Quick Fix or More Quack Remedy?

Please read my latest and post your comments here:

http://pensionpulse.blogspot.com/2010/05/quick-fix-or-more-quack-remedy.html

Thank you,

Leo Kolivakis

Publisher of Pension Pulse
blog.

Comments

[ZackAttack]

Leo, what do you suppose their plans are for a bull market in Spanish or Italian yields?

We knew Greece was in trouble for 6 months.  The EU literally did nothing except attempt to jawbone the problem in a particularly feeble and ineffectual manner.

I get the feeling jawboning will not be very effective the next time.

[Leo Kolivakis]

European leaders sealed their fate by vacillating. They can't jawbone their way out of this crisis. The bond sharks smell blood, and they're hungry.

[ZackAttack]

So, what is an analyst in Dubai doing writing about "indebted nations" with a straight face?

Mr. Kettle, Mr. Kettle to the white courtesy phone...

[Mercury]

Sooo... does this still mean that the richest country in the world should be looking to dramatically expand it's public sector and entitlement programs in the face of an economic downturn and demographic decline?

[EyesWise Shut]

On Greece: very good piece thank you. The sad fate of the ordinary Greek people will however be interesting to watch as an example of what will probably happen to most of us.

On pensions: even countries with "funded" pensions will face the same problems as those with "unfunded" systems because existing assets probably will be destroyed by the deflation/inflation uncertainty and whats remeing will be taxed away.

[Leo Kolivakis]

Greeks are fuming. Pensioners and workers are getting screwed while Ministers and politicians get a huge chunk of their salaries after 4 years in office, and the rich elite get away with murder. I get this feeling that the government is going down, but the problem is who will replace them?

On pensions: You are right, deflation will wipe out the hopes & dreams of many. Bubble Ben is working hard to avoid this scenario, but he knows time is running out.

[Carl Spackler]

"Greeks are fuming. Pensioners and workers are getting screwed while Ministers and politicians get a huge chunk of their salaries after 4 years in office..."

Think about it, Leo...how is that, structurally speaking, any different than here in the USA?

Hobbes told us this when he penned Leviathan!

[exportbank]

The first goal of any politician is to kick the ball down the road. It is a band-aid but everything we do fits that description. A Greek politician sees debt not as debt but as income and continually needs to roll that income (debt) over. There is no difference between Greece and what faces most of us. We all share rapidly growing public sectors (the main driver of employment growth) of course every public sector job sucks the lifeblood out of the economy and becomes a decades long drain on whatever private sector remains. There is no way a company can take on the responsibility for a retired person for what could be 20 to 30 years of retirement (only the public sector can do that - even if it destroys a nation). Pension plans exist to create income for managers not for plan members. The mark-to-model systems is a fantasy

Public sector pensions coupled with health care costs will steal the future of the next generation. Leo, thanks for your efforts on this file.

[williambanzai7]

GALACTIC CONTAGION:

http://williambanzai7.blogspot.com/2010/05/galactic-contagion.html