lazy and don’t want to work, to Greece produces nothing and has no natural resources.
This video goes along way in debunking the bs.
Of course there are other points that need to be straightened out as well.
The media likes to run stories saying the Greeks are rioting because they changed the retirement age to 50 years and make no mention of being forced to pay for a banker bailout. Truth is the retirement age was changed during the first round of austerity measures passed a long time ago so it really is no longer an issue and deceptive when the media continues to say that is the reason for the riots.
Another truth is the retirement age was changed to be pegged to the average life expectancy and not to 55 or 50 as the corporate media likes to falsely report. Here in the U.S that would be like pegging retirement, eg. social security, pensions, 401k, etc. to be based on the 78 year old average life expectancy of a male and the 81 year old average life expectancy of a female. To translate that people will be forced to work their entire lives and pay into these instruments and die before they ever get to retire and collect the money they paid in or earned.
Another point is that needs to be highlight is people in Greece are being forced to take additional austerity measures to receive international aid loans just to pay back the interest alone for the original banker bailout loans. Make no mistake, the bailout loans are to save the bankers asses and not the people of Greece.
Here are some highlights from the original austerity measures. I still need to modify these and make a list that includes the latest round of austerity measures that were passed.
America – Are You Ready For Greece Style Austerity Measures?
[...]
Here are the facts of the Greek Austerity Measures:
PUBLIC SECTOR SPENDING CUTS
- Public sector pay freeze extended until 2014.
- Christmas, Easter and summer holiday bonuses in the public sector, also known as 13th and 14th salaries, are abolished for those earning above 3,000 euros a month and will be capped at 1,000 euros for those earning less. These bonus salaries had already been cut by 30 percent under a previous set of austerity measures announced in March.
- Public sector allowances to be cut by an additional 8 percent. These allowances, which account for a significant part of civil servants’ overall income, were already cut by 12 percent under the latest round of austerity measures announced in March.
ADDITIONAL TAX MEASURES
- The main VAT rate is increased by 2 percentage points to 23 percent. It had already been raised to 21 percent from 19 percent in March.
- Excise taxes on fuel, cigarettes and alcohol are increased by a further 10 percent.
- The government expects to generate additional revenues through another one-off tax on highly profitable companies, as well as new gambling and gaming licenses, more property taxes and green taxes.
PRIVATE SECTOR
- The government said it will revise laws which currently bar companies from firing more than 2 percent of their total work force each month. Other changes will be made regarding severance payments. A new (lower) minimum wage will be introduced, applying to the young and the long-term unemployed.
STRUCTURAL REFORMS
- Liberalization in the energy, transport markets and opening up of closed professions.
PENSIONS
- The retirement age, currently 65 years for men and 60 years for women, will be linked to average life expectancy.
- Minimum contribution period to qualify for full pension will be gradually increased to 40 years from 37 years by 2015.
- Early retirement will be curtailed, with a view to banning any retirement below 60.
- Pensions will be cut, to reflect a pensioner’s average pay over the entire working life rather than his or her final salary level.
Don’t kid yourself. There is no real crisis going on here.
This is a manufactured guise. It’s purpose is to allow the government to coerce us into making these extreme sacrifices without the forces behind the scenes taking the heat for forcing what can only be described as indentured servitude.
The situation is so bad that nation of Greece is being forced to pay for a banker bailout by borrowing money at interest rates up at nearly 40% on a 2 year government bond. That money that government borrows is then used to pay back the just interest on the original bailout loans. Do you see the vicious never ending downward spiral here?
Zero hedge speculates that the near 40% interest rate may send Greece into a temporary default within then next 48 hours.
_________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
The video is made by the Chamber of Commerce which are the same bunch of crooks that brought Greece to the brink of bankruptcy. They actually promote the Olympic Games an event for such a small country which lead to bankruptcy as all said it would apart from the Chamber of Commerce who profited from it by getting govt funded buildings for free and turning them into shopping malls.
They want to control default, but default is allready there in the form of the massive levels of unemployment and the fact that 1/3 of Greeks are now on banks blacklists and cant pay their way anymore.
Now because they call it 'selective' default or 'technical' default for the USA is neither here nor there. Default is default however you dress it.
July 22 The Senate rejected a House plan to substantially cut government spending and raise the federal debt limit contingent on a balanced budget proposal, leaving Congress up in the air about how to resolve its impasse over the federal debt ceiling. President Obama for the first time addressed – and ruled out – the idea that the Constitution empowers a president to increase the debt limit to prevent default and, as he put it, “basically ignore” the federal law requiring that the debt ceiling be set by statute.
Uploaded by RussiaToday on Sep 28, 2011
Senior officials from the EU and IMF are expected in Greece to study its progress in reducing its debt. They'll then decide whether to release further bailout cash. It follows angry protests on Tuesday after the government passed the most unpopular round of austerity measures yet. Let's cross to our correspondent, Sara Firth, who's in Athens.
RT on Twitter http://twitter.com/RT_com
RT on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/RTnews
_________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Uploaded by RussiaToday on 30 Sep 2011
International debt inspectors are having trouble visiting key ministries in Greece - because angry workers are occupying them in their latest anti-austerity protest. The delegation are in Athens to decide whether Greece is fit enough for another portion of bailout - the government's last chance to evade a collapse later this month. The decision was suspended earlier, over doubts that the country is doing enough to reduce its enormous debt. Leaders have pushed through pension cuts and extra taxes to try and please their creditors, but the public remains convinced that the relentless austerity policy is only making things worse. RT's Sara Firth reports from Athens.
Also, RT talks to Pawel Swidlicki, who is a researcher and analyst with the Open Europe organization
RT on Twitter http://twitter.com/RT_com
RT on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/RTnews
_________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Pensioners burn emergency tax notices during an anti austerity protest in Greece.
Anti-austerity protests have escalated in Greece as protesters occupy government ministries ahead of Athens' talks with international creditors on a bailout package for the debt-ridden country.
Civil servants occupied the transport ministry on Friday morning, forcing the country's international debt inspectors to reschedule their meeting with the Greek transport minister, the Associated Press reported.
The minister's morning meeting was postponed to the evening when the debt inspectors, known collectively as the troika, came to find the building under occupation and employees protesting in the courtyard.
An occupation of the finance ministry caused a similar meeting Thursday with the finance minister to be moved to a different government building in central Athens.
The demonstrations were held after Greece's foreign creditors from the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank returned to the country as Greece resumed talks with EU and IMF inspectors on an eight-billion-euro aid package.
The inspectors' approval is essential for Greece to receive another eight billion euros of aid it needs to avoid bankruptcy next month.
Greece has said that it only has enough funds to last through mid-October without the next set of loans.
The inspectors seek to ensure that debt-ridden Greece implements the austerity measures needed to keep receiving aid.
They had halted their review earlier this month, frustrated at missed fiscal targets and delays in implementing austerity reforms.
Greece has pledged to speed up its economic reforms in a bid to ward off the country's looming default on its several hundred billion dollar burgeoning debt. _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Uploaded by RussiaToday on 3 Oct 2011
Greece has admitted it's still not able to deal with its deficit - the key demand of its international creditors. That's even taking into account mass layoffs announced yesterday, and a new round of austerity cuts which still need Parliament's approval.
from RT only a minute ago, teargas disperses crowd outside parliament amidst another 24 hr strike _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Despite the media garbage here it is revealed who is propping who up...
Broke? Buy a few warships, France tells Greece
(Reuters) - In a bizarre twist to the Greek debt crisis, France and Germany are pressing Greece to buy their gunboats and warplanes, even as they urge it to cut public spending and curb its deficit.
Indeed, some Greek officials privately say Paris and Berlin are using the crisis as leverage to advance arms contracts or settle payment disputes, just when the Greeks are trying to reduce defense spending.
"No one is saying 'Buy our warships or we won't bail you out', but the clear implication is that they will be more supportive if we do what they want on the armaments front," said an adviser to Prime Minister George Papandreou, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the diplomatic sensitivity.
Greece spends more of its gross domestic product on the military than any other European Union country, largely due to long-standing tension with its neighbor, historic rival and NATO ally, Turkey.
"The Germans and the French have them over a barrel now," said Nick Witney, a former head of the European Defense Agency.
"If you are trying to repair Greek public finances, it's a ludicrous way to go about things."
France is pushing to sell six frigates, 15 helicopters and up to 40 top-of-the-range Rafale fighter aircraft.
Greek and French officials said President Nicolas Sarkozy was personally involved and had broached the matter when Papandreou visited France last month to seek support in the financial crisis.
FRIGATE PURCHASE
The Greeks were so sensitive to Sarkozy's concerns that they announced on the day Papandreou went to Paris that they would go ahead with buying six Fremm frigates worth 2.5 billion euros ($3.38 billion), despite their budget woes.
The ships are made by the state-controlled shipyard DCNS, which is a quarter owned by defense electronics group Thales (TCFP.PA) and may have to lay workers off in the downturn.
Greece is also in talks buy 15 French Super Puma search-and-rescue helicopters made by aerospace giant EADS (EAD.PA) for an estimated 400 million euros.
The Rafale, made by Dassault Aviation (AVMD.PA), is a more distant and vastly dearer prospect. There is no published price, but each costs over $100 million, plus weapons.
Germany is meanwhile pressing Athens to pay for a diesel-electric submarine from ThyssenKrupp (TKAG.DE), of which it refused to take delivery in 2006 because the craft listed during sea trials following a disputed refurbishment in Kiel.
Payment would clear the way for ThyssenKrupp to sell its loss-making Greek unit Hellenic Shipyards (HSY), the biggest shipbuilder in the eastern Mediterranean, to Abu Dhabi MAR (ADM), industry sources said.
ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems last year canceled a Greek order for four other submarines over the dispute, in which it said Athens' arrears exceeded 520 million euros.
Witney, now at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said German officials were embittered by Greek behavior in the long-running dispute, as well as previous payment problems over the purchase of German Leopard II tanks.
Greek Deputy Defense Minister Panos Beglitis told Reuters the dispute was on the brink of settlement but denied the timing had anything to do with Athens' bid to clinch German backing this week for a financial safety net for Greek debt.
"(The submarine) Papanicolis has been carefully inspected by German and Greek experts. It has been greatly improved and declared seaworthy. We will take it, sell it and make a profit," he said in an interview.
"We are paying 300 million (euros) and we will sell it for 350 million," Beglitis said. Witney questioned Greece's chances of turning a profit on a second-hand submarine.
NO LINKAGE?
Asked whether big European suppliers were using the crisis to press arms sales on Athens, he said: "This has always been the case with these countries. It is not because of the crisis, there is no link."
Beglitis said this year's defense budget was set at 2.8 percent of GDP, down from 3.1 percent in 2009. Non-government sources say the real level of military spending may be higher.
"Our strategy is continuously and steadily to reduce spending. This is also in line with the Greek stability and growth program," Beglitis said. The program, submitted to the EU, pledges to reduce the budget deficit from 12.9 percent last year to below 3 percent by the end of 2012.
Western officials and economists have advocated a radical reduction of the armed forces as a long-term way of reducing structural spending, but Greek officials say that would require a real improvement in relations with Turkey.
Despite warmer ties, the two countries remain in dispute over Cyprus and maritime boundaries and have sporadic aerial incidents over the Aegean Sea.
French economist Jacques Delpla said Greece could reap big savings if it moved jointly with Turkey and Cyprus to settle disputes in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean and engaged in mutual disarmament.
"Unlike Portugal or Ireland, Greece could benefit from significant peace dividends to reduce its titanic fiscal deficits," he said.
Beglitis said Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan had mooted the idea of mutual defense spending cuts in public but not followed it up.
"There was some rhetoric from Mr Erdogan on this but there are no negotiations at the moment," he said.
(additional reporting by Dina Kyriakidou in Athens; writing by Paul Taylor; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
WorldFranceGermanyRelated Quotes and NewsCompanyPriceRelated NewsThales SA
TCFP.PA€23.27
+0.56+2.49%EADS open to Thales tie-up for Brazil contract-paper Air France picks new unit head-paper
More TCFP.PA News »
European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS NV
EAD.PA€20.96
+1.13+5.70%Buyers circle Comtech amid activist pressure DEALTALK-Buyers circle Comtech amid activist pressure
More EAD.PA News »
Dassault Aviation SA
AVMD.PA€643.72
-0.28-0.04%EADS won't join French-British "Telemos" drone project UPDATE 1-EADS won't join French-British 'Telemos' drone project
More AVMD.PA News »
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
After reading this article, people also read:U.S. alleges $9 million biofuel scheme paid for exotic cars
Oct 4, 2011
UPDATE 2-Greece launches talks for French frigates, copters
Jan 22, 2009
Sirte residents turn anger on Libya's new rulers
Oct 5, 2011
India launches "world's cheapest" tablet computer
Oct 5, 2011
Timeline: Greece's economic crisis
Mar 22, 2010
Sponsored linksVideos you may like:
Banks under pressure over GreeceTue, Oct 04 2011Greece increases cuts to get bailoutWed, Sep 21 2011Jim Rogers: Buy euro if Greece defaultsWed, Sep 21 2011 by Taboola
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoug htful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (10)
Story_Burn wrote:
That is really bizarre, but company goals are company goals. Hey, we armed up the Taliban during the Russian war and look how smart that was
Mar 23, 2010 7:05am EDT -- Report as abuse
youpii wrote:
The frigates would be built in Greece, not in France.
Mar 23, 2010 7:36am EDT -- Report as abuse
cpgp wrote:
Every time a new greek government attempts to cut defense spending something happens in the Aegean, yesterday turkish frigates reached Cape Sounion, near Athens. Possibly this happens vice versa for the two poor countries ensuring a certain level of fear and nationalistic sentiment that keeps arms spending always high on both sides.
Mar 23, 2010 10:53am EDT -- Report as abuse
This discussion is now closed. We welcome comments on our articles for a limited period after their publication.
See All Comments »
Πέρα από γυναίκες, βγάζουν τα ψυχοσωματικά τους και σε σκυλιά... _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Meet Sausage the riot dog, an amiable ginger mongrel resident of Syntagma Square in central Athens, who doesn't mind if you show up for a day of mayhem as long as he can join in. It's made him a local celebrity. He's appeared on the front of just about every newspaper in Greece and wagged his tail on TV screens and websites around the world. (Reuters)
The EU's latest NWO fighting force to quell potential rebellions....
http://www.eurogendfor.eu/
"The European Gendarmerie Force (EGF) is an initiative of 5 EU Member States - France, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal and Spain – aimed at improving the crisis management capability in sensitive areas. Since Wednesday, 17th December 2008, the High Level Interdepartmental Committee Meeting (CIMIN) decided to welcome the Romanian Gendarmerie to become a full member of the EGF. Therefore the EGF consists from that moment of 6 member states.
EGF responds to the need to rapidly conduct all the spectrum of civil security actions, either on its own or in parallel with the military intervention, by providing a multinational and effective tool.
The EGF will facilitate the handling of crisis that require management by police forces, usually in a critical situation, also taking advantage from the experience already gained in the relevant peace-keeping missions.
Based in Vicenza in the "Generale Chinotto" barracks, the EGF HQ is now developing a comprehensive and coherent operational system, which will permit to be ready in case of prompt deployment to crisis areas.
EGF goal is to provide the International Community with a valid and operational instrument for crisis management, first and foremost at disposal of EU, but also of other International Organizations, as NATO, UN and OSCE, and ad hoc coalitions."
From the same site and under Frequently Asked Questions, and I quote:
"Q.1.i. Who gives the mandate for operations in which the EGF is involved?
Ans. The EGF will always be deployed on a clear legal basis. Usually the mandate will be based on relevant UN Security Council Resolutions or on political guidelines from EU or other international organisations that intervene in the field of crisis management."
"Q. 2.c. What are the tasks the EGF can perform?
Ans. In accordance with the mandate of each operation, the EGF can perform a broad spectrum of activities related to its own police capability, such as:
- performing security and public order missions;
- monitoring of and advice for local police in their day-to-day work, including criminal investigation work;
- conducting public surveillance, border policing and general intelligence;
- performing criminal investigation work, covering detection of offences, tracing of offenders and their transfer to the appropriate judicial authorities;
- protecting people and property and keeping order in the event of public disturbances;
- training of police officers as regards international standards;
- training of instructors, particularly through co-operation programmes.
"
Ok I might not have a complete understanding yet but I can just about make out the outline of their operations. The other question remains ananswered:
...what is Eurogendfor doing in Greece?
Greek online blogs (all in Greek I am afraid but I list some below) are circulating reports that Eurogendfor has arrived in Greece this week. No official response to confirm or deny this, where is the truth?
How can one know the facts and why are the Greek mainsteam media not commenting on this issue?
I typed the word Eurogendfor in the BBC News, Guardian, The Independent search engines, no results came up.
For months the austerity program unfolded by the Greek government as a result of the IMF/EU requirements for budget deficit reduction has resulted in vibrand protest movement expressed through public protests & multiple strikes. Even retired policemen, retired army reservists have gone protesting as organised groups via their unions and associations. The Greek Riot Police (MAT) have been beating up protesters for weeks. Is it conceivable that EGF will be mobilised in Greece?
I hope the reports are unfounded and have only been spread to monitor public reaction, or could it be a hoax?. No Greek in their right mind would authorise the deployment of such force against protestors any such politician would be named a traitor, this is how the Greek psychi works, surely they know. It would finish PA.SO.K.
But if Eurogendfor is in Greece but not to fight the protestors then we have to ask again what they are doing in Greece?
Published: 19 October, 2011, 11:12
Edited: 19 October, 2011, 16:16
https://www.rt.com/news/greeks-strike-protest-biggest-163/
People demonstrate in front of the Greek parliament in Athens on October 19, 2011. (AFP Photo / Aris Messinis)
Police and protesters in Athens clash outside the parliament as the so-called “mother of all strikes” is underway in Greece. Around 125,000 people are taking part in the largest protest since financial turmoil began crippling the country.
In front of the parliament building, sounds like flashbangs just off Syntagma Square, used by police to stun, attract loud boos whenever they go off, as RT's correspondent Sara Firth reports.
The 48-hour general strike has started on Wednesday ahead of the parliamentary vote on Thursday. Parliament is still pressing ahead with another key vote to squeeze spending even further to stave off a catastrophic national bankruptcy.
Emergency powers have been invoked to force garbage crews to get back to work as an escalating campaign of strikes by public servants and other unions against austerity measures has crippled services in Greece. Garbage is left on every single street and corner. On Tuesday, which saw the 17th day of a collectors’ strike, Prime Minister George Papandreou issued a civil mobilization order.
The country is caught between severe opposition at home and intense pressure from foreign investors. Many analysts share the opinion that over the past weeks and months the eurozone leaders should have adopted a different option from the very beginning of the entire crisis, and that now there is no Plan B. There have been talks of a possible default for Greece. In the meantime, the people of Greece seem to have reached breaking point from the authorities’ severe austerity measures. _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Papandreou resigned in the summer in the midst of a 48hour strike and then re-called it.
He has already gone to see the President and has been in meetings with the leader of the 'Opposition'. That he has lost all credibility can be clearly discerned from the videos.
The issue is when he goes does the Euro go into meltdown or are they going to keep him hanging like a zombie alive when the situation goes totally out of control Argentinian style?
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18335 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2011 6:52 pm Post subject:
Greek Parliament Passes Additional Austerity Measures
Published: Thursday, 20 Oct 2011
http://www.cnbc.com/id/44978274?
Greek lawmakers have passed a deeply resented austerity bill that has led to violent protests on the streets of Athens, despite some dissent from one Socialist lawmaker.
Demonstrators shout slogans during a protest against plans for new austerity measures on October 19, 2011 in Athens, Greece.
The new measures include pay and 30,000 staff cuts in the civil service as well as pension cuts and tax hikes for all Greeks. The bill passed by majority vote in the 300-member parliament.
Former Labor Minister Louka Katseli voted against one article that scales back collective labor bargaining rights. She voted in favor of the overall bill, but Prime Minister George Papandreou expelled her from the party's parliamentary group. The move whittles down his parliamentary majority to 153.
The vote came after violent demonstrations that left one person dead and 74 injured.
Default or credit event to occur now on Wednesday for the EU?
I'm sick of your constant criticism says sneering Sarko: French president tries to bar Cameron from crucial single currency meeting
‘You say you hate the euro, you didn’t want to join and now you want to interfere in our meetings’
Tempers frayed as leaders took steps towards a deal to strengthen the banking system, boost bailout funds and write off a chunk of Greece’s debts
By James Chapman
Last updated at 12:51 PM on 24th October 2011
Comments (998)
Add to My Stories
Share
French President Nicolas Sarkozy told David Cameron he was ‘sick’ of his advice over the eurozone crisis last night as the EU summit ended in acrimony and indecision.
The pair clashed because Britain was pushing for a full meeting of all 27 EU leaders next week, rather than allowing the 17 countries in the euro to stitch up a deal on their own.
‘We’re sick of you criticising us and telling us what to do,’ the French leader is said to have told the Prime Minister in Brussels. ‘You say you hate the euro, you didn’t want to join and now you want to interfere in our meetings.’
Talking tough: Cameron said Britain would never join the euro
Biting back: French president Nicolas Sarkozy told David Cameron he was 'sick' of his advice over the eurozone crisis
Biting back: French president Nicolas Sarkozy told David Cameron he was 'sick' of his advice over the eurozone crisis
Mr Cameron’s gift of a pink woollen blanket for Mr Sarkozy’s new baby daughter Giulia apparently did little to lighten the mood.
The president went on to say he was ‘sick’ of picking up newspapers and reading advice on the eurozone crisis from the Prime Minister and Chancellor George Osborne.
More...
Cameron faces the mutineers: Talk of EU treaty fans the flames
Tory rebels face disciplinary action if they snub three-line whip on EU vote, Defence Secretary warns
SIMON HEFFER: Why the PM ignores the publicat his peril
Don't know why you're in the doghouse? Don't pass the buck, eat humble pie instead: New guide explains origins of well-known phrases... in a nutshell
Tempers frayed as leaders took tentative steps towards a deal to strengthen the banking system, boost bailout funds for debt-stricken economies and write off a huge chunk of Greece’s towering debts.
Europe’s 13th crisis management summit in less than two years ended with leaders having to agree to meet again on Wednesday to seek a comprehensive solution to the debt contagion threatening the future of the single currency.
Showdown: David Cameron pictured in Downing Street this morning ahead of the crunch debate on EU membership
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne arrives at Downing Street
Commons showdown: David Cameron and George Osborne are pictured in Downing Street this morning ahead of the debate on EU membership later
Angela Merkel presents Sarkozy with a teddy bear for his new baby daughter Giulia while David Cameron gave the French President a pink woollen blanket
Angela Merkel presents Sarkozy with a teddy bear for his new baby daughter Giulia while David Cameron gave the French President a pink woollen blanket
PUGH.jpg
Fears are growing that the package of measures will not be enough to withstand potential future economic shocks – amid warnings that Greece could swallow all the remaining eurozone bailout cash on its own.
And news of a slowdown in both manufacturing and services will do little to restore faith in the economic prospects of a Europe already afflicted with sluggish growth figures.
There is mounting alarm about the state of the Italian economy and its failure to take steps to get on top of its debts, which stand at 120 per cent of national income.
Ultimately, the Prime Minister had his way and another full meeting of all 27 EU leaders was agreed – though this will mean him having to tear up his travel plans for the week.
Proposed trips to Japan and New Zealand will be cancelled, while the Prime Minister is likely to arrive late for a Commonwealth summit in Australia with the Queen.
Mr Cameron won agreement from other leaders for unspecified ‘safeguards’ for Britain and other non-euro countries against potentially damaging rulings from a new, more closely integrated eurozone.
RECESSION FEARS OVER SLUMP IN MANUFACTURING AND SERVICES
Fears that the eurozone will slide back into recession intensified today as data revealed the fastest contraction in the manufacturing and services sectors for two years.
The bleak economic data will heap further pressure on politicians to thrash out a set of measures to rescue the eurozone's finances and restore market confidence.
The Markit eurozone purchasing managers index (PMI), where a figure under 50 indicates a decline, fell to 47.2 in October, its lowest since July 2009 and the second month in a row in which it has been in negative territory.
Markit's chief economist Chris Williamson said: 'The PMI signals a heightened risk of the eurozone sliding back into recession.'
Markit said manufacturing output fell for the third month running in October, while services activity fell for the second month, with the powerhouse German economy also showing signs of a slowdown.
Mr Williamson went on: 'Forward-looking indicators, such as the further lowering of expectations of services growth in the year ahead and the near-stalling of job creation, suggest that companies are bracing themselves for the situation to continue to deteriorate.'
In Germany, the manufacturing sector slipped into decline, while the country's overall output slipped to a modest increase compared to the strong growth seen in the first half of the year.
France saw a fall in private sector output for the first time in more than two years, led by 'a worryingly steep deterioration' in the service sector.
The only ray of hope was that price pressures have eased, especially in manufacturing, where they fell for the first time in more than two years.
After hours of talks, the leaders agreed that European banks will need £94billion of fresh capital over the next six to nine months to shield themselves against potential debt defaults by EU countries.
But the figure falls short of some market estimates of the necessary recapitalisation. A recent International Monetary Fund report identified a £175billion black hole in banks’ balance sheets stemming from sovereign debt writedowns, while other experts put the figure higher still.
Mr Cameron urged eurozone leaders to deliver a credible response to restore market confidence in the single currency.
After the six-hour summit in Brussels, he warned that the crisis was having a ‘chilling effect’ on all 27 EU economies, adding: ‘While the UK is not in the eurozone and has no intention of joining, it is in Britain’s interest to have a strong and healthy euro. Do people have the confidence that the eurozone is putting in place what’s needed to contain any contagion? We need further progress to that decisive solution.’
Mr Cameron repeated his pledge never to join the euro, describing it as ‘like the ERM [the disastrous Exchange Rate Mechanism] without an exit’. Greece and Portugal are already on life support, having had to be bailed out by eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund.
Those two countries – and probably Italy and Spain – are expected to need more help to meet the new requirements for banks to protect themselves by holding more capital. Of £383billion in the Eurozone’s bailout fund, £116billion has already been spent propping up Greece, Portugal and Ireland’s struggling economies.
But more of the fund is likely to have go to Greece to stop it defaulting on its borrowing – and Italy alone is likely to need another £218billion next year just to service its existing debts.
Other countries will not be able to meet the bill for propping up banks deemed to be dangerously exposed to sovereign debt themselves.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that if Italy’s debt remains at 120 per cent of gross domestic product ‘then it won’t matter how high the protective wall is because it won’t help win back the markets’ confidence’.
Author: Yves Smith · October 23rd, 2011 · Comments (2) Share This Print 0 13
In the runup to the crisis, it was striking to read the undertone of worry in quite a few of the articles in the Financial Times, and I don’t mean only Gillian Tett’s fixation on collateralized debt obligations. It was palpable that a lot of writers were uncomfortable with how frothy the markets were, yet couldn’t say anything too much at odds with what their largely cheerleading sources were telling them.
Even though the overall mood at this juncture is far more downbeat, there is again a reporting gap between the pink paper and the two major US print business outlets, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times on the expected crisis nexus, the Eurozone. Both US media outlets have a prominent article on the latest Euro exercise in rescue brinksmanship. And they are almost the same story; indeed, at this hour, they perversely use identical photos of Merkel and Sarkozy conferring. They present the formerly aligned core nation leaders as being at odds, then widen the frame to explain the divisive issues. First,, the Germans want a deeper but voluntary haircut of at most 50% of Greek debt; the French do not want to go beyond the 21% reduction structured last July. The steeper writeoff would, of course, lead to a bigger hit to French banks. Second France (effectively) wants the ECB to provide further leverage to the EFSF directly, while Germany and the ECB itself are decidedly opposed (Germany wants individual states to be responsible for their banks, with the ECB acting as a guarantor). The Journal was thinner on details and focused on the hardening political stances, not just between France and Germany, but other states as well. Per the Journal:
People familiar with the negotiations said Germany and France remain so far apart on key issues that Ms. Merkel couldn’t get a green light to sign a deal from her increasingly assertive parliamentarians.
If you rated these articles as sobering, the far more detailed coverage at the Financial Times has an undertone of despair. And one story emphasizes an issue absent from the times and mentioned only in passing in the Journal: the experiment in Greece in radical austerity is killing the patient. From the Financial Times:
Greece’s economy has deteriorated so severely in the last three months that international lenders would have to find €252bn in bail-out loans through the end of the decade unless Greek bondholders are forced to accept severe cuts in their debt repayments.
The dire analysis, contained in a “strictly confidential” report by international lenders and obtained by the Financial Times, is more than double the €109bn in European Union and International Monetary Fund aid agreed just three months ago.
Under a more severe test run by economists for the so-called “troika” of lenders – the IMF, European Central Bank and European Commission – Greece’s bail-out needs could balloon to €444bn, the study said.
Now before you attribute this shortfall to civil disobedience, which has been a contributor, an even bigger factor seems to be a major breakdown of a wide range of critical operations, such as power and garbage collection. And the bailout plan had some absurd assumptions, such as forecasting proceeds from infrastructure sales that were three times the level private sources expected them to fetch.
A must-read set of on-the-ground accounts in the Guardian (hat tip reader FlyingKiwi) gives a sense of how bad things are:
The poor and middle classes are being asked to pick up the bill for the excesses of the rich and corrupt; those who have declared their taxes correctly continue to be taxed more than those who don’t; and in a country with one of the highest cost of living, wages are being cut and taxes being raised….
I live in chaos. Chaos is a Greek word and aptly describes life in this country. I have been a good citizen of this country and have worked hard in the 25 years that I have lived here. I work from 2pm to 10pm daily. I put in 40 teaching hours per week. If you add the lesson planning and marking it’s nearly 50 hours per week. I only see my husband for half an hour a day as he teaches in a state school in the morning but because his salary is so low he needs to supplement his income in the evenings. How many of our European colleagues work so many hours?…
I can’t get to work easily most days because public transport is usually on strike three days every week. The streets are piled high with rubbish…
I work with a local council in Crete. There is an increasing sense of the country having fallen apart. All temporary contracts have been arbitrarily cancelled so we can’t run any sports or arts programmes, even those which are profit-making. No one answers the phones in the central offices in Athens because of the sit-ins, so we can’t work our way round the red tape.
The town hall itself has been occupied by strikers for the last week. The rubbish hasn’t been collected for three weeks. Standard processes are paralysed. This includes the payment of staff – many are owed over six months.
Now remember the earlier prevailing assumptions. Even though Greece was widely understood last year to be deeply underwater and independent observers all said a bond writedowns of at least 50% were in order, it was also assumed that Greece alone was a manageable problem. The danger was seen as contagion to bigger economies, particularly Spain and Italy.
But Greece alone is morphing into a potentially unsolvable problem. The EFSF, with its CDO-like structure and its not-very-convincing of states guaranteeing the very same fund they are borrowing from, was always better on paper than it would work in reality. Given the difficulties of getting approvals even for existing plans that are in desperate need of reworking, the only way out of the box would seem to be to resort to the ECB (as in “print”). But Germany remains firmly opposed, and the ECB is not too keen.
The FT highlights a second issue: given the difficult of getting any fix approved, and that Italian bond spreads are elevated, it seems crucial to get a big enough fix approved. But given the impasse over Greek haircuts, the belated willingness to consider a much larger bailout fund is exposing its widely discussed design flaws (this blog was far from alone in pointing them out). Again, the FT:
The fight between Germany and France over how to increase the firepower of the eurozone’s €440bn ($609bn) rescue fund comes down to a fundamental question: is there enough money in Europe to prevent a run on the €1,900bn Italian bond market?…
The rescue fund, formally called the European financial stability facility, is only able to raise cheap money for bail-outs because it relies on the fiscal reputation of its two biggest members, France and Germany. They are two of only six nations in the 17 country eurozone that have a triple A debt rating.
But as the crisis in the eurozone has grown, spreading from small peripheral countries to major economies such as Spain and Italy, the sheer size of countries’ debts that need to be supported by the EFSF has threatened to buckle the hastily constructed edifice – and the weak point is in Paris.
Adding new money to the fund has proved impossible because it would probably force a downgrade of French debt, making the entire EFSF rescue system collapse. Plans to increase the fund’s firepower have similarly run into trouble because the leading “insurance” scheme – which would use the EFSF to guarantee losses on Italian bonds – saddles France with too many liabilities.
There are other possible ways out of this seeming impasse, such as having the IMF assist in rescues in Spain and Italy. The Eurocrats have managed in the past to cobble deals together at the 11th hour, even if they satisfy the markets for only a few days. But every time, the issues that need to be solved are more daunting, and the various government leaders believe or pretend they have less bargaining room than they did in the past. While it would be better if I were proven wrong, there is not much cause for optimism here
In the meantime was does this imply to you? After announcing a referendum yesterday - the idea is quashed today. Who's pulling the strings?
Quote:
6.23pm: We still have no word from Athens about the cabinet meeting that was due to start over two hours ago. However, there are reports that the idea of putting the bailout terms to the Greek population may already have been shot down.
Dow Jones is quoting a Socialist Party official who says the idea of a referendum vote on Greece's bailout plan is "basically dead".
Greece crisis: Papandreou's referendum is a gamble too far
In an open debate the Greek people are unlikely to chose to stay in the euro – something September's protests made clear
Costas Lapavitsas
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 1 November 2011 18.15 GMT
Article history
Athens civil servants protest on 21 September in renewed demonstrations against public sector cuts and dismissals. Photograph: Alkis Konstantinidis/EPA
The referendum announced on Monday by the Greek prime minister, George Papandreou, is probably the final bell before Greece defaults and quits the euro. Assuming it is not withdrawn amid all the political turmoil afflicting the ruling party, the vote is planned for January, and the issue will presumably be the latest bailout. But the real question will be: "Euro or drachma?"
Greece's ruling elite understands the dilemma perfectly, hence the negative reaction of political parties and the press to Papandreou's initiative, with six senior officials of his own party calling on him to resign. If the vote goes against the euro, Greece's economic, political and diplomatic strategy of the last 30 years would be deeply shaken. The repercussions would be incalculable, for Greece but also for Europe.
Papandreou's decision has not been taken lightly, even though it has a whiff of the unpredictability of his family as politicians. The main reason for it is that Greece has become increasingly ungovernable through successive European Union "rescue" packages.
Rapid unravelling of domestic political power began in the summer, with mass gatherings across Greece's major urban centres. The largest were in Syntagma Square in Athens, where the Aganaktismenoi (the "Outraged") dismissed the political system and demanded "real democracy". An enormous demonstration took place in June, the government was shaken and Papandreou even resigned for a few hours, seeking a coalition government with the opposition. But a lack of political focus by the Aganaktismenoi allowed the government to escape.
In September popular unrest returned even more decisively, led by trade unions that had broken their links with the ruling party. Local authority employees allowed rubbish to accumulate in the cities. Electricity workers said they would not co-operate with a government plan to collect a property tax via electricity bills. Civil servants began to occupy ministries and other institutions, profoundly weakening the capacity of the Greek state to collect taxes and cut expenditure.
The balance was probably tipped on 28 October, the anniversary of Greek entry into the second world war. Traditionally there are student and military parades in urban centres, the largest in Thessaloniki. In an unprecedented act, crowds of bystanders disrupted parades across the country, including in Thessaloniki. Government representatives were hounded and the president was called a traitor. The mechanisms of symbolic and ideological power of the Greek state buckled.
The reaction of the crowd signalled a development that has been in the offing for a while. By imposing ruthless austerity, privatisation and liberalisation, the EU has eventually succeeded in igniting the nationalist sentiment of Greeks. The rejection of the latest bailout has taken a nationalist tinge, often directed against perceived German domination.
Lest it be misunderstood, this is not yet virulent nationalism. It is more a reaction to the loss of national sovereignty and independence that would result from the permanent monitoring of Greek finances by EU bureaucrats, and from the plan to sell a huge range of public assets to pay off debt.
It is also a reaction to the palpable weakening of the democratic process in the course of the crisis. Papandreou is fully aware of the risk of being branded a traitor, fairly or unfairly. He is also aware of the advancing collapse of his government. But he is reluctant to hold fresh elections because he knows his party would be destroyed. And so he has opted for the desperate gamble of the referendum in the hope of buying time, as well as scaring people with the "euro or drachma" question.
It remains to be seen whether there will be a referendum. The government has to win a vote of confidence in parliament this week, which is far from certain. There could well be rapid political change that instead leads to elections.
The import of Papandreou's move, however, is that it has put the real dilemma of this crisis in front of the Greek people. If debated freely, there would be no guarantees that the Greeks would opt for the euro. And if they chose to quit, it is possible the monetary union would begin to unravel.
Greece quitting the euro of its own accord would probably come as a surprise to policymakers in the EU. They never really intended to drive Greece out since the risk to banks would be enormous. Misled by the meek attitude of the Greek government, they imposed ever harsher measures, imagining they were doing Greeks a favour. Someone in the bubble of Brussels should have told the decision-makers what was really happening among Greece's grassroots.
The real risk was always that Greece would be forced by necessity to break free of the euro, and this is now more likely than ever.
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18335 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 6:27 pm Post subject:
There is no democracy
Greek PM drops euro referendum plan
(UKPA) – 1 hour ago
Greece's prime minister has abandoned his explosive plan to put a European rescue deal to a referendum.
George Papandreou opened emergency talks with his opponents, who performed a U-turn and agreed to broad austerity measures in exchange for a European bailout.
Mr Papandreou ignored widespread calls for his resignation and instead invited the opposition to join negotiations on the bailout. He told an emergency Cabinet meeting that early elections would force Greece into leaving the euro, with disastrous effects for both Greece and other European economies.
Mr Papandreou sparked a global crisis on Monday when he announced he would put the latest European deal to cut Greece's massive debts - an accord that took months of negotiations - to a referendum.
The idea horrified other EU nations and Greece's creditors, triggering turmoil in financial markets as investors fretted over the prospect of Greece being forced into a disorderly default.
Two officials close to Mr Papandreou said that the referendum idea has now been scrapped, after the debt deal won support from the opposition.
Mr Papandreou spoke to conservative opposition leader Antonis Samaras in the afternoon, his office said, before a major address to his Socialist party deputies in parliament.
Speaking to his ministers, Mr Papandreou said his proposal to hold a referendum "has at least brought many people toward a rational view" of Greece's dire economic situation. Several Greek MPs had called for a coalition unity government to approve the bailout package without a referendum, but Mr Papandreou said stepping down would make things worse.
"Elections as a solution, today and at this moment, would mean a much greater danger of bankruptcy and of course exit from the euro," he said.
The drama in Greece sent immediate ripples throughout Europe. Premier Silvio Berlusconi's government in Italy was teetering as well after it failed to come up with a credible plan to deal with its dangerously high debts, and Portugal demanded more flexible terms for its own bailout. _________________ www.lawyerscommitteefor9-11inquiry.org www.rethink911.org www.patriotsquestion911.com www.actorsandartistsfor911truth.org www.mediafor911truth.org www.pilotsfor911truth.org www.mp911truth.org www.ae911truth.org www.rl911truth.org www.stj911.org www.v911t.org www.thisweek.org.uk www.abolishwar.org.uk www.elementary.org.uk www.radio4all.net/index.php/contributor/2149 http://utangente.free.fr/2003/media2003.pdf
"The maintenance of secrets acts like a psychic poison which alienates the possessor from the community" Carl Jung
https://37.220.108.147/members/www.bilderberg.org/phpBB2/
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You cannot attach files in this forum You can download files in this forum
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Chat
Usergroups
Calendar
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
and 'invasion' 
