European Reality Check

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benjamen

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http://www.24hgold.com/english/news...08G10020&redirect=false&contributor=Alf+Field

"...reality check is to accept that the EU countries in the PIIGS group will never repay their international debts." :rotflmbo:

(Spanish) "Unemployment is at 24% while youth unemployment (under age 24) is about 53% and rising." :eek:

..the US Fed made the November 2011 commitment to grant unlimited swap arrangements to other central banks around the world until February 2013. The US Fed has become the lender of last resort to the world."
:flushed:
 
You aren't supposed to acknowledge the elephant in the room Mr. Fields.
 
Hilarious article:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/austerity-cant-be-a-one-way-street-20120508

"1. Let banks inflate massive asset bubbles with the aid of cheap or even free government cash, and tons of leverage;
2. Before it all explodes, carve out gigantic sums for bonuses and compensation for the companies that inflated those bubbles;
3. After it explodes, get the various governments to bail those companies out;
4. Pay for it all by slashing services to what’s left of the middle class."

:rotflmbo:
 
I just read an article about the new French president, Hollande, who states that the situation in France has been greatly underestimated and that the country is far worse off than previously disclosed. I think he is opening the door which allows him to back out of some of those unreasonable campaign promises he made to the proles during hte election.
 
http://whiskeyandgunpowder.com/europes-voters-say-no-to-economic-reality/

"The established parties lost because they could not continue upholding the false promise that had kept them in office for years or decades, the promise to make the “European model” work. They had to admit that the European welfare state was now bankrupt. Kicking the can down the road is increasingly not an option as the end of the road is now in sight."

Glaringly obvious reason that politicians "kick the can", if you try to actually fix anything you are promptly fired!

:flushed:
 
well here's the thing, the US are exactly as bankrupt, if not more, than Europe is... It is just that the "news of the day" is currently focused on our side of the pond, that it seems soo bad here in comparison, and why the dollar is not falling off the sky currently, despite all the printing - but just you wait for another cyclical focus change, when something smelly explodes on your side of the pond, so the media focuses on your domestic problems...

There are no safe heavens today, all the developed world is up to our necks (and our grandchildren) in shit, and there's no easy way out (if any)
 
bushi said:
well here's the thing, the US are exactly as bankrupt, if not more, than Europe is... It is just that the "news of the day" is currently focused on our side of the pond, that it seems soo bad here in comparison, and why the dollar is not falling off the sky currently, despite all the printing - but just you wait for another cyclical focus change, when something smelly explodes on your side of the pond, so the media focuses on your domestic problems...

There are no safe heavens today, all the developed world is up to our necks (and our grandchildren) in shit, and there's no easy way out (if any)
Click to expand...

...and that is why I hope to change countries by this time next year :wave:
 
bushi said:
well here's the thing, the US are exactly as bankrupt, if not more, than Europe is... It is just that the "news of the day" is currently focused on our side of the pond, that it seems soo bad here in comparison, and why the dollar is not falling off the sky currently, despite all the printing - but just you wait for another cyclical focus change, when something smelly explodes on your side of the pond, so the media focuses on your domestic problems...

There are no safe heavens today, all the developed world is up to our necks (and our grandchildren) in shit, and there's no easy way out (if any)
Click to expand...

True that is, true that is. The difference however is that the Fed can create as many dollars as it wishes to create, but the European CB will not simply print. this gives us the ability to debase our currency at will. Make no mistake, the ECB is printing, just not anything close to what the US is printing.
 
Hints / rumors have been floated from time to time. It's only logical to assume that plans have been drawn up even if they were just for contingency.
 
...
Central bank head George Provopoulos told him savers withdrew at least 700 million euros on Monday, the president told party chiefs.

"Mr Provopoulos told me there was no panic, but there was great fear that could develop into a panic," the minutes quoted the president as saying.

"Withdrawals and outflows by 4:00 pm when I called him exceeded 600 million euros and reached 700 million euros," he said. "He expects total outflows of about 800 million euros."

Greeks have been steadily withdrawing funds from banks for months, and there has so far been no sign of queues at banks in Athens.
...
Click to expand...

If they are smart, they are buying physical gold.
 
It looks increasingly likely that Greece will have to implement controls to prevent capital flight and a banking collapse. To my mind, the only real question is when this will occur.

The widespread talk about Greece possibly leaving the euro zone is likely to trigger withdrawal of bank deposits and other financial assets, by those who fear they might be redenominated into a drachma that would be worth far less than the euro.
...
Click to expand...

http://www.cnbc.com/id/47417336

Flash off the rumor mill, unconfirmed — it appears the Greek banks were just cut off by the ECB.
...
Expect the incipient bank runs to resume en-masse within hours if not minutes.

Time to critical mass is now measured in days if not hours, and if acceleration occurs the weekend is the perfect time for Greek authorities to drop the hammer in the form of a bank holiday and capital controls as they will have no choice irrespective of the critical damage that will result from them doing so.

More as I’m able to learn and/or confirm it.

Update: Just repeated on CNBC – ECB stopping monetary policy operations with “some” Greek banks. Hmmm…. what’s “some” gents?
Click to expand...

http://www.fedupusa.org/2012/05/flash-greek-banks-cut-off/
 
Greece will hold new elections on June 17, state media reported Wednesday, amid a political and economic crisis that could have effects far beyond the country's borders.

News of the election date came as Greeks pulled hundreds of millions of euros out of the banking system amid fears that the country will not be able to stay in the European Union's single currency.
...
The political deadlock is leading to fears that Greece will not have a government in place when it needs to make critical debt payments, which could in turn jeopardize its place in the eurozone, the group of 17 European Union countries that use the euro currency.

And a Greek crisis could spread, one analyst warned.

"If Greece exits the euro it won't be alone. Others will exit," said Paul Donovan, a global economist with UBS bank.

"There would be bank runs across multiple countries," he predicted. "Citigroup, for example, may not be exposed to Greece, but it may be exposed to Portugal, Spain, France. ... It may be exposed to a company that's exposed to France, or exposed to exports to EU."

In a worst-case scenario, he said, "you're talking about widespread defaults in the corporate sector as well as the sovereign sector. It becomes very problematic."
...
Click to expand...

http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/16/world/europe/greece-politics/index.html
 
All of the hyperbole is simply just that..........bullshit,

Greece WILL default and they will do it soon oif not given some new terms that they can actually meet with regards to this debt.

They should stop fucking around and just do it already.
 
true this, ancona! "The debt, that cannot be repaid, will not be repaid". Funny to see that the creditors nowadays seem not to care about that truth, and they keep lending hand over fist to insolvent bankrupts, and later they came to mommy crying "waaah, waaah, we want our money back, sign off the check, you muppets taxpayers!"
 
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Bank runs apparently growing and spreading (Bankia in Spain) ...
 
It's getting ugly over there, sort of a sovereign necrotizing fasciitis spreading out across the Euro periphery. I wonder how long before the whole thing locks up? JPM is pissing in their panties right about now, as I suspect the London Whale made a hell of a lot more bets that are going south than the Great Jamie Dimon and his responsible firm are aware of.

When you trot out the CEO of the largest financial entity on the fucking planet to explain away a bad bet, something much bigger is either already going down or getting ready to go down. This story is far from over I suspece. In fact, I believe as the peripheral nations begin to come apart, so will JPM. It will be like a fire on a windy day in dense dry brush: unstoppable.
 
I have a sneaking suspicion we are going to get a weekend anouncement from the Greeks. we may not......but I think we will.
 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...er-zone-bleakest-day-global-economy-year.html

"The head of the World Bank...said it was ‘far from clear that eurozone leaders have steeled themselves’ for the looming catastrophe amid fears of a Greek exit from the single currency and meltdown in Spain."

"In Berlin the two-year government bond yield fell below zero for the first time, with the bizarre result that jittery international investors are now paying – rather than being paid – for lending to Germany."
 
Robert Zoellick also floated the idea of a gold backed currency ........
Pity he retires at the end of the month.

The clear and simple solution is massive printing on all fronts but the Pols seem unable to grasp the depth and breadth of the poo they helped create.

Suspect the banksters will eventually JFDI and let the Pols bicker about whose to blame.
 
Sounds like they are taking the Greek approach.
 
benjamen said:
France wants to get to it's collapse as quickly as possible:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/france-lower-retirement-age-workers-155335200.html

Are you in debt up to your ears because of pensions? The solution is to lower the retirement age!?

:rotflmbo::rotflmbo:
Click to expand...

Wow, the French are really trying to take the cake for fastest to fail!

http://www.acting-man.com/?p=17470

"Hollande's Socialist bloc looks likely to win the 289 seats needed for an outright majority in the 577-seat National Assembly in next Sunday's run-off, and almost certain to do so with its Greens Party allies, polling institutes said. "

"Apparently the new French government believes that the proper method of combating the recent 13 year high in unemployment is to make it 'as expensive as possible for businesses to fire people'."

"Once a company has at least 50 employees inside France, management must create three worker councils, introduce profit sharing, and submit restructuring plans to the councils if the company decides to fire workers for economic reasons. "

:noevil:
 
...that's why there are so many <50 ppl companies in France, and actually, it is apparently quite common to grow your business by creating a new business entity, rather than to grow your original company past the magic 50 employee mark.

...did I ever told you how I hate the idiots in the governments, who always think that forcing people to do something that they would otherwise never do themselves, is the way to go?

Idiots!!!

Wysyłane z mojego GT-I9100 za pomocą Tapatalk 2
 
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benjamen said:
Wow, the French are really trying to take the cake for fastest to fail!

http://www.acting-man.com/?p=17470

"Hollande's Socialist bloc looks likely to win the 289 seats needed for an outright majority in the 577-seat National Assembly in next Sunday's run-off, and almost certain to do so with its Greens Party allies, polling institutes said. "

"Apparently the new French government believes that the proper method of combating the recent 13 year high in unemployment is to make it 'as expensive as possible for businesses to fire people'."

"Once a company has at least 50 employees inside France, management must create three worker councils, introduce profit sharing, and submit restructuring plans to the councils if the company decides to fire workers for economic reasons. "

:noevil:
Click to expand...

What is next for France? Raise that minimum wage:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304870304577490393074692610.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

No one pay attention to the positive coorelation between minimum wage hikes and increases in unemployment:
http://www.unc.edu/depts/econ/byrns_web/Economicae/minwageunemployment.html

:noevil:
 
benjamen said:
What is next for France? Raise that minimum wage:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304870304577490393074692610.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

No one pay attention to the positive coorelation between minimum wage hikes and increases in unemployment:
http://www.unc.edu/depts/econ/byrns_web/Economicae/minwageunemployment.html

:noevil:
Click to expand...

Related article:
http://www.acting-man.com/?p=17931

"Hollande insists that he won't let markets dictate his policies. He seems to believe, as though he were invested with divine powers, that the laws of economics don't apply to his government."
:rotflmbo:

Nice link between France's chronically high unemployment rate with the French also raising the minimum wage even faster than CPI going back to the 90s.

The article goes on the look at France's new ideas ticking off Germany.. you know the country that is essentially bankrolling the Euro?
 
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A lot of noise so far. Gotta appease the angry masses. I'm waiting to see what they actually do.
 
Wow, this was on CNN:
http://buzz.money.cnn.com/2012/06/29/euro-deal/?iid=SF_INV_River

"There is a lack of credibility and questions about where the money for the ESM is going to come from," said Camilla Sutton, chief currency strategist with Scotiabank in Toronto. "This plan doesn't accomplish everything and doesn't provide a plan for the type of longer-term ties that are needed. It's not a dramatic enough change to keep the euro rallying."
:judge:

"Summers notes that about 30% of the ESM's capital is supposed to come from Spain and Italy ... the two nations that are arguably in most need of assistance."
:rotflmbo:
 
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