The horse's mouth: George Soros says three months to save the euro

How many times have you heard the MSM water down the enormity of the global financial crisis? At least every now and then someone who knows what they're talking about tells it like it is:

Billionaire investor George Soros has warned European leaders they have a "three-month window" to save the euro...

..."I expect the Greek public will be sufficiently frightened by the prospect of expulsion from the EU that it will give a narrow majority of seats to a coalition that is ready to abide by the current [bailout] agreement," he said.

However, this would provide only temporary respite, he warned, as the German public becomes less willing to continue bailing out its weaker European neighbours.

"The crisis is likely to come to a climax in the [autumn]. By that time, the German economy will also be weakening, so that Chancellor Merkel will find it even more difficult than today to persuade the German public to accept any additional European responsibilities.

"That is what creates a three-month window."

Source

He is not saying "Three months and the Euro goes down." But he is stating categorically that unless the European economy changes direction in the next three months it will be too late to save the Euro. And here's the crunch: it ain't gunna happen.

It is difficult to see any other possible outcome other than the mother of all stock market crashes. This will be accompanied by the total economic collapse of Greece, Spain and Portugal followed shortly by Italy and almost certainly Ireland as well. The rest of Europe will be massively hit by contagion within the banking system, with G8/G20 leaders meeting in panic mode, claiming "Everything possible is being done to find a solution to the current challenges". The US goes down if Europe is a total loss. China gapes into the abyss.

Cue the 'magic bullet'. Martial law / dictatorship, disguised as international cooperation / coordination, that will herald a new global monetary & financial system incorporating total control by the Bilderbergers and their bankster cronies. Problem — reaction — solution. Fait accompli.

Guess what happens to the vestiges of freedom and democracy?

Three months or six months becomes the lesser issue. What matters is global power in the hands of utterly corrupt oligarchs.

Oligarchy (from Greek ὀλιγαρχία (oligarkhía); from ὀλίγος (olígos), meaning "a few", and ἄρχω (archo), meaning "to rule or to command") is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with a small number of people. These people could be distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, education, corporate, or military control. Such states are often controlled by a few prominent families who pass their influence from one generation to the next.

Source

So will the Euro have failed? Or will it have just served its purpose?

reply to post by pause4thought


It's too late right now in my opinion. There's a backlash going on everywhere and George Soros is just stating the obvious. Surprised to see so little action on this thread though, hes usually a popular topic on ATS..

reply to post by BigBruddah


Only posted this less than an hour ago. The reaction will come once the cognoscenti have had their morning coffee.

Did you notice this? —

[Soros] said leaders did not understand "the nature of the crisis".

He said that while European leaders were focusing on debt levels, the crisis was "more of a banking problem and a problem of competitiveness".

(Source as OP)

The long and the short of it is he is saying 'costs and wages in the western world are too high'. Look for huge wage cuts and catastrophic unemployment, a là Greece and Spain. But this time it won't be the result of austerity. Rather a full-blown economic depression.

Anyone remember the Weimar Republic? And what it led to...

the other day there was a topical article that meshes with the Soros prognosis pretty well..
although 'galt' keeps the time frame open as to weels/months/perhaps even years...

The Collapse is the Easy Part



by John Galt
May 31, 2012 23:00 ET

 

johngaltfla.com...

 

"Throughout the recent five years of American economic, political, and Constitutional crises the world chugged along with winners and losers selected by fate and foolishness as the erosion of our modern civilization continued from within. This system crash at all levels, morality, financial structure, religion, politics, and the viability of the nations impacted from this disaster is going to lead to some extremely long term changes in the world, some of which will shock the unprepared, and kill the unaware. There is, however, some good news:



The collapse is the easy part...

No matter what we witness, what happens in the weeks, months, and years ahead the title of this article should provide some assurance that each and every day which passes now could be construed as the good old days.."

nice read, thanks

I been following these events closely. There's more to it than economic collapse which you rightly articulate in the OP - creation of a new global financial system. Here's a couple of other articles....

Top Officials Drafting Master Plan For Euro Zone - Report

The chiefs of four European institutions are in the process of creating a master plan for the euro zone, the daily Die Welt reports Saturday, in an advance release of an article to be published Sunday.

Suggestions targeting a fiscal, banking, and political union, as well as structural reforms, are being worked out by E.U. Council President Herman van Rompuy, E.U. Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso, Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, according to the article. The plan is to be presented at a summit of European leaders at end of June, the article says.

All countries, ranging from the U.S. to China, have asked where Europe is heading, the article cites an E.U. representative as saying.

"After two years of crisis, it's finally time to answer the questions," he adds, according to the article.

The idea is to present E.U. and euro-zone leaders with a roadmap at the summit in late June, rather than firm actions that can be voted on at the time, the article says.

The plan may well mean that the euro zone adopts measures not immediately accepted by the whole of the European Union, the article adds.

Europe mulls major step towards "fiscal union"

Until states agree to these steps and the unprecedented loss of sovereignty they involve, the officials say Berlin will refuse to consider other initiatives like joint euro zone bonds or a "banking union" with cross-border deposit guarantees - steps Berlin says could only come in a second wave.

The goal is for EU leaders to agree to develop a road map to "fiscal union" at a June 28-29 EU summit, where top European officials including European Council President Herman Van Rompuy will present a set of initial proposals.

European countries would then put the meat on the bones of the plan in the second half of 2012, several European sources have told Reuters, including a timetable for overhauling EU treaties, a step Berlin sees as vital for setting closer integration in stone.

"The fundamental question is relatively simple. Do our partners really want more Europe, or do they just want more German money?" a government official in Berlin said.

If European countries go ahead, the steps would represent the most significant policy leap since they agreed to give up their national currencies and cede control over monetary policy 13 years ago. But the hurdles are daunting.

"The world is not coming to an end; rather, it feels as if we are on the doorstep to another major European integration move," said Erik Neilsen, chief economist at Unicredit. "But why do these initiatives only come when we are on the edge of the cliff where the risk of an accident is so much higher?"

The week that Europe stopped pretending

Joschka Fischer, Germany’s former vice-Chancellor, said EU leaders have two weeks left to save the project.

"Europe continues to try to quench the fire with gasoline – German-enforced austerity. In a mere three years, the eurozone’s financial crisis has become an existential crisis for Europe."

"Let’s not delude ourselves: If the euro falls apart, so will the European Union, triggering a global economic crisis on a scale that most people alive today have never experienced," he said.

The window of opportunity offered by US recovery is slamming shut again. America’s dire jobs data for May - and the downward revision for April - confirm the fears of cycle specialists that the US economy has slipped below stall speed. America risks tanking back into recession as the "fiscal cliff" approaches late this year, unless the Fed comes to the rescue again soon.

Brazil wilted in the first quarter. India grew at the slowest pace in nine years. China’s HSBC manufacturing index fell further into contraction in May, with new orders dropping sharply and inventories rising.

We face the grim possibility that all key engines of the global system will sputter together, this time with interest rates already near zero in the West and average public debt in the OECD club already at a record 106pc of GDP.

"The world’s largest emerging economies are no longer in a position to carry the global economy through tough times, as they did during the 'recovery' years of 2009-2011," said China expert Andy Xie.

Calls Grow for Central Bank Action as Stocks Swoon

According to Michael Gayed, Chief Investment Strategist, Pension Partners, now could be a “do or die” moment for central banks to embark on easing. He said U.S. bond yields, which are at levels “not seen since Post-Lehman” days, are indicating that markets are expecting such a move, especially by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

“There has been a tremendous escalation of commitment by fiscal authorities and central banks in an attempt to prevent a complete collapse in the global financial system. Quite frankly, they cannot let it go,” Gayed said. “They’ve already committed so much time, capital and reputation to prevent the event from happening. So we could see another global ‘shock and awe’ in the monetary system driven by central banks that will simply say, you know what, we have to front-run the possibility of 2008 repeating.”

Volcker Urges Global Financial System Overhaul After Crisis

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, the namesake of U.S. rules designed to rein in banks’ proprietary trading, proposed another regulatory overhaul: this time, regarding supervision of global capital flows.

“This is a subject that has been basically ignored for 20 or 30 years now, ever since the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system,” Volcker said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Hong Kong today. “Behind this immediate crisis of the financial system, the weaknesses in the international monetary system have left these huge imbalances going on and on.”

A new framework is needed to apply “discipline” against the types of imbalances that swelled between the U.S. and China in recent years, with excess American consumption financed by surplus Chinese saving, Volcker said. In a speech later, he proposed a system revolving around “equilibrium exchange- rates” and trading bands that would still allow markets to help determine currency levels.

The world’s most-traded currencies have been set mainly by markets since the postwar Bretton Woods system of fixed currencies broke down in the early 1970s. Volcker, 84, witnessed the collapse when he was at the U.S. Treasury Department in 1973. He later went on to helm the Fed from 1979 to 1987.

“The central idea is that individual nations would direct their interventions and if necessary their economic policies to defending the ‘equilibrium rate,’” Volcker said in his speech at a conference organized by the Fung Global Institute. “One more radical suggestion is that aggressive intervention by trading partners might be authorized by an international authority to promote consistency.”

But by far the biggest news at the minute? Spain's IBEX 35 up 2.5% to 6,215.80, led by banks.

reply to post by St Udio


It's eerily reminiscent of the opening monologue in The Lord of the Rings: "The world was changing..."

The tectonic plates have largely withheld the pressure till now. But once they unleash the pressure it really does get ugly. Inflation, loss, unemployment, widescale protests. Followed by the preprepared 'way out'.

Unless a truly conscientious / benevolent world leader comes to the fore, perhaps in the mould of Ron Paul, Iran and Syria could well be used as the next major proxy. The big winners are the arms industry, their backers, and those receiving the kickbacks. The oil industry doesn't come off too badly either, thank you very much.

It's an evil, sad world. On the other hand sometimes the greatest crises can bring out the very best in people. But be left in no doubt: there will be crisis.

TheWar Business is a dead end.
Time to write the whole episode off and start trying to move towards life instead of death, co operation instead of confrontation.
Thats the only way.....and we have to apply it from the bottom up people...............it aint gonna trickle down!

reply to post by stirling

The War Business is a dead end.

Of course you are right, ultimately! It could be a 'beautiful opportunity' if money matters to you more than people, though. Or does a callous disregard for human life not influence the movers and shakers?



reply to post by surrealist


Great posts, surrealist.

Suggestions targeting a fiscal, banking, and political union, as well as structural reforms, are being worked out by E.U. Council President Herman van Rompuy, E.U. Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso, Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi...

Political union —against the wishes of the people— has always been the goal for these clowns. Their aim has never really been in doubt:

Dictatorship in Europe coming to a government near you?

And they are not ones for wasting a good crisis...

OP
you spelled "whores's" wrong ( you got the mouth part write though)

gained international notoriety when, in September of 1992, he risked $10 billion on a single currency speculation when he shorted the British pound. He turned out to be right, and in a single day the trade generated a profit of $1 billion – ultimately, it was reported that his profit on the transaction almost reached $2 billion. As a result, he is famously known as the "the man who broke the Bank of England."

www.investopedia.com...



I'm sure george is in on the plan
For him to say this is prolly part of the pump and dump
in this case I would guess he is short.
he wants to scare the value of the uero down
well, he is the master at betting AGAINST a currency

It is important to realize that put options may be bought or sold, which means that investors can take positions depending on the direction they think the price of the underlying stock will go in. In addition, buying a put option is a good way for investors to hedge. An investor with a lot of shares in a particular stock might want to buy a put option to protect against the price of that stock falling.

As is the case with any investment opportunity, put options can do damage if the price goes in the opposite direction from what the investor is hoping. This could be especially damaging in the case of those who are selling these options. Whereas option buyers are only at risk for the premium paid for the option, option sellers, or writers, can suffer limitless losses.

www.wisegeek.com...

reply to post by Danbones

I'm sure george is in on the plan
For him to say this is prolly part of the pump and dump
in this case I would guess he is short.

We're singing from the same hymn sheet. It would be surprising if that weren't the case. To put it mildly.

But profiting from the misery of others is so much part of the system it virtually goes without saying.

The challenge is to perceive the big picture (see link above). And in this game pocketing a few hundred million along the way, for some, is arguably just a passing amusement.

Analyzing the motives for the pronouncement is definitely a worthwhile exercise. But while he wants to give the ball a shove it is already rolling down the hill, apace — as we know. What is interesting is that he is effectively reiterating what we have been saying in here for years while the MSM have been creating rather pathetic smokescreens: either the Euro will collapse or its imminent demise will be used to justify political union against the wishes of the people.

Almost there...

reply to post by pause4thought


The Euro MUST collapse to build a United States of Europe with an all powerful centralized Federal government much like the USA has.

reply to post by Rockpuck


yes, they have been installing unelected bankercrats to run stuff, haven't they

Obama met today with unelected bureaucrats of the European Union to discuss the eurozone debt crisis. European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso attended a meeting held at the White House.

No European heads of state were in attendance, despite earlier conversations between Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Secretary of State Clinton and Treasury boss Timothy Geithner were present.

www.infowars.com...

also haven't they installed bankers to run greece and a couple of other countries?

Monti names unelected government of technocrats and bankers
16.11.11 @ 18:38

Monti groomed to be Italy's new PM›
ECB man to rule Greece for 15 weeks›
The EU's 'techno party' is hollowing out democracy...

...Incoming Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti has named a government entirely composed of unelected figures, just days after a technocratic government was installed in Greece, where the presence of far-right figures linked to the military junta are raising hackles.

Monti, an ex-EU-commissioner, was appointed officially on Wednesday by the president of the republic

euobserver.com...

reply to post by Rockpuck


That's certainly how it looks in reality, especially once you have dug a little deeper.

The alternative is far more practical, as a monetary union of economically disparate states is utter folly. Unless it was designed to force political integration through the inevitable crisis, in which case it is anti-democratic — as well as folly.

Here's the alternative:

Five ways the eurozone could break up