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Greece Imploding As Customs Workers' Strike Reduces Exports By 18%, Fuel Stocks Dwindle
Just because one waves a magic wand and austerity measures appear automatically, with unicorns singing, leprechauns dancing and pissing gold coins, and rainbows shooting out of Joaquin Almunia's... assets. Or not. The much delayed budget cuts which are finally being instituted are causing transportation gridlock with taxicab drivers on strike, multi-hour long lines at gas stations, and as of recently, following the customs union workers' strike, an export plunge of 18%, putting the already frayed economy even more on edge.
From Bloomberg:
Exports have fallen 18 percent since the beginning of the
customs strike as the shipping of goods via maritime, rail and
air links is paralyzed, Christina Sakellaridi, president of the
Panhellenic Union of Exporters, told private Skai radio today.
Greek motorists lined up at gas
stations as fuel stocks dwindled while a strike by customs
workers over government austerity measures stretched into a
fourth day, hurting imports and exports.
The Federation of Greek Customs Workers called a three-day
strike on Feb. 16 and decided yesterday to extend the action by
six days to protest government austerity measures aimed at
trimming Europe’s biggest budget deficit.
Greece is once again “hostage to strikes by powerful labor
union groups,” the National Federation of Greek Commerce said
in an e-mailed statement. The strike is “catastrophic” for the
country’s trade and industry as well as shipping, food and
transport companies and the Greek consumer, said the Athens-
based organization, which represents Greek commerce groups.
Of course, a 5 year old with semi-remedial Economics skills could have told the Greek Prime Minister (not to mention the rusty EU bureaucrats) that all this would happen. How Greece is now supposed to fix its economy when it is caught in the blender of collapsing already horrendous tax receipts, an infrastructure crunch, and trade isolation, is beyond even the financial innovation genius of the Summerses and Blankfeins of the world. But we wish them well nonetheless. And at least the euro is alive and well... for the time being.
P.S. We encourage our greek readers to send us any pictures that capture the true state of the Greek economy.
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These are just minor details in an otherwise ingenious solution.
warm up...coming to a city near you
No petrol? No problem. A Mebea will run on Uzo.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MEBEA_Fox.jpg
Yes. Let the games begin!
Naked wrestling?
Yep, that'll fix their debt problem.
Surprise, surprise.
Coming to the US within 2 years, and probably much sooner, barring some sort of miracle.
There are no unions in the US capable of organizing at that scale. All sources of power other than the state have been eliminated a long time ago.
Stranger, I don't think it will take any union organization. The masses will meet outside the walmart when their "AmericanWelfareUnemploymentSSI" MasterCard is no longer loaded monthly with Fiat Dollars. These folks, (www.peopleofwalmart.com), reguarly meet at the local store minutes before their cards are loaded with money, to make their purchases. These folks will be the first to lose it. Whcih should start happening sometime around May-June when the 99 weeker unemployed runs out of bennies. Prepare my friend, please prepare.
Are you from Wyoming or something? There are several unions that could do that in their protected fiefdoms. E.g. UAW anywhere in Michigan and much of the rest of the midwest, SEIU in many big cities, the two teachers unions in any big city school district - etc.
Gee Max, that would be horrible... no UAW or NEA/AFT? The horrors. Let the kids get a real edumacation. The teachers here went a bit too far once, and got straightened out by the community "expressing" their sentiment. Back to work fairly quickly. Any public workers union that strikes in this downturn is not going to garner sympathy from the paycheck/tax paying public at this time. On this point Mish is probably ahead of the curve. The SEIU - now there is an interesting entity. Marxist Andy Stern has a solid ally in the WH, and he might be up for some trouble. That one could be interesting to watch.
Do you see anything in my post endorsing those unions? I don't. I was just noting that they have the power to create strikes and shutdowns within certain areas.
Teacher unions are sorta irrelevant when there are no more tax dollars to pay the teachers. I mean, some of these are small, but I'd say Atlanta and Chicago are big city school districts... read on...
Just today, announcing layoffs or school closings: Biloxi, MS... Colton school board, San Bernadino Co., CA... Del Mar Union School, San Diego, Ca...Pomona, CA...Dekalb Co, Atlanta, GA planning to close 12 schools
Feb 18 - Chippewa Falls, WI... San Mateo, CA... Washoe Co, NV... Parajo Valley, CA.... Charlotte, NC... Brodhead, WI
Feb 17 - Medina City, CA... San Marino, CA... Richmond, VA... Lodi, CA... Chicago Public Schools reviewing 14 schools for possible closure.
source: dailyjobcuts.com
remember when the writer's union forced everyone to really watch reality tv for a while... sadly a lot of americans actually like that better... yeah we got sum retards
We should just let the unions run everything. Then we wouldn't all be retards.
Right?
I hope Russell wins Survivor this season. He shoulda won last season. He ran down and speared a chicken last week.
Stranger in the Night:
People who aren't getting paid or are getting paid with IOUs eventually figure out that there's no reason to come in, no matter how stupid they might otherwise be. I hope to trade against you someday soon.
Ciao,
MoMo
I thought blaming 'cds pirates' would fix things. No?
Don't Blame Nazis...Blame Italians!
“The transaction with Greece ‘was executed prior to the arrival of Draghi at Goldman Sachs,’ added sources from the [Banca d'Italia*], recalling that the governor [Draghi], who has headed the Banca d’Italia since the beginning of 2006, was vice president and managing director of Goldman Sachs in London from 2002 to 2005.
http://baselinescenario.com/
And Goldman Sachs, of course.
Someone needs to tell the Greeks that they can't have their cake and eat it to.
Their piss poor joke of an economy is not deserving of any rescue efforts.
They were never able to afford the socialism that they've created for themselves over decades. Now the hard working Germans are supposed to pay for the Greek idiocy?
I hope the Germans give the Greek the finger. Germany has its own structural problems. Severe measures were rammed through a few years back but the populace stood with it.
WTF, I mean seriously WTF do the Greek people want?
Their level of sophistication peaked several hundreds of years ago. Now deal with it.
Their level of sophistication peaked several hundreds of years ago
---------------
several thousands
Naked Olympics!
OPAH!
The Greeks, and the world, are victims of a centralized banking system, unfolding just as planned.
The citizens of Greece just decided to walk away from their national Alt-A loan. An example has been set for the rest of the debtor world to follow. Austerity is dead for the Euro Zone PIIGS.
Not dead, now it will be even worse for the Greeks.
+1
I'd like to see a spreadsheet going out 10 years, comparing the debt + interest for which the Greeks are currently on the hook vs the NPV of just defaulting today and not paying back a single Euro. Even assuming they'd be locked out of credit markets, it might be the best deal they've got.
Rioting in the streets and blocking roads is so bullish.
Yes. The way our markets have been behaving lately I can almost predict the market response to major urban rioting:
News headlines..
S&P Opens up 6% Higher in Pre-Market Trading As L.A., New York, and Chicago burn to the ground.
Everything points to a slump this morning, everything. So what happens? Pete gets killed on the SDS because the markets just fucking love all the shitty news as of late.
Pete's also an idiot because he didn't check his financial calendar this week. Options expiration. Duh!. The shorts are getting ass-raped Pete. The SSO worked all week. Did you forget about the goddamn invisible hand?
The people of Greece are not going to pay da banksta's usury. That's the final word. Bernanke will buy dem bonds at face value anyway tho...
what do you mean usury?
they had no fucking money for years and lived on credit!!!
now the gig is up and the debt is killer.
what economy can afford 6 weeks paid vacation time, 30 hr work weeks and retirement at at 50 ???
WTF!
Calyforneea!
Just think, what the fucking difference is if you work fewer ours for less $ per hour (vacation included in the pay) or you work for more $/hr (vacation not included)? The difference is they will hire few more guys to cover those "free" vacations of others and still balance will be the same. Do you think they have so many positions they cannot fill?
They lived on credit meanwhile we were so frugal that we accumulated debt of trillions, the difference is printing isn't it?
Unbelieveable that you had to spell that out to anyone on this site.
As if the US itself had any fucking money and had been existing on anything but a debt binge for the last 20, 30 years.
WTF indeed!
40 years
Uhh, US Federal employees?
Please - the Feds have at least started austerity plans with their civil servants. States are far worse and locals are still unreformed reprobates. The pain will start in the neighborhoods first. Police/Fire/Trash/Schools - because they don't want to give an inch.
I have been attempting to ask the bullish Leo what happens when a lot of these highly paid "public servants" get laid off or simply not paid. Could that reduce demand a little bit?
public servants isn't the half of it. not to beat it to death (as he lifts the frayed and bloody whip yet again): keynes was supremely right when he said that to ameliorate deflationary depressions (with natural monopolies and poorly priced externalities like clean air and water, the key weakness of unregulated capitalism) one must save resources (retire federal debt) during times of plenty so as to have them to spend (issue federal debt) during times of famine. for over forty years, largely (but not exclusively) under "conservative" republicans, the u.s. reversed it. so now, unlike with fdr and his more frugal republican predecessors, we have no grain in the storehouse.
fallacies.
You Nazis are so cute when you get jealous! Aaaaawww!
When will the working end and the golden age of leisure begin as predicted in Wired Magazine in the mid 90's?
Suruly if we just double productivity and output per hour worked a few more times we could start reducing the working week to say, 60 hrs?
Funny how the more productive we get, the longer we work for less.
Where is all this excess productivity going?
Have you seen the size of yachts and private jets owned by billionaires lately?
That plus the giant and growing underclass living on government benefits. That's where all the excess productivity is going.
Time to shrug.
The Unions really believe they can demand , but that only works while fiat works.
Who run Bartertown?
+1
Break a deal - face the wheel.
You do, master blaster!!!
Say it louder!
Bust a deal, spin the wheel!
Not shit, Currency!!!
Mr. Stock Market Bull pay no attention to this fuse I'm lighting under your ass; just keep on buying as the world collapses around your binary world.
Resentment is counter-productive, Ms. Screamer.
My fish shipmentsfrom Greece are screwed for next week.
Damn it. I had a carton of goat's eyes scheduled for shipment next week. Guess Delta Eta Lamda (DHL) won't pass customs now. Those black pearls I say... must have.
Geez, I was hoping to get some authenic Souvlakis before the price went up.
the munificent bounties of socialism and fascism plus a preview of attractions coming to amerika...
6 more days of strikes puts them thru month-end. That meanings exports will be UP at least 18% in March!!!! That's great news!!! I see a big upgrade of Greece sov debt in March by Goldman, definitely worthy of a Conviction BUY!!!! This undiscovered gem is ready to run!
No, it will be 36% up. What men that the numbers will exceed expectation. Cumulate.
Today they are Greek union members, tomorrow they will be retired Illinois police officers facing a pension haircut of 40%. Promises create expectations, and promises made without accountability create false expectations. The only question I have left is will the unmet expectations end in revenge or resignation?
Probably revenge, I'm afraid.
I'm increasingly convinced that conventional pensions are immoral. They shackle future generations with uncontrollable liabilities for benefits they never received. We should abolish pensions forever. You want retirement benefits, take part of your income and save it.
Amen to that.
Government employment - you never have to work hard, you get all the holidays, noone expects any level of efficiency from you. You get salary increases based on how long you've been around, regardless of how much you suck. It's also damn near impossible for them to fire you. Icing on the cake is that in as few as 30 years you've got a kickass pension so don't have to worry about saving any of your own.
(unless of course you're a politician, then the deal is much sweeter)
Before someone says "if it's so good why don't you work there?" - I'd go crazy if I was surrounded by the typical level of incompetence on a daily basis.
oh the private sector is full of incompetents too. doesn't the current economic environment seem a wee bit supportive of the proposition? pensions as a concept are not the problem. they are a good, just and humane idea. actuarially fraudulent pensions are. like bush's off budget "emergency" funding of his pet war, like obama's treasury's unlimited (and unlegislated) underwriting of all losses, in perpetuity, of fannie and freddie, like enron, like mark to fantasy...
I disagree. Let me preface by saying I work with actuaries every week in my job, and I know quite a bit about actuarial work (to the extent I can explain all the basics to non-actuaries).
Actuarial work is educated guesses based on statistics. Yes, it's called a science, but the only way to test your hypothesis is to actually wait, and the penalty for getting it wrong is quite large. Sure, actuarial estimates are derived from a rigorous statistical process, though usually with some degree of judgment thrown in as the statistical models used won't all match.
HOWEVER, all that actuarial output depends on the input, and that's where a lot of guessing comes in. Most particularly, guessing about attainable investment returns and likely inflation. This is a guessing game, and to make things worse there is always pressure from the people hiring the actuary to produce numbers that are attainable and as favorable as possible. The good faith of those people matters a lot, but even relatively good people will encourage optimistic results.
Long and short - I believe that all pensions that involve human beings are calculated using optimistic assumptions regarding investment returns and inflation. Further, I do not believe it is possible, when dealing with human beings, to either completely remove the optimistic bias or to produce guesses that are consistently accurate. There will always be some margin of error, and that error will almost always create a pension deficit in the long term. When the costs of the error hit, the people who created the error will be gone, probably dead, and the people stuck with the error will be people who had no ability to prevent its occurrence.
Therefore, I stick with my view that the whole concept of a pension is inherently immoral in its virtually certain punishment of future generations, for the reasons described, and should be abolished.
oof. you must've read Taleb.
or rather, you're verifying his work.
Haven't read Taleb. I'll put it on the reading list. Lots of good books ahead of it though.
+1
Anyone making any money at all in sales knows that promises = paycheck. All the promises in industries across the board are "deleveraging" in plain view now the fiat-fluid has replaced all the natural blood. The point of no return for the United States was passed decades ago - and now even people with a pilot's license are starting to notice.
While we`re on the subject of war reparations: Hey Greece -- Thrace, Thermopylae, Thebes, Illyria, Thessaly, the Balkans, the Levant, Gaza, Jerusalem, Assyria, Babylon, Syria, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, Media, Parthia, Bactria, Scythia and much of the Indian subcontinent just called, they say you guys still owe them big-time remuneration for some "regrettable" stuff that y`all did to them a few years back. (About 2300 years, to be be more precise - that's a lot of interest compounding there). So pay up, σκýλες (bitches)!
Eh, that was all those uppity bumpkin Macedonians, not Greeks.
and the last foreigners to even temporarily subdue what is now afghanistan. but you have to ask yourself, do you feel lucky?
This is an interesting issue indeed: Greece and Ireland seem to have similar problems and have similar recourse to blaming others in their past for wrongdoing. Yet the Irish appear to be taking a more constructive approach to dealing with their problems. Or are they idiots?
What am I missing here?
Undecadent.
Aha... what i want to know, if Austrian School, who insist that reflation measures FED took are wrong, see as possible outcome, if FED was Austrians? Rides on the streets of NY? Killing? Strikes? GOD BLESS FED! (for doing right thing, and reflating economy...)
You don't understand. Euro is a trapped fiat. Once the IMF takes over and puts us in north american union with canada and mexico. We'll be a trapped fiat. No more reinflating. Only poverty and slavery. The FED is just a single arm of the IMF.
Of course none of this will come to pass. The IMF will die, fiat will not die but world will go cash because after the computer nerds pull a fire sale on electronic money nobody will EVER trust it again.
I never thought the IMF would die. I figured they'd become like a modern day version of the Knights Templar -- rich beyond comprehension and unimaginable powerful. After all, they owned hundreds of metric tons of gold, and that made them immune.
For some unknown reason, they are selling it all off. Soon the IMF will be owned by the squid... just like everybody else. Well, unless China snaps 'em up first.
They don't own the gold. There's a little known clause that shows that all the gold confiscated by Truman is just a LOAN. All congress has to do is point the army at the FED and say cough it up and the IMF implodes like a preacher's promise.
A man could derive a lot of satisfaction by pointing the army at the FED, eh?
There's an America outside Manhattan, fyi. They didn't get reflated.
i am not in America and not in Manhattan, but if what you saying is true - America gets riots, strikes, and general unrest...
Actually, so far America is getting plane crashes into government buildings.
The situation is contained.
Good thing Joe Stack wasn't a commercial pilot for a freight company or maintenance operation, eh?
All it takes is a pissed off trucker facing divorce due to loss of income.
Until Comcast fuck bills someone and it gets attacked.
Or Verizon pads 1000 dollars worth of 3g bullshit onto someones bill hoping the 14 year old girl in the house on the account gets blamed.
Or cops start handing out 300 dollar tickets like crazy and some guy decides to drive his truck through the police station because he doesn't really feel the need to go without food for a month so his governer can do something stupid with money.
You are way behind the times. In Calif., if a cop sees me (capitalist) pick up a cab fare at a public bus stop (socialism)....it's a $750 ticket. Can't complain...someone has to help pay for the $30 million of new office furniture the Sacramento pols and bureaucrats just bought themselves, even though the next state budget is coming in $30 billion in the red.
The US government is collapsing right now. Welcome to the REAL.
What Would Neo Do?
What did Logan do? It may be that easy and no one can accept it.
on the Euro-Denominated Price of Gold thread you say "as typical customer profile is white trash guy from trailer park". So now you say you're not in the USA either? Where are all these white trash trailer parks you mention - since you're not in the USA...?
No man - that was the dude with the gun avatar.
America gets riots, strikes, and general unrest...
which would be bad for the copper price...
But very bullish for lead prices....not to mention smokeless powder futures.
Because it would be a heyday for all the meth-heads. Markets would get flooded overnight with strippings from massively unattended real estate.
I was about to say you seemed a little out of your element. Nothing wrong with posting while on "substances" - but your incoherence makes sense now. Let me help you out:
http://mises.org/
They just need a Chavez/Obama type speaker....
That will FIX it....
Kool Aid and Ice Cream....
Coming soon to the country where you live!
Fiat money? You mean from the Italian car company?
Hah - the printing press has blown out the catalytic converter!
The rubber is finally meeting the road, somewhere. Smells like burnt rubber.
I'm on my way to a play date because i'm off second grade today! It doesn't seem like anyone knows what's going on. Even my dad's tired of buying silver. What should I do?
Well young man. Here's what you do. Talk to your classmates and tell them that I'll give them each any Playstation III game of their choice if they reach into dad's secret hiding place and bring me a handful of his shiny gold quarters. You know, the ones that have lady liberty stamped on them?
And for you, a brand new Playstation III AND an extra large Chicken McNuggets if you bring them all to me. OK?
My dad said I can't take his silver -- but I did make him buy me some. By the way, I'm a girl! Thanks for your reply! P.S. I really like your picture of Helicopter Ben!
I've got to imagine that the entrpreneurs along the Albainian and Bulgarian borders are making healthy profits.
Greece will get what they deserve. When 50% of the people work for the government, something has to give.
The same paradigm is unfolding in the US right this minute. As the Obamacrats ramp up with a million and one new "programs" and committees, more and more folks will work for Uncle Stosh, requiring you and I to pay for their outrageous salary and benefits packages.
The very best thing that the unions in Greece can do right now is to go on a protracted strike. If the strike lasts long enough, they could possibly bring the entire country to it's knees. When that happens, and the IMF steps in with forced austerity measures, it will not be the Greek government portrayed as the bad man in the picture, rather it will be the selfish and greedy unions.
yes that's what has happened in all the countries forced onto imf austerity measures, they have blamed the unions, not their governments, the imf or the u.s. i can see you have spent some time at least reading the local papers in translation even if not actually visiting the countries in person.
OK Americans it is soon to be YOUR turn...
**********************
NATIONAL STRIKE
APRIL 15 to APRIL 18TH
TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW
www.taxfree15.com
**********************
The bankers and politicians blame us, the people, for what they do.
The bankers and the Greek politicians are trying to alleviate their financial problems. And their solution is to stop the Greek people from protesting and striking, and to force them back to work so the politicians can cut the workers’ salaries further and increase their taxes further, so that the bankers and politicians can get back to business as usual.
Of course, as another ZH article points out, the “EU leaders have made their views on the Greek situation fairly clear”…and “the fiscal capacity of the region as a whole will be used, if needed, to safeguard financial stability in the Euro area. EU leaders clearly feel that the monetary union is under some kind of attack, and they will act accordingly to protect it.”
Yes, there’s no doubt the European union of bankers will act accordingly “to protect” their system that is “under some kind of attack.” But it wasn’t the people who created their system, or their problem—the people did not make a lot of money out of this mess—the investment bankers did. The people are only trying to hold on to their rightful livelihoods. The solution is to put the politicians and the bankers in charge of this swindle in jail and then straighten out Greece’s problems. What’s wrong is that Europe is leaving the swindlers in charge, again. It’s not the people striking for their wages that’s the problem.
There are three parties involved in this crisis: the bankers, the politicians who rule the country, and the people. What’s happening is a crisis between bankers and politicians. The bankers have given the politicians more and more financial rope so they can provide more and more services and pork to buy votes, and more and more bureaucracy to establish more and more power over the people. But when recession and maladjustment come, and the government is overextended, and the mother of all crises begins to develop and worsen, the extent of the bureaucracy and the waste and the cheating comes out. It’s called discovery.
The people, who have been led down the primrose path, are being forced again to suffer and pay the price for these two bad actors--the bankers and the politicians. Whatever Greece is going through, Spain, Italy and the U.S. will be next. For while U.S. debt is growing and recession and unemployment are raging, what are the politicians doing? Spending money. Wasting money. Cheating. Bailing out the banksters. On and on they go. And they never stop.
Critics of the Greek people should be careful what they wish on the Greeks, for by doing so, they seal their own fates.
Best post of the thread.
+1099!
I am afraid you are correct.
Afraid that I don't have enough Au, Ag, and Pb, yet.
Bravo, again, Patriot JR.
---
BTW, in case we have among us those that are not inclined to discover for themselves the ramifications of behind-the-scene-politicking inside the Untied States by way of unannounced pronouncements from the White House legalizing MARTIAL LAW:
http://ameriborn.com/?p=852
Excellent post.
I would say three plus one, the hybrid Federal Reserve (quasi-bank, quasi-government). As the bridge between the financial and the political worlds, it provided the leverage to allow the bankers and politicians to inflict maximum damage to the people.
At this point I don't even care if there's an Illuminati, or a squid, or the wizard of oz behind the Fed. I just want the thing gone, and a return to market-based physical currency that people actually want. Gold, Silver, snail shells, pepperonis, whatever people want. Let the market decide what is money, what it is worth, what reserves banks should hold, what interest they should charge for loans, all of it.
Definitely a pyramid scheme with the Eye of Mordor scanning the land for "right-wing extremists" with a pilot license at the moment.
How many of these striking Greek workers are employed by the Greek government? If the problem is between bankers and politicians then the bureaucrats will not get sympathy from me.
"I'm increasingly convinced that conventional pensions are immoral. They shackle future generations with uncontrollable liabilities for benefits they never received. We should abolish pensions forever. You want retirement benefits, take part of your income and save it."
OK. So the government refunds all my Social Security payments for 34 years + interest and I'll give up my SS annuity.
My employer can do the same with my involuntary payments into my retirement plan. Repay my contributions + interest.
I will accept gold and silver.
If you had the option, wouldn't you take it in a heartbeat?
Hell, I'd take the paper and quickly buy the PMs.
This...was where Democracy was born...
And died.
More than once in fact.
The wheel of time turns and turns.
Know what's sad? Most Americans have NO CLUE of ancient greek culture. The closest clue they have to a greek perspective is when they listen to that little munchkin runt George Snuffolupolus ranting at the ABC News roundtable.
and it appears to be where the end begins
It's time to mobilize the Greek Armed Forces and prepare for the continuity of the state. Give the Union Strikers 24 hours to return to their jobs. Or their Union jobs will be permanently replaced, and they will be permanently blackballed from government jobs. The military should secure the borders, ports, and airports and assume all operational control of these facilities. The economic damage to the country from a protracted strike could be catastrophic at this stage of the crisis. EU military commanders should be preparing for intervention in Greece should things spiral out of control. A failed state on the south eastern flank of Europe would be very dangerous for Europe, considering the size of the Greek Merchant fleet, and the economic incentives of smuggling drugs and other contraband into Europe.
I would not be surprised to see EU troops on Greek soil within the next few years. Military intervention would allow EU federalist hawks to further the integration of the Union. This is a critical turning point in EU history. Does the EU let Greece take the path to secession or do they follow in Abraham Lincoln footsteps and force a tighter integration of the nation states at the federal level.
You just don't do that in Greece. Socialist policies were established immediately after the fall of the junta that controlled the country, which is also why people happily accepted them. That period has a left a huge scar in Greece and is the reason why the people distrust police and why leftist parties and demonstrations are still so popular. Even the thought of sending the police (let alone the army) to deal with the strikes would be disastrous (and I do mean on a biblical scale).
If they don't do something, they will also crash on a biblical scale. I don't advocate violence, but the continuity and survivability of the state. If there is no intervention at all from a protracted strike, the country will disintegrate. I wouldn't be surprised to see the country devolve into smaller nations especially in the Macedonian northern part of the country.
Generalissimo Joseph Stalin reborn! Hurrrah! Now we will finally see end of the tunnel! He also integrated nicely everybody into Soviet Union but result of it is rather mixed, don't you think?
Western Europe is slowly moving toward a federation of states. I would not be surprised that a collapse in Greece could accelerate the process or doom the Union to failure. This is a test that will determine the size and political scope of the Union. If Greece descended into the anarchy of a failed state, the EU has a moral responsibility to protect the weak - woman, children, and the elderly. Do you want to see Greek woman turn to prostitution to survive? The elderly starving, and the children malnourished begging in the streets.
Greek people having been around longer than the rest of us and know that the politicans and bankstas are going to screw them eventually so why bother working to pay taxes! Great food and nice people.
Expect the black market economy to take off in the US over the next decade just to avoid the oppressive taxes coming down the pipe.
I think it is already taking off, with so many un or underemployed willing to work off the books.
+1
Live your Dream in Greece! Opaaaa! :)
Live your Dream in Greece! Opaaaa! :)
A minor correction: no budget cuts have been "instituted" yet. Nothing has been voted yet. The pressure groups are still negotiating (and striking). There is simply no time to "institute" or (even worse) implement anything until mid-March (or mid-April to mid-May, more likely). I read in a Greek paper that the number of administrative and legislative acts that are required to "institute" the austerity measures are 50 to 60. There is simply no time. We are going down...
Hmmm - a whole thread of comments and not one person mentions the fact that the Greeks have a hole card. They hold a substantial amount of gold per capita, and believe me, they know how valuable it could be in times like this. Will the IMF attempt to pry it away? To sell below market value (via prior announcement) to "help impoverished nations"? Rickards latest interview on King World News was excellent, and covered this topic.
Beware of Greeks bearing fits.
One word - Bakalava
balaclava?
balalaika?
balkanization?
Just linked from Calculated Risk. Phenominally entertaining and informative commentary. As Ahnold has said in the past, "ah'll ..."
Oh well, you know.
You're all full of shit. What is happening is a beautiful repose to the mean and nasty nature of monetary evolution.
"Nature red in tooth and claw", says I, and Darwin, too. It's just starting, that end that we have always feared. Humans will finally and righteously return to that feral state that sets them up like packs of dogs wandering the back-alleys looking for the next kill. I'm locked, loaded and waiting for you useless pukes that believed in the capitalist pig system. You shall be my dinner.
Today will we bend to the person who can tell the truth. I believe that person is Ron Paul! I myself do not agree with everything Paul believes and that doesn't matter because, all I want is the truth in numbers. An audit of the Fed and I believe we must also independently audit the Treasury since they also tend to extend and pretend is the first step towards the truth. If BO does try to steal SOCIAL SECURITY benifits we would march on Washington! We all know the program (with best intentions) would fail the moment David Stockman found the magic asterisk of surplus S.S. benefits could be added to general funding. The arguments of S.S. being in surplus therefore we needn't bother with fixing the budget fallacy has arrived. For the first time since 1982 we will borrow money to pay the borrowed monies on S.S. benefits!! I knew this would happen when Al Gores lock box was laughed at. This was to be a TRUST and not a line item in the budget. I had no problem with S.S. surplus benefits being invested in treasuries as long as U.S. treasury budget was brought into a surplus. This I believe will be a battle not unlike the WWI vets fought over their bonus and marched to Washington. BO should tread lightly when he speaks or his worst nightmares will occur! The truth is all we need and Ron Paul will speak it that I am sure of!
so now, unlike with fdr and his more frugal republican predecessors, we have no grain in the storehouse.
Really. hahahahah you really beleive that crap. The 90's repubs tried to do what they could hence the surplus. I will even give clinton a little props. The republicans pushed for cuts and clinton played along. The deal maker was that taxes did not come down to much. Spending did, tada we started producing a surplus. I think I read we lost almost 1 million federal tools during that decade. That is called making hay baby. Anyways we prob never really had a surplus because unfunded liabilities but anyways that was a typical liberal toolbox argument
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