[The] man of sin [shall] be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 KJV)
Jesus saith, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6 KJV)
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:13 KJV)
Showing posts with label EU Superstate and Lisbon Treaty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label EU Superstate and Lisbon Treaty. Show all posts
March 22, 2016
Greece's Role in the Energy Game Between Russia and Turkey
Iakovos Alhadeff - At the following Spiegel article, titled “Erdogan Urges Turks Not to
Assimilate”, February 2011, you can read that during his very successful
tour in Germany, Erdogan urged Germans of Turkish origin not to
assimilate. The Germans are not feeling very comfortable with that,
given that Erdogan is an Islamist, and he is also supporting the Muslim
Brotherhood.
4th, 5th Paragraphs
They have come from all over Germany to see him live, some 10,000
people. They say things like: “The Germans will never accept us, but we
have Erdogan.” Or: “At last someone feels responsible for us, for the
first time a Turkish prime minister isn’t forgetting his compatriots
abroad.” One woman says: “Erdogan may get Merkel to see us as part of
this society. He is our savior.”
Some 3 million people of Turkish origin live in Germany, most of
them descendants of Turks invited by the government in the 1950s and
1960s as ” guest workers” to make up for a shortage of manpower after World War II.
14th, 15th, 16th Paragraphs
In a newspaper interview published ahead of his speech, Erdogan
urged Merkel to drop her opposition to Turkey’s accession to the EU.
“Never have such political obstacles been put in the path of an
accession country,” he said.
And then he repeats the sentence that caused such a stir at a speech heheld in
Cologne three years ago. He warns Turks against assimilating
themselves. “Yes, integrate yourselves into German society but don’t
assimilate yourselves. No one has the right to deprive us of our culture
and our identity.”
Erdogan knows that this statement amounts to a provocation in
Germany — no politician here is demanding that Turkish immigrants
should deny their roots or give up their culture. Erdogan adds: “German
newspapers will pick up on this tomorrow, but that’s a mistake.”
The new Greek government is trying to take advantage of this
diversion between the American and German interests by indirectly
saying to the Americans that if they do not put pressure on the EU, in
order to give money to Greece without asking for privatisations and
reforms, Greece will block the Southern Energy Corridor by stopping the
Trans Adriatic Pipeline.
On the other hand the new Greek government is
also saying to the Germans that if they do not give money to Greece
without asking for reforms and privatisations, Greece will block the
Southern Energy Corridor, which will force Turkey and Albania to attack
Greece, and the United States will have to rush on the side of Turkey to
create an alternative to the Southern Energy Corridor and save NATO
from the Russian gas.
But if the Americans help the Turks and the
Albanians, the Germans cannot be on their side, because they cannot
afford to see the Islamists reaching the heart of Europe, as would
happen if the Christian wall that is formed by Greece and Bulgaria was
to fall (see the following map).
Picture 78
The Islamists of Turkey are a much greater problem for the Europeans
than the Americans, and a collapse of Greece could possibly lead to an
even greater divergence of interests between the Americans and the
Germans. After all, Northern European countries are already connected to
the Russian gas through the North Stream pipeline, and it is very
unlikely that they would be willing to support Turkey and Albania
against Greece. For the Northern Europeans it would probably be better
if Greece was left bankrupt but untouched. But the Americans and other
NATO members cannot see it that way because if there is no Southern
Energy Corridor there is no NATO, unless of course Putin decides to make
Russia a democratic country, which for the moment seems unlikely.
The Greek communists are threatening both the Americans and the
Germans that if they insist on reforms and privatisations they will kill
Greece, implying that Greece’s funeral will be very very expensive for
both of them. If Greece collapses very dramatic events could be
triggered. The Americans and the Germans are not worrying about the
economic consequences of a Greek collapse, but they are terrified about
the geopolitical consequences of such a collapse.
These are very dangerous games by the Greek communists who are
willing to risk Greek land just to save their businesses in the Greek
public sector.
PressTV - Iran indicated on Friday that
it wants to settle payments for its new and outstanding oil sales in
euros and not in dollars or any other currencies.
Reuters
has quoted an official from the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) as
saying that the rule applies to newly signed deals with France’s energy
giant Total, Spain’s refiner Cepsa and Russia’s Lukoil.
"In our
invoices we mention a clause that buyers of our oil will have to pay in
euros, considering the exchange rate versus the dollar around the time
of delivery," the NIOC source, who has not been named, has told Reuters.
Iran
has also told its trading partners including India that owe it billions
of dollars that it wants to be paid in euros rather than US dollars,
added the person.
The NIOC source further emphasized that the
Central Bank of Iran (CBI) had instituted a policy while the country was
still under sanctions to carry out foreign trade in euros.
"Iran shifted to the euro and cancelled trade in dollars because of political reasons," the source said.
Hossein
Yaqoubi-Miab, the director for international affairs department of the
Central Bank of Iran (CBI), said in December that Iran says it wants
India to pay outstanding oil dues in euros, stressing that it needs the
euros to pay the installments for the loans it has received for its
infrastructure projects.
Yaqoubi-Miab added that preparations have already been made by Tehran to receive euro payments from India.
Indian refineries should pay equal to some $6.5 billion in outstanding oil dues.
Reuters
has further added in its report that Indian officials are working on a
mechanism that could involve local banks United Commercial Bank (UCO)
and IDBI Bank for handling payments to Iran.
UCO CEO R.K. Takkar
said the bank is involved in payments to Iran, but did not say if there
were any plans to change the payment mechanism.
January 6, 2016
Europe, Sympathetic to Iran, Slams Saudi Executions; Qatar, Jordan, Djibouti and Turkey Back Saudi Arabia; Turkish President Calls Saudi Arabia's Execution of Shia Leader "a Domestic Issue"
Europe is showing a lot less willingness than the U.S. to look the other way on the Saudi executions.
January 6, 2016
Antiwar.com - Historically cozy US-Saudi relations have kept the Obama
Administration relatively quiet on the weekend Saudi execution of a top
Shi’ite cleric, a move that US officials warned them against and which
they did anyhow.
Europe, however, is showing a lot less willingness to look the other
way on the Saudi executions, and while the Saudis scramble to get other
Sunni nations to cut ties with Iran, the incident seems to be increasing Europe’s sympathies for Iran, and by consequence bolstering their ties.
It’s not surprising, as Europe has already been critical of Saudi war
crimes in Yemen, and is opposed to the death penalty in general, making
the execution of a religious leader on the basis of his sermons kind of
a no-brainer for them to condemn.
Meanwhile, Iran is seen as increasingly reasonable, scrambling to
comply with the terms of the P5+1 nuclear deal, and quick to condemn
protesters attacking the Saudi embassy in Tehran. The Saudis are
treating it as a government plot, but Iran arrested dozens of protesters involved in the attack and has made it clear publicly they don’t endorse attacks on the embassies.
Indeed, Iran was making a public show of being part of a community of
critics against the Saudi execution, with President Rouhani hosting the
Danish Foreign Minister in Tehran before issuing a statement warning
that the Saudis aren’t going to distract attention from the “criminal”
execution by simply cutting ties with Iran.
Al Jazeera - Qatar has become the latest country to back Saudi Arabia in its
dispute with Iran, recalling its ambassador to Tehran on Wednesday in
response to the attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions last weekend.
Jordan, Djibouti, and Turkey also expressed pro-Saudi positions on
Wednesday after the embassy attacks in Iran that followed the execution
of a renowned Shia leader in Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said the execution of 47 men for
terrorism charges in Saudi Arabia was "a domestic issue". One of those
put to death was Shia Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr - a move that stirred
sectarian anger across the region.
"Forty-six of those who were executed are
Sunni and they are executed because they are affiliated with al-Qaeda.
One of them was a Shia religious leader. This decision was previously
taken and Saudi Arabia implemented it. This is their decision," Erdogan
said in a speech in the capital Ankara.
Russia Says Homemade Bomb Caused Crash of Russian Passenger Plane, Killing All 224 People; ISIS Has Claimed Responsibility Since the Crash on October 31, 2015; Putin Ordered the Russian Missile Cruiser to Start Cooperating with the French Military "as Allies" on Operations in Syria
Islamic State's official magazine carried a
photo on Wednesday of a Schweppes drink it said was used to make an
improvised bomb that brought down a Russian airliner over Egypt's Sinai
Peninsula last month, killing all 224 people on board. Western governments have said the plane was likely brought down by a bomb and Moscow confirmed on Tuesday it had reached the same conclusion, but the Egyptian government says it has still not found evidence of criminal action bringing down the plane. Islamic State said the airline attack was primarily planned as a response to Russian and Western air strikes. Islamic State said it had initially
planned to bring down a plane belonging to a country participating in
the U.S.-led coalition bombing it in Syria and Iraq, but it changed
course after Moscow started its own air strikes campaign in Syria. Egypt has not officially given a reason
as to why the plane was brought down, calling on all sides to await the
official results of an investigation carried out by an Egyptian-led
team. [Reuters]
AP - A somber President Vladimir Putin vowed to hunt
down and punish those responsible for a bomb that brought down a
Russian passenger jet last month, "wherever they are hiding."
Intensified Russian airstrikes Tuesday hit the Islamic State group's
stronghold in Syria that also is being pounded by the French military.
Russia's
FSB security service confirmed for the first time that a homemade bomb
caused the Oct. 31 crash of the Metrojet Airbus 321-200 in Egypt's Sinai
Desert and killed all 224 people aboard in what it called "a terrorist
act." The Islamic state had already claimed responsibility, saying it
was punishing Moscow for its air campaign in Syria.
With
Russia striking IS targets in reprisal for the Metrojet downing, France
hitting militants in response to the attacks on civilians in Paris last
week and the ongoing U.S.-led coalition bombings, the extremists were
facing a stepped-up assault from at least three military powers. But the
Kremlin said it was too soon to call it a de facto alliance.
Putin
heard the report on the Metrojet bombing at a late-night meeting of his
security advisers in the Kremlin that was shown on national television.
He and his advisers stood for moment of silence for those who died on
the plane, mostly Russian vacationers flying from the Red Sea resort of
Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg.
An
unusually subdued Putin called it "one of the bloodiest crimes," and
promised retribution for "the murder of our people in Sinai."
"We will not wipe away the tears from our souls and our hearts. This will stay with us forever," he said.
The
FSB offered a $50 million reward for information leading to the arrest
of those responsible, and Putin said Russia would be relentless in its
pursuit.
"We're
going to look for them everywhere wherever they are hiding. We will
find them in any place on Earth and punish them," he said.
FSB
head Alexander Bortnikov said a bomb containing the equivalent of 1
kilogram (2.2 pounds) of TNT went off aboard the Airbus, causing it to
break apart in the air, which explains why the fuselage was scattered
over such a large territory. I can certainly say that this was "a
terrorist act," Bortnikov said.
He said tests showed the explosives had been produced outside of Russia, but gave no other details.
Flashback to a 2011 Report on Greece, the Central Banking System, the Euro, and Big Government Debt
Americans can also learn from Europe. Borrowing and printing money to
finance big government policies makes the problems worse. And bailing
out banks with tax money after the system fails isn’t just wrong, it’s
self-destructive. Yet even as these facts are being acknowledged in Europe, the U.S.
government is growing faster than ever before in history — financed by
massive debt and out-of-control currency creation. While it’s almost
unthinkable that America would end up like Greece or Portugal, on our
current path, there are few long-term alternatives. Of course, there is
one difference: When nobody will lend the United States any more money,
and when running the printing presses leads to an inevitable currency
crisis, a bailout for our own federal government will be impossible to
find.
“By a continuous process of inflation, governments can confiscate,
secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their
citizens.” - John Maynard Keynes, The Economic Consequences of the Peace, 1919
The ongoing economic crisis has sparked violent riots and growing
turmoil, particularly in harder-hit nations like Greece, where
demonstrators have taken to throwing home-made bombs at police. And the
worst may be yet to come.
Analysts now say there is a real chance that the Greek government
will default on its obligations. Former U.S. Federal Reserve boss Alan
Greenspan recently said it looks like there’s no other way out for the
beleaguered regime in Athens. Ratings agencies have already downgraded
Greek bonds to “junk” status and are warning that they could go down
even more.
A default, or whatever the government might try to call it, would
make the bad situation worse. First, Greek banks — having been
essentially coerced into buying loads of government debt — would all be
wiped out and become insolvent. Analysts predict that the regime would
have no alternative but to nationalize the entire banking sector and
declare a “bank holiday.” Such a scenario would make the current clashes
in the streets look moderate by comparison as furious depositors
demanded their money.
The implications for world markets, and especially for the Euro,
could be catastrophic. French and German banks are said to be among
those heavily invested in Greek bonds.
Experts have been warning for more than a year that if Greece goes
down, a domino effect might topple the whole region. The single currency
could even collapse, and the economy of the European Union (EU) may go
down with it, as banks and governments exposed to Greece’s government
debt began to tumble.
Other indebted European governments — Portugal, Spain, Ireland, and
Italy, among others — might start defaulting on their own obligations.
Even without the problems in Greece, more than a few governments in the
region are precipitously close to the edge. A Greek default could be the
push.
To avoid that scenario, the EU establishment has been working to
paper over the problem by throwing taxpayer money at it. Thus far, it
doesn’t seem to be working. The socialist regime in Greece is still
devouring money like a black hole and effectively holding the region
hostage.
The first Greek bailout last year, orchestrated by Euro-zone
governments and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), totaled almost
$150 billion. It was supposed to last for three years, but it wasn’t
even close to enough. Greece is now begging for another handout, and it
appears virtually certain that a second rescue package — estimated as
high as $170 billion — will soon be on the way.
Even with the next round of bailouts, however, analysts say it’s only
a matter of time before the inevitable default arrives and bond holders
are forced to take a big cut. Indeed, the Greek government’s
debts are growing faster than the economy is. If something doesn’t
change, it will be impossible for Greek taxpayers to end the cycle
without a default.
Greece, of course, is just one of many European countries grappling
with staggering amounts of debt. And while the Greek tragedy may be
dominating the financial headlines, the situation in several larger
economies is equally grim.
Greece Forced to Sell Government Assets to Foreign Investors and Allow for Private Development of State-owned Property to Generate Cash to Pay Down Debt
AP - Work was supposed to begin
next year on a 7 billion euros ($7.6 billion) waterfront urban renewal
project almost twice the size of New York's Central Park that could have
poured nearly a billion euros into Greece's depleted coffers. The plans
stalled late last year after the far-left Syriza party took power and
promised to halt attempts at putting the private sector in control of
state assets, both on ideological grounds and because leaders believe
rampant corruption must be addressed before any sell-off.
Now, in an attempt to get a third European bailout
and prevent the Greek economy from collapsing, the ruling party has done
an about-face. It has pledged to fast-track the waterfront project,
plus sell government assets and allow for private development of
state-owned property, all to generate cash that will help reduce
Greece's 320-billion-euro national debt and pay back money lent by
European nations to prop up ailing banks.
Experts say the goal set
by Greece's European counterparts for the country to raise 50 billion
euros in privatizations and private use of state property is probably
impossible — but that Greece must make a better effort than it has in
the past.
"There can be
absolutely no backpedaling or unwinding with the privatization effort,"
said Mujtaba Rahman, European director for the Eurasia Group political
and business risk consulting firm. "This is about testing the
government's appetite to liberalize the economy and move forward with
pro-market reforms."
Big money
assets that Greece could sell include state-owned stakes in Athens' new
airport, energy company Hellenic Petroleum and electrical utility
Public Power Corp., plus offshore oil or natural gas drilling parcels.
Greece also has stock in banks valued at 7.5 billion euros, but the true
value of the stake is unknown because the Athens stock market stopped
trading at the end of June as the country descended into financial
chaos.
The Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund, charged with
matching state assets in deals with the private sector, also has parcels
of land on beautiful islands available for long-term leases and a
castle on the island of Corfu, plus buildings throughout Athens and
across the country.
It was formed in 2011 following demands by Greece's creditors
to embark on a privatization wave, but has collected only 3.5 billion
euros so far. Efforts have been complicated by constantly changing laws
for asset sales, court challenges, local opposition, financial upheaval
that makes it difficult to value assets, and criticism that prices have
dropped so much that assets aren't worth selling.
Proponents
of privatization say it can help boost investment and the economy
flourish by unleashing market forces. It was particularly popular in
countries like the United Kingdom in the 1980s, when Margaret Thatcher
sold state-owned assets including water and gas. Though privatizations
have taken place elsewhere in Europe, they've been far less prevalent.
But
over the past few years during Europe's debt crises, privatizing assets
has been a key demand placed on countries being bailed out. Greece
notably failed to meet initial targets.
The privatizations have
met with varying degrees of resistance, with some arguing that stressed
governments such as Greece's are selling assets at below-market prices.
Opponents also say privatization reduces job security and transfers
wealth to a rich elite.
Greece's development fund doesn't publicly
disclose the estimated value of assets it has to offer, but the deal it
negotiated for the waterfront renewal project would give Greece 950
million euros in return for a 99-year lease on the property.
A Greek company with backing from Chinese and Arab investors
would then build a huge park, a shopping center, a marina, 1,000 hotel
rooms and a skyscraper apartment building on what's billed as Europe's
largest undeveloped waterfront tract. Multimillion-euro yachts dock at a
marina within the parcel that was built for the 2004 Olympics, but a
crumbling, two-block-long building with a leaky roof bakes in the sun.
It was built for athletes but never used after the games.
USA TODAY - European creditors agreed to rescue Greece from the brink of
financial ruin early Monday, after the Greek government capitulated to
the most onerous terms yet as the steep price for remaining in the
19-nation eurozone.
The complex agreement, reached after 17 hours
of negotiations, requires Greece to quickly adopt dramatic pension cuts
and tax increases, and plan to sell off virtually all of its assets to
help reduce its enormous debts. It also offers no debt relief that
Greece had hoped to receive.
The new loans would total up to $95
billion over three years and come on top of a record $240 billion the
country already has received since 2010. Many details of the pact still
must be ironed out and ratified by political leaders in Greece and
European lender nations, such as Germany.
European Council President Donald Tusk said the deal was "unanimously
reached" by all 19 countries that use the euro currency. Yet that
unanimous vote masked bitter divisions during the marathon talks.
Hard-line
nations, such as Germany and Finland, were prepared to oust Greece from
the eurozone until it got its economic house in order, while more
sympathetic nations, such as France and Italy, argued that another
bailout was needed to preserve European unity.
In the end, a weary
Tusk announced at an early morning news conference that Greece would
now be able to "get back on track." European Commission President
Jean-Claude Juncker said "the agreement was laborious." He added: "There
is no Grexit" — a Greek exit from the eurozone.
Reuters - France and Germany called for an emergency summit of euro
zone leaders to discuss Greece's stunning referendum vote on Sunday to
reject bailout terms, as calls mounted in Berlin to cut Athens loose
from Europe's common currency.
German
Chancellor Angela Merkel's deputy said Athens had wrecked any hope of
compromise with its euro zone partners by overwhelmingly rejecting
further austerity.
Merkel and
French President Francois Hollande conferred by telephone and will meet
in Paris on Monday afternoon to seek a joint response. Responding to
their call, European Council President Donald Tusk announced that euro
zone leaders would meet in Brussels on Tuesday evening (1600 GMT).
German
Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, leader of Merkel's centre-left Social
Democratic junior coalition partner, said it was hard to conceive of
fresh negotiations on lending more billions to Athens after Greeks voted
against more austerity.
Leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had
"torn down the last bridges on which Greece and Europe could have moved
towards a compromise," Gabriel told the Tagesspiegel daily.
His
comments reflected a mounting public demand in the most powerful EU
country, which is also Greece's biggest creditor, to eject Athens from
the 19-nation currency area, of which membership was intended to be
irreversible.
Greek Banks are Closed and the Government is Limiting the Amount of Money People Can Take Out of ATMs
The European Union is not for the people but for the few ruling elite and their corporate and banking overlords.
Isn’t it time to Just Say No, if not to anything else then to being controlled by an unelected cabal of oligarchs whose only interest is making sure the wealthy get wealthier?
Of course, taking a step back from the table, it is clear that a forced decision by Washington against the interests of its European allies – that is likely to engender more chaos and strengthen Greece’s ability to destabilize Europe – must have been done for ‘another reason’. Perhaps after all is said and done, the powers that be need chaos, need instability, need panic in order to ensure the public gratefully accept the all-in QE-fest that they want. [Source]
(REUTERS/Stefanos Rapanis) People
line up to withdraw cash from an ATM outside a National Bank branch in
Iraklio on the island of Crete, Greece, June 28, 2015.
July 2, 2015
Business Insider - Greek banks are down to their last 500 million euros.
Writing in The Telegraph on Thursday, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard cites the head of the Hellenic Chambers of Commerce, who told The Telegraph that, "We
are reliably informed that the cash reserves of the banks are down to
€500m. Anybody who thinks they are going to open again on Tuesday is
day-dreaming. The cash would not last an hour."
Greek banks are currently
closed, and the government has implemented capital controls limiting the
amount of money people can take out of ATMs.
Banks are set to remain closed
through at least next Monday. Currently, the European Central Bank has
capped the amount of liquidity available to Greek banks through the
ECB's emergency lending program. While Greece has worked to cap outflows
in the interim, it seems reserves are running dry.
On Sunday, Greece is set to vote
on a bailout referendum on whether to accept the latest terms proposed
by Greece's European creditors. A "Yes" vote would see Greece likely
accept a bailout program similar to what was last discussed before Greek
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called a surprise referendum last
Friday.
A "No" vote would see Greece go
back to the drawing board, with some arguing this could put Greece on
the path to leaving the euro, as it would likely be forced to default on
its 3.5 billion euro debt payment due to the ECB on July 20.
On Thursday, Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said he would
quit if the Greek people vote "Yes" to accept bailout measures proposed
by its creditors. Varoufakis also said
that he would rather "cut his arm off" than accept bailout terms that
did not include Greece's creditors taking a haircut — or less than 100
cents on the dollar.
The IMF, however, may have given Varoufakis some cover on Thursday, writing in a report that it expects Greece will need to restructure its debt and that some if may need to be written off. But there
is an irony in the IMF admitting one of Varoufakis' major demands —
that Greece's creditors take a haircut — because if the referendum
doesn't go his way, Varoufakis won't be there to negotiate.
As
we get closer to the Greek referendum, it is becoming clearer that
neither Varoufakis nor Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras is likely to
be in office much longer if the result of the Greek referendum is a
"Yes" to accept new bailout terms — even if these revised terms are
closer to what they had been seeking in negotiations anyway.
In his piece on Thursday, Evans-Pritchard also details
some of the struggles facing Greek companies that are having difficulty
importing supplies and could close factories unless the situation turns
around soon.
The referendum is widely seen, both inside and outside of Greece, as effectively a vote on Greece's future in the euro. Greece's leaders, of course, have denied that.
As we head to the weekend and Sunday's referendum, the latest polls show that it is currently "too close to call."
February 2, 2015
Ireland Privatizes Its Municipal Water Systems
The Irish Government is slavering at the mouth at the prospect of a nice juicy fire sale of public assets. Under the NewERA plan, on September 29, 2011, the government announced details of "a new fund that will use the National Pension Reserve Fund to spur investment." According to the report: "In addition to the money transferred from the pension reserve fund into the new strategic fund, the Government will also look for matching commercial funding from private industry. A strategic bank is expected to follow, but not immediately."
ETF Database - It has been almost a year since European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi brought temporary respite to Europe’s debt crisis by pledging to do “whatever it takes” to save the euro.
Since then, the situation in
Europe has improved. Draghi’s efforts helped reduce the financial risks
associated with a breakdown of the European banking system and a breakup
of the euro. In addition, over the past year, European governments have made some progress in bringing their budgets in line and in achieving some modest structural reforms [see The Best Dividend ETF For Every Investment Objective].
But while the region’s situation is better than it was a year ago,
Europe is not out of the woods. Much of the job of restructuring
European economies remains unfinished, fiscal deficit targets have
slipped and there has been little progress on broader supranational
issues such as banking integration or the pooling of sovereign debt. In short, the ECB’s actions were palliative and not a cure.
So what does this mean for global investors? Here are three reasons to pay attention to Europe now:
1. Concerns over the region’s financial situation can still disrupt global markets. This was evident during the March crisis in Cyprus and recent coalition government wobbles in Greece and Portugal have
already, at least temporarily, pushed up European bond yields.
Worsening political instability in these two countries, or elsewhere in
the region, could still hurt the 2013 rally [see Single Country ETFs: Everything Investors Need To Know].
2. Europe is unlikely to help foster global growth in the near term. Growth
in Europe continues to contract, albeit at a slower pace than a year
ago, with unemployment around a record high. While I expect European
growth to improve somewhat by year’s end, a region representing roughly
20% of the global economy stuck in neutral means global growth will
continue to be soft for the foreseeable future.
3. US growth – particularly for the export sector – will continue to be negatively impacted by Europe. One
big reason why US manufacturing has been slow lately is that Europe is
buying fewer US exports. Unfortunately, the European political calendar,
including important German elections in September, suggests that few of the region’s issues will be tackled this year [also check out the 8% Yield ETFdb Portfolio].
And until Europe either turns the economic corner or addresses its lingering structural problems, I remain cautious on the region’s stocks even
though they are cheap by most metrics and offer some long-term value.
For now, I believe there are better near-term investing opportunities in
other developed markets such as the United States and Japan.
CNBC - Europe failed to agree on how to share the
cost of bank collapses on Saturday, as Germany resisted attempts by
France to water down rules designed to spare taxpayers in future crises.
Almost
20 hours of talks late into the night could not forge a way for
countries to set up an EU-wide regime that would first impose losses on
shareholders and bondholders when a bank fails, followed by depositors
with more than 100,000 euros ($132,000).
Ministers will make a
fresh attempt to break the impasse at a meeting on Wednesday, on the eve
of an EU leaders summit, and resolve one of the most difficult
questions posed by Europe's banking crisis - how to shut failed banks
without sowing panic or burdening taxpayers.
"I think we can reach
a deal if we take a few more days," said Michel Barnier, the European
commissioner in charge of regulation. "We are not far off now from a
political agreement."
The European Union spent the equivalent of a
third of its economic output on saving its banks between 2008 and 2011,using taxpayer cash but struggling to contain the crisis and- in the
case of Ireland - almost bankrupting the country.
German Finance
Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble blamed the complexity of the issue and
conflicting interests for not being able to reach a final result on
Saturday. One EU official, who asked not to be named, described the
meeting as chaotic.
At the heart of the disagreement, chiefly
between Germany and France, was how much leeway countries should have
when imposing losses on bondholders or large savers, a procedure known
as "bail-in."
Such an approach was first tested out in Cyprus'
bailout in March, but making it the EU norm would mark a radical
departure from the bloc's crisis management in which taxpayers have
footed the bill for a string of rescue programmes.
Britain, Sweden
and France worry that forcing losses on depositors could cause a bank
run or rattle confidence, and want countries to have wide-ranging
freedom in deciding whether to take such bold steps.
Spain's
Economy Minister Luis de Guindos underscored the sensitivity of the
issue.
"What's fundamental is there is agreement over the bail-in
hierarchy and the protection of small depositors," he said.
Germany,
however, wants strict norms.Schaeuble said the new rules should not
vary across the 27-nation European Union because that could put some
banks at a competitive disadvantage.
"There's clear disagreement between France and Germany.That's why the meeting broke up," said one EU diplomat.
France's Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici tried to play down any divisions and said a deal was possible next week.
'DANGEROUS'
While
there is no immediate deadline for an agreement, indecision could hurt
confidence in the ability of Europe's politicians to repair the
financial system, encourage banks to lend and help the continent emerge
from economic stagnation.
An agreement on European rules for
closing banks is also a step required by Germany before it will sign off
on a scheme for the 17-nation euro zone's bailout fund to help banks in
trouble,potentially important in helping Ireland.
"The fact that
the euro zone countries are trying to push a solution is very dangerous
for the rest of us," Sweden's Finance Minister Anders Borg told
reporters.
The regime to ensure that troubled banks are closed in
an orderly way sets an important precedent for the euro zone, which is
pursuing a project called banking union to supervise, control and
support banks to rebuild confidence in the currency.
This scheme
aims to form a common front across the single currency area when
tackling failed banks, rather than leaving it to countries to manage
alone.
At the wider EU level, the so-called resolution rules are
needed so that the euro zone can mould its own regime and decide how the
bloc's rescue fund helps banks.
Its rules, for example, on
pushing losses on large savers, could be made stricter, in particular
for banks seeking help from the fund, the European Stability Mechanism.
Euro zone finance ministers agreed late on Thursday to set aside 60 billion euros for banks via the fund.
If agreed, the rules would take effect at the start of 2015 with the provisions to impose losses coming as late as 2018.
June 2, 2013
Italy's Youth Unemployment Rate is 40 Percent; Germany's is 8 Percent
New York Times - The recovery from the Great Recession has been slow, or even nonexistent, in most of the developed world.
But not in Germany.
In Germany, alone among the 27 members of the European Union,
unemployment rates for both older and younger workers are now lower than
they were when the United States slipped into a recession at the end of
2007.
In the rest of the euro zone, the unemployment rate for workers ages 25
to 74 has more than doubled over that period, to 12.8 percent. The rate
for younger workers is more than 30 percent, on average — and above 50
percent in Spain and Greece.In Germany, it is less than 8 percent.
The accompanying charts show how unemployment rates for both groups of
workers have changed in each of the 17 countries in the euro zone, as
well as for Britain and the United States.
In terms of adult unemployment rates, the most recent figures for the
United States (6.1 percent) and Britain (5.7 percent) are not that far
from Germany’s figure of 5.1 percent. The major difference is in youth
unemployment, which is above 16 percent in the United States and above
20 percent in Britain.
What accounts for that difference? Some of the credit goes to Germany’s
education and employment system for young workers, and to German
policies that encourage employers facing downturns to reduce working
hours rather than fire workers. In Germany, students are separated into
different career tracks, with many put into a system that leads to
apprenticeships rather than to college degrees.
But that is not the entire story. The euro zone’s troubles have helped
Germany’s export-oriented economy. The weak euro has made Germany’s
exports more competitive against those of countries with which it
competes, most notably the United States and Japan. Since the end of
2007, the euro is down about 10 percent against the dollar and about 20
percent against the yen.
Were the euro zone to break up, there is little question that the value
of a new German mark would rise sharply, while the currencies of many
other members of the zone would fall relative both to the mark and other
international currencies. That would depress German exports.
The charts reflecting Germany’s unemployment rates, if they were the
only evidence available on world economic trends, would seem to indicate
there was a mild downturn in 2009 that soon ended, with the economy
recovering the next year. The United States charts would indicate a more
severe downturn, followed by a recovery that began in 2010 and may now
be gathering strength. In Britain, there has been much less progress
since unemployment peaked in 2011.
In the 16 other euro zone countries as a group, the chart indicates a
deep recession that leveled off in 2010 and 2011 but has since gotten
much worse — particularly for young workers.
“We will have to speed up
in fighting youth unemployment,” the German finance minister, Wolfgang
Schäuble, said at a conference this week, “because otherwise we will
lose the support, in a democratic way, in some populations of the
European Union.”
If that is to happen, it may require a change of course for Europe, where it appears the rich will continue to get richer. The European Commission’s latest economic forecast,
released last week, predicted declining unemployment in Germany this
year and next, but said joblessness was likely to continue to climb in
France, Italy and Spain.
Reuters - Italy's Prime Minister Enrico
Letta said on Saturday his government aims to reduce youth unemployment
to below 30 percent in the next few years with a mixture of fiscal
breaks and different contracts for young employees.
Italy's overall jobless rate and youth unemployment edged up in
April to the highest levels on record, data showed on Friday, with the
youth jobless rate at 40.5 percent. Reducing unemployment in the midst
of Italy's longest recession since World War Two is likely to be no easy
task.
"Our goal is to bring the youth unemployment below 30 percent," Letta said speaking in the northern city of Trento.
Letta, who came to power in April after two months of political
deadlock, has made tackling unemployment a priority and pushed for it to
be a central theme at a European Union Council meeting at end-June.
"Middle-aged people in Italy are currently saving money to build a
safety net for their children as they fear they will not find any job,
this is freezing consumption and investment," he said in an appearance
at the city's annual "Economic Festival".
"We will focus on reducing taxation for those getting their first
job and cutting taxes on labor in general," he said, adding the
government is also studying how to change laws that limit the use of
temporary employees and regulate apprentices.
He said the government was pondering a "generational handoff plan"
under which older employees would reduce their work hours while
mentoring younger people entering the rigid job market.
Employers would pay younger staff less, while older workers would
get full social security contributions funded by the government.
The number of people aged between 15-29 years that are not in
education, employment or training in Italy rose by 21 percent from 2008
to 2012, to 23.9 percent.
Letta pledged his coalition government will draft a national plan
against unemployment before the EU summit in order to foster open
discussion among EU leaders.
"The June summit should launch a strong message to European citizens
about policymakers' commitment to tackle youth unemployment," Letta
said. "If we talk only about the banking union citizens will revolt
against us," he said.
Letta said he does not want to renegotiate the so-called 'Fiscal
Compact', which encompasses the stricter fiscal rules drafted by the
euro zone countries as a reaction to the sovereign debt crisis.
Europe needed institutional reform, Letta said, suggesting the
direct election of the president of the European Commission, and a
European finance minister and foreign minister and an European army.
Germany Sees Youth 'Revolution' If Welfare Model Scrapped; German Economy is Strong and Unemployment Low Compared to Other Countries in the EU
Europe must urgently tackle youth unemployment, the French, German and Italian governments said May 28, 2013, urging action to rescue an entire generation who fear they will not find jobs. Some 7.5 million Europeans aged 15-24 are neither in employment nor in education or training, according to EU data. Youth unemployment in the EU stood at 23.6 percent in January, more than twice as high as the adult rate.
Reuters - German Finance Minister Wolfgang
Schaeuble warned on Tuesday that failure to win the battle against youth
unemployment could tear Europe apart, while abandoning the continent's
welfare model in favour of tougher U.S. standards would cause
"revolution".
Germany, along with France and Italy, backed urgent
action to rescue a generation of young Europeans who fear they will not
find jobs, with youth unemployment in the EU standing at nearly one in
four, more than twice the adult rate.
"We need to be more successful in our fight against
youth unemployment, otherwise we will lose the battle for Europe's
unity," Schaeuble said.
While Germany insists on the importance of budget consolidation, Schaeuble spoke of the need to preserve Europe's welfare model.
If U.S. welfare standards were introduced in Europe,
"we would have revolution, not tomorrow, but on the very same day,"
Schaeuble told a conference in Paris.
"We have to rescue an entire generation of young people
who are scared. We have the best-educated generation and we are putting
them on hold. This is not acceptable," Italian Labour minister Enrico
Giovannini said.
Germany in particular, weary of a backlash as many in
crisis-hit European countries blame it for austerity, has over the past
weeks taken steps to tackle unemployment, striking bilateral deals with
Spain and Portugal.
German ministers told the conference that, to help
young people find jobs, Europe must continue on the path of structural
reforms to boost its competitiveness as well as make good use of
available EU funds, including 6 billion euros that leaders have set
aside for youth employment for 2014-20.
While all agreed on the urgency needed to tackle youth
unemployment, ministers offered no concrete plans, insisting Europe must
be pragmatic and work on various strands.
Schaeuble said this was why Germany had also decided to strike deals with countries such as Spain and Greece.
"Let's be honest, there is no quick fix, there is no grand plan," said Werner Hoyer, head the European Investment Bank.
Together with ministers, he said policies aimed at
boosting youth employment must focus on small and medium-sized
enterprises as they are the main entry point to the labour market for
most.
More than half of Spain's under 25-year-olds are
jobless, as are nearly 40 percent in Portugal. In Greece, youth
unemployment shot to a record 64 percent in February. In March 2013, the lowest youth unemployment rates were
in Germany and Austria, both below 8 percent, highlighting the wide
disparities within the EU.
The youth employment crisis will be a central theme of a
June EU leaders' summit, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel has
invited EU labour ministers to a youth unemployment conference in Berlin
on July 3.
Following up on an idea aired earlier this month,
French President Francois Hollande urged the euro zone to work towards a
joint economic government with its own budget which could take on
specific projects including tackling youth unemployment.
Reuters - Volkswagen granted its German factory workers
an inflation-busting pay rise on Tuesday, the latest hefty wage hike in
Germany as union demands meet support from politicians seeking both to
woo local voters and underpin the wider EU.
Germany faces federal elections in September which have emboldened unions to press for salary increases
popular with the public.But Berlin is also hoping the round of salary
increases can encourage Germans to spend more on goods and services from
weaker euro zone economies, evening out imbalances and boosting the
bloc as a whole, after the International Monetary Fund pressed the German government to act.
VW's
pay deal - which lifts wages 3.4 percent from September, then by
another 2.2 percent from July 2014 - matches an agreement negotiated
earlier this month by the IG Metall union for Germany's 3.7 million engineering and metal workers. Inflation is currently running at just 1.2 percent.
"This and other
similar wage deals will encourage Germans to spend more, supporting
German economic growth but also helping euro zone rebalancing," said Christian Schulz, an economist at Berenberg Bank.
By increasing labour unit costs the deal at VW -
Europe's largest carmaker - and others will reduce German
competitiveness and level the playing field with countries still
struggling to fire up their economies following the debt crisis.
Private consumption almost exclusively drove German
growth in the first quarter, and wage hikes together with low
unemployment are likely to boost it further.
VW had urged staff to settle for a "moderate" pay increase as a prolonged global slump in car sales hurts sales and profits.
"We're pushing the
envelope of what's feasible, given the difficult market situation in
Europe and tough international competition," VW human resources chief Horst Neumann
said in a statement on the pay deal, which will apply to 97,000 workers
at its six western German plants and 5,000 employees at the financial
services division.
Deliveries of VW's main namesake brand tumbled 10.9
percent in the German home market between January and April and fell 7.9
percent across austerity-strapped western European countries.
First-quarter operating profit at the German multi-brand group plunged
by a quarter to 2.34 billion euros (2 billion pounds).
The new wage accord also includes a one-time
contribution of 300 euros to each worker's corporate pension plan, the
company said. Apprentices will be paid 27 euros per month towards their
pension plans under the 20-month deal slated to expire on February 28,
2015.
May 4, 2013
Bailed-out Portugal Plans Another $6.3 Billion in Cuts
AP - Portugal's prime minister says he plans to
raise the retirement age to 66 from 65 and lay off some 30,000
government workers in measures that aim to save 4.8 billion euros ($6.3
billion) over the next three years.
Pedro Passos Coelho said in a televised address to the nation Friday
that the new measures are needed to ensure Portugal won't require
another bailout.
Portugal got a 78 billion euro rescue in 2011 after overspending,
heavy debts and weak growth left it close to bankruptcy amid the
eurozone's financial crisis.
Many people blame the government's spending cuts and tax hikes for a
recession that is forecast to continue for a third straight year in
2013.
Unemployment is at 17.5 percent, and the government predicts it will reach 18.5 percent next year.
March 30, 2013
Cyprus Votes Down Bailout Deal That Would Have Raided Everyone's Savings to Prop Up Collapsing Banking Sector
AP - The moment word broke that Cypriot lawmakers in Parliament had
voted down a bailout deal that would have raided everyone's savings to
prop up a collapsing banking sector, a huge cheer rose up from hundreds
of demonstrators gathered outside that echoed through the building's
corridors.
Many relished it as a kind of David-against-Goliath moment — a country of barely a million people standing up to the will of Europe's behemoths who wanted it to swallow a very bitter pill to fix its broken-down economy.
"Shame on Europe for trying to
snatch people's savings. It's a mistaken decision that will have
repercussions on other economies and banking systems," said protester
Panayiotis Violettis. "People have stopped trusting the EU which should be our protector."
Fighting back is not a new experience for Cypriots. From the 1950s guerrilla war against British rule to Greek Cypriots'
defiant refusal in 2004 to accept a U.N.-backed peace plan to reunite
the island, they are used to holding their own against big opponents.
Just as quickly as Cyprus' euro
area partners decided that a deposit grab was the only way out, so
Cypriots decided their tiny island was ground zero in Europe's new financial scorched earth policy and that it had to be resisted at all costs.
"Better die on your feet than live on your knees," one placard among
the throngs of protesters read. Another said: "It starts with us, it
ends with you" as a warning to other Europeans that their savings were
no longer safe.
Politicians seized on the public mood.
"This is another form of
colonization," Greens lawmaker Giorgos Perdikis spouted in Parliament.
"We won't allow passage of something that essentially subjugates the
Cypriot people for many, many generations.
"Unfortunately, instead of support and solidarity, our partners
offered blackmail and bitterness," said Parliamentary Speaker Yiannakis
Omirou. The indignant leader of the country's Orthodox Christian Church,
Archbishop Chrysostomos II, added: "This isn't the Europe that we
believed in when we joined. We believed we would receive some kind of
help, some support."
The country's foreign minister, Ioannis Kasoulides, even acknowledged
that Cypriot negotiators had contemplated exiting the euro instead of
accepting their euro area partners' terms.
In the end, Cyprus accepted a deal that would safeguard small savers
but where depositors with more than 100,000 euros in the country's two
most troubled banks would lose a big chunk of their money.
Nonetheless, Europe was stunned at the sheer brazenness. How could a
pipsqueak country on Europe's fringes thumb its nose to continental
juggernauts Germany and France and dare to turn down a deal meant to
save it from economic chaos?
It's not the first time the country has pushed back in defiance, even
against what many would consider as insurmountable odds. The island's
majority Greek Cypriots fought former colonial ruler Britain to a draw
in a four-year guerrilla campaign in the 1950s that aimed for union with
Greece. That conflict ended in the country's independence in 1960.
Just 14 years later, a Turkish invasion prompted by an abortive coup
by supporters of union with Greece resulted in the island's division
into an internationally recognized, Greek-speaking south and a
breakaway, Turkish-speaking north.
The invasion and its fallout remains an existential matter in the
minds of Cypriots and it still informs many of the political and
economic decisions the country and its people make.
"Greek Cypriots lost nearly everything during the 1974 invasion,"
said University of Cyprus History Professor Petros Papapolyviou. "So
they reason, what else do we have to lose? Why accept another
injustice?"
In 2004, Greek Cypriots again defied international expectations when
they voted down a United Nations-backed reunification plan they believed
was unfairly weighted against them.
A few days later, the island joined the European Union and some EU
leaders were left fuming at what they saw as Greek Cypriot deceit for
promising to sign up to a peace deal in exchange for EU membership.
Nearly a decade later and European acrimony at the Cypriot "no"
hasn't entirely dissipated. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaueble
told the Sunday edition of German newspaper Welt am Sonntag that "Cyprus
was admitted to the EU in hopes that the plan of then-U.N. Secretary
General Kofi Annan to overcome the (island's) divide would be honored."
"I interpret (that) as indicating a sense of vindictiveness rather
than rational, result-oriented thinking." said University of Cyprus
Associate Professor Yiannis Papadakis.
Were the tough bailout terms some sort of belated punishment? Whether
that's true or not, such notions only feed a Cypriot proclivity for
conspiracy theories. As in other small, insular societies, threats —
real or imagined — sharpen a sense of collective victimhood.
Papadakis said Cypriots see their political culture as underpinned by
personal relationships. Hence their reference to "friends" instead of
"allies," which implies a more pragmatic relationship.
"That's why Greek Cypriots often complain of a 'betrayal from our
friends'," he said. But it's wrong for the EU to foist all the blame on
Cypriots when things go awry, Papadakis added.
"I believe that the rest of the EU has made a large share of mistakes during this arduous process."
March 25, 2013
Cyprus Reaches Last-minute Deal on 10 Billion Euro Bailout
Reuters - Cyprus clinched a last-ditch deal with international lenders on Monday for a 10 billion euro ($13 billion) bailout that will shut down its second largest bank and inflict heavy losses on uninsured depositors.
Following is the detail of the deal in a statement from euro zone finance ministers.
1.Laiki will be resolved immediately - with full contribution of equity shareholders, bond holders and uninsured depositors - based on a decision by the Central Bank of Cyprus, using the newly adopted Bank Resolution Framework.
2. Laiki will be split into a good bank and a bad bank. The bad bank will be run down over time.
3. The good bank will be folded into Bank of Cyprus (BoC), using the Bank Resolution Framework, after having heard the Boards of Directors of BoC and Laiki. It will take 9 billion Euros of ELA with it. Only uninsured deposits in BoC will remain frozen until recapitalization has been effected, and may subsequently be subject to appropriate conditions.
4. The Governing Council of the ECB will provide liquidity to the BoC in line with applicable rules.
5. BoC will be recapitalized through a deposit/equity conversion of uninsured deposits with full contribution of equity shareholders and bond holders.
6. The conversion will be such that a capital ratio of 9% is secured by the end of the program.
7. All insured depositors in all banks will be fully protected in accordance with the relevant EU legislation.
8. The program money (up to 10 billion Euros) will not be used to recapitalize Laiki and Bank of Cyprus.
March 19, 2013
Cyprus Plans to Seize Bank Deposits to Help Pay for International Bailout of Banks and Government
AP - Lawmakers in Cyprus
are still scrambling for a way to raise €5.8 billion ($7.5 billion) to
help pay for an international bailout of the country's banks and
government.
A plan to seize up to 10 percent
of people's savings has been met with fury and it has raised concern, if
not panic, in the rest of Europe about the security of bank deposits in times of financial turmoil.
On Tuesday, Cypriot lawmakers are scheduled to vote on a revised plan
that would not be so burdensome for people with less than €100,000 in
the bank.Any plan must be approved by the other eurozone countries,
which would then commit €10 billion in rescue loans to Cyprus. Banks in Cyprus will remain shut until Thursday to give political leaders time to hash out a deal.
Here's a look at the plan and the problems it may pose.
HEY, HOW CAN THEY DO THAT?
Cyprus can raise or lower taxes
whenever it wants.It wouldn't be the first time that a eurozone nation
has raised taxes to cope with mounting debt and to prop up struggling
banks. Residents of Greece, Portugal and Ireland — all bailout
recipients — have seen their tax bills skyrocket in recent years as
those countries tried to reduce their debts.
But Cyprus is charting new
ground here. As a member of the euro currency, Cyprus offers insurance
on deposits up to €100,000 ($129,000) in cases of bank failures; some feel that by seizing money from insured deposits, the country had effectively reneged on that promise.
AND HOW EXACTLY WILL IT WORK?
Banks have already acted to seal off a 6.75 percent tax on deposits
under €100,000 and 9.9 percent on those above, so depositors can't
access the money. Banks will remain closed until Thursday to avoid a
rush of withdrawals. Lawmakers will vote on Tuesday, but some are
opposed to the plan or seeking modifications. The government has offered
a revised plan that would leave savings up to €20,000 untouched.
The
government's critics, including the central bank, say that is not enough
and that deposits up to €100,000 should be exempt. However the seizures
are spread, the overall scheme has to raise a total of about €5.8
billion.
HAS THIS EVER HAPPENED BEFORE?
So far in the euro crisis,
depositors have been protected. But European countries have taxed bank
deposits before. In the 1990s, Italy taxed every bank account to stave
off the collapse of its lire currency. The rate, however, was miniscule —
0.06 percent — compared to what Cyprus is enacting.
Iceland
— another island with an outsized financial sector, although worse
weather — also relied on depositors to prop up its banks. When the
crisis hit there in 2008, Iceland protected its domestic deposits but
reneged on deposit insurance for overseas, Internet-based accounts held
by British and Dutch. Those two governments stepped in to help their
citizens to the tune of $5 billion. The U.K. and the Netherlands sued
Iceland unsuccessfully in a European court to get their money back, but
Iceland has nevertheless started to repay some of that money.
European officials are promising that Cyprus is a unique case, and they are right in one aspect: Cypriot banks are overwhelmingly funded by deposits, not bondholders. So it wouldn't have been very fruitful to go after bondholders.
WHO IS AFFECTED?
All people with money in Cypriot banks — except those with money in
Greek branches, which will be sold to Greek banks.EU and IMF creditors
clearly wanted to protect struggling Greece, but perhaps also saw that
Greece is the most likely place in the eurozone for a bank run.
Protecting depositors there minimizes that possibility.
Of the more than
€68 billion on deposit in Cypriot banks, foreigners hold about 40
percent — and most of those are Russians. Cyprus could have only gone
after non-EU depositors, but it may have been hard to distinguish
between Cypriot and Russian savers, said Jacob Kirkegaard, senior fellow
at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington.
That is because many Russians have dual citizenship and many Russian
businesses are registered on the island.
WHY DID CYPRUS NEED A BAILOUT?
Cyprus built its economy in recent years by becoming a financial
center, much the way Ireland and Iceland before it did. Its banks
offered Internet accounts to foreigners, were renowned for their
service, provided substantial privacy to clients and had very low taxes.
It worked so well that Cyprus' banking industry ballooned to nearly
eight times the country's gross domestic product at the height of the
boom. In December, it was still more than seven times Cyprus' €17.5
billion GDP. Russians are thought to hold the majority of those
accounts, with about €20 billion in the island's banks.
But Cyprus' banks held a lot of Greek debt and suffered significant
losses when they took a writedown of those bonds as part of the Greek
bailout. Much of Cyprus' bailout money will be used to recapitalize
Cypriot banks to prevent them from collapsing.
Like other eurozone
countries, Cyprus has also seen its deficit and debt explode as growth
has ground to a halt. And with the banking system so large, the
government wouldn't have been able to bail it out even in a healthy
economy.
WHY DO RUSSIANS KEEP SO MUCH MONEY IN CYPRUS?
Russian businessmen have preferred to place their savings in offshore
jurisdictions, partly to escape political uncertainty and corruption in
Russia. Cyprus offers a 10 percent corporate tax rate and relatively
stable political situation. Cyprus is also believed to be a top
destination for money-laundering. It is much safer for a corrupt Russian
official to keep proceeds from illegal activities abroad, hiding
information about their fortunes and holdings away from the prying eyes
of Russian banking regulators. Russian officials estimated that about
$49 billion, which is equivalent to 2.5 percent of Russia's gross
domestic product, was wired to foreign accounts illegally last year.
WHAT HAS THE MARKET REACTION BEEN?
Stock markets and the euro mostly dropped on Monday and Tuesday, but
not too much. Kirkegaard says that the decision to tap depositors
indicates that the European Central Bank is confident that the risk of a
bank run elsewhere in the eurozone is low — and by excluding Greek
branches of Cypriot banks, they have reduced the possibility even
further.
There has not been any evidence of bank runs so far in other countries.
But Heather Conley, director of Europe program for the Center for
Strategic and International Studies, says it's hard to know the
far-reaching implications of this one-off deal. The "exceptions" created
to solve Europe's debt crisis are adding up, she said. And some
investors may look at this late-night, three-day-weekend deal and see
what she saw: a dress rehearsal for a country dropping out of the euro.
Economic Collapse | The global elite
have now proven that when the chips are down they are going to go after
any big pile of money that they think they can get their hands on.
washingtonpost.com | Parliamentarians “feel and they think that it’s unjust.”
August 4, 2012
The Ruling Elite Intentionally Crashed the World Economy in Order to Gain Absolute Control
Government cutbacks are leading to increasing youth unemployment in the European Union. Danish Green MEP Emilie Turunen, the youngest deputy in the European Parliament, shares her concerns about the rising joblessness and social unrest in Europe...
Greek lawmakers voted to speed the enactment of the country’s new austerity measures, clearing the way for foreign lenders to make available the next installment of aid needed to meet the government’s expenses through the summer. Among the new measures are cuts in spending on health and defense, tax increases on heating oil and the self-employed, and reductions in the number of public employees. They also call for the privatization of about $70 billion in state assets. At the last minute, the bill was altered to freeze the salaries of civil servants and to lower the ceiling below which income for individuals is not taxed; the minimum was reduced to $11,600 annually from $17,400, with more lenient treatment for people with children. - Greek Parliament Approves Implementation of Austerity Plan, New York Times, June 30, 2011
Mike Malloy Show - Another way to control youth is to maintain them ignorant, docile and fearful. No education, no jobs, where do you go to make ends meet? You join the militaries of Babylon to take over the world, divide other nations against each other, and even divide the people within that nation whose ultimate goal is world dominance, NWO — New World Order.
Cut education, cut jobs, create chaos with job competitions, increase poverty, and oppress.
The people who resist, what do you get? What is happening to our schools at the moment is just that.... Another Hitler era with different methods, different ways, but nonetheless, A Hitler Agenda to support Babylon with youth who are ignorant, stupid, docile, and put in fear through survival insecurities of no jobs, no future, no progress — YOU JOIN THE MILITARIES TO TAKE OVER other nations resources, control them, and get rich from it.
Hitler only concerned about Hitler, or the Rich Elite corporations (Charter Schools) only concerned about them and nobody else...
A little thought to make you think about the present scenarios that unfolds before you very own eyes, yet you do not see it because you do not understand history, the past or even your own history... those who do not understand the past, will not understand the present.Yet, they do not teach us any worthwhile history in schools — I wonder why??
Do you see this picture of children so strongly cheering their leader, Adolph Hitler? How did Hitler control these young people? Could this happen again today? If we learn how Hitler was able to control his youth, then perhaps we can help to prevent a repeat of such Nazi-style mind-control brainwashing in the future.
Germany, of course, rose from the ashes of World War I, ("The War to End All Wars"), as both a democracy and a country that was heavily in debt. Inflation was rampant. Social problems were also rampant.Hitler promised to fix his Germany and restore the "respect" that many Germans thought was so unjustly taken from them by the Armistice marking the end of World War I.
Hitler also wanted to build a "master race". The children of Germany were viewed by Hitler as his future hope for such a success. Children were also more naturally teachable and would therefore be more easily molded by Hitler than older adults. Many of these adults also remembered living under democracy, and therefore might not be so easily fooled by Hitler's lies against democracy.
Children could also be a future asset in his war efforts, since Germany was still a small country going up against the combined military forces of most of the world. These children could become his future soldiers and leaders of his "Third Reich", an empire which was to last for a thousand years.
In the traditional German home, the father was the one in control. The rest of the family was expected to always obey the father — to obey their father "without question". By projecting such a "father" image before the children of Germany, Hitler was able to transfer power from the institution of the home to his own social and political institutions. Hitler also persuaded "his" children into thinking that, since Hitler was their "father", this also meant that he also cared about them, and about their future. Of course, Hitler actually only cared about one man — himself. Hitler's Youth were just his "pawns" in his great political and military scheme to take over the world.
(2) Hitler extinguished dissent
Children were only allowed to hear one view of Hitler — the positive view. This was especially true after 1933, when Hitler became the undisputed leader of Germany. After 1933, Hitler was able to silence all public opposition against him and thereby gain even more influence, (including more influence over the children). Anyone who disagreed with any of Hitler's ideas was immediately considered to be "suspect" and might therefore get a knock on the door late at night and be "shown the door" to his or her own house, (or even worse, I might add).
(3) Hitler used an organized program to keep his kids occupied
Hitler used his now famous "Hitler Youth" program as a kind of "Boy Scouts" for the training of children to obediently follow him, and to prepare them to become his future soldiers. He learned that "youth's loneliness" could be used as a powerful tool to influence (and then gain control) over these young, impressionable kids. Hitler therefore tried to keep these children busy, keeping them organized so that they would not be "lonely". (By the way, the current Pope of Rome, Joseph Ratzinger, was also kept busy as a boy as a part of this same "Hitler Youth".)
(4) Hitler made certain that children were kept as ignorant as possible
Generally, the more ignorant children are, (or adults for that matter), the less apt they are to question the validity of their leader's claims of authority. Therefore, Hitler made sure that these children did not learn any information that was not "needed" by them. These kids were also instructed never to "think for themselves". No, such thinking for one's self was considered to be very "dangerous thinking" and therefore "suspect".
Such children were also not to read any books or listen to any radio programs that might "confuse them", (i.e. anything other than Hitler's propaganda programs.) Nevertheless, Hitler made sure that these children always had the "proper information" that they needed, (i.e. as little as possible, in order to always keep his children as ignorant as possible.)
(5) Hitler gathered the children into frequent rallies
Large groups of children congregating together in youth rallies can have a strong peer pressure effect in strengthening the grip of an authority figure. This is especially true when loud music and many standing ovations are made a central part of this control effort, (as in the picture above). In such rallies there would be strong peer pressure for children to conform to the "Hitler worship" which their peers exhibited. Winston Churchill once passed through one such Hitler rally while visiting Germany. Churchill was both shocked and quite dismayed by what he saw in this rally filled with loud music, and many standing-ovations.
(6) Hitler used uniforms
By enforcing a dress code, (as can clearly be seen in the uniform shirts and ties of those in the above photograph), Hitler's youth were taught to act and think the same, namely to "believe without thinking". They were taught to have "blind faith" in whatever Hitler told them to believe. The mandating of the wearing of ties and other such dress codes was therefore used to help reinforce such "uniform thinking" among his youth.
(7) Hitler used the Jews as a focus of blame
Children are often simplistic. Hitler was able to use this simplicity in his blaming of the Jews for many of Germany's social problems. Jewish families were often "shown the door" in his society, (or worse still, shot or herded into "camps" like Auschwitz). Jews and their families were made to take the blame for any problems that Germany faced, and therefore they suffered under great persecutions by Hitler. These frequent public persecutions of "troublemakers", therefore helped Hitler to control his youth. (In the book "1984", children were given certain people to blame for their problems, often Jewish people, so that they would not rightly blame "Big Brother" for those same problems.)
(8) Hitler believed that having too much money was a real problem for children
Hitler thought that money was a problem for children for many reasons. One of these reasons was that children might buy things with money that might get them into "trouble". For example, such money might be used to purchase foreign books or other items which might tend to erode Hitler's base of authority in his country. Hitler also wanted as much money as possible to support his war efforts to destroy Churchill, (and anyone else Hitler disagreed with) — as he sought world domination.
Therefore, for these and other reasons, Hitler made sure that his children were kept as impoverished and disadvantaged as practically possible. Such poverty also helped to keep such children more dependent on him, more docile, and more pliable as well.
(9) Hitler used a propaganda program
Hitler built up a effective propaganda program in order to make sure that Hitler's (and only Hitler's) ideas were advanced. Through the effective use of organized propagandizing and lying efforts, a false view of Hitler and his war efforts was always doled out to his kids. What "really went on", (such as Hitler's constant lies and deceptions and Hitler's persecution of Jewish families or anyone else who might have dared to disagree with Hitler about anything), was always kept carefully hidden from view.
The false image of smiling and happy Germans dutifully following and cheering their leader, helped to fool many gullible "visitors" to Hitler's rallies. (This did not fool Churchill, however.) Through the use of such deceit, Hitler's propaganda efforts were quite effective in enabling him to "spin" the truth into a lie. (Hitler was a very effective and proficient "spin doctor".)
(10) Hitler installed "spies" within these ranks of children
Hitler's children were taught to distrust each other and to only trust Hitler. Any person deemed "suspect" was to be immediately reported to Hitler or one of his assistants by letter, phone call, or through other means, so that such "rebels" could be effectively "dealt with". (This was another theme of the "1984" book as well.)
No one was to ever actually trust anyone other than Hitler. A child would therefore turn in his or her best friend to be "disciplined", if such a friend was at all suspected of committing the "thought crime" of disagreeing with any of Hitler's personal opinions or ideas.
(11) Hitler wrote books and other propaganda materials to promote his views
The book "Mein Kampf" was one of Hitler's most famous works. Through use of this and other books and writings of his, Hitler was able to present his views to the children under his authority. Such children were expected to read these books, and therefore to absorb his lies into their young and impressionable minds. Such writings therefore greatly helped Hitler in his goal of brainwashing and controlling these children.
Conclusion
There were many other methods Hitler used to effectively gain and hold control over his youth. Hitler always liked the ideas of political control and mind control. (Hitler was what we now call a "control freak").
Hitler took away those kids' rights, so that he could gain yet more power, control, and money in his quest for world domination. Nevertheless, despite his many lies, deceptions, and claims to the contrary, Hitler was really only concerned about Hitler.
If millions of children never grew up and got married, always lived lives of poverty, or died in obscurity, serving Hitler week after week on the battlefield, that was all fine, as long as Hitler himself benefited personally from such deprivations suffered by these youths. Such is the great evil that can come from one deranged man lacking self control, love for others, and the fear of either God or man.
Many of the personal characteristics and methods of Adolph Hitler will probably one day be also shared by the coming Antichrist. Hitler tried and failed to become the Antichrist. Soon, this "Beast" with the number "666" will succeed where Hitler once tried but ultimately failed. (Many think that the Antichrist's "666" number will mean that his first, middle, and last name will each have six letters to them.) The day of the unveiling of the Antichrist and his Great Whore is coming very soon. Will you ready for the next "Hitler"?
Jesus is not like Hitler. Jesus can give you freedom — freedom from sin and freedom from tyrannical control by any deranged "Hitler"-like man. Jesus will save you from your sin and give you a place in Heaven when you die. Trust Jesus, and he will save you from God's judgment for your sin. Trust Jesus, and may God bless you as you do it.
When we lose our economic security, we also lose our freedom and are forced to survive any way we can. The subliminal, one-world religion is self-preservation — the survival instinct. It's basic to human nature. The Bible shows a coming world leader who will exploit this self-preservation instinct and will bring this religion to its logical conclusion. And, if possible, even some of the very elect will be deceived by this appeal to their pocketbook and personal security.
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1 KJV)
"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32 KJV)
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Ephesians 6:12 KJV)
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