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Mr. Varoufakis Arrives In London
The new Greek PM has a thing against ties; The new Greek finmin, on the other hand, has a thing for boots and barbour jackets as seen in this series of photos of him arriving from Paris (where he secured French support for the Greek debt "renegotiation") for a meeting with UK chancellor George Osborne.
Spot the suit:
What did they talk about? Here is the UK side of things via the FT:
Mr Osborne said: “We had a constructive discussion, and it is clear that the stand-off between Greece and the eurozone is the greatest risk to the global economy. I urge the Greek finance minister to act responsibly but it’s also important that the eurozone has a better plan for jobs and growth.
“It is a rising threat to the British economy. And we have got to make sure that in Europe as in Britain, we choose competence over chaos.”
Mr Varoufakis, who was wearing a wax jacket over his suit and sporting the trademark tieless look of the new Greek cabinet, met George Osborne, the chancellor, in Downing Street, where he was told that the UK expected Athens to honour its obligations.
Downing Street had earlier said that Mr Osborne would tell his Greek counterpart the UK would not be sympathetic towards a wholesale restructuring of Greece’s debt.
As for the Greek version: GREECE'S VAROUFAKIS HAS NO COMMENT TO PRESS AFTER OSBORNE TALKS
Yanis Varoufakis studiously avoids questions as he leaves No 11 #greece https://t.co/9JEg33nv2G
— Emily Purser (@EmilyPurserSky) February 2, 2015
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watch out for the lone gunman.
watch out for the lone nailgunman
watch out for the lone shitgumman
He´s safe. A useful idiot for soo many and they will keep him alive as long as he´s useful. Except for the Greek people of course, but hey, they wanted it that way.
how come he walked in with the leather jacket but left without it? osbourne must be desperate.
just to show they've taken the shirt/jacket from his back :-)
don't worry, a flunkey will be carrying it for him just out of sight.
If someone really wanted to give him the Idiot Test, the interviewer should ask him if he has deposited all of his money into a Greek Bank and which one. How can he give the right answer? Demonstrated stupid if he has. Demonstrated a Top Bull Shitter about not needing funding if he has not.
He also has a thing for flying economy class...and game theory.
I hope he wears kevlar underwear.
there are much prettier girls in economy class. in biz or first, u end up next to some shank MD from Morgan or similar
Look out for snowplows.
mad respect points for Mr. V
I think he is soon going to have a thing on vetoing Russian sanctions.
Maybe Vlad will loan him a SPETSNAZ security team
HELL YEAH!
no, russian sanctions are nowhere near the top of the list of priorities, it's all about greece.
syriza can/will use the threat of vetoing russian sanctions to extract more concessions from the EU.
if you want to hear the man himself, have a look at this (fresh, dated Jan 30th) BBC interview on YouTube. it's 14 min long, but it's worthwhile, including the way the questions are posed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiIO4YciewU (Yanis Varoufakis, Greek FinMin)
The people running that show are pretty stupid. They aren't so much reporters as towing the party line. Dunno would bother turning up on that show to be asked stupid questions by people too stupid to actualy do some proper investigative journalism before hand.
and in his blog (http://yanisvaroufakis.eu) he recently wrote this
"On the first day in our ministries, the power of the media to distort hit me again. The world’s press was full of reports on how the SYRIZA government’s first foreign policy ‘move’ was to veto fresh sanctions on Russia. Now, I am not qualified to speak on foreign affairs but, nonetheless, I must share this with you at a personal level. Our Foreign Minister, Nikos Kotzias, briefed us that on his first day at the job he heard in the news bulletins that the EU had approved new sanctions on Russia unanimously. The problem was that he, and the new Greek government, were never asked! So, clearly, the issue was not whether our new government agrees or not with fresh sanctions on Russia. The issue is whether our view can be taken for granted without even being told of what it is! From my perspective, even though (let me state it again) I am certainly not qualified to speak on foreign affairs, this is all about a question of respect for our national sovereignty. Could journalists the world over try to draw this important distinction between protesting our being neglected from protesting the sanctions themselves? Or is this too complicated?" (note: the first day of the new Tsipras government, with a news bulletin of a EU Council meeting done previously, i.e. with the old set of Greek ministers)
Thanks for the link.
Mr Varoufakis seems to be a well-spoken individual. The website is a wealth of information.
I actually want to see how, being a member of a communist governemnt, he feels about Markets vs State Control.
There should be some interesting articles on the site.
Not just well spoken, but he articulates the details. Bernays and his ilk have been responsible for obfuscating since the first half of the 1900s. All western governments and business run on Bernay's PR, especially the MSM.
Looks like it's time to go Greek. Who's with me?? I got a friend with a really nice undeveloped west greek coastal property. I hear hookers are cheap too, if a little bit hairy.
As I commented before his "Modest Proposal" is an exercise in refounding Europe around a Keynesian/socialist money-printing binge.
That is amazingly funny. If it is true that he prefers that reporters be factual, then he would not be complaining about the report that the decision for more sanctions WAS unanimous. He did not hold office when the poll of governments took place. So what does that have to do with the accuracy of the report. With that many countries in the EU, how long is it before one of the governments has some cabinet changes?
He is just another blabbering communist looking for MOAR assets of someone else, of any country, to flush into a rathole.
Supposedly these new Greek leaders declared themselves to have solved their financial problems without additional outside funding. How wonderful for the taxpayers of the EU to be relieved of the burden of further support of Greece. Then the communists woke up to find that all Greek bank deposits were on the move to somewhere else. Rather than address the matter that was obvious to forecast, these stand up and be strong leaders called on the EU to continue to bail out their banks with the Emergency Liquidity Fund of the ECB. The ECB should tell them to send that request to Vlad for his analysis. The Brave New Leaders recognizd that, heh, our money is in those banks and we might have a bail-in that could cost a communist some money. Welcome to the consequences of being a communist Dumb Ass.
The FT reports a very interesting "highlight" on this meeting with the British FinMin "Mr Osborne (…) also sees the Greek crisis as a salutary lesson of what happens if a country fails to pursue responsible economic policies — a not-so-subtle dig at the Labour opposition in the UK."
for those not so used to EU politics: the Greek FinMin, one of the new "EuroCrats" in the steering body called the EU Council, is a member of a party of the left. This makes his reception a bit on the frosty side wherever he meets conservatives, like here with Osborne of the Cameron cabinet
When I say that Osborne is a bankster-owned cunt, I'm being unreasonably polite.
Greece's problem, Europe's problem, the World's problem is contributed to by cunts like Osborne who turn a blind eye to bankster behaviour then chastise us for failing to show the appropriate amount of glee upon being forced to pay for the impact of bankster crack-habits.
He's happy to point out Greece's irresponsible economic governance but there's not a peep about the tumour of the City, a cancer that has clearly metastasised to his brain and colon. Where is his admission that irresponsible financial governance fuelled a global financial crisis that had far more impact on European economies (particularly Greece's) than anything other single factor?
No, he has little to say about that because, like the rest of his breed, he serves the City first. Varoufakis troubles them because he isn't one of the lads (yet); he doesn't even dress "appropriately"; it's just not cricket!
95-99% of the world's money is actually credit, an inferior form of money due to its limited duration (extinguished when repaid). This is madness. It means that to keep prices stable, loans must be continually created to counter repayments. Saving money under such a system necessarily causes deflation and defaults, so is eventually demonized, adding further fragility to the system by eliminating financial buffers.
Banksters have created this situation and they love it because credit money is their money, from which they live on interest. Politicians seems to have forgotten that governments have the power to create their own permanent, debt-free money (chartalism). Distribution is trivial (citizen dividend) and taxation regulates inflation.
Governments could easily throttle the banksters, knocking credit-money down to less than 50% of total supply, whilst replacing the shortfall with fresh fiat money. Taxes would be slashed, welfare programs cut back, saving would again be encouraged, financialization gutted so that capital could find superior allocation in the real economy once more. Instead, they have handed power to banksters, credit money dominates and even governments themselves must draw credit from banksters to deficit spend.
I'm sure Varoufakis is familiar with Minsky, Galbraith and Keen, who all advocate(d) what I do. Banksters will profit less, poor babies, but reform HAS to happen lest we prefer artificial poverty for the majority and artificially repressed economies burdened by excessive debt-money.
The Eurozone is, unfortunately, in a fine mess because the Euro is as bankster dominated as any other money (dominated by credit); and member states are independent sovereigns under a dependent currency. It is not so simple for Greece to start printing its own Euros (though not impossible with negotiation).
The situation supports my long held view that the euro as it stands is a mistake. It should have served as a bancor, or European SDR, being a token only for international trade, leaving member states free to issue local currencies that could not trade directly with other currencies via forex (Keynes had this right). Even the EMU precursor to the EZ did not achieve this, it was always a "camel" (a horse designed by a committee).
Pushing a common currency without a common nation (United States of Europe) is a fundamental incompatibility that must eventually come to a head despite the remarkable stubborness of European gentlemen to pretend otherwise. (Yes, this applies to the USD globally too and it's also coming to a head, as US hegemony fades).
Seeing as I don't support a USE, I therefore don't support the euro in its current form. Varoufakis is right, the time for gentlemanly extend and pretend is over. It's time for a REAL discussion about the very structure of the beast, finding a way to enable sovereign flexibility for a deflating nation to pump money into its economy without having to deficit-spend enthralled to bankster credit.
If the euro can't be changed to accommodate this requirement then it is nothing more than a tool of unecessary human misery that undermines peace in Europe and it has to go. I would prefer to see it revert to a Euro SDR, managing a basket of member-state currencies. International trade and forex deal through the EuroSDR rather than member currencies.
This link is unfettered by some BBC/CIA presstitute and allows Varoufakis to explain in some detail his thinking...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVTtdyrqn9c
thanks to Webster Tarpley.
Get to work Mr. Bullard! You fucking retard!
It was a waste of time
This guy is miking hiis 15 minutes more than Vanilla Ice.
That "guy" has forgotten more about economics than you'll likely ever understand.
Less years in therapy for me.
"That "guy" has forgotten more about economics than you'll likely ever understand."
Probably the Austrian kind.
I've heard him called an Austrian-school economist. Would be interesting to know if that is true.
the opposite is more the thing. Varoufakis is usually described as a Keynesian
Undeterred, Mises turned to the problem of socialism itself, writing a blockbuster essay in 1921, which he turned into the book Socialism over the next two years. Socialism permits no private property or exchange in capital goods, and thus no way for resources to find their most highly valued use. Socialism, Mises predicted, would result in utter chaos and the end of civilization.
Source. http://mises.org/sites/default/files/what%20is%20austrian%20economics.pd...
Double damn.
That "guy" believes in fairy tale economics very strongly. I doubt that he ever had an understanding of economics to forget.
It is quite easy to sell those communist fairy tales. Idiots who believe that it could possibly work will shower with adulation the lecturing "experts" who present this share the wealth without contribution route to prosperity. Now Mr. Expert is traveling to anyplace he can to find someone who has wealth to share as Greece hasn't made a contribution for decades.
Rob or Vanillia Ice talked someone into a show on one of the Discovery Channels as a General Contractor flippn' Houses in Florida........
He pulled a Marie Osmond. Take your B celeb status out of the attic and shill some bullshit idea/product 2 decades later.
I like his style and would pay good money to see him walk into the White House in the same fashion. Fuck the suits and banksters
So far, I quite like the guy. All those people wearing a tie around him must be royally pissed off by his "offensive relaxed attitude on such a serious matter"!
But I'm wondering: Could he have really come out of nowhere? Getting support from Obama, Sapin and now Osborne for his case? In just a couple of days?
Maybe Nuland was behind this ("I think Yans is the guy who's got the economic experience") and it's all about crushing the Euro to help King Dollar survive a bit longer??
He is most definitely not "out of nowhere". His website fills in all the particulars.
He didn't come from nowhere. He is a Greek economist who was the head of the Department of Economic Policy at the University of Athens. From 2004 to 2007 he also served as an economic advisor to former Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou.
Read this interview at Yves Smith's naked Capitalism that he gave in 2012. He has been featured on that site for quite a while:
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/02/the-global-minotaur-an-interview-...
Ok, he existed before. But still surprising that he is being hosted by a lot of major politicians immediately. How did they all free up their agendas magically? Everybody seems to want to meet him... everybody is talking about Greece... Nobody forced this topic on US, France, UK, Russia, etc. They could also just ignore Greece for some time...
Krugman is an ecomist who does a lot of advising and has a nice resume. This does not detract from the fact that he is a moron.
Dr. Professor Krugman? that man is the greatest, most influential American critic of the EUR, mind
definition of a moron : a strategist who throws a pass at the 1 yd line from TD when he has less than a minute left for play and the best running line in the game...
At least Krugman is consistent in his strategy to make war on the Martians, by throwing QE/ZIRP at them; whatever nation plays the austerity Martian, he only has a one liner to offer against them : PRINT !
Do you really not understand the profound importance of Greece and what is unfolding as it relates to the European Union? Dennis Rodman would have invited just as quickly had he been in the same position as Varoufakis.
And no, they cannot afford to ignore Greece for "some time".
Probably it's because Greece runs out of others people money in a couple of weeks? And because they kicked the Trioka in the balls ?
so they can tell him how it is, cooperate and live the rest of your life on the gravy train, oppose us and fade into a life of poverty (relatively)
look at how much money Tony B liar the lefty UK prime minister has made since he went alonmg with the US wars, clue many millions.
In his BBC interview some of what he says seems to make sense. But in itself the restructuring is a refusal to address the need for change of the lackadaisical and general parasitic corruption within Greek culture. And of this is the case admitting Greeve to the EU was a fundamental mistake.
Any nation, state, county or city, or individual, that doesn't adopt first world standards of initiative and economics is destined for welfare status. And their number can grow to a point that overwhelms.
Politics 101: You don't get elected calling your constituents parasites.
I'm British and I have no idea why Varoufakis is wasting time speaking to Osborne, he's not going to be helpful; Osborne however, is probably there so he can give Carney, Yellen and Lew an idea of where this is really going.
True enough on not being able to get elected telling this truth. Real change will take place in Greece, and anywhere else, when those that live and expect to live off government money realize their own parasitic status and that they are capable of so much more. When this enlightenment occurs and they begin expecting more out of themselves they will bring about real change. Until then they can pretend their problems are someone else's fault.
@trustbutverify - read & watch 'Economic Hitman' Perkins.
'Loans' made up outta Absolutely Nothing are purposely used as weapons and tools of enslavement. The reality isn't quite as black/white simplistic as you may think.
Admitting Greece wasn't a 'mistake', it was part of a plan - "United Europe" with even greater control by unelected bureaucrats outside of the country exerting undemocratic control. They would 'need' to do this because of all 'those lazy, pesky freeloaders'. Of course GS types were heavily involved.
A 'United Europe' and an 'American Union' as stepping stones to the
New World Order. The dream of megalomaniacs pops up repeatedly even though it always fails.
Of course, they said it was 'just about trade' in order to sell it in the beginning.
Obama is more interested in keeping Greece from turning to Putin for support than actually supporting Syriza. Keeping the Euro intact is of utmost importance to the banksters and their spokesmen.
Plutocrats and their puppets expose themselves in every level
Is that really a waxed jacket? Looks too shiny in this picture..I thought it was leather. Must be a fresh coat of wax. Nice selection regardless.
I'll have to check these jackets out next time I am overseas.
"Achmed- don't shoot! He is Greek!"
"He looks American."
"No, he has a Barbour Jacket. Only Greeks wear those. Look at these surveillance photos from London."
"Nice. How many goats for one?"
osborne is such a fucking wanker
9/11 Truth: The NIST “no molten metal” guy posing by steel with unexplained melting (PHOTOS)
Haha, can you imagine Churchill having to greet one of these guys were this to happen in his lifetime?
Churchill used to wander around in a 'onesie' on a regular basis.
He was also a self-interested, warmongering drunkard who was very heavily involved with the Zionists who stole Palestine.
Don't know much about the Greek dude. I just hope he knocks over the first domino, by design or by accident, either would do.
this greek finmin, is making all the right moves! Keep it up and 'll give the label "Game Changer"!
"I urge the Greek finance minister to act responsibly..."
As opposed to whom, asshole?
In October 2009, when Cosco took control of the container terminal, Greece’s militant dockworkers union, emboldened by the incoming socialist government that would win elections a few days later—launched a six-week-long strike that crippled the port.
The strike left some 4,500 containers stranded at the terminal for weeks, and dented Greece’s already wobbling economy.
The Greek government, Cosco and the Piraeus Port Authority agreed to a deal that helped restore labor peace on the docks. Cosco was allowed to operate its part of the container terminal unfettered by the union wage scales. Most of Cosco’s workers are now hired through a third-party, nonunionized employment agency.
They earn around €1,200 a month, a better-than-average wage in Greece, but roughly a third of what unionized dockworkers earned five years ago, and less than what workers still earn at the rival PPA-controlled wharf abutting the Cosco docks.
The new jobs have helped reduce labor unrest. But some powerful opponents still complain about the deal.
“They have created a workers’ ghetto,” said Panagiotis Lafazanis, a senior member of Parliament with the main opposition, radical-left Syriza party.
yep. union busting, blame the people, while "management" obsconds with the real wealth.
pigs.
P < P + I
Why are they entitled to 300% above the average wage?
They are not, but they get to set them.
300% is seriously low-ball.
UK Chancellor George (Malaka) Osborne
Malaka
what the...heheheheheheh
Give the guy time for goodness sakes! Even Sun Tzu says prepare your battlefield first. I have high hopes for change particularly when Syriza's equivalent in Spain should be elected later this year.
You have "hope" for "change". Huh.
Flush out your headgear, new guy, and try to think where you heard those words together first.
in the dictionary?
They are hardly a platform or a promise unique to Obama. Pretty much every single opposition party in the world uses 'change' as part of their platform / strategy. It would be silly to be the opposition party and run on 'no change' or 'more of the same' (even if they are).
I wouldn't panic because someone used the words hope and change in a sentence.
Dr. John Nash - A Nobel Prize Talking
Someone is looking to plagiarize, and receive a new award. Discovering a concept called Prisoner’s Dilemma.
John Nash Jr. (2006) The Agencies Method and Cooperative Games| Lindau Meeting on Economic Sciences.
He may get shot for not wearing a tie.
Mr. Whatdafuckis
Yanis has a very interesting background
http://fofoa.blogspot.com/2015/02/yanis.html#comment-form
He's written 3 books on game theory.
He is a good speaker. I saw him interviewed on Max Keiser and was favorably impressed. May he stick to his principles and duck all the assassins.
Yanis ate fish n chips from a deli on his way out from N° 11.
When asked how it had gone with George Osborne he replied laconically : These fish and chips remind me of my University days here. But Maggie chased me away to Australia 'cos I got indigestion under her "I want my money back" days.
"I like the taste of these greasy chips and all I can say is that the fish has more fresh flavour than the red herrings Osborne was offering me as hors d'oeuvre at N° 11 !"
Where next Mr Varoufakis ?
Are you gonna shake Wolfgang Schäuble out of his chair and make Mutti tremble her stiff lips in despair?
Wolfgang has he got the teeth of White Fang ?
You'll have to meet Jack in Berlin after Jack London !
They probably fear Yanis like a Jack in the box with financial pox!
Schaeuble meets Mr. V meet in the coming week.
Merkel meets Mr. T on 12 Feb.
"the greatest risk to the global economy"
If the world hinges on Greece... we're definitely screwed.
If you recall, when Sarkozy said that about Ghadafi, (about him being the "...greatest trhreat to the financial security of the world...") - well, you know the rest - invasion, destruction, execution. The scumbag banksters don't like it when one of the muppets wants off the ride.
Just wondering how long before the west declares the new Greek government a "terrorist organization" .... and all that that implies...
More pics
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2936484/The-laidback-approach-Greece-s-new-Essex-educated-finance-minister-arrives-talks-George-Osborne-leather-jacket-minus-tie.html
One's strong emotional desire for change overrides the innate and logical understanding of how the system works...
Just give 37 minutes of your life by watching. I promise no cat YouTube video, Winks.
John Nash Jr. (2006) The Agencies Method and Cooperative Games| Lindau Meeting on Economic Sciences.
It is heart warming to imagine all the British gentlemen in their clubs chuckling and opening one champagne bottle after the other, congratulating themselves that they were clever enough to avoid the EU currency. Envisage the joy when the prudence of the British makes them leaving the EU alltogether.
Osborne is such a sissy. He has such a big ass that when he was in secondary school he sat next to everybody. Check the last picture.
Obama "Expresses Sympathy" For Greece.
France "more than prepared to support Greece
UK “We had a constructive discussion, and it is clear that the stand-off between Greece and the eurozone is the greatest risk to the global economy”
A GOOD THING SCOTLAND DIDN'T WIN or these chumps would have to be nice to everyone.
Surely he has more sense than to talk with a zionist puppet?
Who will blink ? Hope not this guy. Better to face the consequences now than to kick a bigger can down the road.
As for the contagion to markets...let it flow. You bet that the longer the drag, the more market adjustments (hedges) will take place and soon the market would have adjusted to a Euro that is not a sum of its parts but just a German Currency plus some flaks.
Still holding on to your EC global bank shares (eg Deutsche Bank) ?