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Greek Turmoil Raises Fears of Instability Around Europe

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posted on Jun, 17 2011 @ 09:35 AM
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NY Times Article


ATHENS — The instability rocking Greece this week is the latest manifestation of a troubling new phase in the global financial crisis: political turmoil is sweeping through Europe, toppling governments and threatening to undermine efforts to rescue the financial system and, ultimately, the euro zone itself.

Across Europe, people are complaining that they are unfairly paying the price for the mistakes of their governments while they are growing increasingly resentful of the international banks and the preferential treatment they seem to receive. And they are getting louder.

In a vicious cycle, the rising political turmoil is sowing unrest in global financial markets, raising the interest rates paid by heavily indebted nations in Europe to ever higher levels and threatening their solvency.


It seems that the veneer is finally wearing off. What moved me most in this report were some of the comments being made by the people...


“They took everything, and we have to pay,” said Katerina

Where is this going to lead? Why are we making these cuts? Why do I have to accept that I have less income? What’s the larger purpose of this?


However the best lines come from an economist...


It’s hard enough to get the electorate to support austerity at the best of times,” said Simon Tilford, the chief economist of the Center for European Reform in London. “They promised endless austerity with no prospects of a return to growth, and there will be mounting opposition to this.

The E.U. and I.M.F. are insisting on a course of action that has already failed,” Mr. Tilford said.


Being a conspiracy site I would have to question if these steps actually have failed. In the context of this article, yes they have. The question however is not have these plans helped, the question is who have these measures helped.

Huge amounts of money transferred from more stable nations to countries that will never be able to repay? I agree with what this economist is saying, but at the same time I get a sneaking suspicion that the goal of these bailouts has nothing to do with saving the recipient nations. There was a comment a couple days ago in another NYT piece that discussed how these nations were going to have to sell off national holdings as part of the repayment plan.

Seems to me that is the plan all along.

The piece also mentions other EU nation (Spain, Portugal, England & Ireland) and how the governments are either falling or under tremendous strain as the public becomes increasingly uncooperative. Many of us here ask when will enough be enough?...we are starting to see it now. People are waking up to the fact that for decades thier governments/officials have been squandering and mismanaging thier nations and now those same groups want the people (whose money it was to begin with) to pay for the solution.


Could we and should we trust the people?” asked Konstantinos Poulis, a playwright and actor who attended Wednesday’s demonstration. “Or should it be someone who knows better? Even if Plato were governing the country, and not Papandreou, the problem would be the same.


While I may agree to some aspects of what this person is saying, it cannot be ignored that it was the supposed someone who knows better that created this problem.

It's going to be an interesting summer.




ETA...

While writting this, there has been an update...

Germany Says Creditors Can Be Shielded in Greek Bailout

The deal is that private investors won't have to accept any losses should the Greek bailout fail, I wonder who will cover those losses then?

Just keeps getting better and better.


edit on 17-6-2011 by [davinci] because: (no reason given)



posted on Jun, 17 2011 @ 10:03 AM
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Giving you a bump.

Back later, S&F.



 
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