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One Heretic, And Not-So-Simple, View On The Greek Referendum
Submitted by George Kintis of Alcimos
Our Heretic (And Not-So-Simple) Views On The Greek Referendum
Conventional wisdom has it as follows: Tsipras is a hardline communist, who overplayed his hand with the troika (or “the three institutions”, as he calls them). The referendum was a last-ditch play to retain power by stoking a nationalistic response to the standoff with creditors.
We believe the current stand-off with Greece’s creditors is just part of the ongoing tug-of-war between Germany and the IMF on a possible haircut on Greek debt. The background of this conflict is as follows: the US (which exerts substantial influence on the IMF) is “pro Keynesian” while Germany is “pro austerity”. The two different viewpoints are summarized in two articles in the New York Times: one by Wolfgang Schäuble, and a riposte to it by Paul Krugman.
The slowdown in the European economy is obviously affecting the US economy as well; hence the US interest is clearly justified. The USA has been nudging Europe to engage in some good-old Keynesian deficit-spending. Obviously, the deficit spending does not need to happen in Germany, whose economy is doing very well, thank you. It needs to happen in places like Greece, but then the question arises, how could this deficit be financed? Well, the markets are certainly not willing to finance Greece, so that leaves few people in the room able to do this. Rich Germany obviously comes to mind, but then this is a major no-no for German voters and politicians. (West) Germany engaged in the mother of all expansionary policies (and fiscal transfers) at the time of reunification with East Germany, when it set a 1:1 conversion rate of the East German mark into the DEM, while the exchange rate applicable for East German exports had been at 1 to 4.3. Rightly or wrongly, it is widely accepted in Germany that the dismal performance of Germany during the rest of nineties is due to those very policies— justifiable perhaps at the time by a duty of solidarity. Quite understandably, the German public doesn’t feel such a strong duty of solidarity vis-à-vis Greece. Any German politician suggesting a large-scale fiscal transfer to Greece would be skewered. Any haircut on Greek official-sector debt would be seen as (and be) just that: a fiscal transfer to Greece.
One last background note: the German public seems convinced that Germany has already paid its dues when it comes to Greece. This is only partially true: the restructuring of Greek debt was at its heart an effort to convert private unsustainable debt into official unsustainable debt –saving major European banks in the process (including Deutsche Bank, which managed to stay afloat by engineering achieving a risk-weight asset density of 14% in 2008).
Now on to a few somewhat overlooked facts relating the Greek crisis, which should raise an eyebrow—or a few million:
i. What’s being put to the Yes or No vote on Sunday is two documents: the first one is entitled "Reforms For The Completion Of The Current Program And Beyond" and essentially contains the “sacrifices” which are requested of the Greek side. The second one is called "Preliminary Debt Sustainability Analysis". But hold on a second: this is just math, projections on the servicing of Greece’s debt based on certain assumptions relating to economic and fiscal performance. Why on earth would one put a spreadsheet on a referendum?
The plot thickens if one actually bothers to read the document. It is not even conclusive: under the first two scenarios (“full implementation of program reforms” and “partial reform compliance”) Greek debt is deemed to be sustainable. As to the third scenario, which “reflects the IMF’s baseline” “significant reprofiling of the stock of debt and concessional lending terms would improve sustainability. Reprofiling of payment flows does not imply nominal haircut or budgetary costs for creditors. This would also entail further NPV gains for Greece, and strengthen the sustainability of the Greek public debt in the long-run”.
Things get even more bizarre, as the document states that “[f]urther work is under way to reconcile the scenarios”. This work was obviously never completed, as the IMF came out a few days later with its own version of the debt sustainability analysis, which carries a date of 26 June (just a day later from the date of the draft Greeks are asked to vote on) but was only published on 2 July. In no uncertain terms, it labels Greek debt unsustainable, and considers it can become sustainable if the grace period on existing EU loans is extended to 20 years and the amortization period to 40 years—assuming of course Greece runs primary surpluses of 3.5% of GDP, has real GDP growth of 1½% in steady state, and achieves privatization proceeds of about €½ billion annually. However “[a] lower medium-term primary surplus of 2½% of GDP and lower real GDP growth of 1% per year would [also] require […] a significant haircut of debt, for instance, full write-off of the stock outstanding in the GLF facility (€53.1 billion)”. Let’s translate that: the GLF facility consists of the bilateral loans to Greece. Under this not-too-unlikely turn-of-events, Germany would need to kiss its entire direct exposure to Greece goodbye—the dreaded “fiscal transfer” we spoke about earlier.
Now back to the referendum: Greeks are asked to accept-or-reject an analysis which is inconclusive, work-in-progress, while the IMF flatly rejects as well. Funny, no?
ii. Now let’s go back to the first document—the one containing the creditors’ demands. But hasn’t Tsipras conceded on most of these demands already, by sending the letter to the troika which was immediately leaked to the FT? Hasn’t Juncker claimed that “[w]e were so close, in fact, we were so close that it was just €60 million that we were arguing over?” Hasn’t Varoufakis said that ”the only remaining difference between us and our creditors is debt sustainability”? Let’s get this right then: Greeks are going to the polls over sixty million and a document which is inconclusive and which needs “[f]urther work [currently] under way to reconcile the scenarios”. What on earth? Couldn’t they have done this work before asking people to vote on it? Quite irresponsible, isn’t it? Surely the bank closure must have cost more than sixty million?
iii. Which brings us to the bank closures. If one looks at the ELA procedures, as published by the ECB, ELA is extended to “solvent financial institution, or group of solvent financial institutions, that is facing temporary liquidity problems, without such operation being part of the single monetary policy. Responsibility for the provision of ELA lies with the National Central Banks concerned” which can happily go on extending ELA unless “the Governing Council of the ECB [with a majority of two-thirds of the votes cast] considers that these operations interfere with the objectives and tasks of the Eurosystem”.
But didn’t Draghi say as recently as 15 April that “[w]e approved ELA and we'll continue to do so, extend the liquidity to the Greek banks while they are solvent and they have adequate collateral”. Didn’t he say on 5 March that “the ECB is a rules-based institution […] and […] the decision about determining an ELA, are all the outcome of rules, not our political decisions. ELA is a decision of the National Central Bank of Greece, to which the Governing Council may decide to object with a very special and demanding majority requirement, if certain conditions are not in place. One condition is that ELA can be given to solvent banks with adequate collateral. The Greek banks at the present time are solvent. Their capital levels are well above the minimum requirements, and that’s positive news. [T]oday, the Greek banking system is solvent”. Let’s look at his response on 3 June, when asked “Mr. President, maybe you could elaborate again on your decision not to tighten the haircut rules for collateral used by Greek banks. The situation, the financial situation in Greece has deteriorated considerably since December when you took a lighter stance on this issue. So the whole thing looks like you're -- you said you are a rules-based institution and it looks like you're making political considerations; not willing to interfere in the ongoing political process. How would you comment on that?”
What Draghi said was: “I would comment that it's not true. Simply said, we are not either interfering or in any way taking a stance with respect to the current negotiations. We are a rules-based institution. But you have to understand that there are two different sets of rules: one is for collateral posted against monetary policy instruments, and the other one is the collateral posted against ELA”.
Granted, Draghi also said “We do assess how the developments in the markets affect the quality of our collateral, namely the quality of the Greek government bonds that have been posted as collateral. So were the conditions to change, we would certainly go through a series of things. Yes, we would have to revisit our previous decisions”.
Reality is, there are no rules for ELA collateral policy, as a report requested by the European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs flatly states—and the ECB has played fast-and-loose with this non-existent rulebook in the past. There is a difference now, however: as of November 2014, the ECB (through the SSM) is also the regulator of most major European banks.
Let’s get real now—Greek banks had total assets of €391bn as at May 2015. One would think these assets should be enough to support €89bn+€6bn=€95bn of ELA. If these €391bn are not worth even €96bn, then Greek banks, with liabilities of around €322bn, should probably be just a tiny bit insolvent, no?
Are Greek banks insolvent then? The institution which determines this is the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) and the SSM is part of the ECB. Let’s then look at the response of the head of the SSM, Danièle Nouy, when asked as recently as 7 June whether “she may perhaps have slight doubts about [her] earlier statement that Greek banks were absolutely solvent and liquid”:
“No, I don’t: these banks continue to be solvent and liquid. The Greek supervisors have done good work over the past years in order to recapitalise and restructure the financial sector. That was also visible in the outcome of our stress test. The Greek institutions have experienced difficult phases in the past. But they have never before been so well prepared for them”. If her views had changed in less than three weeks, wouldn’t she have said something about this—if only to the banks themselves, which would then have to disclose it? Wouldn’t she have asked Greek banks for a capital increase perhaps? After all, the exposure of Greek banks to the Greek sovereign stands at under 6% of total assets—and this exposure also includes T-bills and loans.
Could it be then, that the €89bn of Greek ELA already extended did not “interfere with the objectives and tasks of the Eurosystem”, but the extra €6bn requested on Sunday would?
Didn’t Draghi say four times in his press-conference of 5 March that the ECB is a “rules-based institution”? Didn’t he repeat that twice in his 3 June press conference? Wouldn’t they feel the need to spell out to us which rule forced them to send millions of Greeks to queue in front of ATMs?
And if Draghi is a stooge of Angela Merkel (admittedly, not highly likely, but humour me for a second) who decided to do “whatever it takes” to make sure those Greeks take heed, what was the response of the Greek side? Did Greece ask for (and publicize) the rationale of the ECB Governing Council decision? Did we find out what the vote tally was? All that Greece needed to get the extra ELA was eight votes, including the Greek and the Cypriot ones. How many votes did Greece get? Wouldn’t that be of interest, so that we can see who our allies are, in this hour of need? And why hasn’t Varoufakis followed through on what he said on 29 June: “The Greek government will make use of all our legal rights. We are taking advice and will certainly consider an injunction at the European Court of Justice”. Oh well, probably not on the top of his list; he may have been busy giving an interview to his friend Phillip Adams on (Australian) ABC News.
iv. In the midst of all this, Tsipras requested a third bailout for Greece from the ESM—a granting of which would exclude the IMF from the financing of Greece. Slightly odd timing, as Peter Spiegel notes: “Eurozone finance ministers have already rejected a request for an extension, and Donald Tusk, the European Council president, [the day before] rejected it a second time. It is highly unlikely finance ministers, who are to hold a conference call again Tuesday night, will agree to this now”. Why on earth would one send out this letter—ahead of a referendum and in full knowledge of the fact that it has zero chances of being entertained?
v. The last curious fact is that Greek TV broadcasters have so far not ordered any public opinion polls on the referendum. This is quite astounding, as on general elections we have at least a couple of polls published a day.
All these somewhat bizarre events may be due to the incompetence of Messrs. Tsipras, Varoufakis and Co. They may just be savages, or may simply be hostage to Syriza’s leftist factions (none of which, by the way, threated to unseat the government in April, when it awarded a $500m contract to Lockheed for the upgrade of five P-3B Orion planes from the 1960s—at a time when, according to Syriza at least, Greece was going through a humanitarian crisis). Under this scenario, Tsipras & Co. will have fooled such ivory-tower academics, like Nobel laureates Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz, but not the likes of Adonis Georgiadis or Kyriacos Mitsotakis (you won’t get this unless you’re Greek).
Or something else may be going on…
Let’s just look at the most likely-turn-of-events from this point on, and see if we can make sense of the curiosities just enumerated.
Greek voters, fearing that banks may not reopen in the event of a No vote (and not knowing whether the Yes vote leads by a safe margin) are highly likely to turn out in droves for Yes.
Varoufakis has already said that “[i]f [the people] say Yes, we will do whatever it takes to make sure that this agreement is signed exactly as the troika […] is demanding of us”. The head of the Greek negotiating team , Euclid Tsakalotos, has said: “We see the referendum as part of the negotiation process, not in lieu of it”. Monday, therefore, Tsipras is likely to pay a visit to Ms. Merkel, with the results of the referendum at hand. He will tell Ms. Merkel, all your requests have been granted, now show us the money—save Greece. Now, Ms. Merkel will have no option but to oblige—how on earth can one say no to a nation which has overwhelmingly accepted everything requested of it?
However, Ms. Merkel has repeatedly insisted that there is no deal without the IMF. She always wanted this, as she is afraid that a political decision at EU-level may force Germany to provide financing on concessionary terms to Greece and other potential laggards. But, horror-of-horrors, the IMF in so many words asks for the dreaded haircut. Can you kick out of the Eurozone (assuming, for a moment, this can happen) a country which has just yielded to all your demands? Can you accept a haircut, thus setting a precedent that, whenever a Eurozone country can’t service its debt, Germany will pay up? Ms. Merkel would be cornered, no?
Under this scenario, Tsipras would be likely to get his debt relief. He would be a hero in Greece, as he would have confronted Germany and won. Other laggards, such as the Italians, wouldn’t be too displeased, either: a precedent will have been set, whereby if a Eurozone member screws up, the Germans pay up (would you believe? Mario Draghi happens to be an Italian!).
Let us also give short shrift to the unlikely outcome of a No vote, assuming for a moment that Tsipras were in cahoots with the IMF (and the US) to box in Germany. All that Greece would need is a €1.5bn loan from a friend (the US perhaps?) to make good on the IMF. The IMF could provide the entire €52bn that Greece needs over the medium term. Add that to the €32bn already lent by the IMF (and a bit more to support the banks, if needed) and now the IMF’s exposure to Greece becomes eminently serviceable—or “sustainable”, as they say. Why? Because the IMF has super-senior status, which means it gets repaid before anyone else—including the European bilateral loans of around €53bn, the €142bn lent by the EFSF, the €27bn in bonds held by the ECB and the €39bn in private debt. In other words, Germany would risk seeing its entire exposure to Greece subordinated to that of the IMF, with little leverage in case Greece does not pay up. Talking about being caught between a rock and a hard place…
In other words, Varoufakis may not be widely off the mark, when saying that there is “100% chance of success”—whether Greeks vote yes or no. Tsipras, when saying that Merkel and Gabriel are “uneasy and confused”, may have a point, too.
If anyone cares about what I am voting for: I am going to drive my kids to my mother in northern Greece, so no time for that. I wouldn’t bother to vote even if the referendum was on whether to exit the euro or not.
Neither Greece’s ailment, nor its cure, is its currency, be it the euro or the drachma, or its pensions—whether too low or too high. Greece’s cancer is the purely domestic cleptocracy which has been sucking the country dry for at least thirty-five years (that’s as far back as I can remember, older people may argue this may have been going on for much longer).
You think I’m exaggerating? Let’s look at a couple of interesting statistics, then. According to the UN comtrade database, supplies of bunker fuel to ships in Greece went from $25m in 2008 to $1.72bn in 2014. Exports of fuel to Turkey went from $204m in 2007 to $3.2bn in 2014. Exports of fuel to FYR of Macedonia in the same timeframe went from $72m to $614m (for comparison purposes, Greece’s GDP in 2014 was $238bn). Either Greek refineries got very efficient during the crisis, or other refineries in the region got very inefficient. Or it could be that the cleptocrats, hit by the crisis in their other half-way legit businesses, had to supplement their income with other, far more lucrative ventures.
Well, according to the New York Times “Organized crime […]dominates the black market for oil in Greece; perhaps three billion euros (about $3.8 billion) a year of contraband fuel courses through the country. Shipping is Greece’s premier industry, and the price of shipping fuel is set by law at one-third the price of fuel for cars and homes. So traffickers turn shipping fuel into more expensive home and automobile fuel. It is estimated that 20 percent of the gasoline sold in Greece is from the black market. The trafficking not only results in higher prices but also deprives the government of desperately needed revenue”.
According to the FT “George Papandreou, the former socialist premier who resigned in 2011, also claimed he was brought down by oligarchs after a finance ministry campaign to tackle widespread fuel smuggling revealed a Balkanwide scam that cost Greece €3bn a year in lost taxes”.
Its’ not as if these smugglers are thousands. They’re a handful of people, whom practically every Greek knows by name. Unlike Escobar, they are not in hiding. They’re feted by the press as “successful businessmen” and are being sat next to prime ministers.
There are similar tales to be told in natural gas, energy and practically every sector that has to do with the state.
If that’s not fixed, irrespective of whether the currency of Greece is the euro, the drachma or the rupiah, there can be no end to Greece’s plight. Is Tsipras likely to fix that? I’ll give you a hint: most Greek oligarchs voiced their support for Tsipras ahead of the general election in January. Before him, they of course supported his predecessor.
What I think, is that Greeks should be united in their fight for the rule of law and against the cleptocracy, and not divided over a referendum on an absurd question. That division, however, serves the cleptocrats well—they can go about their usual ways unnoticed. Whoever said “divide and rule” knew what they were talking about.
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kill ALL the debt pushers and money changers...death to them ALL
Heretic - noun
Heretical - adjective
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gv0H-vPoDc
Thank you Pool Shark. I didn't mention it because I'm so fucking sick of being treated as a "grammar nazi" (usually spelled "grammer nazi"). The Tylers are worse than usual lately and the quality is becoming perfectly laughable unless they're quoting someone else outright.
On another note:
"Conventional wisdom has it as follows: Tsipras is a hardline communist, who overplayed his hand with the troika (or “the three institutions”, as he calls them)."
Who's "conventional wisdom" would that be?
What a way to introduce an article.
there would be nobody left on ZH (except myself) ;-)
The vote will change nothing. Everything happens according to the will of TPTB. They have an unlimited supply of cash to buy whatever they want. The own all the politicians, they control all the armies, they rule every economy. There can be no stopping them, they are all powerful.
"Default" this or "secession" that... okay. What happens next? Is the concept of central banking, money-out-of-thin-air, and EASY FUCKING CREDIT gone from the people's minds? Can they even identify that these things cause problems - perhaps not ones they can materially see in their own lifetimes, but ones that manifest in the enslavement of their children?
honestann's perspective that humans are a lost cause is, unfortunately, the more probabilistic of outcomes.
Too bad - we had a fighting chance to do good at some point.
I have no doubt the human race will survive. I question whether it will want to.
Not one mention of how to help the Greek economy grow in this article
GOES TO SHOW HOW MUCH ANY ECONOMIC "ANALYSIS" LIKE THIS SEES FINANCIALIZATION AS THE ONLY ISSUE
No wonder the global economy is fucked.
" TO SERVE MAN " - a la Rod Serling and The Twilight Zone - Mr. Chambers , don't get on that ship. The rest of the book - IT'S A COOKBOOK !
More U.S. tv series analysis... Will you please give it up? Please?
Government = Organized crime
Sometimes disorganized crime,
but why quibble;)
Aw look Kaiserhoff, we got matching down votes!
Neat. I always wanted a twin sister,
especially one who could shoot!
ZH moderators take a look at this!
NYPD cop's fistfight with suspect caught on video
RT news. Worth watching! Damn police state.
Published time: July 04, 2015 05:38 http://on.rt.com/49ektb
Many people make the mistake of assuming that an ancient pedigree translates to modern day descendants.
To suppose that Greece is this enlightened land keeping the sacred flame of democracy alive is a delusion.
Today's Greeks are no more Athenian than modern Italians are Romans or modern inhabitants of the UK are the same people who took Britain to the pinnacle of world power.
The Greeks will vote the same way that Scotland did-- by soullessly weighing which option seems to promise the most cash to them personally.
I remember my sixth grade teacher saying just that after returning from a trip to Greece,
many moons ago.
What do you know about anything you democracy hating Teabagger? You must be overjoyed this 4th of July celebrating our loss of American Constitutional Liberty, independence and our democracy. I very seldom come down with emotional outburst but this is the 4th. FUCK YOU TEABAGGER and your fascist handlers!
Huh?
Forget it, he's rolling...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8lT1o0sDwI
Wut?
Well, I'll shoot off a rocket in your name if it will make you feel any better.
When in the course of human events...
If you Koch brainwashed Teabaggers hate democracy so much and are glad to see American democracy destroyed on this 4th. Of July, what form of government are you striving for to replace it with?—Corporate fascism by any chance?
See if you can answer in proper English instead of half sentences and vagaries, Teabagger troll. Ha. Ha.Ha.
The next time you change identity, put up a picture of Marilyn Monroe. Ha. Ha. Ha.
You've got handlers? ...where d'ya find handlers?
Handler... is that like a sugar baby?
I know you are oblivious to the Koch, bankster plunge team, and Soros paid army of trolls, especially the ones that post on ZH. You guys would “up” vote any set of tits. Ha. Ha. Ha.
Somebody must have started drinking early...
FUCK YOU TEABAGGER and your fascist handlers! ... ????
the ancient pedigree translates exactly to modern day Hellenes - self destructive madness and sparks of greatness
As a Greek myself, I would like your opinion in which of 2 catastrophes would give me personally cash. And by the way, do you have any sources where I can see which amount of the biggest loan in world history went to the pockets of the common Greek? Please do tell, because I'm hearing the same shit the last 5 years from the Greek media 24/7 and they would really make Goebbels proud.
Hi Fod,
I'm sure you've had enough of foreigners telling you what and what not to do.
The referendum is presented as a simple choice:
The Euro side is that you will get your bank account back if you vote for them.
The government side is that you will get released from the alleged straitjacket of austerity.
Each proposal is designed to appeal to a specific group of financially-distressed voters. Don't know if you stand in either group, outside these groups , or have partial interests in each position.
Regardless, neither proposal is built around a recovery of national honor, but only around financial considerations.
What would truly heal Greece?
My personal opinion would be that it is necessary to say no to both proposals because this should not be about the money.
Say fuck you to the creditors, we're not paying.
Say fuck you to the government, you guys are not riding the gravy train any longer. You're all fired, no pensions or bennies, and go get real jobs as assistant donkey groomers.
We would prefer to live as free men, even if this means that we are honorably poor rather than sold out and relatively wealthy.
Catastrophe is coming to everyone, not just the Greeks, but it is how that catastrophe is dealt with that will set the foundation for future greatness or eons in the muck.
Good luck and god bless.
You are a brainwashed, democracy hating, Koch Teabagger idiot.
The Greek People are in revolt against central banksters and their criminal weapons of selling debt as wealth, fraud and corruption.
A “no” vote will give them democratic solidarity against criminal debt.
A “yes” vote will bring a Greek revolution.
No need to call names now. Unfortunately, being on ground zero, I believe that your assesment is wrong. As I mentioned in a different post, the media and systemic political parties are formenting civil strife. And Greece never missed a chance to get into civil war, since we're stupid like that.
I hope the majority of Creeks have more balls than you have. Ha. Ha. Ha.
Thank you for your wishes.
"alleged" austerity? cite your sources-what do you know of Austerity? you likely eat Caviar for breakfast
First ? after the vote will be,"So who gives us money now?".
Am I missing something here or is this article the most incoherent piece to appear on ZH on the subject?
Certainly one of the most detailed, and a very interesting take. Always nice to read from a Greek who realizes that the mess they're in is a product of domestic rot and won't be fixed by pointing fingers at Germany.
Thanks DS. So, article summary: "We did it to ourselves, Germans are innocent - Greek admits"
Happy 4th of July celebrating our American Independence (sovereignty gone) and our American democracy (overthrown by fascist government of, for and by multinational corporate monopoly). The only un-American people celebrating our lost democracy today are low life Teabaggers and bankster fascist.
The Greek People are in revolt against central banksters and their criminal weapons of selling debt as wealth, fraud and corruption.
A “no” vote will give them democratic solidarity against criminal debt.
A “yes” vote will bring a Greek revolution.
Bravo!! Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. You are a democratic (government of, for and by the People) statesman of the highest order in Greek civilized tradition; Aristotle would be proud of you for calling for a referendum.
The fate of Greece is the fate of the USA and all other nations under the octopus of central bankster criminal debt, fraud and chaos.
Criminal activity must be framed as criminal activity and therefore the solution has to be framed in how do we break the criminal stronghold and bring the criminals to Justice for their conspirator criminal activity and repudiating the criminal debt.
We should be examining how to prosecution the central bankster fascist (merger of multinational corporate monopoly with government) criminal cabal and review professors Black, Chossudovsky, Hudson and researchers Gavin Marshall and Nomi Prins research into the criminal cabal activities.
I am a 71 year old student that has been following the maneuvers of the American bankster fascist most of my life. The EU was designed, financed and implemented by the criminal banksters and their shadow government of the Council on Foreign Relations. The banksters CFR activities are well documented over the last 60 odd years in plotting Treason against the USA and implementing the fascist New World Order. Selling debt as wealth is their weapon.
Do gold bugs really believe that the central criminal banksters are going to lose control of the gold market in the USA? Today, the currency is fiat but the BRICS gold backed currency of tomorrow will set a new gold standard. The bankster criminals stole all the USA gold when we went off the Gold Standard. The criminals’ loot, pillage, burn bridges and destroy as they move forward so that there is no way back. When the bankster criminals need gold, Emperor Obama via decree, will confiscate the gold in your teeth.
In my opinion, it will take a violent revolution to bring the fascist bankster criminals to Justice, until then, we are all victims.
You're thinking too much; the debt is unpayable, the Euro and the E.U. is unsustainable.
I agree. I get a kick out of all these logics folks cook up. The math never works. End of it. Postpone the default or default, these are the only choices.
Reports already out that "reports of haircuts are a lie/Banks will re-open for business as normal Momday."
So for all us "disinterested observer types" we will in fact see SOMETHING.
In other words "the land that gave us proofs" will in fact give us another.
That's the only thing a "reporter" should be writing about actually as that is all there is to this story: "will the Banks open as normal on Monday."
Might have to re-define "normal" of course...
What 'haircuts'? Who's hair? Which coiffure?
Greek. Trykos: hair
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichology
The Greeks and haircuts, the science of your scalp.
Burn Goldman and Morgan to the ground.
Their books are already cooked - one, two ,three, four, five times already.
A reset to "Bitcoin ATM's" might in fact do that actually..."financially speaking."
Perhaps we could name it BitchCoin...
...said Frank to Donnie
Another author, this time strangely, Greek, is puzzled by Syriza. While he's correctly pointing out death grip that Greek oligarchs have over ordinary people and Syriza strange ambivalent stance on many issues related to this crisis, he forgot to name things in Brussels and Berlin as they are.
To even start discussion we have to state the fact that this whole EU/EURO thing is run by Armani suit gangsters who in concert with local thugs have been looting Greece national treasures for decades and this is just current chapter of the playbook of explotation.
It is disturbing that only few seem to want to write epilogue to the disgusting book of human suffering.
Just a note to our Greek friend complaining about cronyism and oligarchic rule behind the scene in Greece.
There were forces that challenged such corrupted state of affairs but were brutally suppressed by invasion of British Marines in support to recalcitrant fascist regime embedded in the fused with oligarchic-theocratic Greek state in early 1940-ties. From there it only got worse.
Below there is a quote from my comment from few days ago which attempts to explain apparent puzzling moves by Syriza including motivation for whole this unintelligible referendum.
Again we see demoralizing factor of mere fact of voting in this fake democracy, giving people fake choice that will only divide them and bring nothing by disenfranchisement from politics exactly as the ruling elite wants. In order to harness people's concerns about stability of their future people must stand on principles and sacrifice political expedience. Any compromise is just a betrayal of remaining those who still believe in democratic process.
That is a bit o truth right there.
Awesome post +100
If honest money was still in use this probably wouldn't be happening,,, at least in this extreme.
Using real money a lender seriously checks out the borrower. Greece would not have gotten the loans. Greece would not have entered the EU.
Using crap fiat that one can say Abracadabra and 'poof!' money is magically created the lender could give a rats ass. They just keep lending until the borrower cannot pay. Then the lender wants real collateral, like land, utilities and other infrastructure. Not a bad trade,,, crap paper in exchange for bonafide real assets.
In the 'old days' loan skanks were imprisoned,,, today they are bailed out and revered.
Greece needs to tell the banks to stick it. They also need to bring all that created the mess in the beginning to trial and jail them... or worse. Unfortunately that most likely will not happen. Most of the world is hooked on the fiat drug and will never clean up until they're forced.
And all this without a word referencing that ECB’s technocrat Mario Draghi, between June 2004 and November 2009, was entirely OK with European banks leveraging their equity more than 60 times when lending to Greece.
http://teawithft.blogspot.com/2015/06/europe-you-want-truth-it-was-not-euro.html
Another article bashing Tsipras, using a novel approach, that of the enlightened heretic, a heresy against logic and intelligence is the irrational hysterical dribble we are presented with.
The sad man is not even going to vote , complete ethical paralysis, the writer feels me with contempt , go hhide in your north greek village tending the goats ... junior.