Just when the eurozone governments thought it could not get worse for Europe’s single currency, it did.
Shell-shocked EU finance ministers meeting in Brussels on Saturday were already reeling from the worst Franco-German rift for over 20 years and a fractious failure to resolve the problems that have brought Greece, and the euro, close to the brink.
But then a new bombshell hit as a joint report by the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that, without a default, the Greek debt crisis alone could swallow the eurozone’s entire €440 billion bailout fund – leaving nothing to spare to help the affected banks of Italy, Spain or France.
Socialism is so much fun . . . until the Greeks, Italians and Spaniards run out of other people’s money to spend.
Then, not so much.
Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of smarmy elitists.
After we get by all the banker weasel words such as “hair cut, orderly default” we begin to see the real house of cards.
It will be a healthy exercise for Greece to go bankrupt. They got themselves into it, now pay the price. The decades long minority coalitions and buying votes had to come to this end. So…let it happen!
Only stupid people pour water into a broken vessel expecting it to fill, and the really funny thing is that the more you pour the more runs out.
Too simple?
Knacker, it’s obvious that you are not pouring fast enough.
@ Barack Obama
Hey now Mr.Potus, I at least give them credit for trying to fix the cracks….but with water?
“….but with water?”
I clearly stated, freeze it first:-))))
The Koreans are the Irish of Asia
The Chinese are the Chinese of Asia
The French are the Chinese of Europe
Or something.
Greece should be put into receivership and all its fungible public assets auctioned off to the highest bidder to help pay off some of the debts.
All the thieves and tax evaders involved in ripping off the country should be tracked down, stripped of their ill gotten gains, and jailed.
All the do nothing government patronage jobs doled out to keep the commies and similar useless idiots quiet should be abolished.
The Greek government should be run for a decade by a Canadian Accounting firm that specializes in bankruptcies and honest administration.
At the end of the term the people of Greece would probably be living in one of the wealthiest countries per capita in Europe.
.
Oopsy-daisy, order some new bearings for the printing presses.
“…the Greek debt crisis alone could swallow the eurozone’s entire €440 billion bailout fund…”
They didn’t see that coming???
“the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that … the Greek debt crisis alone could swallow the eurozone’s entire €440 billion bailout fund…”
I’m with Dirtman here. Can’t these people count? Ok, we make fun of the socialists and call them stupid and all, but COME ON! These are the leaders of Europe for f- sakes, they can’t do the f-ing math?
Timeo Danaos dona ferentis.
With the economy of so many countries turning to crap, it’s comforting to know that Ontario’s voters put a genius back at the helm.
Right?
Phantom
They can do the math, they just can’t carry the decimal.
The real problem? Like today’s typical parent, the Greek government never says NO!
This is the end result, like an addict’s enabler, the gubmint created the problem, and now it can’t solve it, ‘loving’ it (socialist society) to death.
Monday will be a blood bath on the markets…
Never wanting to waste a good crisis, though, the EU bureaucrats are working hard to prepare to force a full economic merger of the EU nations.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/8843785/New-euro-empire-plot-by-Brussels.html
The EU is not going to go down without a fight. All those worthless bureaucrats have no future if the EU dies – they will fight to the last tax dollar of the last productive citizen.
Linguini-spined leadership is the problem.
All Greece had to do (too late now) was during the FIRST general strike Papandreous (their PM) should have gone on TV to announce “Any govt workers who do NOT report for work tomorrow or for the rest of this year WILL BE FIRED and their pay checks will cease.” … and then actually DONE IT. Let those protesting bastards sue the govt; that would take months, meanwhile they’re NOT getting paid and the govt is saving money.
It’s LOOOOONG past time for some ‘tough love’ leadership, but don’t expect it from lardass paper-pushing Eurocrats.
So it’s still not time to buy stocks yet, the market hasn’t hit bottom yet. I just hope that the people heavily investing in gold don’t get stuck (or too badly stung) when that bubble bursts.
What Fred and Dirtman said. The chicken are finally coming home to roost and it looks good on them. The only trouble is that we will also get caught up in the slip stream.
Socialists always think there is a money tree just around the corner that they can steal from.
“Any govt workers who do NOT report for work tomorrow or for the rest of this year WILL BE FIRED and their pay checks will cease.”
At this stage it has to be modified to read:
“Any govt workers, who do NOT report OR report, for work tomorrow or for the rest of this year WILL BE FIRED and their pay checks will cease.”
Europe’s problems will continue forever at this point. Demographics are destiny.
The U.S can bounce back when the GOP return.
Damn the Euro. Greece can’t start printing Drachmas to inflate their way out of debt. They actually have to quit spending borrowed money.
Just in time for the start of the Christmas shopping season! Can they hold that jalopy together long enough to have the Christians keep their wallets open just a wee bit?
The Euro banks are so highly leveraged, and therefor so far under water that I see no way to save them.
The presses are whirring madly, yet deflation continues apace.
This is the proverbial Catch 22: does a Greek bailout stabilize the banks? No! Italy, Portugal, Spain…. One of these is next. There is just not enough in the kitty to prevent one of these from starting the dominoes tumbling. Bailing out Greece won’t do it, not bailing out Greece will kick the first domino over.
We live in interesting times.
On a positive note, the future for bicycle tire repair kits never looked brighter.
Shocked! Shell-shocked! No one could see this coming, no one! How could anyone possibly expect these poor finance ministers to know? And they were subject to this ‘trauma’ in a building with no natural sunlight – and brown carpets! That’s outrageous – especially since the German guy was so unbearable because he doesn’t mince words, oh the indignity.
The mother of all bail-outs must be given immediately to end this terrible injustice.
old lori is right. the EU apparatchiks will fly the entire EU onto the carrier deck before they surrender their iron rice bowls (mixed metaphor or what?).
The Euro has to die – democratic socialism is dead. And the world will be a better place – in time.
PS- the markets likely will be a bloodbath on monday.
The UK has their financial issues but thank god that they kept their own currency. When the euro falls apart they will be first back on their feet.
Not a time to gloat as much depends on what the Canadian banks exposure to the european sovereign debts are.
At this point in time, it looks good to be Canadian.
@Tulk: I hope you’re right about Democratic Socialism. I think you are it’s just going to be incinerated by the inevitable.
Actually, I really don’t think Britain will be well off. They have their own currency…and it’s even worse managed than the Euro. QE out ying-yang. They have a core and overall inflation at 4.5% and 5.2% respectively.
It’s Ok to beat up on Greece and the Euro in general but don’t think for a minute that the USA is in a superior position. We are not and the same demons are clawing at our doors. Note the simple example (numbers verified) and then tell me why we are exempt from the same looming disaster.
The Decline And Fall Of The American Empire
Why S&P Downgraded the US:
U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
Federal budget: $3,820,000,000,000
New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000
National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
Recent [April] budget cut: $ 38,500,000,000
Let’s remove 8 zeros and pretend it’s a household budget:
Annual family income: $21,700
Money the family spent: $38,200
New debt on the credit card: $16,500
Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
Budget cuts: $385
Look at the numbers. If they don’t scare the hell out of you then you will be voting for Obama.
The train wreck is coming and no one knows how to stop it. Greece is small potatoes but it’s only the first train wreck. Ours will come. Canada is joined at the hip with the USA and will be dragged into the same train wreck. Our politicians are good at pumping sunshine up our asses but at the federal level they know we are in trouble. They just have no idea what to do about it.
C_Miner:
Never seek to buy at the market’s bottom and never hope to sell at its peak. You’ll never do it. The smart money has already been there, had lunch, and left, loooong before you even thought of going there.
Sane strategy is to buy or sell at one’s comfort level, and resist getting greedy…greed works for some, but destroys most.
And as for gold, I own a bunch (of the metal). But it is not an investment, it is a hedge, something that is tangible in case the worst case scenario ever develops. I personally don’t care about the day to day prices, even though I could sell it for better than triple what I paid. Not interested, for the aforesaid reason.
The silver, on the other hand, was a whim. My 100 oz. silver bar is the coolest paperwight in BC. Heh. And its value has quadrupled. But again, no sale. I sell investments, not hedges or defacto insurance policies.
Peterj:
Pretty much what you said about the impending crisis is correct, in my opinion, with perhaps an exception or two.
It appears that the EU situation is close to becoming disasterous, and the conflicting views apparently being voiced by Germany and France, as well as to a lesser extent by Britain, do not bode well for any sort of satisfactory solution. Europe’s failure will unquestionably have a marked impact on us and our economy.
I am personally not quite as pessimistic about the US, however. As disasterous as Obama’s policies have been for the economy, there is a resiliance in the US that is not present in many of the European basket cases.
I think that the US can ultimately weather the storm, although accompanied by significant pain. My opinion changes if the Obamessiah gets a second term, which would allow him the time to completely finish off the US economy. But even with him out, I think we’re looking at close to ten years to get over the hump, and even then, my kids and yours are not going to enjoy the same economic benefits that we were able to access.
Sadly, the party is over, folks….
@ Bruce at October 23, 2011 2:07 AM
I would love to be wrong. The more I look at the numbers involved the uglier they look. There is no one in the political theatre at this time that has the guts or backing to do what needs to be done and the voting public would never stand for the bitter pills that need to be swallowed. That’s the problem. No one wants to commit political suicide by telling the truth. Every politician is in the “cover your ass” mode. Blame the other side. Still…..the numbers speak for themselves and there is no light at the end of the tunnel and the numbers continue to get worse.I guess I just can’t see the bright spot in all this if there is one. I’ll keep looking.
This news is only justification for an even bigger bailout fund, which of course won’t be large enough either. Socialists have successfully infiltrated, undermined and destabilized the pillars of the western world, education, military, medicine, science, finance, social cohesion etc. The coup-de-grace, which is being administered now, is the final eviseration of our economies through borrowing staggering quantities of money using future generations as co-signers. Oh, I almost forgot, we voted for it.
The lesson that people should learn here is that you don’t lend your money to a government because they are not a good risk. I have not and will not ever buy a Canada Savings Bond. They would only squander my money if they had it. It is beyond me that governments can still find people willing to lend them money. If the whole world doesn’t do into the depression to end all depressions over this it might be a good thing. If governments can’t borrow money there can be no socialism, and if people don’t lend their money to governments they will hopefully invest it somewhere that will lead to innovation and growth.
Great speech by Nigel Farage to the EU apparatchiks:
European Parliament, Strasbourg – 28 September 2011
Speaker: Nigel Farage MEP, UKIP, Co-President of the EFD Group in the European Parliament (Europe of Freedom and Democracy)
http://www.infowars.com/nigel-farage-a-new-democratic-revolution-is-sweeping-northern-europe/
Soooo, how’s that European collectivist super state workin’ out fer ya?
We need a new leader!!! We need a new leader!!!
The world is crying for a new leader!
Don’t worry folks, we will be getting one shortly.
His initials are AC.
‘EU bureaucrats who see a unified EU treasury as the only solution to the problem of countries spending more than the euro can stand’. Now that’s a scary thought. Talk about the end of times…. Hopefully the euro will die instead. Soon.
Arty, exactly and well said.
Love that Nigel Farage, in a platonic way of course.
johnbrooks, I wonder how many know of whom you speak.
This outburst from the EU leaders was inevitable. The cost to bail out the EU banks from bad debt from Greece and the other sovereigns likely to default was known for several years to be on the order of 3.5 trillion Euros, roughly of similar magnitude to the US TARP program. At 446 billion, they’ve barely covered 15% of the liabilities.
And with his stupidity in suggesting a central EU finance ministry, Van Rompuy has blown his credibility with virtually all of the EU leaders who aren’t French and German. That fat little porker is done like dinner.
China is already talking about moving away from the US greenback as the world currency. If that happens they will try to cash in their chips and of course we already know the US is in no position to repay. They will seize assets and the sh*t will hit the fan. War has always been good for business and desperate times have always led to war. Worst case scenario here but definately a possibility.
“Europe’s problems will continue forever at this point. Demographics are destiny.
The U.S can bounce back when the GOP return.”
Posted by: jeff at October 22, 2011 10:27 PM
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It’s the beaurocrats who run the gov’t. GOP can’t do much to counteract them.
You should read “After America” by Mark Steyn. Then you’ll see just where the US is headed.
Where Greece is going the cliff, they will follow, and the crash of their landing will be world-wide.
Where Greece is gooing OVER the cliff.
Our politicians are following in their footsteps. It will be the 20s over again like in Germany. Only this time its a self made socialist disaster. I guess to libs the Soviet Union falling wasent warning enough what Marxian doctrine does. Hyper inflation is coming to a Country near you.