The Empire Of Fear

[wonderpup]

A translated interview of Greek Economist Costas Lapavitsas- this quote strikes me as a genuine insight as to the true nature of the current European 'union';

LV: Do you think that the euro will fail?

CL: The euro has already failed. It was a project that was supposed to create convergence, growth and solidarity between the peoples of Europe, it was supposed to create a commonality among Europeans. The euro has created divergences, recession, poverty, it is like a straitjacket for Europe, increases the national and the social tensions in Europe. It succeeds now only because it instills fear. I do not think this is sustainable for long.

(emphasis mine)

http://www.theautomaticearth.com/debt-rattle-feb-5-2014-bernanke-put-yellen-trap/

So for all the soaring rhetoric of convergence and solidarity the EU is now held together mostly by the fear of what might happen if it should not.

And this too seems true;

LV: Can we forget the idea introduced a couple of years ago regarding a two-speed euro?

CL: I do not think it’s going to be a two-speed euro. I think the policy that comes from Berlin and Brussels is the austerity of all European countries. France is now in a situation impossible . The real problem in the eurozone is now France. It has a great competitiveness gap with Germany.

emphasis mine.

I believed in the EU- then I saw what they did to the Greeks. It turns out that the EU leadership is just another power elite on the make and determined to preserve the banks and their debt based 'wealth' at the expense of the real economy and the people who live in it.

By all accounts the banks in europe are up to their necks in emerging market loans that are in danger of default- and the plan in the EU is make us pay the cost of that folly- no banker will be harmed in the making of this bail in.

Edited February 5, 2014 by wonderpup

[Wurzel Of Highbridge]

The Euro could have worked well if there were some rigid policy around debt.

Greece would have still failed with it's own currency - see Latvia for more details. Luckily the Greek are in the Euro, so are effectively being bailed out.

[zugzwang]

The Euro could have worked well if there were some rigid policy around debt.

Greece would have still failed with it's own currency - see Latvia for more details. Luckily the Greek are in the Euro, so are effectively being bailed out.

Or Turkey next door. Or Venezuela. Or... the UK.

[oracle]

The Euro could have worked well if there were some rigid policy around debt.

Greece would have still failed with it's own currency - see Latvia for more details. Luckily the Greek are in the Euro, so are effectively being bailed out.

not necessarily...look at the current construct of the EU and the "one trick pony" economies.

greece/spain cannot get out of defecit while it's industry gets pummelled and is left over-reliant on tourism

UK cannot get out of defecit while it is hamstrung by regulation /industry decimated and over reliant on housing/finance/consumerism

germany NEEDS to keep dependent satellite states and sewn up regulation to maintain their export base.I suggest we ,also, when we leave, withdraw all of our military garrisons too.....franky we've spent quite enough time(and blood) defending europe from fascism and communism, and we get f*** all thanks for it.....

time to let it stew and look after ourselves for a change.

time to leave boys and girls..if you don't like the club rules, then change the club.(doesn't mean we can't trade on an honest basis with the likes of denmark/sweden etc.)

our natural club is across the pond.

Edited February 5, 2014 by oracle

[oracle]

The Euro could have worked well if there were some rigid policy around debt.

Greece would have still failed with it's own currency - see Latvia for more details. Luckily the Greek are in the Euro, so are effectively being bailed out.

hahaha..hahahahaha..hahahah.

greece is now a pawn in the game of realpolitik chess.

they are either gonna be owned by the rome/berlin axis or russia.(and as they are of the orthodox variety of christendom, and the orthodox are very wary of expansionist romans...the likes of van rompuoy etc)...it's gonna be russia.

[dances with sheeple]

A translated interview of Greek Economist Costas Lapavitsas- this quote strikes me as a genuine insight as to the true nature of the current European 'union';

(emphasis mine)

http://www.theautoma...ut-yellen-trap/

So for all the soaring rhetoric of convergence and solidarity the EU is now held together mostly by the fear of what might happen if it should not.

And this too seems true;

emphasis mine.

I believed in the EU- then I saw what they did to the Greeks. It turns out that the EU leadership is just another power elite on the make and determined to preserve the banks and their debt based 'wealth' at the expense of the real economy and the people who live in it.

By all accounts the banks in europe are up to their necks in emerging market loans that are in danger of default- and the plan in the EU is make us pay the cost of that folly- no banker will be harmed in the making of this bail in.

Who do you mean by "us", not the UK surely?

[wonderpup]

The Euro could have worked well if there were some rigid policy around debt.

Greece would have still failed with it's own currency - see Latvia for more details. Luckily the Greek are in the Euro, so are effectively being bailed out.

Look closely at the Greek 'bailout' and you will see an arrangement whereby most of that bailout money is placed into an escrow account where it remains unavailable to the Greek people and is then returned to the banks in germany and france,whose bailout is the primary focus of the effort.

Had Greece not been in the EU it would have been able to revalue and find a way out- instead of which we see it being blasted back to the stone age in order to rescue greedy idiots in the Banking sector who chose to lend Greece money not based on it's own productivity but on their conviction that if anything went wrong they would be bailed out- and that is exactly what happened;

Greece - Cutting out the Middle Man

It seems that central bankers and politicians are endlessly resourceful when it comes to innovating ways to profit themselves and bankers at everyone else's expense. Where I had thought Greek default inevitable just two weeks ago, I no longer think so today. It appears that Sarkozy, Merkel and the Troika have decided to prevent a default regardless of what Greek politicians or citizens may choose to do.

The new plan is to take the EUR 130 billion that would have gone to Greece in the second bailout, and put it in an escrow account.

The account may be labelled "Greek Government", but Greek politicians will not have any authority over the funds. The funds will be disbursed by a non-Greek overseer to pay holders of Greek debt. Official creditors will receive full payment. Private creditors will receive the new discounted rates agreed with the IIF for restructured debt. I am not sure what private creditors who reject the IIF proposal might receive, but it will not much matter as ISDA will find there is no credit event regardless.

http://londonbanker.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/greece-cutting-out-middle-man.html

So who- exactly- was being bailed out here?

Edited February 5, 2014 by wonderpup

[wonderpup]

Who do you mean by "us", not the UK surely?

Yes- the UK is in on the bail in scheme-it's not just the Euro area- and some UK banks are in deep in some emerging markets, so I assume that this legislation will be activated if required;

In a barely read piece a month ago, the International Business Times reported on the rapidly drafted new EU law for “overhauling its policy on how banks receive bumper bailouts”. Be aware: this is an EU move, not a eurozone move: it is already law (it passed on August 1st) and although for now it applies only to the eurozone, it is an EU law. Hardly anyone has commented on this, but the approach being taken matches word for word the 3-card trick George Osborne used six weeks ago when he said:

“In future, taxpayers will not be called upon to bail banks out. It will be down to the creditors and the owners”.

The most remarkable example of double-speak to date, at the time I pointed out that creditors are taxpayers (they’re account holders, simple as that) and so as the Establishments daren’t ask us for higher taxes to bail out their mates in the banking system, they will take it via, if you like, Direct Debit. It is exactly the same principle of stealing the Troika wishes to apply to Greek private pension funds.

http://hat4uk.wordpress.com/2013/08/09/global-looting-the-new-eu-bailin-law-was-passed-8-days-ago-did-you-notice/

[dances with sheeple]

Yes- the UK is in on the bail in scheme-it's not just the Euro area- and some UK banks are in deep in some emerging markets, so I assume that this legislation will be activated if required;

http://hat4uk.wordpr...did-you-notice/

The day that happens in the UK for amounts under the 85k limit is the day Farage will become P.M, but by definition it is the wealthy who are going to bear the brunt of any Bail-in?

[(Blizzard)]

Yes- the UK is in on the bail in scheme-it's not just the Euro area- and some UK banks are in deep in some emerging markets, so I assume that this legislation will be activated if required;

http://hat4uk.wordpress.com/2013/08/09/global-looting-the-new-eu-bailin-law-was-passed-8-days-ago-did-you-notice/

Sorry, that link is ridiculous.

You lend money to a bank. If the bank goes busy, you lose.

What exactly is wrong or even surprising about that?

Why should taxpayers have anything to do with it?

For the record, I don't give the tiniest damn about Europe, it's just not a significant issue.