Euro Currency Failing–Nigel Farage was right

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Lance Armstrong–cheating to get to the top, represents so much of what’s wrong with society today

We sued so many people . . .

Lance Armstrong represents everything that’s wrong with society today. He lied his way to the top, he collected hundreds of millions of dollars by cheating, he bullied and threatened anyone who got in his way, and now in a “confession” to Oprah Winfrey, Armstrong admitted to doping with EPO, testosterone and blood transfusions during ALL his Tour de France races.

Lance Armstrong

“I was a bully” Armstrong now says.

And when Winfrey asked him if he sued one particular whistleblower who tried to go public with Armstrong’s criminal doping behavior, Armstrong’s answer was, “To be honest, we sued so many people.”

Yeah, as in too many victims to even count or remember– a person who doesn’t mind how many other people you have to hurt, threaten, lie to or betray as long as YOU are climbing to the top! (Source)

So, Why Did Lance Armstrong Suddenly Take All the Blame? 

Thomas Weisel

Why now you ask?

Perhaps the US Federal investigation was getting close to exposing the man who bankrolled Lance Armstrong’s drug habits? Perhaps Lance Armstrong’s sudden confession was necessary to distract attention away from the real drug kingpin, the one operating behind the scenes.

Meet Thom Weisel, owner of the holding company, Tailwind, which  financed and managed Lance Armstrong’s cycling team.

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Successfully Protesting Fraudlent Austerity Programs and Banker Bailouts–police in Spain are peacefully overwhelmed and decide to leave

POWER TO THE PEOPLE: Together, we can get through this.  

After days of unchecked police brutality against protestors in Spain . . . A crowd, protesting fraudulent austerity programs and obscene banker bailouts (in Spain), peacefully overwhelms and encourages Spain’s police to leave: 

Police decide to leave.

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Excellent job, Spain! The World just wants to be free, we are being governed by crazies! No one was harmed . . . a true turning of the tide, hopefully around the world.

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Euro Genius–you couldn’t make it up

Go, go, go Nigel Farage, the world’s most interesting speaker on the Euro crisis:

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Related articles

• The Genius of Mutual Indebtedness – Nigel Farage “the European Central Bank is bust. It’s gone” (seeker401.wordpress.com)
• Farage: “The Euro Titanic Has Now Hit The Iceberg” (investmentwatchblog.com)

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How about this? POLICE CHANGE SIDES!

(Source: Occupy Frankfurt. May 19, 2012)

(AP Photo/Michael Probst)

How about this!

The German police took off their helmets and marched with the protesters- clearing the way for them.

The police coming over to serve and protect the people… Blockupy Frankfurt. Police are escorting. Reports of an estimated 20,000+ protesters. Nice to see their faces…. and their humanity coming through…

German police officers escort an anti-capitalism protest march with some 20,000 people in Frankfurt, Germany, Saturday, May 19, 2012. Protesters peacefully filled the city center of continental Europe’s biggest financial hub in their protest against the dominance of banks and what they perceive to be untamed capitalism, Frankfurt police spokesman Ruediger Regis said. The protest group calling itself Blockupy has called for blocking the access to the European Central Bank, which is located in Frankfurt’s business district.

source: http://www.globalwinnipeg.com/world/20000+people+march+at+a+frankfurt+occupy+protest+german+police/6442644693/story.html

Photo/news source: http://www.660news.com/news/world/article/364434–german-police-says-some-10-000-are-marching-at-a-frankfurt-occupy-protest-rally

Associated Press Photo verified: http://www.globalwinnipeg.com/world/20000+people+march+at+a+frankfurt+occupy+protest+german+police/6442644693/story.html

(Photographer AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Wall Street journal Verified
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303360504577414370915099252.html

Washington Post verified
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/german-police-says-some-10000-are-marching-at-a-frankfurt-occupy-protest-rally/2012/05/19/gIQA3uTfaU_story.html

Nice to see the police give protesters a hand. I think I will plan on my next vacation to visit Germany. Such friendly people there!

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Solar Power in Germany Cuts Electric Power Costs–by as much as 40%

If solar power can cut the cost of electricity by 40% in Germany, imagine the possibilities for sunny areas of the world . . . 

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Solar PV Reducing Price of Power in Germany (Source)

February 20, 2012

Zachary Shahan in CleanTechnica:

Oh, the solar power haters are going to love this one—a recent study by Germany’s Institute for Future Energy Systems (IZES), conducted on behalf of of the German Solar Industry Association (BSW-Solar), has found that, on average, solar power has reduced the price of electricity 10% in Germany (on the EPEX exchange). It reduces prices up to 40% in the early afternoon, when electricity demand is peaking and electricity typically costs the most. There’s a visual of that (in German) here:

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Understanding the Nature of the Boot on Our Face

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America was once the nation the rest of the world looked up to.

The degeneration of the US political structure into criminal insanity is something historians will ponder for a very long time.

What happened?

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Occupy Movement Goes Worldwide–hooray for the 99%, it’s now a movement too big to fail

The Global 99%: Too Big to Fail!

The Occupy Movement: Too Big to Fail

As Rage at Wall Street Rises, Its Moneymen Shower Cash on Candidates

Leaked Memo: Corporate Executives Fear Escalation of Occupy Movement

Democracy Vs Bankers At The Fed

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Occupy Madrid, Spain

Occupy Berlin, Germany

Occupy Santiago, Chile

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Swine Flu Vaccine Causes Chronic Nervous System Disorders

Conclusive Link Now Admitted: Swine Flu Vaccine Causes Chronic Nervous System Disorders

Finland: 79 Children Develop Narcolepsy After Swine Flu Vaccine; Now Require Lifetime Medical Care

Sunday, 09 October 2011 07:16

‘The nation of Finland has now openly admitted that the swine flu vaccine “conclusively” causes narcolepsy, a chronic nervous system disorder that makes people uncontrollably fall asleep. The Finnish government, in acknowledging this link, says it will pay for “lifetime medical care” for 79 children who have been irreparably damaged by the swine flu vaccine.

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Norway to Recognize Palestine–then Oslo bomb explodes

Explosion damages government HQ in Oslo: A loud explosion shattered windows Friday at the government headquarters in Oslo which includes the prime minister’s office, injuring several people. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg is safe, government spokeswoman Camilla Ryste told The Associated Press. There was no immediate word on the cause of the blast

• Norway Under Attack (for supporting Palestine?)
• Norway To Support Palestinians Says Norwegian FM
  
• Since Norway was ready to recognize Palestine, I think we know who didn’t do the bombing.

Not the Muslims–less than 1% of Europe’s terrorist attacks in 2009 were by Muslims: In 2009 there were hundreds (318) of terrorist attacks in Europe, but less than 1% were perpetrated by Muslim terrorists. (Source)

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Elenin-Nibiru Flight Path Printed on Swiss Bank Note–just a coincidence, right?

When did they know:

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Nigel Farage Explains the EU–in plain language

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Related articles

• Nigel Farage on Euro’s 10th Birthday (politics.ie)
• Nigel Farage’s plane crash pilot denies threatening to kill him (mirror.co.uk)
• Farage pilot guilty of death threats (independent.co.uk)
• Nigel Farage confronts EU leaders with their hypocrisy on Libya (blogs.telegraph.co.uk)
• British in revolt over creeping rise of EU Commissioners’ power as they impose stealth taxes on British families and reduce EU inward contribution to Britain (dominicatimes.wordpress.com)

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NutraSweet Aspartame–yet another self-administered chemical weapon to be taken by gullible people who trust their authorities to take good care of them

The title says it all.

Want more details? NutraSweet Aspartame

Still not sure? The Deadly Truth About Aspartame & Cancer

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Spain’s Economy in Collapse–right wing austerity measures only served to make things worse

Austerity protests in Spain

 Instead of helping the Spanish people and small businesses, the government has bailed out its big banks and then implemented austerity measures to try to dig its way out of its fiscal hole. That’s why people are protesting. (Source)

Nobel Winner Stiglitz Warns Job-Killing Austerity Measures Hurt Economies

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Dollar rises from the Ashes and we all pay

 

Forcibly buying Yen

In last night’s post, I wrote “everyone who was massively exposed to the YEN will have a big problem”. Well I wasn’t the only one who saw this. Today, the G7 finance ministers decided the US Dollar was too weak relative to the Yen.

This sounds great on the surface. After all, we can buy more of their stuff when the US Dollar is strong. Of course, that’s more stuff made and sold by them and not made or sold by the dwindling US middle class … but I digress.

So how do you go about making a currency roughly 6.5% stronger over night? You make a bunch of US Dollars out of thin air and trade those US Dollars for a WHOLE BUNCH of Yen. So now “We, The People” own a whole bunch of Yen. I hope you have enough room for those pieces of paper next to your GM shares. Bear in mind, this was a decision made FOR YOU by people who were NOT elected BY YOU. Is this bad? Of course it is.

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European Union–modest proposals (humor)

It’s Nearly Quitting Time: Economists admit they were wrong; austerity is not going to save the Greeks, nor their creditors. Their current solution is for Greece to give up the euro, go back to the drachma and suffer in squalor and silence, while their bondholders write off 30% or more and just go away. (Source)

An Alternative Viewpoint

EU Debtor Nations Explore New Solution to Deal Realistically with the Economic Debt Crisis (Source)

Posted on February 27, 2011 by euecon

It has now been reported by highly placed sources that the Fine Gael-Labour coalition have conceived a new plan for bailing out Ireland from economic collapse.  Emissaries from the two parties have been dispatched to London to offer to sell Ireland back to the United Kingdom.  The emissaries have further apologized for the bloody revolt earlier during the 20th century, and expressed hope that there aren’t any hard feelings.

IRA spokesman

Although an official response has yet to emerge from Downing Street, sources within the Conservative government confirm that the two nations are unable to agree on an appropriate price for Ireland.  The Irish representatives have been quoted as saying that eleven pence is a completely unreasonable price.

Sinn Fein has threatened that the Irish Republican Army is poised to renew its terrorist attacks unless the United Kingdom agrees to take Ireland back.  Prime Minister David Cameron was quoted as saying, “Bring it on.  The British nation is not interested in buying a second hand nation of spendthrifts with funny accents.“

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Dregs of the Future–Top 12 Posts for 2010

1. America’s Spreading Foreclosure Pandemic — use Google’s foreclosure maps to expose the extent of foreclosures nationwide and in your neighborhood — shows how to map out foreclosures by using Google Maps, linked by The Consumerist and The NY Times, by far the most popular post of 2010.
2. Full-body scanners ‘useless,’ air security expert says–and expose us to excessive radiation — comprehensive overview of the TSA controversy and what’s wrong with airport scanners.
3. Senate Bill 510, the “Food Safety Modernization Act”–restricting small farmers to protect profits of giant food companies — popular post detailing what was wrong with S.510 “food tyranny” bill that was passed as an amendment to a completely unrelated bill.
4. Ever wonder why the US is in Afghanistan — the planet’s foremost narco-state? — how and why US military condones opium farming in Afghanistan.
5. Home Owners Can Level the Foreclosure Playing Field–by using the poison pill that lenders fear — legal strategy to “encourage” foreclosing lenders to negotiate in good faith.
6. For-Profit Colleges–the student loan scam — discloses shameless rip-offs of students and the government by owners of top “for-profit” universities.
7. One in Seven in America, or more–are economic casualties — the usual shocking U.S. statistics about 1 in 7.
8. US Torture–you got a problem with that? — FAQs about U.S. use of torture.
9. Buy a Congressman for $1.4 million, or a Senator for $10 million–or all members of Congress for a mere $1.6 B — how cheaply Congress can be bought and sold, relative to payoffs.
10. 9th Anniversary of 9/11 — did you know . . . ?
11. Solar System Warming–and its implications — scientific evidence of temperature increases on all planets in our solar system, from Mercury to Pluto.
12. Goldman Sachs Operatives in Obama Government — list of the 48 former Goldman Sachs employees appointed to key federal government positions by the Obama administration.

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Commercial Real Estate in Europe–50%+ markdowns

After Christmas Markdown: Credit Suisse Group sold $2.8 billion in commercial real estate loans for $1.2 billion.  The loans covered property in Denmark, France, Germany and Sweden. (Source)

Credit Suisse Group is selling a $2.8 billion portfolio of soured commercial-property loans to Apollo Management LP for $1.2 billion, marking one of the largest bank sales of distressed real-estate loans since the downturn, according to people familiar with the matter. (Source)

Clearance Sale!

Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland shares tumbled on Friday after Lloyds said it had effectively written-off more than half of its outstanding loans to Irish borrowers. . . The huge write-offs have largely been driven by the collapse of the Irish property market and 90% of the bank’s loans against commercial property in Ireland are impaired, meaning that the borrower is either behind on payments or unable to service the debt.  (Source)

The EU Crisis:

Spain and Italy have to refinance over 400 billion euros ($530 billion) of bonds in the spring, potentially sparking a fresh crisis within the 16-nation euro area. . . . The euro might break up at this point, though European politicians are normally able to respond to a crisis,” said Center for Economics and Business Research Chief Executive Douglas McWilliams. (Source)

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Give ‘em easy credit, when they can’t pay it back, use their default to take WHATEVER you want–bwahahaha, hahahah

Looting of Spain, Just Like in Greece, and in Ireland:

The Spanish government is looking at auctioning stakes in its national lottery operator and airports, while Ireland will look at privatisations in its electricity and gas sectors as part of a joint European Union and IMF bail-out package agreed on Sunday. (Source)

Looting of Greece and the Looting of Ireland: The IMF-sponsored looting of Greece has begun.  They will “privatize” the railways, the water and sewerage services, the postal service, the airports, cut the wages and pensions for public workers, and increase sales, fuel and alcohol taxes and send them directly to the banks. (Source)

It’s no mistake–it’s a planned takeover:

Regarding “Bailouts” and “easy credit”: Which country has successfully borrowed its way out of a debt crisis? Not any. So why do it? 

The plan is for the controllers of global money to further consolidate their power by instituting widespread debt slavery: “to bankrupt all countries and turn them into satellites by foreclosing on the bankrupt countries.” (Source)

Debt is not just a credit instrument, it is an instrument of political and economic control. (Source)

As Mr Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund, threatens warns says:

“European nations need to cede more of their sovereignty and hand greater powers to the centre to avoid future crises.” (Source)

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European Economic Crisis–and/or political crisis?

The European Union (the “EU”) is facing a multitude of issues.

All the Marbles: The struggle between the ECB/IMF and the financial crowd is about not just the future of the euro (if any), but the future of the EU and the ECM.  If Ireland, Greece, or Portugal defaults, where does the damage stop?  When do the riots end?  When do the wars commence? (Source)

You Know They’re in Trouble When They Start Saying Things Like This:

Merkel, Sarkozy Repeat ‘Total Determination’ to Defend Euro: French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel repeated their “total” commitment to defending the euro and the region’s financial stability. “Our determination is total,” Mr. Sarkozy told a joint press conference halfway through a meeting of most of the French and German cabinets on Friday. (Source: WSJ)

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Nigel Farage, Member of the European Parliament from the UK, nails it:

European Parliament, Strasbourg – 24 November 2010
European Council and Commission statements – Conclusions of the European Council meeting on economic governance (28-29 October)

Transcript:

Nigel Farage To European Parliament: “The Euro Game Is Up… Just Who The Hell Do You Think You Are? You Are Very Dangerous People”

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EU’s “Irish debt crisis”–pity the Irish, who failed to stand up to the banksters, and are now debt slaves to IMF/EU

Update 12/10/2010: €40m in Bonuses for Greedy Irish Traitors Bankers

In the Old Country: Ireland is massively in debt to the IMF/EU because it (stupidly) bailed out its banks.  Now AIB, one of the bailed out banks, is paying the people who ruined both the bank and the country €40 M in bonuses because – you’ve heard this before – if they don’t the clever boys and girls who sank an entire country will go to work elsewhere. Where? (Source)

The cost of the €40 M in bonuses will be paid for via cuts in everything for everybody else, in other words by harsh austerity measures, BUT:

Austerity Measures Will Fail: “The more that countries reduce wages and costs, the heavier their inherited debt loads become.  And, as debt burdens become heavier, public spending must be cut further and taxes increased to service the government’s debt and that of its wards, like the banks.  This, in turn, creates the need for more internal devaluation, further heightening the debt burden, and so on, in a vicious spiral downward into depression.” (Source)

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Update 1/4/2011: Irish Leaders Castigated As Greatest Traitors Of All Time: Brian Cowen and Brian Lenihan are now being reviled as the villains who inflicted horrendous financial disaster upon the Irish people and forced the enslavement of future generations to a criminal cadre of International Banksters. (Source)

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Can Ireland change? [Click: Dear friend of Democracy in Ireland or http://www.directdemocracyireland.org] Some bankers don’t think that Ireland should be allowed to change. For example:

Jean-Claude Trichet's body language speaks to the people of Ireland

Jean-Claude Trichet, head of the European Central Bank, “has made very clear his opposition to “haircuts” (losses) for secured and unsecured bank creditors.  In response to Fine Gael’s plan to unilaterally restructure Ireland’s debt, Trichet insisted that the bailout plans for Ireland’s banks have already been decided and that “the plans have to be executed. . . We have a programme, approved by the international community, approved by the IMF board, the entire world, approved by the European [Union], approved and financed by the IMF and the European [Union]” (Source)

Shouldn’t bankers like Trichet ask the people of Ireland if they want to assume the defaulted obligations of international bond holders, to become the designated debt slaves paying off defaulted obligations through higher taxes, just so that international bond holders don’t have to “take a haircut” (take a loss on their bonds).

Hmmmmm, anyone wonder how that would play out?

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Not the Muslims–less than 1% of Europe’s terrorist attacks in 2009 were by Muslims

In 2009 there were hundreds (318) of terrorist attacks in Europe, but less than 1% were perpetrated by Muslim terrorists:

A Europol report on terrorist attacks in Europe in 2009 [pdf] says that out of hundreds of terrorist attacks iin Europe in 2009, most were the work of ethnic separatists. About 40 were carried out by members of the extreme left. A handful by the European far right. See also this analysis.

One terrorist attack was carried out in 2009 in all Europe by persons of Muslim heritage (I do not say ‘by a Muslim’ because terrorism is forbidden in Islamic law).

That is right. Out of hundreds. Exactly one.

Propaganda or "just joking"

After all that nonsense spewed on the internet and Fox Cable News about the danger of Muslims to Europe, and all the ethnic profiling and other discrimination against Muslims, it turns out that not only is their religion not dangerous, even the persons who depart from it into extremism and terrorism are tiny in number. Now it would not be right to profile or generalize about Basques, the Real IRA, etc., either. But even by the lights of the bigoted, it would be a waste of time to obsess about Muslims on this evidence. (Source)

Could it be: Demagoguery? or Scapegoating?

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Who were the terrorists?

Did you know:

• 

  Mural on van on 9/11

  It wasn’t Muslims who were caught on 9/11/01 with a van between 6th and 7th on King Street with a mural painted of a remote controlled airplane diving into the twin towers of WTC.

• 

  It wasn’t Muslims who acquired a 99-year lease on the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers, Buildings Four and Five and approximately 400,000 square feet of retail space, and insured for billions of dollars against terror attacks a mere six weeks before terror attacks did in fact occur, it was Larry Silverstein and his partner Australian billionaire and holocaust survivor Frank Lowy.

• It wasn’t Muslims who normally breakfasted at the WTC Windows on the World restaurant on the 106th and 107th floors of the North Tower, but by some bizarre coincidence did not happen to be there on 9/11 and were thus spared the fate of occupants on that tragic day (none of whom escaped from the floors above the aircraft impact at 8:46 AM); it was Larry Silverstein who was spared due to having an appointment, an event which also spared his two children who worked at WTC.
• It wasn’t Muslims who trained their cameras on the World Trade Center Towers prior to the first aircraft impact as part of their job in “documenting the event“, who danced and celebrated with high fives prior to the second WTC impact, and who were caught with foreign passports, maps highlighting certain places in the city, and a van that tested positive for traces of explosives; it was Sivan Kurzberg, Paul Kurzberg, Yaron Shmuel, Oded Ellner, and Omer Marmari, several of whom have been confirmed as Mossad agents.

• 

  It wasn’t a Muslim who took a position as Comptroller of the Pentagon in May 2001 when the Pentagon’s accounting systems were in complete disarray; it was Rabbi Dov Zakheim who took the job as Undersecretary of Defense and Comptroller of the Pentagon where more than $2 trillion of poorly documented transactions were vulnerable to a “terror attack” if the relevant auditing section were to be destroyed.

• It wasn’t a Muslim who served as Executive Director of the 9/11 Commission, whose expertise entailed psy-ops, and who confirmed that the Iraq war had been for Israel’s benefit; it was Philip Zelikow.
• It wasn’t a Muslim who, in a 1995 book, predicted that “if the West doesn’t wake up to the suicidal nature of militant Islam, the next thing you will see is militant Islam is bringing down the World Trade Center.”
• It wasn’t Muslims who broadcast the pilot episode on March 4, 2001 of The Lone Gunmen TV series, an episode about a plot by a secret cabal within the US government to electronically hijack by remote control a Boeing heading for Boston and divert it to crash into the World Trade Center; it was Fox TV, owned by Rupert Murdoch.
• It wasn’t Muslims who provided two hours’ advance warning of an attack on the World Trade Center via an instant messaging company based in Herzliya.
• It wasn’t Muslims who profited by speculating on airline and insurance stocks in advance of 9/11.

(Excerpted from: http://www.takeourworldback.com/itwasntmuslims.htm )

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See also:

• 9th-Anniversary-of-911

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The Meaning of “Austerity” — and its antidote in Iceland

Off-loading of fiscal responsibility: The most impressive facet of today’s financial landscape is how much of their bad debts the financial sector was able to quickly transform into government debt to be paid through austerity measures imposed on the taxpayers.   After bailing out the banks, governments are destitute and will try to force the public to live on bread and water so the treasury can continue to feed the wealthy. (Source)

The ultimate consequence is going to be that not only will your wages, pensions, health care and other services fade and slowly vanish, what’s left of your wealth will increasingly be confiscated and handed to a bunch of rich gamblers with political clout. (Source)

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Warren Buffett famously said, “There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.” Unless, maybe, the middle class of USA and Europe learn from the people of Iceland.

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EU and Euro in trouble–Greece is just a first tiny bit of EU debt problems

SPIEGEL INTERNATIONAL says:

Huge National Debts Could Push Euro Zone into Bankruptcy

Greece is only the beginning. The world’s leading economies have long lived beyond their means, and the financial crisis caused government debt to swell dramatically. Now the bill is coming due, but not all countries will be able to pay it.  (Source)

“PIIGS” = Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Spain.

Total PIIGS funding needs (defined as the sum of debt maturities and budget deficits) over the next 3 years amount to $2 trillion. Total PIIGS funding needs in 2010 alone amount to $600 billion:

$2 Trillion PIIGS Funding Needed

(Source)

It’s too much. Germany and France cannot bail them all out. Neither can the IMF nor the US.

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NY Times: PIIGS Debt

(Source)

Households across the globe are going to have to help with the Greek bailout over the next three years, and through the IMF portion of the deal, some of those costs will be passed on to Americans as well.

Here’s the US contribution to bail out just Greece:  (Source)

• $345.82 per U.S. household
  

Bailing out Greece is just the start.

Spain, with 20% unemployment, is already seeking a much larger bailout, “Spain will ask for 280 billion euros of aid.” (Source)

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The Ant and the Grasshopper: The United States is one of the only industrialized countries that doesn’t have a minimum vacation policy. A survey of six countries by Expedia.com found Americans also start out with fewer vacation days — 12 on average — than workers in any other country surveyed. The same survey, conducted by Harris Interactive and Ipsos-Reid, found the average number of vacation days workers receive in the following countries: (Source)

• France: 39 days
• Germany: 27 days
• Netherlands: 25 days
• Great Britain: 23 days
• Canada: 20 days
• United States: 12 days

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A Turning Point in Europe

Pushing back

This week saw a succession of strikes and protests throughout Europe . . . [due to leaders] demanding unprecedented cuts in social programmes, wages and pensions in order to pay for the trillions of dollars handed over by European governments to the banks.

The broadest mobilizations have been in those countries where the most savage cuts have been announced. Wednesday’s general strike in Greece, involving 2 million workers in the public and private sectors, marks a turning point in the political situation throughout Europe. It represents the most significant manifestation of a growing movement of resistance to the attempt by Europe’s governments and corporations to make workers pay for the economic crisis and the multi-billion-euro bailout of the banks. (Source: WSWS)

It is becoming increasingly likely Greece may ask the International Monetary Fund for a bail out now that Germany is making it all to clear it won’t be providing aide. And since the United States is the largest contributor to the IMF, US taxpayers will find themselves footing the bill for the Greek debt crisis. (Source)

heating up.

Greece is . . .

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The Great European Bubble

In October of 2008, Germany and France led a European Union bailout of 1 trillion Euros, and “World markets initially soared as European governments pumped billions into crippled banks. Central banks in Europe also mounted a new offensive to restart lending by supplying unlimited amounts of dollars to commercial banks in a joint operation.”[18]

Bubble

The American bailouts even went to European banks, as it was reported in March of 2009 that, “European banks declined to discuss a report that they were beneficiaries of the $173 billion bail-out of insurer AIG,” as “Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and a host of other U.S. and European banks had been paid roughly $50 billion since the Federal Reserve first extended aid to AIG.” Among the European banks, “French banks Societe Generale and Calyon on Sunday declined to comment on the story, as did Deutsche Bank, Britain’s Barclays and unlisted Dutch group Rabobank.” Other banks that got money from the US bailout include HSBC, Wachovia, Merrill Lynch, Banco Santander and Royal Bank of Scotland. Because AIG was essentially insolvent, “the bailout enabled AIG to pay its counterparty banks for extra collateral,” with “Goldman Sachs and Deutsche bank each receiving $6 billion in payments between mid-September and December.”[19]

In April of 2009, it was reported that, “EU governments have committed 3 trillion Euros [or $4 trillion dollars] to bail out banks with guarantees or cash injections in the wake of the global financial crisis, the European Commission.”[20]

In early February of 2009, the Telegraph published a story with a startling headline, “European banks may need 16.3 trillion pound bail-out, EC document warns.” Type this headline into google, and the link to the Telegraph appears. However, click on the link, and the title has changed to “European bank bail-out could push EU into crisis.” Further, they removed any mention of the amount of money that may be required for a bank bailout. The amount in dollars, however, nears $25 trillion. The amount is the cumulative total of the troubled assets on bank balance sheets, a staggering number derived from the derivatives trade.

The Telegraph reported that, “National leaders and EU officials share fears that a second bank bail-out in Europe will raise government borrowing at a time when investors – particularly those who lend money to European governments – have growing doubts over the ability of countries such as Spain, Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Italy and Britain to pay it back.”[21]

When Eastern European countries were in desperate need of financial aid, and discussion was heated on the possibility of an EU bailout of Eastern Europe, the EU, at the behest of Angela Merkel of Germany, denied the East European bailout. However, this was more a public relations stunt than an actual policy position.

While the EU refused money to Eastern Europe in the form of a bailout, in late March European leaders “doubled the emergency funding for the fragile economies of central and eastern Europe and pledged to deliver another doubling of International Monetary Fund lending facilities by putting up 75bn Euros (70bn pounds).” EU leaders “agreed to increase funding for balance of payments support available for mainly eastern European member states from 25bn Euros to 50bn Euros.”[22]

As explained in a Times article in June of 2009, Germany has been deceitful in its public stance versus its actual policy decisions. The article, worth quoting in large part, first explained that:

Europe is now in the middle of a perfect storm – a confluence of three separate, but interconnected economic crises which threaten far greater devastation than Britain or America have suffered from the credit crunch: the collapse of German industry and employment, the impending bankruptcy of Central European homeowners and businesses; and the threat of government debt defaults from loss of monetary control by the Irish Republic, Greece and Portugal, for instance on the eurozone periphery.

Taking the case of Latvia, the author asks, “If the crisis expands, other EU governments – and especially Germany’s – will face an existential question. Do they commit hundreds of billions of euros to guarantee the debts of fellow EU countries? Or do they allow government defaults and devaluations that may ultimately break up the single currency and further cripple German industry, as well as the country’s domestic banks?” While addressing that, “Publicly, German politicians have insisted that any bailouts or guarantees are out of the question,” however, “the pass has been quietly sold in Brussels, while politicians loudly protested their unshakeable commitment to defend it.”

The author addressed how in October of 2008:

[...] a previously unused regulation was discovered, allowing the creation of a 25 billion Euros “balance of payments facility” and authorising the EU to borrow substantial sums under its own “legal personality” for the first time. This facility was doubled again to 50 billion Euros in March. If Latvia’s financial problems turn into a full-scale crisis, these guarantees and cross-subsidies between EU governments will increase to hundreds of billions in the months ahead and will certainly mutate into large-scale centralised EU borrowing, jointly guaranteed by all the taxpayers of the EU.

[...] The new EU borrowing, for example, is legally an ‘off-budget’ and ‘back-to-back’ arrangement, which allows Germany to maintain the legal fiction that it is not guaranteeing the debts of Latvia et al. The EU’s bond prospectus to investors, however, makes quite clear where the financial burden truly lies: “From an investor’s point of view the bond is fully guaranteed by the EU budget and, ultimately, by the EU Member States.”[23]

So Eastern Europe is getting, or presumably will get bailed out. Whether this is in the form of EU federalism, providing loans of its own accord, paid for by European taxpayers, or through the IMF, which will attach any loans with its stringent Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) conditionalities, or both. It turned out that the joint partnership of the IMF and EU is what provided the loans and continues to provide such loans.

As the Financial Times pointed out in August of 2009, “Bank failures or plunging currencies in the three Baltic nations – Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia – could threaten the fragile prospect of recovery in the rest of Europe. These countries also sit on one of the world’s most sensitive political fault-lines. They are the European Union’s frontier states, bordering Russia.” In July, Latvia “agreed its second loan in eight months from the IMF and the EU,” following the first one in December. Lithuania is reported to be following suit. However, as the Financial Times noted, the loans came with the IMF conditionalities: “The injection of cash is the good news. The bad news is that, in return for shoring up state finances, the new IMF deal will require the Latvian government to impose yet more pain on its suffering population. Public-sector wages have already been cut by about a third this year. Pensions have been sliced. Now the IMF requires Latvia to cut another 10 per cent from the state budget this autumn.”[24]

If we are to believe the brief Telegraph report pertaining to nearly $25 trillion in bad bank assets, which was removed from the original article for undisclosed reasons, not citing a factual retraction, the question is, does this potential bailout still stand? These banks haven’t been rescued financially from the EU, so, presumably, these bad assets are still sitting on the bank balance sheets. This bubble has yet to blow. Combine this with the $23.7 trillion US bailout bubble, and there is nearly $50 trillion between the EU and the US waiting to burst.

(Source)

Notes:

[1]        Barrie McKenna, End of housing slump? Try telling that to buyers, sellers and the unemployed. The Globe and Mail: August 6, 2009:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/end-of-housing-slump-try-telling-that-to-buyers-sellers-and-the-unemployed/article1240418/

[2]        Gene Sperling, Double-Bubble Trouble in Commercial Real Estate: Gene Sperling. Bloomberg: May 9, 2009:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601110&sid=a.X91SkgOd8g

[3]        AL Sull, Commercial Real Estate – The Other Real Estate Bubble. Financial Post: July 23, 2009:
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fpmagazinedaily/archive/2009/07/23/commercial-real-estate-the-other-real-estate-bubble.aspx

[4]        Hui-yong Yu, U.S. Office Vacancies Rise to Three-Year High, Cushman Says. Bloomberg: April 16, 2009:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aegH6dXG8H8U

[5]        Parija B. Kavilanz, Malls shedding stores at record pace. CNN Money: April 14, 2009:
http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/10/news/economy/retail_malls/index.htm

[6]        Ilaina Jonas and Emily Chasan, General Growth files largest U.S. real estate bankruptcy. Reuters: April 16, 2009:
http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSTRE53F68P20090417

[7]        Jamil Anderlini, China property prices ‘likely to halve’. The Financial Times: April 13, 2009:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9a36b342-280e-11de-8dbf-00144feabdc0.html

[8]        Reuters, Fed Might Extend TALF Support to Five Years. Money News: April 17, 2009:
http://moneynews.newsmax.com/financenews/talf/2009/04/17/204120.html?utm_medium=RSS

[9]        Francesco Guerrera and Greg Farrell, US banks warn on commercial property. The Financial Times: July 22, 2009:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3a1e9d86-76eb-11de-b23c-00144feabdc0.html

[10]      Mark Pittman and Bob Ivry, Financial Rescue Nears GDP as Pledges Top $12.8 Trillion. Bloomberg: March 31, 2009:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=armOzfkwtCA4

[11]      Gerald Celente, The “Bailout Bubble” – The Bubble to End All Bubbles. Trends Research Institute: May 13, 2009:
http://geraldcelentechannel.blogspot.com/2009/05/gerald-celente-bubble-to-end-all.html

[12]      Tom Braithwaite, Treasury clashes with Tarp watchdog on data. The Financial Times: July 20, 2009:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ab533a38-757a-11de-9ed5-00144feabdc0.html

[13]      AFP, US could spend 23.7 trillion dollars on crisis: report. Agence-France Presse: July 20, 2009:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iuL1HParBuO4WyHJIxw6rlOKdz-A

[14]      John Whitesides, Warren Buffett says second stimulus might be needed. Reuters: July 9, 2009:
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressReleasesMolt/idUSTRE5683MZ20090709

[15]      Vidya Ranganathan, U.S. should plan 2nd fiscal stimulus: economic adviser. Reuters: July 7, 2009:
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE56611D20090707

[16]      Carly Crawford, US may increase stimulus payments to rein in unemployment. The Herald Sun: August 3, 2009:
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25873672-664,00.html

[17]      David Cho and Binyamin Appelbaum, Treasury Works on ‘Plan C’ To Fend Off Lingering Threats. The Washington Post: July 8, 2009:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/07/AR2009070702631.html?hpid=topnews

[18]      Charles Bremner and David Charter, Germany and France lead €1 trillion European bailout. Times Online: October 13, 2009:
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article4937516.ece

[19]      Douwe Miedema, Europe banks silent on reported AIG bailout gains. Reuters: March 8, 2009:
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE5270YD20090308

[20]      Elitsa Vucheva, European Bank Bailout Total: $4 Trillion. Business Week: April 10, 2009:
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/apr2009/gb20090410_254738.htm?chan=globalbiz_europe+index+page_top+stories

[21]      Bruno Waterfield, European bank bail-out could push EU into crisis. The Telegraph: February 11, 2009:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/4590512/European-banks-may-need-16.3-trillion-bail-out-EC-dcoument-warns.html

[22]      Ian Traynor, EU doubles funding for fragile eastern European economies. The Guardian: March 20, 2009:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/20/eu-imf-emergency-funding

[23]      Anatole Kaletsky, The great bailout – Europe’s best-kept secret. The Times Online: June 4, 2009:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/anatole_kaletsky/article6426565.ece

[24]      Gideon Rachman, Europe prepares for a Baltic blast. The Financial Times: August 3, 2009:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b497f5b6-8060-11de-bf04-00144feabdc0.html

[25]      JAD MOUAWAD, Swings in Price of Oil Hobble Forecasting. The New York Times: July 5, 2009:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/06/business/06oil.html

[26]      Christopher Doering, Masters says signs of oil bubble starting to appear. Reuters: June 4, 2009:
http://www.reuters.com/article/Inspiration/idUSTRE55355620090604

[27]      Javier Blas and Chris Flood, Analyst warns of oil at $200 a barrel. The Financial Times: May 6, 2008:
http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto050620081414392593

[28]      Ed Wallace, The Reason for High Oil Prices. Business Week: May 13, 2009:
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/may2008/bw20080513_720178.htm

[29]      Christine Harper, Goldman Sachs Posts Record Profit, Beating Estimates. Bloomberg: July 14, 2009:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a2jo3RK2_Aps

[30]      Peter Martin and John Garnaut, The great China bailout. The Age: November 11, 2008:
http://business.theage.com.au/business/the-great-china-bailout-20081110-5lpe.html

[31]      Paul Cavey, Now China Has a Credit Boom. The Wall Street Journal: July 30, 2009:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204619004574319261337617196.html

[32]      Joe McDonald, China’s stimulus-fueled stock boom alarms Beijing. The Globe and Mail: August 2, 2009:
http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090802.wchina02/GIStory/

[33]      Matt Jaffe, Watchdog Refutes Treasury Claim Banks Cannot Be Asked to Account for Bailout Cash. ABC News: July 19, 2009:
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Politics/story?id=8121045&page=1

[34]      The China Post, Bank lending slows down in U.S.: report. The China Post: July 28, 2009:
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/business/americas/2009/07/28/218141/Bank-lending.htm

[35]      David Uren. Bank for International Settlements warning over stimulus benefits. The Australian: June 30, 2009:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,25710566-601,00.html

[36]      Simone Meier, BIS Sees Risk Central Banks Will Raise Interest Rates Too Late. Bloomberg: June 29, 2009:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=aOnSy9jXFKaY

[37]      CNBC.com, We Are Facing an ‘Inflation Holocaust’: Jim Rogers. CNBC: October 10, 2008:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/27097823

[38]      Chen Shiyin and Bernard Lo, U.S. Inflation to Approach Zimbabwe Level, Faber Says. Bloomberg: May 27, 2009:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601110&sid=avgZDYM6mTFA

[39]      Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, BIS warns of Great Depression dangers from credit spree. The Telegraph: June 27, 2009:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/2811081/BIS-warns-of-Great-Depression-dangers-from-credit-spree.html

[40]      Gill Montia, Central bank body warns of Great Depression. Banking Times: June 9, 2008:
http://www.bankingtimes.co.uk/09062008-central-bank-body-warns-of-great-depression/

[41]      Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, BIS slams central banks, warns of worse crunch to come. The Telegraph: June 30, 2008:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/2792450/BIS-slams-central-banks-warns-of-worse-crunch-to-come.html

[42]      HEATHER SCOFFIELD, Financial repairs must continue: central banks. The Globe and Mail: June 29, 2009:
http://v1.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090629.wcentralbanks0629/BNStory/HEATHER+SCOFFIELD/

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UK: the next Iceland?

The top five U.K. banks have $10 trillion of [debt] assets and their [UK] GDP is only $2.13 trillion. The whole country could fall into the ocean. The top five U.S. banks [debt assets] represent only about 60 percent of GDP by comparison. Source

What is the capital of Iceland?
Answer: $25

“asking an economist to predict the future is like asking the Christmas turkey what’s for dinner on Christmas: based on its entire lifetime of experience, the turkey expects to be fed on Christmas, not to be eaten. As far as the turkey is concerned, Christmas is a black swan-type event.” Source: Taleb

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Europe in trouble

Europe’s banks face a $2 trillion dollar shortage
European banks face a US dollar “funding gap” of almost $2 trillion as a result of aggressive expansion around the world and may have difficulties rolling over debts, according to a report by the Bank for International Settlements.

Europe’s economic situation:

• Eastern Europe, along with Russia and the Ukraine, are toppling over the edge. Austria, whose banks have lent them €230bn (75% of its GDP) will go with them.
• Eastern Europe owes $1.7 trillion, $400 billion is due this year.
• Russia has a $500 billion tab it may not be able to cover.
• 60% of Polish mortgages are in Swiss francs, against which the zolty was just halved.
• Hungary, the Balkans, and the Baltics are in the same boat.
• Nearly all this debt is owed (and won’t be paid) to Austrian Belgian, Greek, Italian and Swedish banks.
• In addition, Europeans hold 74% of the nearly $5 trillion of emerging markets’ debt.
• The German economy will shrink nearly 10% this year, so Berlin will not be rescuing anybody either, not even partners Greece, Italy Ireland, Portugal or Spain.
• The coming economic stress is the stuf that makes for pitchforks in the street.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/4623525/Failure-to-save-East-Europe-will-lead-to-worldwide-meltdown.html (as summarized by CKMichaelson at http://ckm3.blogspot.com/)

Meanwhile Ukraine’s gross domestic product has contracted by 20pc over the last year, apparently worse than early Bolshevism or the Stalin famine . . . if Ukraine defaults on its foreign debt – or lets its private companies default on their dollar and euro loans – it will lead to near instant contagion through much of Eastern Europe.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/4691850/Ukraine-must-be-rescued-from-tragi-comedy-for-Europes-sake.html

“This is your captain speaking, everyone remain calm, everything is under control. “

Cheers

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