Although I have a knack for finding stories
on the real situation in Greece, most people
haven't a clue. It also helps if you sorta live
there.
It's as if the Germans have dropped an
anti-economy bomb in the center of Athens
and most everyone has scattered towards
the suburbs to wait for the next directive.
The only reason why the West has not
noticed much is incredible industriousness
of the Greeks. They recognise a war when
they see one. Usually because it's led by
the Germans. Germany robbed Greece's
savings twice in the 20th c, and are witnessing
the first one of the 21st c.
Locals are hunkered down waiting to be
liberated, and burning their chairs in their
wood stoves, in the dark.
However, Illargy seems to always get it
right. He recognises that Germany is
lying about saving Greece, and is instead
saving German banks for another day, as
they are too big to bail.
More later and Prof Blyth's new perspectives
coming soon.
check this: zerohedge
Exposing The "Outrageous Malevolence" Of The European Leaders
Tyler Durden's picture
by Tyler Durden
Feb 13, 2017 5:00 AM
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Submitted by Raul Ilargi Meijer via The Automatic Earth blog,
Earlier this week I was talking in Athens to a guy from Holland, who incidentally with a group of friends runs a great project on Lesbos taking care of some 1000 refugees in one of the camps there. But that’s another topic for another day. I was wondering in our conversation how it is possible that, as we both painfully acknowledged, people in Holland and Germany don’t know what has really happened in the Greek debt crisis. Or, rather, don’t know how it started.
That certainly is a big ugly stain on their media. And it threatens to lead to things even uglier than what we’ve seen so far. People there in Northern Europe really think the Greeks are taking them for a ride, that the hard-working and saving Dutch and Germans pay through the teeth for Greek extravaganza. It’s all one big lie, but one that suits the local politicians just fine.
By accident(?!), I saw two different references to what really happened, both yesterday in the UK press. So let’s reiterate this one more time, and hope that perhaps this time someone in Berlin or Amsterdam picks it up and does something with it. There must be a few actual journalists left?! Or just ‘ordinary’ people curious enough, and with some intact active neurons, to go check if their politicians are not perhaps lying to them as much as their peers are all over the planet.
What I’m talking about in this instance is the first Greek bailout in 2010. While there are still discussions about the question whether the Greek deficit was artificially inflated by the country’s own statisticians, in order to force the bailout down the throats of the then government led by George Papandreou, there are far fewer doubts that the EU set up Greece for a major league fall just because it could, and because Dutch, French, German politicians could use that fall for their own benefit.
The reason to do all this would have been -should we say ostensibly or allegedly?-, to get Greece in a situation where the Germans and the French could abuse the emergency they themselves thus created, to transfer the Greece-related bad debts of their banks to the EU public at large, and subsequently to the Greek public, instead of forcing the banks to write these debts down. That is still the core of the Greek problem to this day. It’s also the core problem with the IMF’s involvement: the fund’s statutes prescribe it should have insisted on writedowns long ago, from the very first moment it got involved.
The bailout, as Yanis Varoufakis repeats below, was not -and never- meant to help Greece. Instead, it was meant to do the exact opposite, to enable Europe’s richer countries -and their banks- to escape the only just punishment for reckless lending practices, by unloading their debt onto the Greek people.
Varoufakis Accuses Creditors Of Going After Greece’s ‘Little People’
Former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis [..] said that the country has been put on a fiscal path which makes everyday life “unsustainable” in Greece. “The German finance minister agrees that no Greek government, however reformist it might be, can sustain the current debt obligations of Greece,” he said. Earlier in the day, Wolfgang Schäuble told German broadcaster ARD that Greece must reform or quit the euro. “A country in desperate need of reform has been made unreformable by unsustainable macroeconomic policies,” Mr Varoufakis said.
He said that “instead of attacking the worst cases of corruption, for six years now the creditors have been after the little people, the small pharmacists, the very poor pensioners instead of going for the oligarchies”. Greece in 2010 was given a huge loan that Mr Varoufakis said was not designed to save the bankrupt country but to “cynically transfer huge banking losses from the books of the Franco German banks onto the shoulders of the weakest taxpayers in Europe”.
The Financial Times, in a rare moment of lucidity, and with an unintentionally hilarious headline, puts its fingers on that same issue, as well as a few additional sore spots, and with admirable vengeance and clarity:
Conflict Over Athens’ Surplus Needles The IMF
This week the enduring problem of Greece took a new and disturbing turn. It was revealed that the executive board of the IMF is split on the question of what fiscal surplus Greece should be required to hit — which in itself will affect whether it needs official debt relief to reach sustainable growth.
[..] the fact that the fund admitted a division between its member countries is significant. European nations are over-represented on the board relative to their size in the global economy. Wielding that power to dissuade the fund from demanding debt relief from eurozone governments is a clear conflict of interest and poses a threat to the fund’s credibility and independence.
[..] The fund, which over the years has come to take a more realistic view of Greece’s debt sustainability, has dug its heels in and said it will not continue to participate without further reductions in the burden. This leaves eurozone countries, particularly Germany, in a quandary. Berlin insists it will not continue with the rescue without the involvement of the IMF but it fiercely opposes the debt writedown that the fund is demanding.
The point at issue is the fiscal surplus Greece is required to hit. The IMF says that reaching and maintaining a primary surplus of 1.5% of gross domestic product is sufficient; the eurozone wants an improbable 3.5%. [..] The European directors on the board, who want the IMF to agree to the higher fiscal surplus number, are undoubtedly conflicted by having an eye on the effect on their own governments having to write down debt.
Forthcoming elections in the eurozone, including Germany and France, mean that the political as well as economic cost of being seen to give in to Greece is considerable.
Greece’s own government has also been shaken by the conflict, and through its intransigence, the eurozone may force yet another change of administration, with the Syriza government being replaced by the centre-right opposition. At the margin, that may result in Greece being offered a slightly better deal than under the current administration. But short-term political manoeuvring is a terrible way to try to set Greece on a path to long-term debt sustainability and economic stability.
Right from the beginning of the Greek crisis in 2010, the political need to shield first their banks and investors, and then their taxpayers, has warped the response of eurozone governments. They have consistently signed up to hugely over-optimistic growth and surplus targets rather than accepting the need for more external finance and, if required, debt writedowns.
The rest of the IMF’s membership should be prepared to overrule the recalcitrant Europeans. The complaints of a self-interested cabal cannot be allowed to get in the way of Greece’s best interests. Eurozone governments have behaved poorly on this issue. They deserve to be defeated.
First of all, to put Greece and ‘sustainable growth’ together in one sentence is as preposterous as it is to do the same with Greece and ‘surplus’. But more importantly, the FT is right in just about every word here. Europe de facto decides what the IMF does. So despite all the recent conflicts between the Troika members (though they reportedly just announced they agreed on what to dictate to Greece over the weekend), it’s really all EU (i.e. Germany, France) all the time. Greece never stood a chance, and neither did justice.
The point about upcoming elections in Holland, France and Germany gets more important by the day. Since former EU parliament chief Martin Schulz left that post to head the ‘socialist’ SPD in Germany’s elections, he’s seen his poll numbers soar so much that Merkel and Schaeuble are getting seriously nervous about their chances of re-election. Like in all countries these days, certainly also in Europe, their knee-jerk reaction is to pull further to the right. Which is the opposite of setting the record straight with regards to.
As for Dijsselbloem, Schaeuble’s counterpart as finance minister for Holland, his Labor Party (PVDA) -yes, that twit claims to be a leftie- is down so much in the polls that you have to wonder where he gets the guts -let alone the authority- to even open his mouth. PVDA has 38 seats in the Dutch parliament right now and are predicted to lose 27 of them and have just 11 left after the March 15 vote, taking them from 2nd largest party to 7th largest. And out of power.
And he still heads the eurogroup, including in the negotiations with Greece and the IMF?! It’s a strange world. Dijsselbloem proudly proclaimed this week that without the IMF being involved in the next bailout, Holland wouldn’t ‘give’ Greece another penny anymore. Think Dijsselbloem and Schaeuble don’t know what happened in 2010? Of course they do. They know better than anyone.
It’s simply better for their careers -or so they think- to further impoverish the entire Greek nation and the poorest of its citizens than it is to come clean, to tell their people the whole story has been based on dirty tricks from the start. And since their media refuse to tell the truth, too, the story will last until at least after their respective elections. Thing is, Dijsselbloem will be out of a political job by March 16, so what’s he doing, setting himself up for a juicy job at one of the banks whose debts were transferred to Greek pensioners in 2010? No conscience?
Perhaps Greece’s best hope is, of all people, Donald Trump. Yeah, a long shot if ever you saw one. But Trump can overrule the IMF board simply because the US is the biggest party involved in the fund. He can tell that divided board to get its act together and stop harassing a valuable NATO member. At least he has the business sense to understand that a country with 23% unemployment -and that’s just the official number- and 50-60% youth unemployment cannot recover no matter what happens, and that sustainable growth, any kind of growth, is an impossibility once you take people’s spending power away.
Meanwhile, elite and incumbent Europe seems to think that publicly agitating against Trump is the way to go (they may come to regret that stance, and a stance it all it is). Trump’s apparent choice for EU ambassador, economist Ted Malloch, was accused by European Parliament hotshots Weber and Verhofstadt -in a letter, no less- of “outrageous malevolence” towards “the values that define this European Union”, for saying the Union needs ‘a little taming’. For some reason, they don’t seem to like that kind of thing. “Outrageous malevolence”, we’re talking Nobel literature material here.
Malloch also said EU president Juncker was a “very adequate mayor, I think, of some city in Luxembourg.” And that he “should go back and do that again.” And Malloch said on Greek TV this week that Greece should have left the eurozone four years ago. “Why is Greece again on the brink? It seems like a deja vu. Will it ever end? I think this time I would have to say that the odds are higher that Greece itself will break out of the euro.”
Why would he say that? How about because of the numbers in this by now infamous graph, straight out of the IMF itself, which shows EU countries have conspired to plunge one of their fellow “Union” member states into a situation far worse than the US was in during the Great Depression? Would that do it?
And we haven’t even touched on the role that Goldman Sachs plays in the entire kerfuffle, with its fake loans and derivatives, yet another sordid tale in this Cruella De Vil web of power plays spun by incompetent petty men. And Americans think they got it bad… Guess that Goldman role makes it less likely for Trump to interfere in Greece’s favor. Which would seem a bad idea, for everyone involved, not least of all because of rising tensions with Turkey over islands and islets and rocks (I kid you not) in the Aegean Sea.
It would be much better and safer for Trump, and for all of Europe, to make sure Greece is a strong nation, not a depressed and demoralized penal colony for homeless and refugees. That is asking for even more trouble. But nary a soul seems to be tuned in to that, it’s all narrow windows, short term concerns and upcoming elections. No vision.
Or perhaps Merkel will do something unexpected. Word has it that Greek finance minister Tsakalotos is meeting with Angela this weekend, a move that would seem to bypass Schaeuble, who once again said yesterday that Greece can only get a debt writedown if it leaves the eurozone. And that’s something Merkel is not exactly keen on. If only because it means unpredictability, volatility, not a great thing if your popularity as leader is already on shaky ground.
But to summarize, the Greek people didn’t do this. Of course plenty of Greek citizens borrowed more money than they should have in the first decade of the millenium, stories about credit cards in people’s mailboxes with a ‘free’ €5000 credit on them are well known in Athens. But they were by no means the ones who profited most. And the country has a long history of corruption and tax evasion. Which is what the French and German banks ‘cleverly’ played into as their politicians acted like they had no idea. Still, none of that comes even close to a reason or an excuse for completely eviscerating a fellow member of both the EU and NATO.
And it makes little sense. Do these people really want to risk peace in the eastern Mediterranean, or inside Greece itself (which will inevitably explode if this continues), just in order to keep Commerzbank or BNP Paribas out of the trouble they rightfully deserve to be in?
No, it’s not Tim Malloch’s ‘statements that reveal’ “outrageous malevolence” towards “the values that define this European Union”. It’s the actions of the European Union itself that do.
Monday 7 November 2016
The Great Bank Wars 2008-onward
Usually when a company goes bankrupt, they only have
themselves to blame or maybe an economic collapse was
the reason.
In the case of Greece, we know what has caused 6 years
of depression. It's the banks that Germany and France used
to sell bonds to Greece so that these countries could bribe
Greek politicians into buying their homemade tanks and
bridges and so on.
Those banks could not be expected to take the fall for
their stupidity. They pulled out of the "common market"
by pushing their respective governments into screwing
Greece. That's not "Communal" or even slightly "Commun-ist"
Well, those banks were made whole by the ECB, so
that every European is paying off these banks' mistakes.
The only
other thing to settle is the fact that Greece is in a
never-ending downward spiral that has led, through
some God-sized miracles, to a delay in house
repossessions, which have only started recently.
It's still a disaster. Only a war could have such an
effect. Folks whose lives were normal, were one
day ruined, irrevocably. Because Germany said so.
It's a different kind of war. Well, the EU now has
Brexit to deal with, and here's hoping they choke
on it.
checkit: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/30/world/europe/greece-economic-crisis-homeowners.html
Greek Homeowners Scramble as Repossession Looms: ‘It’s Like a Horror Movie’
By NIKI KITSANTONISOCT. 29, 2016
Even after retiring as an accountant, Michalis Hanis dutifully kept up with the mortgage payments on the small house in a suburb of Athens where he has lived for 23 years. That was until several years ago, when Greece’s economic crisis hit. As part of belt-tightening measures demanded by Greece’s creditors, the government cut his pension by 35 percent. Like his country’s debts, his debts grew. Now he has joined the tens of thousands of Greeks fighting to save their homes as a sudden wave of repossessions has struck this year, prompting mounting protests across Greece. “It’s like a horror movie,” said Mr. Hanis, 63, who takes antidepressants and sleeping pills to cope. “You can never relax. I just want to protect my home.” Continue reading the main story Related Coverage Explaining Greece’s Debt Crisis JUNE 17, 2016 I.M.F. Assessment Hints at Internal Struggles OCT. 20, 2016 Greek Lawmakers Pass Additional Austerity Measures SEPT. 27, 2016 Premier of Greece, Alexis Tsipras, Accepts Creditors’ Austerity Deal JULY 13, 2015 ADVERTISEMENT Continue reading the main story The country’s creditors have pressed the government to allow the auction of delinquent debtors’ properties, collecting billions of euros that could be used to prop up tottering Greek banks. Greek banks hold 108 billion euros, or about $119 billion, in bad loans, just under half of all loans given out. Of these, 41 percent are delinquent mortgages. The real challenge is to address the problem of bad loans in a way that offers some hope to debtors like Mr. Hanis but does not undermine the banking system. That circle may be impossible to square. The country has been given three international bailouts worth more than €300 billion over the past six years, but it cannot recover if its banks are foundering. Since signing the third bailout package in the summer of 2015, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has less leverage to push back against his creditors. Critics say he has made concession after concession despite pledges to protect homes. Government officials have insisted that homes are safe. Giorgos Stathakis, the economy minister, said in a statement that “first homes are already protected as regards debts to banks.” The authorities, he added, are also “examining further intervention for debts exclusively to the state,” meaning debts like unpaid taxes. Yet in the spring, the government lifted a ban on the sale of delinquent mortgages and loans to small businesses. In the summer, new laws were passed that allowed banks to initiate foreclosures if debtors are regarded as uncooperative. Greeks are furious and feel betrayed. In a campaign reminiscent of citizens’ initiatives in Spain a few years ago, Greek homeowners and their supporters have been staging demonstrations against auctions across the country. Every Wednesday, when foreclosure auctions are held, protesters gather outside Greek courts, blocking access to legal staff, barging into courtrooms and, on occasion, clashing with the riot police. Among those protesting are groups like the left-leaning Repossessions Stop and Den Plirono (I Won’t Pay), as well as right-wing groups. Stefanos Grigorakis of the United Pan-Popular Front, a nationalist group, joined one recent Wednesday protest outside the Athens county court. He said the government’s reassurances were disingenuous. “It’s deception, so people sit back on their couches,” he said. “Greeks have to wake up. They handed over the public wealth,” he added, referring to the government’s plans for state privatizations. “Now they’re coming to take our houses.” Such protests have blocked dozens of repossessions in recent weeks. Auctions began in September, when Greek lawyers returned to work after a nine-month strike over cuts to their pensions. In a speech in Parliament this month, Mr. Tsipras defended his government’s efforts to protect homeowners. He said there had been only 500 repossessions this year and none in 2015, when his leftist Syriza party came to power, compared with thousands under previous governments. Greek notaries and the association of Greek borrowers said the numbers were higher, though they did not have exact figures. The head of the borrowers’ association, Vangelis Kritikos, said about 50,000 properties would be up for repossession next year. “People are panicking,” he said. “Every day we get about 500 calls.”...
themselves to blame or maybe an economic collapse was
the reason.
In the case of Greece, we know what has caused 6 years
of depression. It's the banks that Germany and France used
to sell bonds to Greece so that these countries could bribe
Greek politicians into buying their homemade tanks and
bridges and so on.
Those banks could not be expected to take the fall for
their stupidity. They pulled out of the "common market"
by pushing their respective governments into screwing
Greece. That's not "Communal" or even slightly "Commun-ist"
Well, those banks were made whole by the ECB, so
that every European is paying off these banks' mistakes.
The only
other thing to settle is the fact that Greece is in a
never-ending downward spiral that has led, through
some God-sized miracles, to a delay in house
repossessions, which have only started recently.
It's still a disaster. Only a war could have such an
effect. Folks whose lives were normal, were one
day ruined, irrevocably. Because Germany said so.
It's a different kind of war. Well, the EU now has
Brexit to deal with, and here's hoping they choke
on it.
checkit: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/30/world/europe/greece-economic-crisis-homeowners.html
Greek Homeowners Scramble as Repossession Looms: ‘It’s Like a Horror Movie’
By NIKI KITSANTONISOCT. 29, 2016
Even after retiring as an accountant, Michalis Hanis dutifully kept up with the mortgage payments on the small house in a suburb of Athens where he has lived for 23 years. That was until several years ago, when Greece’s economic crisis hit. As part of belt-tightening measures demanded by Greece’s creditors, the government cut his pension by 35 percent. Like his country’s debts, his debts grew. Now he has joined the tens of thousands of Greeks fighting to save their homes as a sudden wave of repossessions has struck this year, prompting mounting protests across Greece. “It’s like a horror movie,” said Mr. Hanis, 63, who takes antidepressants and sleeping pills to cope. “You can never relax. I just want to protect my home.” Continue reading the main story Related Coverage Explaining Greece’s Debt Crisis JUNE 17, 2016 I.M.F. Assessment Hints at Internal Struggles OCT. 20, 2016 Greek Lawmakers Pass Additional Austerity Measures SEPT. 27, 2016 Premier of Greece, Alexis Tsipras, Accepts Creditors’ Austerity Deal JULY 13, 2015 ADVERTISEMENT Continue reading the main story The country’s creditors have pressed the government to allow the auction of delinquent debtors’ properties, collecting billions of euros that could be used to prop up tottering Greek banks. Greek banks hold 108 billion euros, or about $119 billion, in bad loans, just under half of all loans given out. Of these, 41 percent are delinquent mortgages. The real challenge is to address the problem of bad loans in a way that offers some hope to debtors like Mr. Hanis but does not undermine the banking system. That circle may be impossible to square. The country has been given three international bailouts worth more than €300 billion over the past six years, but it cannot recover if its banks are foundering. Since signing the third bailout package in the summer of 2015, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has less leverage to push back against his creditors. Critics say he has made concession after concession despite pledges to protect homes. Government officials have insisted that homes are safe. Giorgos Stathakis, the economy minister, said in a statement that “first homes are already protected as regards debts to banks.” The authorities, he added, are also “examining further intervention for debts exclusively to the state,” meaning debts like unpaid taxes. Yet in the spring, the government lifted a ban on the sale of delinquent mortgages and loans to small businesses. In the summer, new laws were passed that allowed banks to initiate foreclosures if debtors are regarded as uncooperative. Greeks are furious and feel betrayed. In a campaign reminiscent of citizens’ initiatives in Spain a few years ago, Greek homeowners and their supporters have been staging demonstrations against auctions across the country. Every Wednesday, when foreclosure auctions are held, protesters gather outside Greek courts, blocking access to legal staff, barging into courtrooms and, on occasion, clashing with the riot police. Among those protesting are groups like the left-leaning Repossessions Stop and Den Plirono (I Won’t Pay), as well as right-wing groups. Stefanos Grigorakis of the United Pan-Popular Front, a nationalist group, joined one recent Wednesday protest outside the Athens county court. He said the government’s reassurances were disingenuous. “It’s deception, so people sit back on their couches,” he said. “Greeks have to wake up. They handed over the public wealth,” he added, referring to the government’s plans for state privatizations. “Now they’re coming to take our houses.” Such protests have blocked dozens of repossessions in recent weeks. Auctions began in September, when Greek lawyers returned to work after a nine-month strike over cuts to their pensions. In a speech in Parliament this month, Mr. Tsipras defended his government’s efforts to protect homeowners. He said there had been only 500 repossessions this year and none in 2015, when his leftist Syriza party came to power, compared with thousands under previous governments. Greek notaries and the association of Greek borrowers said the numbers were higher, though they did not have exact figures. The head of the borrowers’ association, Vangelis Kritikos, said about 50,000 properties would be up for repossession next year. “People are panicking,” he said. “Every day we get about 500 calls.”...
Francois Hollande, Helleniste
It's refreshing to know that after 6 years of
economy-destroying economic depression
brought on by a bankocracy that nobody
defended Greece, ever, not even for a minute.
It does take a monumental charlatan to even
try to imply that you were Greece's saviour
by claiming that you protected Greece
somewhat from the big bad Germans. That,
my friends is the realm of Francois Hollande
the French Prez.
We didn't need a wikileak to tell us what we
suspected all along. It turns out Hollande has
verbal diarrhea when somebody offers to
write a book about him. He just can't seem
to shut his yap.
I've seen it reported that he will face an
impeachment process because he admitted
to the book writers some things which is
potentially incriminating. Talk about not
being able to put a plug in it.
Anyway, the Hollande also mentioned that
he screwed Greece like every other of the 17
countries in the Eurozone. Of course, he is
paying the price for his treason towards
the non-German EU populace. His country
was forced to pass a new labour law over
the heads of parliament, to appease those
same big bad Germans. I hope the French
people spread that shame on the croissants.
checkit:
http://www.latribune.fr/economie/union-europeenne/grece-francois-hollande-et-sa-fausse-legende-608394.html
Grèce : François Hollande et sa fausse légende
Par Romaric Godin | 17/10/2016, 14:03 | 1999 mots
François Hollande a-t-il sauvé la Grèce ? François Hollande a-t-il sauvé la Grèce ? (Crédits : POOL) Dans le livre de confidences paru la semaine dernière, François Hollande se dresse un portrait de "sauveur de la Grèce". La réalité pourrait être différente. Derrière le bruit médiatique qui s'est concentré depuis la sortie du livre de « confidences » du président de la République sur les « gaffes » de l'hôte de l'Elysée et ses «erreurs de communication », il convient de ne pas oublier que l'essentiel de l'ouvrage vise bien à construire l'image d'un président en action, dans toute la splendeur et l'étendue de son pouvoir. Nulle part cet effort n'est si visible que dans les pages consacrées à la politique étrangère, et en particulier à la troisième crise grecque du premier semestre 2015. Sauveur de la Grèce, le storytelling de l'Elysée Intitulé « le facilitateur », ce chapitre de 14 pages* dresse le portrait en pied d'un François Hollande arbitre de l'Europe, capable de retenir la furie destructrice d'Alexis Tsipras, le premier ministre hellénique, et de Wolfgang Schäuble, le ministre allemand des Finances. Le chef de l'Etat français aime se présenter comme « protecteur » du chef du gouvernement grec. Les deux journalistes auteurs de l'ouvrage soulignent ainsi sa « mansuétude » envers Alexis Tsipras (qu'ils comparent avec celles, coupable à leurs yeux, qu'il a adopté envers Christiane Taubira et Emmanuel Macron), de son « acharnement » à maintenir la Grèce dans la zone euro. On le voit batailler avec Angela Merkel pour que « tout faire pour maintenir la Grèce » dans l'union monétaire. Ce discours, soutenu tant par les auteurs que par le président, n'est pas étonnant. Il est la « version officielle » française des événements depuis que, au petit matin du 13 juillet 2015, Alexis Tsipras a signé une capitulation complète devant ses créanciers, faisant replonger le pays dans la crise et dans l'assujettissement le plus complet. Selon le Château, qui en vend la version à qui veut bien l'entendre, c'est la France qui a stoppé l'Allemagne dans sa volonté de chasser les Grecs de la zone euro. Les deux auteurs rendent donc l'image d'un président gonflé d'orgueil d'avoir l'impression, sur ce dossier grec, de « faire l'histoire ». Du reste, eux-mêmes, présents dans les bureaux dorés de l'Elysée, avouent cette « impression légèrement grisante d'observer l'histoire en marche ». Jamais la connivence entre le monarque et ses secrétaires « embusqués » n'est aussi forte que sur ce dossier. Jamais l'admiration du chef de l'Etat n'y est aussi palpable. Mais si l'on y regarde de plus près, ce portrait élogieux du « sauveur des Grecs » apparaît fort contestable. Mépris et réalisme Premier élément. Si François Hollande est très soucieux « d'avoir la position la plus proche des Allemands », il montre un mépris ouvert et constant envers « l'ami grec ». « François Hollande, semble s'adresser à un petit frère un peu trop dissipé », notent les auteurs. Plus loin, ils soulignent que le président français « assume parfaitement ce rôle de grand frère ». Mais les deux journalistes évoquent aussi l'attitude de « proviseur compréhensif » de l'élève Tsipras. Elève de quelle leçon ? Mais celle du « réalisme », bien sûr. Le réalisme consiste pour l'Elysée à faire de la politique en ne changeant absolument rien. Rester donc à tout prix dans la zone euro, quel qu'en soit le prix, mais tenter de présenter un storytelling qui « sauve la face ». « Tsipras entend sauver à la fois son pays... et les apparences », expliquent les auteurs en décryptant le discours présidentiel. Clichés désolants Mais ce qui frappe par-dessus tout, c'est l'incompréhension complète de la situation grecque. François Hollande ne semble pas saisir l'enjeu du succès de Syriza, qui s'appuie sur la défaite absolue de la stratégie menée par les Européens depuis 2010 en Grèce, sur la protection de l'oligarchie pendant l'austérité, sur le désastre social qu'il a causé et sur le sentiment d'humiliation des actes de la Troïka. Pas un mot de tout cela dans la bouche d'un président qui, en 2012, tout fraîchement élu, avait appelé les Hellènes à voter contre Syriza, donc pour le parti conservateur Nouvelle Démocratie d'Antonis Samaras. Pire même, le président français ne peut saisir que, si la Grèce a sa part de responsabilité, les déséquilibres de la zone euro ont conduit au désastre et que, de ce fait, tout le monde a sa part de responsabilité. Et doit donc prendre sa part de fardeau. François Hollande refuse d'entendre la réalité grecque, jamais il n'évoque l'idée d'un assouplissement des exigences ou un plan « actif » de reconstruction économique du pays. Il impose à la malheureuse Hellade sa propre réalité, faite de clichés désolants de Grecs rétifs aux impôts, au travail non déclaré et aux retraites à 50 ans et d'une dette immense (dont il oublie de préciser qu'elle vient principalement désormais des crédits accordés par les Européens). Dès lors, la situation est simple : Alexis Tsipras doit accepter les « réformes » et les demandes de ses créanciers pour sauver sa place dans la zone euro. La faute est grecque, la Grèce doit payer. Tout en « sauvant les apparences ». Avec de tels amis, la Grèce n'a guère besoin d'ennemis. Accepter l'alternative allemande Les faits l'ont confirmé. François Hollande a accepté « par réalisme » de discuter des conditions d'une expulsion de la Grèce de la zone euro avec Wolfgang Schäuble. Dès lors, il en acceptait la possibilité et participait à la stratégie allemande en acceptant un « plan B » fondé sur cette expulsion. Il est un peu piquant de voir par la suite l'hôte de l'Elysée s'émouvoir d'une éventuelle demande à la Russie d'impression de drachmes de la part de la Grèce, alors que lui-même travaille à chasser la Grèce de la zone euro. Il est de même assez étonnant de voir François Hollande et ses hagiographes expliquer « qu'à force de persuasion, la France va réussir à éviter le pire », puisque ce « pire » même est une option acceptée par la France. Si Paris avait refusé une expulsion qui, par ailleurs n'est nullement prévue dans les traités, si elle avait usé de son influence pour « changer de logique », ce « pire » n'eût pas été possible. En acceptant l'option de l'expulsion, la France tirait dans le pied des Grecs, puis se réjouissait qu'on ne leur eût pas tiré dans la tête. La France passive Le récit des deux auteurs est, du reste, assez étrange. A les lire, dans les jours qui ont suivi le référendum perdu par les créanciers, le 5 juillet 2015, c'est la France qui a aidé, grâce à une « mise sous tutelle française de l'administration grecque » et à sa « force de persuasion », Athènes à demeurer dans la zone euro. Rien n'est moins juste. Alexis Tsipras a paniqué après la victoire du « non » : il ne s'est pas vu assumer un dernier combat qu'il a jugé perdu d'avance. Il a alors espéré que l'appui français lui permettrait de faire une proposition « acceptable ». 10 fonctionnaires ont été envoyés à Athènes, mais la proposition « française » (une réplique à peine durcie de celle rejetée par les Grecs le 5 juillet) a été rejetée par l'Eurogroupe du 11 juillet ! Ce jour-là, Wolfgang Schäuble et ses alliés ont relevé les mises et imposé de nouveaux critères, notamment un « fonds de privatisation » de 50 milliards d'euros (chiffre absolument irréaliste) et une mise sous tutelle étroite des finances publiques grecques. C'est cette « proposition » du 11 qui va être la base de discussions du 12 et qui sera, à peine aménagée, acceptée le 13 par Alexis Tsipras. François Hollande n'a contribué - s'il a vraiment agi - qu'à négocier quelques détails de cette proposition allemande « punitive ». La France a alors permis à Angela Merkel de « vendre » à son opinion publique le maintien de la Grèce dans la zone euro. Quant à la Grèce, elle a, grâce à son « ami français » pu repartir avec un troisième mémorandum qui a mis encore à genoux son économie défaillante et qui a mis son gouvernement sous une tutelle humiliante. Sans que le gouvernement grec ne parvienne, comme promis le 13 juillet 2015, à ouvrir de vraies négociations sur sa dette publique. Depuis, la France a continué à accepter la position extrêmement dure de l'Eurogroupe, sans vraiment la modifier. Un détail, sans doute, dont ne parlent pas les deux auteurs. La France absente à l'Eurogroupe Au reste, même l'attitude « bienveillante » de la France face à la Grèce durant les négociations est peu convaincante. En quoi François Hollande a-t-il joué le rôle de « facilitateur » ? Le chapitre débute sur une scène où le président français assure Alexis Tsipras du soutien de la France avant l'Eurogroupe du 9 mars 2015. A ce moment, la Grèce prépare un plan de réforme suite à l'accord du 20 février. L'accord doit être validé le 9 mars et la crise pourrait alors s'apaiser. « Il y a un Eurogroupe lundi et nous pourrons peut-être agir », explique alors François Hollande. Mais ce que les deux auteurs ne relèvent pas, c'est que, ce 9 mars, l'Eurogroupe va refuser tout plan grec et, cela, pendant deux mois. L'Eurogroupe réclame des baisses de pension. La France ne s'oppose pas à cette demande. Elle ne tente pas « d'agir », elle ne joue aucun rôle de facilitateur. A lire les deux auteurs, la Grèce est alors restée immobile. « Tsipras tarde à produire ses réformes », explique François Hollande en avril qui tenterait de « réfréner les ardeurs belliqueuses » du Grec. Problème : de mars à mai, la Grèce multiplie les plans de réformes qui sont systématiquement rejetés par un Eurogroupe qui veut obtenir la baisse des pensions, signe final de la capitulation politique du gouvernement grec. Et la France soutient cette politique. Loin d'être « facilitateur », François Hollande a soutenu les objectifs politiques de l'Eurogroupe et a placé le gouvernement grec devant une alternative : sortir de l'euro ou capituler. Miser sur les mauvais chevaux Enfin, dernier point, de détail, celui-là. François Hollande donne deux conseils à Alexis Tsipras : s'appuyer sur l'OCDE et sur Jean-Claude Juncker. Le problème, c'est que c'était miser sur deux mauvais chevaux. La décision n'était pas à la Commission, qui a été entièrement mise sur la touche pendant les négociations, mais à l'Eurogroupe. En demandant à Alexis Tsipras de s'appuyer sur la Commission, François Hollande demande à Bruxelles de faire ce qu'il refuse de faire lui-même : apaiser l'Eurogroupe alors même que la France siège à cet Eurogroupe... Quant à l'OCDE, la Grèce s'est beaucoup appuyée effectivement sur cet organisme, notamment pour rejeter les demandes de l'Eurogroupe. L'obsession de l'Allemagne François Hollande fait donc mine d'oublier qu'il est acteur - passif, s'entend - du blocage entre la Grèce et ses créanciers. En réalité, il le sait et finit par le reconnaître : plus que son « amitié » pour la Grèce, le président français sauve « sa » relation avec l'Allemagne. « Si les Allemands me lâchent, c'est fini », avoue-t-il. C'est là le résumé de toute sa politique européenne. Un peu plus loin, il résume encore son rôle de « facilitateur » : il ne s'agissait pas de faire comprendre aux Allemands et aux Grecs leurs divergences et de les rapprocher. Il s'agissait de « faire comprendre aux Grecs » qu'il faut bien accepter les priorités définies par Berlin. François Hollande ne doit donc pas s'étonner que son rôle dans la crise grecque n'ait guère redoré blason. C'est que, malgré les tendances hagiographiques du livre, la France de François Hollande a été la malédiction de la Grèce plus encore que son « sauveur ». * Gérard Davet & Fabrice Lhomme, "Un président ne devrait pas dire ça", Stock, pages 499-512.
economy-destroying economic depression
brought on by a bankocracy that nobody
defended Greece, ever, not even for a minute.
It does take a monumental charlatan to even
try to imply that you were Greece's saviour
by claiming that you protected Greece
somewhat from the big bad Germans. That,
my friends is the realm of Francois Hollande
the French Prez.
We didn't need a wikileak to tell us what we
suspected all along. It turns out Hollande has
verbal diarrhea when somebody offers to
write a book about him. He just can't seem
to shut his yap.
I've seen it reported that he will face an
impeachment process because he admitted
to the book writers some things which is
potentially incriminating. Talk about not
being able to put a plug in it.
Anyway, the Hollande also mentioned that
he screwed Greece like every other of the 17
countries in the Eurozone. Of course, he is
paying the price for his treason towards
the non-German EU populace. His country
was forced to pass a new labour law over
the heads of parliament, to appease those
same big bad Germans. I hope the French
people spread that shame on the croissants.
checkit:
http://www.latribune.fr/economie/union-europeenne/grece-francois-hollande-et-sa-fausse-legende-608394.html
Grèce : François Hollande et sa fausse légende
Par Romaric Godin | 17/10/2016, 14:03 | 1999 mots
François Hollande a-t-il sauvé la Grèce ? François Hollande a-t-il sauvé la Grèce ? (Crédits : POOL) Dans le livre de confidences paru la semaine dernière, François Hollande se dresse un portrait de "sauveur de la Grèce". La réalité pourrait être différente. Derrière le bruit médiatique qui s'est concentré depuis la sortie du livre de « confidences » du président de la République sur les « gaffes » de l'hôte de l'Elysée et ses «erreurs de communication », il convient de ne pas oublier que l'essentiel de l'ouvrage vise bien à construire l'image d'un président en action, dans toute la splendeur et l'étendue de son pouvoir. Nulle part cet effort n'est si visible que dans les pages consacrées à la politique étrangère, et en particulier à la troisième crise grecque du premier semestre 2015. Sauveur de la Grèce, le storytelling de l'Elysée Intitulé « le facilitateur », ce chapitre de 14 pages* dresse le portrait en pied d'un François Hollande arbitre de l'Europe, capable de retenir la furie destructrice d'Alexis Tsipras, le premier ministre hellénique, et de Wolfgang Schäuble, le ministre allemand des Finances. Le chef de l'Etat français aime se présenter comme « protecteur » du chef du gouvernement grec. Les deux journalistes auteurs de l'ouvrage soulignent ainsi sa « mansuétude » envers Alexis Tsipras (qu'ils comparent avec celles, coupable à leurs yeux, qu'il a adopté envers Christiane Taubira et Emmanuel Macron), de son « acharnement » à maintenir la Grèce dans la zone euro. On le voit batailler avec Angela Merkel pour que « tout faire pour maintenir la Grèce » dans l'union monétaire. Ce discours, soutenu tant par les auteurs que par le président, n'est pas étonnant. Il est la « version officielle » française des événements depuis que, au petit matin du 13 juillet 2015, Alexis Tsipras a signé une capitulation complète devant ses créanciers, faisant replonger le pays dans la crise et dans l'assujettissement le plus complet. Selon le Château, qui en vend la version à qui veut bien l'entendre, c'est la France qui a stoppé l'Allemagne dans sa volonté de chasser les Grecs de la zone euro. Les deux auteurs rendent donc l'image d'un président gonflé d'orgueil d'avoir l'impression, sur ce dossier grec, de « faire l'histoire ». Du reste, eux-mêmes, présents dans les bureaux dorés de l'Elysée, avouent cette « impression légèrement grisante d'observer l'histoire en marche ». Jamais la connivence entre le monarque et ses secrétaires « embusqués » n'est aussi forte que sur ce dossier. Jamais l'admiration du chef de l'Etat n'y est aussi palpable. Mais si l'on y regarde de plus près, ce portrait élogieux du « sauveur des Grecs » apparaît fort contestable. Mépris et réalisme Premier élément. Si François Hollande est très soucieux « d'avoir la position la plus proche des Allemands », il montre un mépris ouvert et constant envers « l'ami grec ». « François Hollande, semble s'adresser à un petit frère un peu trop dissipé », notent les auteurs. Plus loin, ils soulignent que le président français « assume parfaitement ce rôle de grand frère ». Mais les deux journalistes évoquent aussi l'attitude de « proviseur compréhensif » de l'élève Tsipras. Elève de quelle leçon ? Mais celle du « réalisme », bien sûr. Le réalisme consiste pour l'Elysée à faire de la politique en ne changeant absolument rien. Rester donc à tout prix dans la zone euro, quel qu'en soit le prix, mais tenter de présenter un storytelling qui « sauve la face ». « Tsipras entend sauver à la fois son pays... et les apparences », expliquent les auteurs en décryptant le discours présidentiel. Clichés désolants Mais ce qui frappe par-dessus tout, c'est l'incompréhension complète de la situation grecque. François Hollande ne semble pas saisir l'enjeu du succès de Syriza, qui s'appuie sur la défaite absolue de la stratégie menée par les Européens depuis 2010 en Grèce, sur la protection de l'oligarchie pendant l'austérité, sur le désastre social qu'il a causé et sur le sentiment d'humiliation des actes de la Troïka. Pas un mot de tout cela dans la bouche d'un président qui, en 2012, tout fraîchement élu, avait appelé les Hellènes à voter contre Syriza, donc pour le parti conservateur Nouvelle Démocratie d'Antonis Samaras. Pire même, le président français ne peut saisir que, si la Grèce a sa part de responsabilité, les déséquilibres de la zone euro ont conduit au désastre et que, de ce fait, tout le monde a sa part de responsabilité. Et doit donc prendre sa part de fardeau. François Hollande refuse d'entendre la réalité grecque, jamais il n'évoque l'idée d'un assouplissement des exigences ou un plan « actif » de reconstruction économique du pays. Il impose à la malheureuse Hellade sa propre réalité, faite de clichés désolants de Grecs rétifs aux impôts, au travail non déclaré et aux retraites à 50 ans et d'une dette immense (dont il oublie de préciser qu'elle vient principalement désormais des crédits accordés par les Européens). Dès lors, la situation est simple : Alexis Tsipras doit accepter les « réformes » et les demandes de ses créanciers pour sauver sa place dans la zone euro. La faute est grecque, la Grèce doit payer. Tout en « sauvant les apparences ». Avec de tels amis, la Grèce n'a guère besoin d'ennemis. Accepter l'alternative allemande Les faits l'ont confirmé. François Hollande a accepté « par réalisme » de discuter des conditions d'une expulsion de la Grèce de la zone euro avec Wolfgang Schäuble. Dès lors, il en acceptait la possibilité et participait à la stratégie allemande en acceptant un « plan B » fondé sur cette expulsion. Il est un peu piquant de voir par la suite l'hôte de l'Elysée s'émouvoir d'une éventuelle demande à la Russie d'impression de drachmes de la part de la Grèce, alors que lui-même travaille à chasser la Grèce de la zone euro. Il est de même assez étonnant de voir François Hollande et ses hagiographes expliquer « qu'à force de persuasion, la France va réussir à éviter le pire », puisque ce « pire » même est une option acceptée par la France. Si Paris avait refusé une expulsion qui, par ailleurs n'est nullement prévue dans les traités, si elle avait usé de son influence pour « changer de logique », ce « pire » n'eût pas été possible. En acceptant l'option de l'expulsion, la France tirait dans le pied des Grecs, puis se réjouissait qu'on ne leur eût pas tiré dans la tête. La France passive Le récit des deux auteurs est, du reste, assez étrange. A les lire, dans les jours qui ont suivi le référendum perdu par les créanciers, le 5 juillet 2015, c'est la France qui a aidé, grâce à une « mise sous tutelle française de l'administration grecque » et à sa « force de persuasion », Athènes à demeurer dans la zone euro. Rien n'est moins juste. Alexis Tsipras a paniqué après la victoire du « non » : il ne s'est pas vu assumer un dernier combat qu'il a jugé perdu d'avance. Il a alors espéré que l'appui français lui permettrait de faire une proposition « acceptable ». 10 fonctionnaires ont été envoyés à Athènes, mais la proposition « française » (une réplique à peine durcie de celle rejetée par les Grecs le 5 juillet) a été rejetée par l'Eurogroupe du 11 juillet ! Ce jour-là, Wolfgang Schäuble et ses alliés ont relevé les mises et imposé de nouveaux critères, notamment un « fonds de privatisation » de 50 milliards d'euros (chiffre absolument irréaliste) et une mise sous tutelle étroite des finances publiques grecques. C'est cette « proposition » du 11 qui va être la base de discussions du 12 et qui sera, à peine aménagée, acceptée le 13 par Alexis Tsipras. François Hollande n'a contribué - s'il a vraiment agi - qu'à négocier quelques détails de cette proposition allemande « punitive ». La France a alors permis à Angela Merkel de « vendre » à son opinion publique le maintien de la Grèce dans la zone euro. Quant à la Grèce, elle a, grâce à son « ami français » pu repartir avec un troisième mémorandum qui a mis encore à genoux son économie défaillante et qui a mis son gouvernement sous une tutelle humiliante. Sans que le gouvernement grec ne parvienne, comme promis le 13 juillet 2015, à ouvrir de vraies négociations sur sa dette publique. Depuis, la France a continué à accepter la position extrêmement dure de l'Eurogroupe, sans vraiment la modifier. Un détail, sans doute, dont ne parlent pas les deux auteurs. La France absente à l'Eurogroupe Au reste, même l'attitude « bienveillante » de la France face à la Grèce durant les négociations est peu convaincante. En quoi François Hollande a-t-il joué le rôle de « facilitateur » ? Le chapitre débute sur une scène où le président français assure Alexis Tsipras du soutien de la France avant l'Eurogroupe du 9 mars 2015. A ce moment, la Grèce prépare un plan de réforme suite à l'accord du 20 février. L'accord doit être validé le 9 mars et la crise pourrait alors s'apaiser. « Il y a un Eurogroupe lundi et nous pourrons peut-être agir », explique alors François Hollande. Mais ce que les deux auteurs ne relèvent pas, c'est que, ce 9 mars, l'Eurogroupe va refuser tout plan grec et, cela, pendant deux mois. L'Eurogroupe réclame des baisses de pension. La France ne s'oppose pas à cette demande. Elle ne tente pas « d'agir », elle ne joue aucun rôle de facilitateur. A lire les deux auteurs, la Grèce est alors restée immobile. « Tsipras tarde à produire ses réformes », explique François Hollande en avril qui tenterait de « réfréner les ardeurs belliqueuses » du Grec. Problème : de mars à mai, la Grèce multiplie les plans de réformes qui sont systématiquement rejetés par un Eurogroupe qui veut obtenir la baisse des pensions, signe final de la capitulation politique du gouvernement grec. Et la France soutient cette politique. Loin d'être « facilitateur », François Hollande a soutenu les objectifs politiques de l'Eurogroupe et a placé le gouvernement grec devant une alternative : sortir de l'euro ou capituler. Miser sur les mauvais chevaux Enfin, dernier point, de détail, celui-là. François Hollande donne deux conseils à Alexis Tsipras : s'appuyer sur l'OCDE et sur Jean-Claude Juncker. Le problème, c'est que c'était miser sur deux mauvais chevaux. La décision n'était pas à la Commission, qui a été entièrement mise sur la touche pendant les négociations, mais à l'Eurogroupe. En demandant à Alexis Tsipras de s'appuyer sur la Commission, François Hollande demande à Bruxelles de faire ce qu'il refuse de faire lui-même : apaiser l'Eurogroupe alors même que la France siège à cet Eurogroupe... Quant à l'OCDE, la Grèce s'est beaucoup appuyée effectivement sur cet organisme, notamment pour rejeter les demandes de l'Eurogroupe. L'obsession de l'Allemagne François Hollande fait donc mine d'oublier qu'il est acteur - passif, s'entend - du blocage entre la Grèce et ses créanciers. En réalité, il le sait et finit par le reconnaître : plus que son « amitié » pour la Grèce, le président français sauve « sa » relation avec l'Allemagne. « Si les Allemands me lâchent, c'est fini », avoue-t-il. C'est là le résumé de toute sa politique européenne. Un peu plus loin, il résume encore son rôle de « facilitateur » : il ne s'agissait pas de faire comprendre aux Allemands et aux Grecs leurs divergences et de les rapprocher. Il s'agissait de « faire comprendre aux Grecs » qu'il faut bien accepter les priorités définies par Berlin. François Hollande ne doit donc pas s'étonner que son rôle dans la crise grecque n'ait guère redoré blason. C'est que, malgré les tendances hagiographiques du livre, la France de François Hollande a été la malédiction de la Grèce plus encore que son « sauveur ». * Gérard Davet & Fabrice Lhomme, "Un président ne devrait pas dire ça", Stock, pages 499-512.
Wednesday 23 December 2015
Um, it's just research on starving hookers
Oh where did all my research funding go?
It is always tempting for a researcher to dabble
in his research matter. It is all the easier when
your subject matter is starving hookers.
The Hooker Market in Athens has gone
subterranean. It's not the underground
"offices," but where the profit margins have
gone. Into the red, so to speak.
One of the things that can really hit your
libido is the lack of money. Even though
regular sex is healthy, no country provides
guys with hooker money from Social
Services.
So, even hooking is off the hook.
This just required some research, for
verification purposes. One brave man
did this research and yet didn't
mix with his sample, i think.
checkit: zerohedge
Meanwhile In Greece, The Price Of A Prostitute Drops To €4 Per Hour
Submitted by Tyler Durden
11/28/2015 10:00 -0400
By Keep Talking Greece
Six years of crippling financial crisis have sent Greek students to the streets. However, not for anti-austerity protests but for sex. They allegedly “sell it very cheap,” for the price of “a cheese pie or a sandwich,” thus “offering the lowest prices of the industry across the Continent.” “Some women just do it for a cheese pie or a sandwich they need to eat because they are hungry,” Gregory Lazos, professor of sociology at Panteion University in Athens told The Times and spoke about the results of a study he conducted. Lazos conducted the study among 400 women working on the streets. The study has lasted 3 years. Many of these women were students. They sell sex for a piece of bread – so to say – “in order to eat or cover basic needs and extra expenses as they have no money,” The Times and Lazos on The Times claim. “80% of prostitutes in Greece are Greek women aged 17 to 20”. The price for sex has dramatically decreased from €50 euro for 60 minutes down to “€2 for half an hour.“ “From the 18,500 prostitutes who work mainly in the streets throughout the country, since most brothels operated without a license, the majority now are desperate Greeks.” As KTG has only partial access to The Times due to the pay wall and picked up some additional information from Greek media that translated the article, it is not very clear when exactly the study has been conducted, its methodology and other scientific tools indicating “age”, “region” and other data. Neither did KTG manage to find out the percentage of students among the 400 case of women street workers. A percentage expected to be high enough to justify the article’s title. Gregory Lazos claimed further that before the economic crisis “there was not prostitution tendency among Greek women.” He stressed that “the phenomenon seems to grow at a steady and consistent pace.” Before the crisis the majority of prostitutes were women from Eastern Europe. So, The Times and Gregory Lazos lived happily ever after, and the Greek women that used to be little Saints but now sell it and do it on the streets have finally something to eat. Not even a souvlaki, though. It costs €2.00 – €2.20 and has 23% Value Added Tax for having salt and spices on it. A small cheese pie can be bought for €1 – €1.20. So there is one euro left to cover basic needs and extra expenses… Now some Greeks wonder, why all the Greek films of the 50’s the 60? and the early 70’s were featuring Greek women as prostitutes with the most famous one being Ilia (Melina Merkouri) in Never on Sunday. And some Greeks of the usual mean Greek category reckon all the fine young ladies in the noble bars and restaurants of certain high-class suburbs of Athens before the crisis… Ops! They were “escorts”. – And because they were so many, the brothels emptied and did not renew their licenses – Just kidding! PS At least in the sex sector Greece seems have developed into a super competitive country I wonder, how IMF’s Lagarde would comment on this and if she would support the sector’s booming withe both her thumbs up.
It is always tempting for a researcher to dabble
in his research matter. It is all the easier when
your subject matter is starving hookers.
The Hooker Market in Athens has gone
subterranean. It's not the underground
"offices," but where the profit margins have
gone. Into the red, so to speak.
One of the things that can really hit your
libido is the lack of money. Even though
regular sex is healthy, no country provides
guys with hooker money from Social
Services.
So, even hooking is off the hook.
This just required some research, for
verification purposes. One brave man
did this research and yet didn't
mix with his sample, i think.
checkit: zerohedge
Meanwhile In Greece, The Price Of A Prostitute Drops To €4 Per Hour
Submitted by Tyler Durden
11/28/2015 10:00 -0400
By Keep Talking Greece
Six years of crippling financial crisis have sent Greek students to the streets. However, not for anti-austerity protests but for sex. They allegedly “sell it very cheap,” for the price of “a cheese pie or a sandwich,” thus “offering the lowest prices of the industry across the Continent.” “Some women just do it for a cheese pie or a sandwich they need to eat because they are hungry,” Gregory Lazos, professor of sociology at Panteion University in Athens told The Times and spoke about the results of a study he conducted. Lazos conducted the study among 400 women working on the streets. The study has lasted 3 years. Many of these women were students. They sell sex for a piece of bread – so to say – “in order to eat or cover basic needs and extra expenses as they have no money,” The Times and Lazos on The Times claim. “80% of prostitutes in Greece are Greek women aged 17 to 20”. The price for sex has dramatically decreased from €50 euro for 60 minutes down to “€2 for half an hour.“ “From the 18,500 prostitutes who work mainly in the streets throughout the country, since most brothels operated without a license, the majority now are desperate Greeks.” As KTG has only partial access to The Times due to the pay wall and picked up some additional information from Greek media that translated the article, it is not very clear when exactly the study has been conducted, its methodology and other scientific tools indicating “age”, “region” and other data. Neither did KTG manage to find out the percentage of students among the 400 case of women street workers. A percentage expected to be high enough to justify the article’s title. Gregory Lazos claimed further that before the economic crisis “there was not prostitution tendency among Greek women.” He stressed that “the phenomenon seems to grow at a steady and consistent pace.” Before the crisis the majority of prostitutes were women from Eastern Europe. So, The Times and Gregory Lazos lived happily ever after, and the Greek women that used to be little Saints but now sell it and do it on the streets have finally something to eat. Not even a souvlaki, though. It costs €2.00 – €2.20 and has 23% Value Added Tax for having salt and spices on it. A small cheese pie can be bought for €1 – €1.20. So there is one euro left to cover basic needs and extra expenses… Now some Greeks wonder, why all the Greek films of the 50’s the 60? and the early 70’s were featuring Greek women as prostitutes with the most famous one being Ilia (Melina Merkouri) in Never on Sunday. And some Greeks of the usual mean Greek category reckon all the fine young ladies in the noble bars and restaurants of certain high-class suburbs of Athens before the crisis… Ops! They were “escorts”. – And because they were so many, the brothels emptied and did not renew their licenses – Just kidding! PS At least in the sex sector Greece seems have developed into a super competitive country I wonder, how IMF’s Lagarde would comment on this and if she would support the sector’s booming withe both her thumbs up.
Tuesday 22 December 2015
In a state of suspended Gamification
There can be no other words for these past 5 years, in Greece.
Not even the brief Syriza spring of 2015 (Jan to July),has
changed the fact that Greece is a neo-liberal Lab of Goebbels.
Greeks are the Gerbils and the Troika are the Goebbels.
It has been said that the once Fin Min Varoufakis was an
expert in Game Theory. Actually, he rejected Game Theory
as being limited, but nevertheless he had to be an expert
in order to see that it's trash. Nevertheless, he was accused
of trying to Game the Troika.
Other opinions, mostly in Greece, see his "defense of the realm"
as little more than theatre, with the benefit to Varoufakis of
world fame. Perhaps it's true.
However, the fact remains, if you translate/calque the words
Game Theory and Gamification (noun for using Game Theory)
you get , in Greek
Fuck Theory and Fuckification.
If you see the pic above, you have the Greek in his armchair
(or suspended above it) being forced to watch the downfall
of his little country (which he viewed as the centre of the universe
now that it was in the EU), one bankruptcy
at a time. The media, now happy that Syriza is playing the
Gamification, are fully trying to use any euphemism in order
to keep Greeks from realising what is going on, on a daily
basis, to their country, so that they'll still buy shit from the
advertisers.
Last week, thanks to a new Syriza law, foreign vulture funds
were able to pay (the Troika) whatever they wanted for the
4 big Greek banks, which were il-liquid anyway. Now,
coupled with the Bilder-born EU-enforced bank law,
foreign banks can now legally rip off whatever Greek
savings they want to without so much as an excuse.
Not even the brief Syriza spring of 2015 (Jan to July),has
changed the fact that Greece is a neo-liberal Lab of Goebbels.
Greeks are the Gerbils and the Troika are the Goebbels.
It has been said that the once Fin Min Varoufakis was an
expert in Game Theory. Actually, he rejected Game Theory
as being limited, but nevertheless he had to be an expert
in order to see that it's trash. Nevertheless, he was accused
of trying to Game the Troika.
Other opinions, mostly in Greece, see his "defense of the realm"
as little more than theatre, with the benefit to Varoufakis of
world fame. Perhaps it's true.
However, the fact remains, if you translate/calque the words
Game Theory and Gamification (noun for using Game Theory)
you get , in Greek
Fuck Theory and Fuckification.
If you see the pic above, you have the Greek in his armchair
(or suspended above it) being forced to watch the downfall
of his little country (which he viewed as the centre of the universe
now that it was in the EU), one bankruptcy
at a time. The media, now happy that Syriza is playing the
Gamification, are fully trying to use any euphemism in order
to keep Greeks from realising what is going on, on a daily
basis, to their country, so that they'll still buy shit from the
advertisers.
Gamification
e.g. 1Last week, thanks to a new Syriza law, foreign vulture funds
were able to pay (the Troika) whatever they wanted for the
4 big Greek banks, which were il-liquid anyway. Now,
coupled with the Bilder-born EU-enforced bank law,
foreign banks can now legally rip off whatever Greek
savings they want to without so much as an excuse.
Gamification
e.g. 2
Thanks to a recorded session between Varoufakis and
interlocutors about the future of Greece (held in May/June
of 2015?) we found out that the keys to the Greek
Treasury were held by the Troika. So, any tax money
(read: idiot tax) were taken directly by the Troika. So
Varoufakis (even though he never told the public) was a
Fin Min with no Fin. Not even a fin (i.e. 5 bucks).
Gamification
e.g. more to come
Saturday 3 October 2015
a referendum that defined the Eurozone
With the previous Syriza government, that included
Yanis Varoufakis, we had what appeared to be a
serious (or playful) attempt to break the status quo.
I am certain that Varoufakis managed to present
the Eurogroup and Germany as the despots that
they are. He continues to do so, as a free agent.
Of course, that did not end Greeks' pain, but it
did provide a trip off the beaten track that has
changed the EU forever.
News-watching people with functioning brains,
i.e. on twitter, can never again look at JC
Juncker as a serious politician. We would
have discovered that he's a drunk- always
tipsy. We would have known that his country
has been a sink-hole for tax evasion. But we
now know that he has the brinksmanship skills
of a drunken insider. It's just that we're not
invited to the party, so we have to assume
what he's doing is for a reason, and figure out why.
Prolly, he's an employee of the Germans.
It's very late doing this, and I don't have the
telling news reports handy, but it's worth it
looking back in anger and amazement at
what happened.
Anyway, the referendum did so many things
to make me believe that Syriza were different
and that they were cunning fighters in the
kind of battle that the EU forces us to do
with our "colleagues" (ftoooo, wretch).
Firstly, Syriza took the proposal that the troika
thrust on the table, saying "sign it." It included
corrections of the Greek positions in red ink and
track changes, like a prof to a PG student. The
Trickies also provided Greece with the same
slavery deal
here's a copy of the front page of the doc. You can get it
easily I imagine, but remember to thank Yanis Varoufakis
and his Intern for thinking "this is amazing. We're gonna
tour the country with this! And they will praise God":
So, Greece revealed the skulduggery, or more precisely
law. Do you know what that means? It's the political
equivalent of :
Troika: oh. you're pissed at me and my 17 friends?
well, step into this dark room and we'll solve
our differences.
Are you nuts? It's a mind-fuck exercise and we have
already said, the Eurogroup (or Troika, interchangeable, really)
were negotiating in the way that a tyrant lets a pleb
tire himself out ranting, and then (checking his fingernails)
orders his guards to behead the man and impale the rest of
his lifeless body on an appropriate stick for all to see.
Varoufakis and company, at the very least, made this lynching
a public affair. You and I felt that we were in that darkened
room in Brussels. A room where nobody took notes, because
the tyrants had already decided to let Greece exhaust itself
with portraying all their reasonable ideas about how to
pay and yet improve the Greek economy. It was fingernail
time for the tyrants. They gave Greece its final offer
Yanis Varoufakis, we had what appeared to be a
serious (or playful) attempt to break the status quo.
I am certain that Varoufakis managed to present
the Eurogroup and Germany as the despots that
they are. He continues to do so, as a free agent.
Of course, that did not end Greeks' pain, but it
did provide a trip off the beaten track that has
changed the EU forever.
News-watching people with functioning brains,
i.e. on twitter, can never again look at JC
Juncker as a serious politician. We would
have discovered that he's a drunk- always
tipsy. We would have known that his country
has been a sink-hole for tax evasion. But we
now know that he has the brinksmanship skills
of a drunken insider. It's just that we're not
invited to the party, so we have to assume
what he's doing is for a reason, and figure out why.
Prolly, he's an employee of the Germans.
It's very late doing this, and I don't have the
telling news reports handy, but it's worth it
looking back in anger and amazement at
what happened.
Anyway, the referendum did so many things
to make me believe that Syriza were different
and that they were cunning fighters in the
kind of battle that the EU forces us to do
with our "colleagues" (ftoooo, wretch).
Firstly, Syriza took the proposal that the troika
thrust on the table, saying "sign it." It included
corrections of the Greek positions in red ink and
track changes, like a prof to a PG student. The
Trickies also provided Greece with the same
slavery deal
i.e. we agree to enslave you, you agree to wear chains, etc
that was essentially the agreement that ND party
would not dare enforce, from summer 2014 onward.
There may have been some changes to account
for the troika being pissed off at Samaras, who
despite not stooping enough, was a man that
Juncker "could negotiate with." We know what
that means:
JCJ: Here. take this paper and fuck yourselves
Samaras: thank you , sir, can I have some more
Here's the ceremony in Brussels:here's a copy of the front page of the doc. You can get it
easily I imagine, but remember to thank Yanis Varoufakis
and his Intern for thinking "this is amazing. We're gonna
tour the country with this! And they will praise God":
So, Greece revealed the skulduggery, or more precisely
skull-fucking
that goes on in a Eurogroup that has no standing inlaw. Do you know what that means? It's the political
equivalent of :
Troika: oh. you're pissed at me and my 17 friends?
well, step into this dark room and we'll solve
our differences.
Are you nuts? It's a mind-fuck exercise and we have
already said, the Eurogroup (or Troika, interchangeable, really)
were negotiating in the way that a tyrant lets a pleb
tire himself out ranting, and then (checking his fingernails)
orders his guards to behead the man and impale the rest of
his lifeless body on an appropriate stick for all to see.
Varoufakis and company, at the very least, made this lynching
a public affair. You and I felt that we were in that darkened
room in Brussels. A room where nobody took notes, because
the tyrants had already decided to let Greece exhaust itself
with portraying all their reasonable ideas about how to
pay and yet improve the Greek economy. It was fingernail
time for the tyrants. They gave Greece its final offer
i.e. same as the last one
and Syriza said let's put it to a referendum. The timing of
the referendum firstly, was amazing. It was for after the
ending of the last slavery contract (June 30th, I think),
meaning that there would be no money for Greece
while the people were deciding their fate. And so it
happened. In the middle of the referendum campaign,
the troika closed the banks. If some Greeks (or anybody)
had any doubt who these troika fuckers were, that was
an eye-opener. The ECB, the backstop of the Eurozone
economy, closed banks, as a threat, in cooperation with
the rest of the Troika/Eurogroup.
Satan unmasked!
Brilliant move. Obviously I am not belittling the
fact that Greeks were paying the price for this
absurdist theatre, and were starting to starve.
Nevertheless, their answer was to vote 61% against
the troika offer.
The only fly in that ointment was the fact that
it SEEMS that Greeks want to reject an offer from
the troika and yet stay in the Eurozone, but actually,
that was the troika blackmail.
"Do this slavery thing, or you're gone."
I'll take on the grexit issue in another blog.
So, the next step was to take the results to Brussels and
get a better deal. Well, I think it was dawning on Syriza
that the troika was gonna screw Greece one way or another.
Kinda like the Kama Sutra for love slaves.
"oh. you don't like pages 33-45?
Well, let's try page 55. ha-ha!"
Tsipras knew that he had the savings and house value
of every Greek and/or their business in his hands. He knew
that the troika would not loosen the noose, so he had to
bow his head. For me, he was then beheaded. He is no
longer a person, let alone PM. His lifeless body just
won the re-election campaign. I'm indifferent.
won the re-election campaign. I'm indifferent.
Varoufakis still has his impudent head and he's making
quite a scene in France and other places, seeking discussions
of justice and fairness and democracy. They love that.
So, let's just assume that Greece was screwed to begin with
and then you can see the wisdom of the Syriza plan.
1 it shook faith in the Euro and EU to the ground
2 the Euro is at lows not seen since it was the EMU
1.40 Euros for one British pound.
3 it has cast the Euro/EU oligarchs in very bad light
4 it has made countries like Poland, Czechs and Romania
run screaming from the Euro table, even though they
are required to switch.
5 it has sped up the disintegration of the Eurozone, because
of the lack of faith in Germany
6 Shown how the Euro genesis was a twisted affair with
two protagonists.
It was created by the French because
two protagonists.
It was created by the French because
they thought their elite would run the EU this way, and
the Germans because they knew that the French were
lightweights and that they (Germany) would end up
dictating life and death in the whole EU.
7 It was shown, to those who were really good at
reading between the lines that the troika was not
interested in solutions, but in providing a workable
plan such that German taxpayers could bail out
Deutschebank, without it looking like that. It looks
like a Greek bailout, so in return, the Greeks must
be screwed. Tangled web, anyone?
Now, there were a number of economists who got
involved in the referendum case, at least in theory.
They offered opinions that were either economic,
political, or both, and it says a lot about who they are.
Let's go through the list. The first 4
involved in the referendum case, at least in theory.
They offered opinions that were either economic,
political, or both, and it says a lot about who they are.
would have voted "no" and the last
two, though Grecophone, would have
voted "yes".
Let's examine them:
Stiglitz and Sachs, among others, were being
regularly consulted by Varoufakis,
and they knew the case well.
Krugman is just a statist nut, but sometimes
he gasps for oxygen and does the right thing.
Piketty, though Varoufakis is not a fan of his,
also sided with the Greeks.
On the Dark side we have Pissaridis, a
Cypriot economist who is big in LSE
circles. He won an Economics
(pseudo) nobel for his thesis that the
way to make sure that wage inflation
does not happen is by cutting unemployment
money. Ya. thanks Pisser. He was later
found on BBC talking about how he was
worried for his nest egg in a Cypriot
bank when the banking oligarchs came
to rob Cyprus. I had no sympathy for him.
The last is Katey Price, the Greek ex-wife of
Chris Huhne (Labour minister & social
climber). They had divorced and both
spent time in posh jail because she
was proved to have said "yes" to her
husband (the Transport Minister) when
he asked her to take his speeding points
on her licence. Once again, we have caught
her saying "yes" to the big dick in the room.
Again, no sympathy. She happens to be
an economist, but of what quality, I don't
know.I think she may have had the right
to vote.
to vote.
Friday 2 October 2015
Bartering is good, if your country's been bombed back 2000 years
I seem to remember the open threat by Dick Cheney,
the Nobel Prize loser, to bomb Iraq back into the
stone age.
Well, he's been outdone by the Troika and the EU
Commission, who've bombed Greece, not with tanks,
but banks, into the stone age.
Bartering systems and alt currencies are flourishing,
while nothing in the real economy is. With tourism
being its key sector, the EU has fucked Greece's
economic skull with a 23% VAT.
If the EU has control of your bank account, the money
in that account, in Euros, is worth less that Euros in
Germany which is running the show. Capital controls
mean Greeks can only withdraw 60 Euro a day.
International transfers may also be affected. The
once-large middle class in Greece used to rely on
cornering markets for imported goods. But now, with
no free flow of money, they cannot pay importers.
This may, however, bring back Greek industry after
10 years of languishing because of cheap imports.
Anyway, the resourceful Greeks are trying to use
barter to cover for the Euros that they don't have.
Silly Greeks don't realise that the government
will not accept barter, except maybe offers of sex,
in payment of taxes. So, they're still gonna lose
their houses.
checkit: EKathimerini
Bartering platform offers a way to sidestep capital controls
LINA GIANNAROU TAGS: Innovation Stella makes photo albums for weddings and baptisms, which she trades for ground beef. Dellman services PCs and laptops in exchange for olive oil, Panayiota has a BMW she’d gladly trade for a small studio apartment in Athens, and Dimitris needs a small refrigerator which he’s willing to trade for nearly new children’s clothes. “Only your imagination can set limits,” says Yiannis Deliyiannis, who, with a group of friends, set up tradenow.gr in early 2013, the first automated platform for swapping services and goods in Greece. “Is there anything that can’t be swapped?” asks Deliyiannis. “Someone might not have any cash in his wallet but a watch or cell phone he doesn’t need. That’s like having 500 euros, with which he can get anything he wants.” The site was launched as Greece entered the depths of the crisis and is even more popular today since the imposition of capital controls in the summer restricted Greeks’ purchasing power even further. “We attracted a huge number of people after the capital controls were put in place,” says Deliyiannis. Registered members swelled to above 25,000 in the summer from 20,000 at the start of the year and more keep coming as an increasing number of people look for ways to acquire the things they need without having to spend cash. The initial idea came about during a spontaneous exchange. “A friend of mine wanted an energy-efficient fireplace in his house but couldn’t afford it. The technician offered to take his old fireplace in exchange for the materials for the new one and also offered him a discount on the installation,” explains Deliyiannis. “I was interested so we started looking at whether anything like that was happening elsewhere in the world. We found a number of similar initiatives, especially in the United States, where major trade networks have been developed between businesses looking to cut costs. So that’s how we came up with the idea of creating a community that would include all tiers of the economy, from individuals with goods and services to offer to businesses that could trade with other businesses while at the same time getting some publicity and selling their goods or services at a discount.” Putting the idea into action led to all sorts of complications. “The platform is interactive. When someone logs on asking for a bicycle and offering a watch, the site will automatically link them to everyone who wants a watch or is offering a bike. Then the different parties can haggle among themselves; it’s like each member is running a e-shop of their own.” To make exchanges easier, the company has introduced a form of “currency,” a Trade Point, which reflects the value of the items or services on offer. So if someone wants to buy something that is of greater value than what they’re offering, they can make up the different with points (1 point equals 1 euro). Membership to the site is free of charge for individuals and costs from 50 euros upward for companies, with a small commission fee when directed sales are made. “It was hard at first to convince companies [mostly small and medium-sized] to join and build a profile. There were quite a few cases where we not only had to explain how bartering works but also had to actually explain the Internet,” says Deliyiannis. “Everything changes with the capital controls. People were obliged to do business without cash and so they soon saw the benefits.” Companies usually swap promotional material like leaflets or banners, as well as office materials or services like security system installations. Among individuals, most of the exchanges involve cell phones and other IT gadgets, but also food. “We have a butcher who got new tires for his car by offering meat, another guy who got his car serviced by offering a shower stall, and others who swapped cars for boats. Everything is possible,” says Deliyiannis.
the Nobel Prize loser, to bomb Iraq back into the
stone age.
Well, he's been outdone by the Troika and the EU
Commission, who've bombed Greece, not with tanks,
but banks, into the stone age.
Bartering systems and alt currencies are flourishing,
while nothing in the real economy is. With tourism
being its key sector, the EU has fucked Greece's
economic skull with a 23% VAT.
If the EU has control of your bank account, the money
in that account, in Euros, is worth less that Euros in
Germany which is running the show. Capital controls
mean Greeks can only withdraw 60 Euro a day.
International transfers may also be affected. The
once-large middle class in Greece used to rely on
cornering markets for imported goods. But now, with
no free flow of money, they cannot pay importers.
This may, however, bring back Greek industry after
10 years of languishing because of cheap imports.
Anyway, the resourceful Greeks are trying to use
barter to cover for the Euros that they don't have.
Silly Greeks don't realise that the government
will not accept barter, except maybe offers of sex,
in payment of taxes. So, they're still gonna lose
their houses.
checkit: EKathimerini
Bartering platform offers a way to sidestep capital controls
LINA GIANNAROU TAGS: Innovation Stella makes photo albums for weddings and baptisms, which she trades for ground beef. Dellman services PCs and laptops in exchange for olive oil, Panayiota has a BMW she’d gladly trade for a small studio apartment in Athens, and Dimitris needs a small refrigerator which he’s willing to trade for nearly new children’s clothes. “Only your imagination can set limits,” says Yiannis Deliyiannis, who, with a group of friends, set up tradenow.gr in early 2013, the first automated platform for swapping services and goods in Greece. “Is there anything that can’t be swapped?” asks Deliyiannis. “Someone might not have any cash in his wallet but a watch or cell phone he doesn’t need. That’s like having 500 euros, with which he can get anything he wants.” The site was launched as Greece entered the depths of the crisis and is even more popular today since the imposition of capital controls in the summer restricted Greeks’ purchasing power even further. “We attracted a huge number of people after the capital controls were put in place,” says Deliyiannis. Registered members swelled to above 25,000 in the summer from 20,000 at the start of the year and more keep coming as an increasing number of people look for ways to acquire the things they need without having to spend cash. The initial idea came about during a spontaneous exchange. “A friend of mine wanted an energy-efficient fireplace in his house but couldn’t afford it. The technician offered to take his old fireplace in exchange for the materials for the new one and also offered him a discount on the installation,” explains Deliyiannis. “I was interested so we started looking at whether anything like that was happening elsewhere in the world. We found a number of similar initiatives, especially in the United States, where major trade networks have been developed between businesses looking to cut costs. So that’s how we came up with the idea of creating a community that would include all tiers of the economy, from individuals with goods and services to offer to businesses that could trade with other businesses while at the same time getting some publicity and selling their goods or services at a discount.” Putting the idea into action led to all sorts of complications. “The platform is interactive. When someone logs on asking for a bicycle and offering a watch, the site will automatically link them to everyone who wants a watch or is offering a bike. Then the different parties can haggle among themselves; it’s like each member is running a e-shop of their own.” To make exchanges easier, the company has introduced a form of “currency,” a Trade Point, which reflects the value of the items or services on offer. So if someone wants to buy something that is of greater value than what they’re offering, they can make up the different with points (1 point equals 1 euro). Membership to the site is free of charge for individuals and costs from 50 euros upward for companies, with a small commission fee when directed sales are made. “It was hard at first to convince companies [mostly small and medium-sized] to join and build a profile. There were quite a few cases where we not only had to explain how bartering works but also had to actually explain the Internet,” says Deliyiannis. “Everything changes with the capital controls. People were obliged to do business without cash and so they soon saw the benefits.” Companies usually swap promotional material like leaflets or banners, as well as office materials or services like security system installations. Among individuals, most of the exchanges involve cell phones and other IT gadgets, but also food. “We have a butcher who got new tires for his car by offering meat, another guy who got his car serviced by offering a shower stall, and others who swapped cars for boats. Everything is possible,” says Deliyiannis.
Monday 1 June 2015
Britain protects towns from marauding bankers
It's quite illuminating when one studies the financial
crisis, to see that it is also a colonisation of poorer,
weaker countries. The exporting of financial tricks
has become the calling card of US and UK banks
as they tricked the gullible Continentals to buy their
fake paper.
If a country has a law that protects its towns from those
rapacious bankers, then that country is aware that its
bankers are immoral pirates.
In this case, the towns of England have a
crisis, to see that it is also a colonisation of poorer,
weaker countries. The exporting of financial tricks
has become the calling card of US and UK banks
as they tricked the gullible Continentals to buy their
fake paper.
If a country has a law that protects its towns from those
rapacious bankers, then that country is aware that its
bankers are immoral pirates.
In this case, the towns of England have a
get out of jail free card
in the form of a law that protects them from London
banks and their tricks.
Unfortunately, lesser countries cannot be saved by this
Unfortunately, lesser countries cannot be saved by this
law, so the London banks are free to trick and enslave
any country they want/
Checkit:
Syriza,
Greece and Government debt cancellation.
Could it happen here in the UK?
Posted
on February 8, 2015 by joelbenjamin5 —
4 Comments ↓
As the
newly elected Syriza Government make overtures to the so-called Troika of the
ECB, EC and IMF on debt restructuring, one thing is increasingly clear.
Elites
in the UK and across Europe appear deeply uncomfortable the neoliberal logic of
the “free market” is being questioned by a democratically elected Government,
freely expressing the will of the long-suffering Greek people.
For
those who sat through the car-crash Emily Maitlis interview for BBC Newsnight –
accusing the Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis of “sabre rattling” for
daring to renegotiate Greek debt, the hostile tone that greets BBC guests bold
enough to question the ‘neoliberal consensus’ is quickly apparent.
London
remains, the most important financial centre on the planet. The City of London
effectively writes its own policy and regulation. Through The City UK, the
British Bankers Association and HSBC’s Rona Fairhead, it pulls the strings of
the BBC.
For
the most part, the three major UK political parties simply nod along with this
charade, collecting their cheques.
For
people watching events unfold from the UK, the notion a tiny sovereign nation
like Greece, tied to the fiscal straight-jacket of the EU, could take on the
ECB, The City of London, Deutsche Bank and Angela Merkel, oppose the ‘fiscal
water-boarding’ of austerity and win seems absurd.
As a
nation governed in the interests of the City of London, do the UK media ever
stop to question the legality and legitimacy of Greek bank debts? 90% of the
Greek “bailout” loans have gone straight to French and German banks!
Greek
Debt Bondage
For a
creditor nation such as the UK, the morality of “paying ones debts” runs
strong. Yet look carefully at our own financial history and you will find
precedents where the UK has defaulted on its debts – much like Greece seeks to
renegotiate now.
One of
the more outlandish, yet poorly known examples of UK default is a landmark 1989
legal battle between Hammersmith and Fulham Council vs the American banking
behemoth Goldman Sachs.
137
Councils including Hammersmith had been encouraged to enter into multiple
“interest rate swaps” – where the council exchanged floating interest rates
with a bank, for the “security” of a fixed rate. Or so they thought.
In the
fish hooks of the contracts, the bank would pay Hammersmith if interest rates
increased, while Hammersmith would pay the bank when rates fell.
Hammersmith,
the largest player in the interest rate swaps market had signed hundreds of
swaps contracts placing UK taxpayers on the hook for $9.5billion in potential
losses as interests rates moved against the council in favour of Goldman Sachs.
Terrified
council executives were quickly phoning the Audit Commission, Big Four
Accountants and City law firms for expert advice as to their options to
extricate themselves from a growing budgetary black hole.
This
sordid tale of local government incompetence, predatory bank lending and UK
Government legal chicanery, is craftily retold by Duncan Campbell Smith in
“Closing the Swaps Shop.”
UK
Government as the “lender of last resort” to councils via the Treasury Public
Works Loan Board (PWLB) took a keen interest in the case, as the debts mounted
and council defaults and Government bailouts to pay the banks became a
realistic proposition.
The
case was further complicated because some councils had “guessed right” with
their interest rate bets, and were profiting handsomely from the trades, whilst
others, such as Hammersmith taxpayers faced a potential bill of some 6.2
billion!
Ultimately,
the matter was decided in the UK High Courts, were QC’s scouring over the fine
print of the 1972 Local Government Act ruled that councils entering into
stand-alone swaps and derivatives contracts was “ultra-vires” or outside of the
councils legal powers. Whether the British courts would have reached the same
conclusions were it Greek and not British taxpayers on the hook remains a moot
point.
In the
Hammersmith case, UK High Courts ruled it was not council’s role to be
speculating upon interest rates, and taxpayers should not be held liable, much
to the anger of bankers in Wall Street and the City of London.
However
take a look at the “devils derivatives” deal handed down by Goldman Sachs to
bring Greece into the Eurozone and this is precisely what has happened there.
Far from having the offending contracts “invalidated” by the EU courts, Greek
taxpayers were left on the hook for the full amount of debt – largely owed to
German and French banks.
The
same story has played out in Italy,
Spain, Germany and France where London based banks have systematically mis-sold
swaps and derivatives contracts to bumbling and inept Government officials,
too lazy or corrupt to ask proper questions.
In the
Hammersmith and Fulham case, the interest
rate swaps contracts were invalidated, the British taxpayer and Government
spared. Currently however, UK taxpayers
are on the hook for £300 billion+ in PFI contracts and LOBO loans at
councils like Newham, which feature interest rate derivatives similar in nature
to those featured in the infamous Hammersmith deal.
Before
passing judgement on the “lazy Greeks” as characterised in the right-wing
British press, UK citizens would be well advised to survey our own back yard
for odious bank debt, and to revisit the Hammersmith test case and reflect upon
the likely implications had the full terms of billions of pounds in swaps
contracts been enforced by UK courts, with UK taxpayers ultimately liable.
Sunday 22 March 2015
Yianis has done his homework
Now that Varoufakis is the FinMin of Greece
an embattled, enslaved nation, he has to
choose his words carefully. He hasn't been
doing that as well as he could, but I like
a good bun fight anyway.
However, before he became a politician,
he was an awesome Economist-about-Town
talking to the Alt-media about how
the Euro was a mistake and that it's on
a monorail ride off a cliff. Now, he also
discovered that because of this
instability in the Euro causing banking
"issues", the tendency of the Bankocracy
is to squash any and all countries that
do not follow IMF dogma. Indeed, the
banker/politicians are misanthropic
fascists. no surprise there.
But most people need "proof".
All that is needed is for them to let a few
words slip in public and we will be sure
about what we've been assuming all along.
They want to subjugate any and all poeples
to the will of the banks. Varoufakis found this:
checkit: Protagon Varoufakis
Συντρίψτε τους Έλληνες! Το Μνημόνιο υπό το φώς των αποκαλύψεων
Geithner Ο τ. υπουργός οικονομικών των ΗΠΑ Timothy Geithner το επιβεβαίωσε σε μια μαγνητοφωνημένη συζήτηση που είδε πρόσφατα το φως της δημοσιότητας(*): Τον Φεβρουάριο του 2010, οι βορειοευρωπαίοι ηγέτες, αγνοώντας την λαίλαπα που θα συμπαρέσυρε ολόκληρη την ευρωζώνη, παραδόθηκαν στην οργή εναντίον της «άσωτης» Ελλάδας και ήταν αποφασισμένοι να «συνθλίψουν τους Έλληνες», καθώς η Ελλάδα κατάφερε να χρεοκοπήσει εντός μιας νομισματικής ένωσης η αρχιτεκτονική της οποίας δεν προέβλεπε (και για αυτό δεν μπορούσε να αντιμετωπίσει) μια τέτοια χρεοκοπία. Σε συνάντηση των G7 στον Καναδά, ο Geithner άκουγε εμβρόντητος τους βορειοευρωπαίους συναδέλφους του να λένε: «Θα τους μάθουμε ένα μάθημα. Είναι απαίσιοι. Μας είπαν ψέμματα. Είναι καθήκια, άσωτοι και εκμεταλλεύτηκαν τους θεσμούς. Θα τους συνθλίψουμε. Αυτή ήταν, βασικά, η στάση τους. Όλων τους.» Η αντίδραση του Geithner ακούγοντας αυτές τις έξαλλες κουβέντες δεν ήταν να ανησυχήσει για το μέλλον των ελλήνων. Όχι, ο αμερικανός ανησύχησε ότι, στην πρεμούρα τους να «σκοτώσουν» τους έλληνες, οι βοριεοευρωπαίοι θα πυροβολούσαν, άθελά τους, τον ίδιο τους τον εαυτό. Όπως έγραφα εδώ στο protagon τον Μάιο του 2010, παρομοιάζοντας το Μνημόνιο με την Συνθήκη των Βερσαλλιών: παρασυρμένοι από την ισχύ τους, οι ισχυροί μπορεί κάλλιστα να επιβάλουν στους ανίσχυρους συνθήκες και όρους που αποδυναμώνουν όλους. Αυτός ακριβώς είναι ο φόβος μου για την συμφωνία που επέβαλε η τρόικα ΔΝΤ-ΕΕ-ΕΚΤ στην ηττημένη χώρα μας…. Αυτά έχουν οι Συνθήκες τύπου Βερσαλλιών: Σπαταλούν την ισχύ των ισχυρών με αποτέλεσμα (τόσο το 1919 όσο και το 2010) την ένδεια όλων μας - ισχυρών και αδύναμων. Ο Geithner πρέπει να ήταν ο μόνος σε εκείνη την συνάντηση που καταλάβαινε πως οι Ευρωπαίοι, στην προσπάθειά τους να τιμωρήσουν τους έλληνες, θα έθεταν την Ευρώπη ολόκληρη σε μια σκοτοδίνη δεκαετίας και άνω. Τα υπόλοιπα έχουν περάσει στην ιστορία. Η Ελλάς συνεθλίβη. Και συνεθλίβη όχι επειδή αφέθηκε να χρεοκοπήσει επισήμως αλλά επειδή δεν της επετράπη να αγκαλιάσει την αναπόφευκτη χρεοκοπία της. Συνεθλίβη επειδή επιβλήθηκε το μεγαλύτερο δάνειο στην ανθρώπινη ιστορία στην πιο πτωχευμένη χώρα υπό τον όρο της συρρίκνωσης των (σε ευρώ) εισοδημάτων της κατά 30%, την ώρα που καλείται να αποπληρώσει όλα τα παλιά δάνεια (που την γονάτισαν) συν τα καινούργια. Με αυτή την κίνηση των βορειοευρωπαΐων, την οποία η εγχώρια κλεπτοκρατία αγκάλιασε με ενθουσιασμό, όχι μόνο συνεθλίβη η Ελλάδα αλλά έγινε και κάτι άλλο: Η υπόλοιπη ευρωπαϊκή περιφέρεια (όπου εξήχθη το μοντέλο «Συντρίψτε την Ελλάδα», σε λίγο πιο ήπια μορφή) πέρασε σε κατάσταση μόνιμης ασφυξίας με αποτέλεσμα ολόκληρη η Ευρωζώνη να βρίσκεται, σήμερα, σε κατάσταση μόνιμης ύφεσης αποπληθωρισμού και γοργής απώλειας της πολιτικής της νομιμοποίησης στα μάτια της πλειοψηφίας των ευρωπαίων. Μετά τις τελευταίες αποκαλύψεις Geithner, εκείνοι που το 2010 υποστήριζαν πως το μνημονιακό δάνειο ήταν μονόδρομος (μαζί με εκείνους που διαφωνούσαν αλλά που, κάποια στιμγή, άλλαξαν γνώμη για να αναρριχηθούν στην εξουσία) σήμερα μου λένε με αυταρέσκεια: «Είδες ποια ήταν η ατμόσφαιρα στην Ευρώπη τότε; Αν κάναμε αυτά που έλεγες, θα μας είχαν συνθλίψει!» Απαντώ: Μα, μας συνέθλιψαν! Η μέγγενη με την οποία το κατάφεραν ήταν ακριβώς αυτό το μνημονιακό δάνειο που οι κυβερνήσεις μας υπέγραψαν το 2010 και το 2012 και προσποιούνται ότι τηρούν από τότε έως σήμερα. Ακριβώς όπως η Γερμανία συνεθλίβη το 1919 υπογράφοντας την Συνθήκη των Βερσαλλιών, έτσι κι η Ελλάς συνεθλίβη υπογράφοντας τις μνημονιακές, δανειακές συμφωνίες – την πρώτη ώστε να διασωθούν οι βορειοευρωπαϊκές τράπεζες, την δεύτερη για να διασωθούν οι έλληνες τραπεζίτες, ο πολιτικός τους περίγυρος και τα ΜΜΕ που ταΐζονται από τα δάνεια αυτά (δηλαδή την κλεπτοκρατία που ποτέ δεν συνθλίβη βεβαίως βεβαίως!). Η επιλογή της Ελλάδας στις αρχές του 2010, τότε που ο κ. Geithner είχε τις εν λόγω επαφές, ήταν απλή: Αποδοχή της χρεοκοπίας της ή επέκτασή της στο διηνεκές. Η δεύτερη εναλλακτική, μέσω μνημονιακών δανείων, ήταν εκείνη που σύναδε τα μέγιστα με την συντριβή της χώρας, όπως την ήθελαν οι βορειοευρωπαίοι. Και σαν να μην έφτανε αυτό, σαν να μην αρκούσε η επέκταση της χρεοκοπίας της χώρας στο διηνεκές (κάτι που αποτελεί την μέγιστη, την πιο απάνθρωπη, ταπεινωτική συντριβή ενός λαού), η καθεστηκυία μας τάξη δεν παύει να μας ζητά να την δοξάσουμε που μας έσωσε από την συντριβή, που μας έβγαλε από την χρεοκοπία. Τότε, το 2010, σε εκείνο το άρθρο όπου (όπως ο Geithner σήμερα) αναφερόμουν στην άφρονα μανία της Γερμανίας να υποβάλει ολόκληρο τον ελληνικό λαό σε συλλογική τιμωρία (όπως είχαν κάνει οι σύμμαχοι στην Γερμανία το 1919), με σίγουρο αποτέλεσμα την επέκταση της κρίσης σε ολόκληρη την Ευρώπη, δανείστηκα μια φράση από τον Keynes με την οποία ο άγγλος οικονομολόγος, σχολιάζοντας την Συνθήκη των Βερσαλλιών, έγραφε: "... η ανειλικρινής αποδοχή... όρων που ήταν αδύνατον να τηρηθούν..., και τους οποίους δεν είχε σκοπό να τηρήσει, καθιστά την Ελλάδα(**) το ίδιο ένοχη με την τρόικα(***) οι οποίοι επέβαλαν όρους που δεν είχαν το δικαίωμα να επιβάλουν." Τέσσερα τώρα χρόνια η πιο πάνω φράση εξακολουθεί να συνοψίζει την ελληνική πραγματικότητα. Η Ελλάς, όντως, συνθλίβη. Μαζί της, δυστυχώς, συνθλίβη και η ιδέα μιας ενωμένης, προοδευτικής Ευρώπης. (*) Βλ. τις απομαγνητοφωνημένες δηλώσεις του κ. Geithner που έδωσε στην δημοσιότητα ο δημοσιογράφος των Financial Times Peter Spiegel. (**) Εδώ αντικατέστησα την «Γερμανία» με την «Ελλάδα» κι εδώ (***) αντικατέστησα «τους Συμμάχους» με «την τρόικα»
an embattled, enslaved nation, he has to
choose his words carefully. He hasn't been
doing that as well as he could, but I like
a good bun fight anyway.
However, before he became a politician,
he was an awesome Economist-about-Town
talking to the Alt-media about how
the Euro was a mistake and that it's on
a monorail ride off a cliff. Now, he also
discovered that because of this
instability in the Euro causing banking
"issues", the tendency of the Bankocracy
is to squash any and all countries that
do not follow IMF dogma. Indeed, the
banker/politicians are misanthropic
fascists. no surprise there.
But most people need "proof".
All that is needed is for them to let a few
words slip in public and we will be sure
about what we've been assuming all along.
They want to subjugate any and all poeples
to the will of the banks. Varoufakis found this:
checkit: Protagon Varoufakis
Συντρίψτε τους Έλληνες! Το Μνημόνιο υπό το φώς των αποκαλύψεων
Geithner Ο τ. υπουργός οικονομικών των ΗΠΑ Timothy Geithner το επιβεβαίωσε σε μια μαγνητοφωνημένη συζήτηση που είδε πρόσφατα το φως της δημοσιότητας(*): Τον Φεβρουάριο του 2010, οι βορειοευρωπαίοι ηγέτες, αγνοώντας την λαίλαπα που θα συμπαρέσυρε ολόκληρη την ευρωζώνη, παραδόθηκαν στην οργή εναντίον της «άσωτης» Ελλάδας και ήταν αποφασισμένοι να «συνθλίψουν τους Έλληνες», καθώς η Ελλάδα κατάφερε να χρεοκοπήσει εντός μιας νομισματικής ένωσης η αρχιτεκτονική της οποίας δεν προέβλεπε (και για αυτό δεν μπορούσε να αντιμετωπίσει) μια τέτοια χρεοκοπία. Σε συνάντηση των G7 στον Καναδά, ο Geithner άκουγε εμβρόντητος τους βορειοευρωπαίους συναδέλφους του να λένε: «Θα τους μάθουμε ένα μάθημα. Είναι απαίσιοι. Μας είπαν ψέμματα. Είναι καθήκια, άσωτοι και εκμεταλλεύτηκαν τους θεσμούς. Θα τους συνθλίψουμε. Αυτή ήταν, βασικά, η στάση τους. Όλων τους.» Η αντίδραση του Geithner ακούγοντας αυτές τις έξαλλες κουβέντες δεν ήταν να ανησυχήσει για το μέλλον των ελλήνων. Όχι, ο αμερικανός ανησύχησε ότι, στην πρεμούρα τους να «σκοτώσουν» τους έλληνες, οι βοριεοευρωπαίοι θα πυροβολούσαν, άθελά τους, τον ίδιο τους τον εαυτό. Όπως έγραφα εδώ στο protagon τον Μάιο του 2010, παρομοιάζοντας το Μνημόνιο με την Συνθήκη των Βερσαλλιών: παρασυρμένοι από την ισχύ τους, οι ισχυροί μπορεί κάλλιστα να επιβάλουν στους ανίσχυρους συνθήκες και όρους που αποδυναμώνουν όλους. Αυτός ακριβώς είναι ο φόβος μου για την συμφωνία που επέβαλε η τρόικα ΔΝΤ-ΕΕ-ΕΚΤ στην ηττημένη χώρα μας…. Αυτά έχουν οι Συνθήκες τύπου Βερσαλλιών: Σπαταλούν την ισχύ των ισχυρών με αποτέλεσμα (τόσο το 1919 όσο και το 2010) την ένδεια όλων μας - ισχυρών και αδύναμων. Ο Geithner πρέπει να ήταν ο μόνος σε εκείνη την συνάντηση που καταλάβαινε πως οι Ευρωπαίοι, στην προσπάθειά τους να τιμωρήσουν τους έλληνες, θα έθεταν την Ευρώπη ολόκληρη σε μια σκοτοδίνη δεκαετίας και άνω. Τα υπόλοιπα έχουν περάσει στην ιστορία. Η Ελλάς συνεθλίβη. Και συνεθλίβη όχι επειδή αφέθηκε να χρεοκοπήσει επισήμως αλλά επειδή δεν της επετράπη να αγκαλιάσει την αναπόφευκτη χρεοκοπία της. Συνεθλίβη επειδή επιβλήθηκε το μεγαλύτερο δάνειο στην ανθρώπινη ιστορία στην πιο πτωχευμένη χώρα υπό τον όρο της συρρίκνωσης των (σε ευρώ) εισοδημάτων της κατά 30%, την ώρα που καλείται να αποπληρώσει όλα τα παλιά δάνεια (που την γονάτισαν) συν τα καινούργια. Με αυτή την κίνηση των βορειοευρωπαΐων, την οποία η εγχώρια κλεπτοκρατία αγκάλιασε με ενθουσιασμό, όχι μόνο συνεθλίβη η Ελλάδα αλλά έγινε και κάτι άλλο: Η υπόλοιπη ευρωπαϊκή περιφέρεια (όπου εξήχθη το μοντέλο «Συντρίψτε την Ελλάδα», σε λίγο πιο ήπια μορφή) πέρασε σε κατάσταση μόνιμης ασφυξίας με αποτέλεσμα ολόκληρη η Ευρωζώνη να βρίσκεται, σήμερα, σε κατάσταση μόνιμης ύφεσης αποπληθωρισμού και γοργής απώλειας της πολιτικής της νομιμοποίησης στα μάτια της πλειοψηφίας των ευρωπαίων. Μετά τις τελευταίες αποκαλύψεις Geithner, εκείνοι που το 2010 υποστήριζαν πως το μνημονιακό δάνειο ήταν μονόδρομος (μαζί με εκείνους που διαφωνούσαν αλλά που, κάποια στιμγή, άλλαξαν γνώμη για να αναρριχηθούν στην εξουσία) σήμερα μου λένε με αυταρέσκεια: «Είδες ποια ήταν η ατμόσφαιρα στην Ευρώπη τότε; Αν κάναμε αυτά που έλεγες, θα μας είχαν συνθλίψει!» Απαντώ: Μα, μας συνέθλιψαν! Η μέγγενη με την οποία το κατάφεραν ήταν ακριβώς αυτό το μνημονιακό δάνειο που οι κυβερνήσεις μας υπέγραψαν το 2010 και το 2012 και προσποιούνται ότι τηρούν από τότε έως σήμερα. Ακριβώς όπως η Γερμανία συνεθλίβη το 1919 υπογράφοντας την Συνθήκη των Βερσαλλιών, έτσι κι η Ελλάς συνεθλίβη υπογράφοντας τις μνημονιακές, δανειακές συμφωνίες – την πρώτη ώστε να διασωθούν οι βορειοευρωπαϊκές τράπεζες, την δεύτερη για να διασωθούν οι έλληνες τραπεζίτες, ο πολιτικός τους περίγυρος και τα ΜΜΕ που ταΐζονται από τα δάνεια αυτά (δηλαδή την κλεπτοκρατία που ποτέ δεν συνθλίβη βεβαίως βεβαίως!). Η επιλογή της Ελλάδας στις αρχές του 2010, τότε που ο κ. Geithner είχε τις εν λόγω επαφές, ήταν απλή: Αποδοχή της χρεοκοπίας της ή επέκτασή της στο διηνεκές. Η δεύτερη εναλλακτική, μέσω μνημονιακών δανείων, ήταν εκείνη που σύναδε τα μέγιστα με την συντριβή της χώρας, όπως την ήθελαν οι βορειοευρωπαίοι. Και σαν να μην έφτανε αυτό, σαν να μην αρκούσε η επέκταση της χρεοκοπίας της χώρας στο διηνεκές (κάτι που αποτελεί την μέγιστη, την πιο απάνθρωπη, ταπεινωτική συντριβή ενός λαού), η καθεστηκυία μας τάξη δεν παύει να μας ζητά να την δοξάσουμε που μας έσωσε από την συντριβή, που μας έβγαλε από την χρεοκοπία. Τότε, το 2010, σε εκείνο το άρθρο όπου (όπως ο Geithner σήμερα) αναφερόμουν στην άφρονα μανία της Γερμανίας να υποβάλει ολόκληρο τον ελληνικό λαό σε συλλογική τιμωρία (όπως είχαν κάνει οι σύμμαχοι στην Γερμανία το 1919), με σίγουρο αποτέλεσμα την επέκταση της κρίσης σε ολόκληρη την Ευρώπη, δανείστηκα μια φράση από τον Keynes με την οποία ο άγγλος οικονομολόγος, σχολιάζοντας την Συνθήκη των Βερσαλλιών, έγραφε: "... η ανειλικρινής αποδοχή... όρων που ήταν αδύνατον να τηρηθούν..., και τους οποίους δεν είχε σκοπό να τηρήσει, καθιστά την Ελλάδα(**) το ίδιο ένοχη με την τρόικα(***) οι οποίοι επέβαλαν όρους που δεν είχαν το δικαίωμα να επιβάλουν." Τέσσερα τώρα χρόνια η πιο πάνω φράση εξακολουθεί να συνοψίζει την ελληνική πραγματικότητα. Η Ελλάς, όντως, συνθλίβη. Μαζί της, δυστυχώς, συνθλίβη και η ιδέα μιας ενωμένης, προοδευτικής Ευρώπης. (*) Βλ. τις απομαγνητοφωνημένες δηλώσεις του κ. Geithner που έδωσε στην δημοσιότητα ο δημοσιογράφος των Financial Times Peter Spiegel. (**) Εδώ αντικατέστησα την «Γερμανία» με την «Ελλάδα» κι εδώ (***) αντικατέστησα «τους Συμμάχους» με «την τρόικα»
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