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Greece Welcomes Its New IMF Overlords With Day Of Rioting And National Strikes
What do you do when you are the prime minister of a bankrupt country and your only recourse is to get the Washington D.C.-based IMF to come in and tell you you have to cut wages by about 120% and fire 75% of the country (especially after the same Germans you recently demanded WWII reparations from, mysteriously have decided in the eleventh hour to have their last laugh at your expense). Why, you send in the national guard, armed with fake six-pack ridged bulletproof vests and gas masks, to repeat the miracle of Thermopylae against the marauding population which has suddenly realized that the past 10 years of chimeric happiness were a one-time miracle thanks to Mr Goldman and fat, and somewhat stupid, uncle Almunia. The next thing you do, once you realize you are about to have a [revolution|uprising|civil war] is to declare a moratorium on your €300 billion of debt, make your people happy and stick it precisely to the same bankers that you complain about every single day for "speculating" against you. Tomorrow Greece will face the trifecta of a much delayed hangover as 1) its bonds hit 9% as the hedge funds who have been buying up in expectations of a snapback capitulate, 2) EuroStat declares its deficit was officially 14%, and 3) a Greek civil servant strike in their fourth national walkout this year.
The strike will shutter hospital and schools and also affect ministries and government offices, according to an e- mailed statement from Athens-based ADEDY, the umbrella group for more than 500,000 state workers. It will hold a rally in central Athens at 11 a.m. local time.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou is under fire from voters who say his austerity measures have gone too far and from investors who argue that further action is needed to cut the EU’s largest budget deficit. As Greece meets EU and International Monetary Fund officials to agree on the conditions tied to any loan, the extra yield investors demand to hold Greek debt over German bonds has surged to a record 522 basis points.
“Papandreou is caught between a rock and a hard place,” said Jacques Cailloux, chief European Economist at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc. “The market has zero confidence in what the Greeks are saying, and any further austerity measures pushed for by the IMF could be the ones that break the camel’s back if they are deemed unfair by the population. He doesn’t have any option though.”
Today’s strike isn’t expected to affect public transport or air traffic, after air-traffic controllers postponed a planned walkout to clear a backlog of flights caused by the spread of volcanic ash from Iceland across Europe.
PAME Hellas, a union affiliated with the Greek Communist Party, called its own labor action. Members of the group blockaded entry to the port of Piraeus yesterday, preventing ferries from sailing. Others picketed luxury hotels in the city center, including at least one where IMF negotiators are staying.
“We must dare, otherwise we will be led like lambs to the slaughter,” said Aleka Papariga, head of the Communist Party of Greece, the third-largest parliamentary party. “The working people aren’t about to be used to allow passage of policies that will bring the worst barbarity we’ve seen in the past 35 years.”
That's funny, cause America recently allowed passage of policies that would make Greek debt-to-GDP ratios seems like a midget in Liliput compared to the monster our own Treasury is about to spawn. Yet, as always, it isn't until it is far too late to fix something proactively that the people of any country, be it Greece or the US, wake up from their deep slumber. Greece has now officially woken up (we will show you footage of tomorrow's hopefully non-violent riots to confirm). We wonder how long before America does the same.
h/t Rodrigo
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Tyler, you are insanely well read. When do you have time? Never mind.
This is way past the perfect storm. I think we are now into Chinese clusterfuck. Ya'll enjoy the show. This has to be the way the world ends. I'm heading back to Mule Creek to raise pigs on clover and refine my corn squeezings for "medicinal purposes only."
Vaya con dios.
Apparently, he doesn't sleep, either. O.o
He's obsessed with dirty machinations. That's why he makes and sells soap.
Tyler is a supercomputer used by Wall Street to run their algorithms for buying SPX on low volume days. Haven't you seen Tron?
I picture the Tylers as the South Park boys when they went on their nonstop World of Warcraft binge.
http://greg.org/archive/warcraft_southpark.jpg
The Greeks are slowly accepting their position in the bigger picture. They are not happy about it, but now realise certain truths. The level of cognitive dissonance is dissipating somewhat. There will still be outbreaks of manic violence.
If it weren't the middle of the night in Greece, I'd be cheering.
Effing leech unions...
9%
And Leo Kolavikis (with his intimate knowledge of Greece) was giving the buy buy buy back at what...6 or 6.5%?
That's okay, he's been right about the fools' rally in equities so far.. must give credit where it's due.
Funny to think these seeds were sown nearly 10 years ago by the likes of Goldman Sachs. I'll bet the removal of liabilities from the Greek balance sheet can hinge on a sole VP, just like the Paulson deal right?
I will accept any bull being right on market heading higher, so long as said bull will turn negative on the market before the market sells off. Timing and/or (good/bad)luck has a way of making geniuses appear as fools and fools as geniuses.
Promethean Greece begs each day that she be spared, but the chains do not loosen and at dawn the vicious bird (Austrian economics) returns to feast again on the liver of promiscuous Hellenic spending.
What is this Clash of the Titans? :p
Let's not drag in Harry Hamlin where he's not needed...
You mean Mark Hammil and Princess Hella, no?
http://www.wildhunt.org/uploaded_images/clash_of_the_titans-747640.jpg
humpty dumptyopolus sat on a wall,
humpty dumptyopolus had a great fall,
and all the central bank monies,
and all the central bank men,
couldn't put dumptyopolus together again...
[golfclap] Danku mister!
I don't know if Greece has a GST / VAT but the only way it seems they will get the population to actually pay tax is bring this in and then reduce income tax.
I think Spain is as bad as Greece, isn't 25% Spain's economy actually blackmarket? That is 25% of the economy they miss out on getting tax on.
We have a 10% GST in Australia and it works fine, you are hardly aware of it. It replaced a plethor of sales and other business taxes. It is excluded from basic food stuffs though.
Greece has retail sales tax on top of wholesale sales tax. The country however is predominately little mom and pop stores that can game the taxation system.
Bartering is one method. Invoice for less than half the goods and so on.
Best for Greece is default and start fresh
Yes. And part of the population's anger comes from new rules requiring written receipts/invoices for transactions above 1,500 euros. This tells me no one pays the VAT for transactions now. The underground economy is about equal to the official economy.
Greece has no choice but to default. The only question is who they'll blame.
- Greece has no choice but to default. The only question is who they'll blame.
Easy: America, Goldman Sachs, International Zionist Conspiracy, Masons; take you pick. (Psst: I'm not kidding about the Jews and the Masons. A Greek never met a conspiracy theory he didn't like ...)
As for the underground economy; its big enough to keep the country running even after a default. Remember, Greece doesn't really produce anything that requires vast amounts of capital - tourism and olives. As long as they can make Greece a cheap vacation destination, they'll get all the hard currency they need (just like the good old days of the drachma).
The only people that will get screwed are the politicians, the state banks, the bond holders (none of whom are probably Greeks), and a 10% slice of the civil servants.
Hi Kina, ive got a different view on our GST. Its added a new level of complexity to business lodgement and pushed business owners to become tax collectors with many of them unable to adequately understand how to perform their lodgement obligations.
The GST has shaved 10% off the spending power of most consumers (unprocessed food and water excepted) and created a big windfall for our governments. The deal was to use this money to get rid of more duties and taxes than has happened (business stamp duty due to be next but its 10 years after the GST introduction!!).
It also creates problems for service businesses and who are getting squeezed as they have GST to pay on their income but get no credits for their staff wages (predominant cost) so they can be loosing money and having to keep paying GST at the same time. So far Australia's continued growth has hidden a lot of these problems but they will be a lot more noticeable if the economy was to slow. Cafes and food processors suffer too as their ingredients are GST free but their sales have GST on top, squeezing their margins.
A further issue is small traders and contractors who inadvertently register for GST along with their business number and collect GST without remitting it in their BAS. This is actually very common and usually results in them realising they own the tax office $20,000 in GST 5 years later despite living hand to mouth the whole time.
Those who win are Doctors and the like who can claim credits on all their expenses but dont have to charge it on their income. It usually becomes a little bonus for them towards their income tax instalments.
Im not against the GST but dont believe it works as well as some think when you start to see what goes on in the background. Nice windfall for the Govts though..
another item is all sales taxes fall disproportionately on the poor. that's why the rich like them and hate capital gains and estate (death) taxes. not many (poor) people know that all capital assets' costs are marked to the market price on the day the owner dies so the heirs pay no capital gains tax if the assets are then sold (u.s. law).
Rich: "Fuck the poor. If not for me, they would not eat."
Americans used to protest...I'm sure of it...I think I saw it in a movie or documentary once.
But maybe it was Argentina...now I'm not sure.
A blueprint for failure and utter collapse. The world is following it almost to the 'T'.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4353655982817317115#
Watch it and cry.
People protest when handouts are taken away. Until such a time, nothing will happen, even if you explain to those people that their current handouts are unsustainable. I linked to an article about GS relocation in some other post (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405270230382830457518058125574765...), which caused VPs to be moved from private offices onto the floor. One VP responded, "If I had been at a bench my whole life, it would be fine, but I used to have an office." Yes, screw the millions in bonuses, or the fact that you even have a job; no more office you poor chap.
Fact is, a person given $1million will be emotionally much happier than if you give him $10million and then take away $9million. Protests will happen, they happen now every time salaries or benefits are cut for government workers. No one cares about the 'why' -- and thus no one accepts it as a necessity. Protests will happen in mass (at such a time when it'll be too late, ie. Greece). Tick-tock.
And tourism is about 25% of Greek GDP, perhaps more if you add in the undeclared tips and sub rosa payments.
So protests will happen and there goes another big chunk of needed revenue. This is going to be a very messy spiral.
the screen on the wall tells americans not to protest.
protesting is slavery.
compliance is freedom.
unemployment has been extended.
the new FRN$100 note will buy the same in feb 2011 as the current one does now.
unemployment has been held to below 10% by dear leader.
the green shoots are maturing.
the ussa is winning the war in eurasia.
text your vote to 555-dwts,
that's 555-dancing with the stars
thanks for the clarification. i was thinking dimwits.
Ya, but this issue has already been resolved... lol *rolls eyes.
Once, twice, 3 times...4...
If SPY rallies *again* on news it's been 'resolved,' I'm going to want to bust up a room or something...
Interestingly, the 50-day ROC for NBG is only -2.63%. 1yr return is only -5.93%. In 2003, the stock was <$2. I think the risks far outweight the upside.
Gee. The Nikkei is down almost 1.88% at the opening. I wonder why? Of course, that can't happen here. I can't WAIT until tomorrow. Dow 36000!
We have meltdown!
It may be the middle of the night somewhere but money never sleeps.
Fee -Finance - For - FUN
I smell the blood of a bank run
Be them alive or be they dead
I'll have their souls to make my Bread
Let the games begin!
blood in the streets?
[self-edited to reduce teh stoopid]
After seeing Greek histrionics, you really have to appreciate the Soviet Union. When they blew up their economy, they accepted their fate. No serious problems befell the world.
Is this ever going to end?
They obviously intend to put the HELL back in Hellenic.
Until “Dancing with the Stars” and “American Idol” are put on hiatus,
due to budgetary concerns, or other divergent pastimes/engrossment's are withdrawn,
The Sheeples will not wake up nor will they become concerned.
Sheeple do not understand nor do they wish too.
As long as the grazing is sustainable, they will remain in the pasture.
ONLY when the grazing is tough, or becomes hard,
will they raise their heads and look around at THE WHY.
THEN and only then will they seek to change to a new pasture
If you think about, once the dumb asses currently in D.C. nationalize the whole economy and turn this country into the Greek equivalent.
We will finally have the power to bring the whole shebang crumbling down like a Jenga tower.
I think we should be taking notes on how to rampage, riot, hold endless strikes, and fail to pay required taxes.
The current grass roots tea party movement should be turned into a "Fuck The Government" party.
Chaos and Anarchy Rules!
+1,000
The Greek Communist Party?!? G-Pap?? Hellloooo, McFly!!
Nothing new. History repeats itself. Argentina 2001. Riots. 25 deaths, moratorium (even worse, largest default in history).
Yep. The parallels are amazing.
A decade of ever-increasing gov't. debt. check
A population that proudly cheats on taxes. check
Yet demands gov't handouts/benefits. check
Can't pay back loans. check
Wants new loans. check
Won't clean house themselves. check
Hates that others demand they clean house. check
Blames everyone but themselves. check
Yep. Probably gonna end the same way.
+10 Great summary.
Coming soon to a U.S. state near you.
http://www.examiner.com/x-37620-Conservative-Examiner~y2010m4d13-Special...
In October of this year, one month prior to the November midterm elections, a special army unit known as 'Consequence Management Response Force' will be ready for deployment on American soil if so ordered by the President.
(AP Photo/David Longstreath).
The special force, which is the new name being given to the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 3rd Infantry, has been training at Fort Stewart, Georgia and is composed of 80,000 troops.
According to the Army Times,
Not accurate. This is a Brigade of approx. 3,500 at the very most, including service and support and joint service units. Additionally, it requires about 10 support soldiers in finance, logistics, intelligence, Combat Service and Support to field one infantryman.
The 82nd ABN DIV, which consists of three airborne or parachute infantry regiments (roughly brigade size) and service and support elements, is made up of approx. 10 to 12k pax. There is absolutely no way that a brigade consists 80k people, it's ludicrous. The Army Times article does not mention 80k troops anywhere.
It's not a special force, it is a small infantry brigade that specializes in crowd control and disaster relief and first response in the event of a bio/chem attack on US soil, something that infantry brigades and regiments have practiced as an aside training for decades - perhaps you don't remember the 82nd Airborne Division deploying to Florida to control the refugee camps after the Cuban Boat Lift of the early 80s.
And even if this was some nefarious plan, what are 3,500 soldiers going to do against 300 million US citizens? It's the same argument I provide to my friends on the left about Blackwater, the company has about 250k employees, specializing in former spec-ops people. But the amount of operators to support employees is greatly exaggerated especially as they also account for fledgling aviation and naval assets - it takes a lot of mechanics to keep the helicopters flying and a lot of sailors to keep the gunboats floating who are not by any means former SEALs or SF guys. 250k employees against 300 million American citizens? Please! But that is the paranoia of the left, just as ridiculous as the paranoia of the right over a brigade in Northern Command.
There is another problem using an army against its own people. Quite often, at the best, they might declare a "neutrality", at the worst, they just change sides. And when they do, it is Viva Le Revolution and a good time to invest in guillotines production and manufacturing. After all, America has to rebuilt its industrial might.
they got nukes, we don't.
Brzezinski: "Its easier to kill a million people...than it is to control them"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKzEpQc-yo8
can't happen here eh?
http://ferfal.blogspot.com/2008/11/despair-in-once-proud-argentina.html
Sure, the overall government may have tactical and ICBM nukes, but are you suggesting that they will use them on US soil against their own people?
An infantry brigade does not have access nukes, and if they did so, they still do not have the delivery mechanisms in the TO&E to deliver them, so that point is probably moot.
My prediction is that Greece outright default tomorrow.
And retail stocks and REITs will rocket once again to new highs.
LOL.....
And somebody will buy a boat load of this to "make their year" in 2010.
Just like the lucky slobs that bought RBS when it was believed that Scotland and Ireland were going under:
Sheeple do not understand nor do they wish too.
As long as the grazing is sustainable, they will remain in the pasture.
NBG is a massive binary bet that Greece does not default, or restructure, so I am not quite so confident.
Another thing to appreciate is that the Greek unions have large pension funds which made investment decisions based on the size of the brown envelope. It's quite possible that the union heads would prefer to see a disorderly default as the chaos will better enable them to hide that they have been screwing their members for years...
I hate to be so pedantic TD and I know that you were going for hyperbole here but although it is perhaps possible (though improbable) for any government to fire 75% of the country it is mathematically impossible to cut wages by 120%. A figure of 100% or less would have gotten the effect that you wanted but a figure >100% just makes you look foolish.
Let go of 'your own' and grab a dictionary. Check out 'sarcasm' and 'satire.'
I have no wish to support TD in his pedanticism but a wage loss of 100% coupled with cost-push inflation of 40% which is 50% mitigated by undeclared earnings and smuggled goods, will have an effect equal to a wage cut of 120%.
TD wanted to say this but a) it takes up a lot of space and b) his hyperbole was smoking.
i am fairly certain that you are the one who looks foolish. in case you have noticed, this site has a lot of sarcasm/satire. have you been taking everything literally? Maybe you have aspergers or something. or maybe you are just kidding, either your reply was a joke or you are.
holdinmyown
Give him a break guys. This is only his third Greek bailout on ZH.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4ljZea6YSE&feature=player_embedded
Dont Worry Our Turn Will Come
I meant riots, deaths, moratorium in Greece like 10 years ago in Argentina, not in the US. You are stretching your imagination too much.
Yeah your right but hey people are going to hospitals and trying to tell the billing departments its payed for with obamacare, what happens when they are told all the things they have been promised cant be payed for they were lied to?
From a proud Greek (and American) patriot:
I love you.
Remember way back in the day when the US stock market seemed to care about what happened in Greece? Hopes for a Greece bailout made all the headlines. Russell 2K hit a new closing high today; guess that Greece stuff is just old news now, something for the boys here to chew their cud over.
Spartans versus the Athenians...
all it needs now is a Persian invasion and they will be able to sell movie rights on that one.
"The 300 the sequel"
You can bet a million souvlakis on the fact that there will not be a civil war in Greece. Throw in some fetta and olives and I'll raise you another ten million.
http://midasfinancialmarkets.blogspot.com/2010/04/euro-deficit-results-w... WOW PEOPLE...
DEFICITS INFORMATION
Here in Europe everything is f...
Stunning predictions
Greece 2year heading for 9%...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=GGGB2YR%3AIND
change the link for the rest of the curve
Dax freefalls 100 points on news Greece's deficit climbs to 13.6% of GDP... Circuitbreaker.
MARKET UPDATES :
http://www.zerohedge.com/forum/latest-market-outlook-0
EUR/USD is down less than 0.5% since yesterdays close. Is the world really falling apart?
But then of course we are in that time zone where currency manipulation by the PPT comes into action. So players who are not on the inside circle will never know the real market clearing price for anything - until it adjusts abruptly at some point.
My thought on manipualtion of the markets by govts is - its like a doctor who refuses to tell you the truth. You are therefore always in the pink of health - and then - you are dead.
So it robs people of the ability to make adjustments to their portfolios and lives. It is diabolical - really.
Nothing will happen here, the S&P and Dow will shrug and move up 1.2% today. Leo's liquidity tsunami propelling surfers towards 12,000.
Of course "leaders" get a reputation for being Corageous, forward thinking, etc and will be generally popular with the living - by following the manipulation startegy. And the dead dont vote - so who cares?
The GGB 10Y spread over Bunds is at 550 bp, violence has erupted in Athens center a stone's throw from the IMF overlords in their Syntagma Sq beachhead, my friend is free from work due to the strike and we are about to enjoy drinks poolside courtesy of oodles and oodles of fiat currency these kind foreigners are about to throw our way.
Gotta run. Zeus bless Ben, Angela, Olli and Dominique.
The markets are cruisin fur a bruisin. Obama has finally realized that to win decisively in November - all he needs to do is take the banks down a few pegs. You can imagine how popular that will make him. Why would he not do it? He will - watch.
Ya gotta treat Wall Street banks like dogs. With dogs - you need to establish yourself as an Alpha Male - otherwise the will treat you as a female ( ie. hump your leg) or a weakling - tear your ear off. To win respect with Pack Animals you Must establish Alpha superiority which involves kicking some group members around for no reason other than its fun!
The silent Coup d’ etat of the United States of America
The silent Coup d’ etat of the United States of America is nearly complete. Congress is giving nearly unlimited authority to the private Federal Reserve Bank ("Fed"), owned by the big banks, to regulate themselves. They are then giving the Fed authority over most every publicly traded company with the simultaneous unconstitutional authority to print money to be used to purchase trillions of dollars of stocks and to monetize the Debt of the United States government. They are also working to subordinate the Fed and Congressional authority to the globalist/fascist International Monetary Fund. Once this occurs which is happening in Congress, the Coup will be done. The international globalist fascist bankers will have conquered the United States of America and the ultimate act of treason will have been performed in plain sight of an unsuspecting dumbed down American public....
Read how this will be accomplished here:
http://www.facebook.com/wgpitts?ref=profile#!/note.php?note_id=385633773339
A country run by unions and lacking actual taxpayers may run into a problem. This shouldn't be considered an unusual outcome.
High debt + high interest rates + high fixed expenses = bankruptcy (delayed by new loans and working with creditors and some decrease in expenses).
[Greece Welcomes Its New IMF Overlords With Day Of Rioting And National Strikes]
Welcome people of Poland to your new nightmare:
[Poland refused the Swine Flu vaccine. They had their own Central Bank and wouldn't submit to the Euro zone. They wouldn’t jump in bed with the IMF and were not suffering a recession but were prospering. Jane Burgermeister asks: so what really happened?]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoUkobHYAlk
Once again ZH hits the nail on the head with honest truth before its reported
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Greek-budget-deficit-136-apf-138504932.htm...
If he cant cry, he cant sleep.
The IMF mantra is to subordinate countries to the tune of US dominance with regards to a US advantage.The US wants to make sure the score is such that their second and third strings get plenty of action in a one way game.
The Germans and French should just make good on the Greek bonds for their own banks, avoid that type of systemic risk, and kick Greece out of the EU. If Greeks want to retire at age 50 with a full pension, more power to them. And, they don't pay their taxes. Let them figure a way out of low revenue and high expenses.
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