Life and Debt: A Greek Tragedy (merged)

[Jimbuna]

It just gets worse and worse

[BossMark]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

It just gets worse and worse

And those two clowns Gideon and dodgy Dave think they can sort it out

[Jimbuna]

[Oberon]

Saw this, thought of Skybird:

http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debat...ng-to-germany/

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by STEED

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18385634

You wait and see, they got you by the balls now.

I'm betting my money on the Spanish to win Euro 2012 after yesterday.

Much like the Spanish themselves, who will also be betting my money since this weekend...

[STEED]

British gilts are in the red and the FTSE-100 is now sliding again, the gloss of Spain is over!

Time to kick that can down the road one more time.

[JU_88]

Originally Posted by STEED

British gilts are in the red and the FTSE-100 is now sliding again, the gloss of Spain is over!

Time to kick that can down the road one more time.

Yes, but they are running out of road. Time to stock up on gold and Baked beans I guess.

[STEED]

Originally Posted by JU_88

Yes, but they are running out of road. Time to stock up on gold and Baked beans I guess.

Nah...plenty of Ponzi ideas out there to come our way and rip us off yet again.

Baked beans on toast...yummy.

[JU_88]

Originally Posted by STEED

Nah...plenty of Ponzi ideas out there to come our way and rip us off yet again.

Baked beans on toast...yummy.

Oh for sure there is still time, the sky wont fall in just yet , but I prefer to prepare for these things in advance. modest and sensible preparations that is, Im not about to move in to some remote mountain cave with only a sack of weat and an automatic rifle for company.
I think it will get pretty rough eventually, but i dont doubt that civilization will continue one way or another.

[STEED]

Just been reading a news item from Sky News that was posted 30 minutes ago and it was saying a good day on the stock market but I checked and its down! Makes me wonder if they have a clue what is going on.

[STEED]

Exclusive - Euro zone discussed capital controls if Greek exits euro - sources

European finance officials have discussed limiting the size of withdrawals from ATM machines

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/exclusive-e...--finance.html

Well there you have it people, there is not enough printed euro's in Europe.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Oberon

Saw this, thought of Skybird:

http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debat...ng-to-germany/

There is anpother implication that in other countries is not realised that much, because of a German speciality: Germans are the most enthusiastic private savers amongst all Western nations, and where as in England and America for example traditonally stock papers are common as a way to save for pensions and higher age, in Germany that function has been traditionally filled by life insurrances. They play a far more important role for private life-long saving plans than anywhere else in the first world. But the interest niveau is such that the insurrers cannot produe any profits by them anymore, and so they have started to lose money due to the guaranteed higher interests of several millions of such old insurancies that were fixed years and decades ago - and now reach the time when the get payed out. Also, fonds investing on behalf of such insurrancies invest in the Eurozone and are heavily depending on them. If Germany would leave the Euro, or the Euro would explode into our faces - it would deliver a K.O. blow to the German social security system and easily could lead within days or weeks to violent conditions much worse than anything we have seen in Greece or elsewhere so far. At least German politicians are desperate, I am sure, because despite their obvious lies they know this - and other implications - very well, just have no exit solution and so just sit still, hold their breath and hope to win more time. BTW, I also do not have an idea for an exit solution. We are beyoind the point of where the thing can be repaired at affordable costs. I only can say that I prefer an end with terror to constantly increasing terror without end.

This Euro is like having been hit by a poisened spear with huge barbs, and the tip sits very close to the heart. It kills by poison if not being removed, and removing it would cut the heart and kill the victim immediately.

The benefit for Germany from trading with the Euro-"partners" often is exaggerated. Exports of the past three years depended more on oversea marketplaces, and that means quite a relativising of the usual cliam that the Euzro was a blessing for Germany. Calculations done by independent institutions not obeying political parties and lobby groups show that the overall effect of calculating the coasts versus the gains result in a balance with an almost zeroed net effect. Considering that this overestimated curfrecny was traded for destroying the D-Mark and the independen ce of the German Federal bank means that what Germany got delivered by the Euro was a major wounding. And as I argue since years: that was exactly what Mitterand wanted, probably also the British government and Bank of England.

A remarkable essay, Oberon, considering the author is no German internal critic, but an Englishman or American ( I don't know). When I scan the international press especially in Europe I have the very strong impression that the view of Germany being the giant that can bear all bills of the EU and has no internal risks and vulnerabilities, is dominating the international media. Der dukatenscheißende Goldesel der EU, so to speak. I ask who bails out Germany when it has collpased - and it will collapse, I am 80% sure. There is no bigger player in Europe than Germany. The social safety of future pensioners we have already destroyed (while Hollande in france has lowered the pension age for some people again - thank you France for letting us Germans work longer and harder to pay you lazy socialists for that luxury- we have just increased our pension age to 67 and it is expected that it will be pushed up to beyond 70 sooner or later). Our banking system is shaking and tottering. The additional guarantees for the Euro bailouts of the past two years alone equal a minimum of two national budgets, some calculations even say it is already beyiond the factor of 4. Our debts are mounting and are officially beyond 2.2 trillion, inofficially, when including future pensions for state employes of the present moment, it is in the range of 7-6 trillion.

When Germany collapses and social unrest, maybe civil war, reigns in the streets again - then the fun times are back in Europe!

The Euro is not needed to prevent europe falling back into national rivalry and hostility. The past three years have clearly shown that the Euro has right produced what it claims to prevent, and the national hostilities have grown since then. The good thing is that it saves all the potential aggressive energy. When it explodes, it blows erven more brutal at the EU as well, increaisdng the chances to destroy it and make room for a better form of national coordination. In the end, the EU fails due to its pedantic, surreal megalomania. I personally think that the EU is even more worthless and misconstructed than the UN, because the UN at least has not been given the tools and means to do damage. Everybody knows its just a freak show that has nop real powers (thankfully). But the EU has been given this power to damage Europe.

And it makes massive use of it since the end of the cold war.

[Jimbuna]

Time to withdraw my investments and drag the British banks down to the same levels as those in Spain

[JU_88]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

Time to withdraw my investments and drag the British banks down to the same levels as those in Spain

While its inevitable that 'we will get ours', We got Mervins printing press which should allow us to 'kick the can' for little while longer than anyone using the single currency, I expect we will be one of the last ones to hit the dreaded reset button. These things can esculate very rapidly as we saw in 2008, but for now Europe is still in slow motion train wreck mode.
Im pretty sure we will see another round of counterfi.... (ahem) QE, before this month is up.

[mapuc]

This cartoon was in todays Financial Times



This pictures says more than thousand words.

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