More than interesting that Osborne and Obama (incredibly represented as "the rest of the world" between them - such bullshit is standard today of course) are lining up with the Greeks.
Is the destruction of the Euro as a currency a desired Anglo-American project? Or something else, perhaps? It is a Daily Bellylaugh story after all - and Ambrose Evans-Prickhard at work.
Quote:Germany will have to yield in dangerous game of chicken with Greece
'You cannot keep on squeezing countries that are in the midst of depression,' says President Barack Obama, lining up with the Greeks The Chancellor shakes hands with Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis outside No11 Downing Street on MondayPhoto: EPA
George Osborne has warned that the escalating showdown between Greece and the eurozone has become the "greatest risk to the global economy".
In this the Chancellor is right. North European politicians assert with remarkable insouciance that EMU is now strong enough to withstand the effects of contagion if Greece is forced out of the euro, and some say it may even emerge stronger. This is courting fate.
It is true that QE by the European Central Bank has anaesthetised the bond markets. Yet Grexit would convert the eurozone into a fixed exchange rate system overnight, a sort of 'ERM3' in the words of Morgan Stanley. Portugal would be a sitting duck. Whether Europe's leaders could stop the EU itself from disintegrating after such a breach of political solidarity is an open question.
Mr Osborne pointedly refused to take sides, and came very close to rebuking the EMU authorities for carelessness after his meeting with the Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis.
"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. We have got to make sure that in Europe, as in Britain, we choose competence over chaos."
In Washington, President Barack Obama tilted even further towards the Greeks. "You cannot keep on squeezing countries that are in the midst of depression. When you have an economy that is in freefall there has to be a growth strategy and not simply an effort to squeeze more and more out of a population that is hurting worse and worse." This should be a cautionary warning to Brussels, Frankfurt and Berlin that they do not have a green light from the rest of the world to do as they like with Greece however irritated they may feel by the provocations of Alexis Tsipras. There are larger diplomatic and strategic matters at stake. The European Central Bank must move with particular care. Eyebrows were raised over the weekend when two ECB members threatened to cut off support for the Greek banking system if the new Syriza government walks away from its Troika bail-out obligations on February 28. There is near universal agreement that such action would precipitate a systemic banking crash in Greece, lead to full-blown default and force the country's ejection from the eurozone with days. Greece would have to impose capital controls, nationalise the banks and reintroduce the drachma in short order. Delayed data show that ECB support for the banks has reached €54bn. It is surely rising very fast since capital flight has accelerated to almost €1bn a day, leading to an offset from the ECB through the Target2 payments system. Finland's governor, Erkki Liikanen, was categorical. "Some kind of solution must be found, otherwise we can't continue lending." So was the ECB's vice-president Vitor Constancio. Greece currently enjoys a "waiver", allowing its banks to swap Greek government bonds or guaranteed debt for ECB liquidity even though these are junk grade and would not normally qualify. This covers at least €30bn of Greek collateral at the ECB window. "If we find out that a country is below that rating - and there's no longer a (Troika) programme - that waiver disappears," he said. These esteemed gentlemen are sailing close to the wind. The waiver rules are not a legal requirement. They are decided by the ECB's governing council on a discretionary basis. Frankfurt can ignore the rating agencies if it wishes. It has changed the rules before whenever it suited them. The ECB may or may not have good reasons to cut off Greece depending on your point of view but let us all be clear that such a move would be political. A central bank that is supposed to be the lender of last resort and guardian of financial stability would be taking a deliberate and calculated decision to destroy the Greek banking system. Even if this were to be contained to Greece and how could it be given the links to Cyprus, Bulgaria, and Romania? this would be a remarkable act of financial high-handedness. But it may not be contained quite so easily in any case, as Mr Osborne clearly fears. I reported over the weekend that there is no precedent for such action by a modern central bank. "I have never heard of such outlandish threats before," said Ashoka Mody, a former top IMF official in Europe and bail-out expert. "The EU authorities have no idea what the consequences of Grexit might be, or what unknown tremors might hit the global payments system. They are playing with fire. The creation of the euro was a terrible mistake but breaking it up would be an even bigger mistake. We would be in a world where anything could happen. "What they ignore at their peril is the huge political contagion. It would be slower-moving than a financial crisis but the effects on Europe would be devastating. I doubt whether the EU would be able to act in a meaningful way as a union after that." In reality, the ECB cannot easily act on this threat. They do not have the political authority or unanimous support to do so, and historians would tar and feather them if they did. The ground is shifting in Paris, Rome and indeed Brussels already. Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission's president, yielded on Sunday, accepting (perhaps with secret delight) that the Troika is dead. French finance minister Michel Sapin bent over backwards to be accommodating at a meeting with Mr Varoufakis. There is no unified front against Greece. It is variable geometry, as they say in EU parlance. Greek bonds and equities rallied on Monday on reports that Greek leader Alexis Tsipras has agreed to uphold Greece's debts after all. He did no such thing. He very specifically said Greece would pay the IMF (never in doubt) and the ECB. What he left out was the bulk of the debt owed to the EMU bail-out machinery in its various forms. How this will end is anybody's guess. With goodwill on both sides, you could imagine a deal along the following lines: The Troika is renamed the Love Brigade. Greece's primary surplus for coming years is cut from 4.5pc to 2.5pc of GDP, moving closer to fiscal neutrality and creating some leeway for Syriza's social welfare programmes (not that expensive). To pay for this, the debt could be stretched out until 2055 a date already circulated before with the average interest rate cut by around 1.5 percentage points. Chancellor Angela Merkel could agree to this without having to admit to the Bundestag that German taxpayers have lost a lot of money (bailing out German banks in Greece) or having to submit the losses as a line-item in the annual budget. Syriza would have little difficulty calling this debt relief. There would be no more extend-and-pretend loans shovelled onto Greece. All would have a face-saving way out. The cost would be trivial compared with the huge sums already wasted. Yet such happy formulations overlook the furious passions ignited by six years of depression in Greece and the raging battle under way to wrest control over the economic levers in Europe and to overthrow the contractionary regime that has pushed the whole currency bloc into a deflationary vortex. Joschka Fischer, the former German foreign minister and vice-chancellor, says the Syriza victory is really a "Greek burial" for the broader German strategy of belt-tightening and austerity for Europe. If I may quote him at length: "Not long ago, German politicians and journalists confidently declared that the euro crisis was over; Germany and the European Union, they believed, had weathered the storm. Today, we know that this was just another mistake in an ongoing crisis that has been full of them," he wrote for Project Syndicate. "Even before the leftist Syriza party's overwhelming victory, it was obvious that, far from being over, the crisis was threatening to worsen. Austerity saving your way out of a demand shortfall simply does not work. In a shrinking economy, a country's debt-to-GDP ratio rises rather than falls, and Europe's recession-ridden crisis countries have now saved themselves into a depression, resulting in mass unemployment, alarming levels of poverty and scant hope." "Warnings of a severe political backlash went unheeded. Shadowed by Germany's deep-seated inflation taboo, Chancellor Angela Merkel's government stubbornly insisted that the pain of austerity was essential to economic recovery; the EU had little choice but to go along. Now the backlash has arrived. "It does not take a prophet to predict that the latest chapter of the euro crisis will leave Germany's austerity policy in tatters unless Merkel really wants to take the enormous risk of letting the euro fail. "There is no indication that she does. So, regardless of which side the troika or the new Greek government moves first in the coming negotiations, Greece's election has already produced an unambiguous defeat for Merkel and her austerity-based strategy for sustaining the euro. "Simultaneous debt reduction and structural reforms, we now know, will overextend any democratically elected government because they overtax its voters. And, without growth, there will be no structural reforms, either, however necessary they may be. "That is Greece's lesson for Europe. The question now is not whether the German government will accept it, but when." So who really holds the trump cards here?
The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.
The former chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, has predicted that Greece will be forced to exit the euro, as European negotiations continue on the state of the country's debt.Photo: AP
The former chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, has predicted that Greece will be forced to exit the euro, as its new prime minister outlined plans to keep the debt-stricken country financially afloat.
In a bleak assessment of Europe's future, Greenspan, one of the most influential policymakers of modern times, said it was "just a matter of time" before Greece dropped out, triggering the eventual collapse of the single currency.
His stark comments came just hours before Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras told parliament he would on Wednesday ask fellow eurozone members in Brussels for an emergency short-term bridging loan, to allow Athens more time to negotiate a new debt deal.
"The bail-out failed," he said. "The new government is not justified in asking for an extension… because it cannot ask for an extension of mistakes."
Mr Tsipras's Left-wing Syriza party swept to power last month on a pledge to renegotiate the terms of Greece's €240bn bail-out deal with the EU and International Monetary Fund five years ago.
The financially-ruined nation has struggled under repeated rounds of austerity that have pushed unemployment up to 25pc, compared with the eurozone average of 11.5pc. With funds expiring at the end of February, time is running out for Athens. Greece must make $25bn of debt repayments this year. Tsipras is pushing for a short-term financial fix enabling the country to pay its way while talks continue. However, the new prime minister has a fight on his hands, with EU officials so far rejecting his efforts to renegotiate terms. On Friday, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chairs the Eurogroup of finance ministers, said Athens must either apply for an extension of its current bailout by February 16, to continue receiving financial assistance, or go it alone.
In a BBC interview, Mr Greenspan, who headed the US central bank for nearly 20 years, said "I believe [Greece] will eventually leave. The problem is that there is no way that I can conceive of the euro continuing, unless and until all of the members of eurozone become politically integrated actually even just fiscally integrated won't do it." This weekend, several top academics, led by Scott Sumner, a monetary economist, warned eurozone stimulus will be "too little, too late" to revive the bloc's economy.
The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.
Whoops Apocalypse! if this turns out to be a correct report. I dread to think what might eventually happen to the new Greek government if they do turn to Russia or China?
Quote:
Europe To Propose 6 Month Extension After Greece Warns It May Get Funds From Russia Or China
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/10/2015 07:17 -0500
Did Europe just fold?
Moments ago Bloomberg blasted a headline which has to be validated by other members of the European Commission as well as Merkel and the other German (and may well be refuted, considering this is Europe), which said that:
COMMISSION TO PROPOSE 6 MONTH EXTENSION FOR GREECE - SOURCES.
So did Greece just win the first round of its stand off with Brussels? It remains to be confirmed but congratulations to Greece if indeed it caused Merkel and the ECB to fold. But what caused it? Well, it wasn't the laying out of the Greek ask, which as we noted earlier was the following:
Greece will seek about 10 billion euros ($11.3 billion) in short-term financing as it tries to stave off a funding crunch while buying time to push its creditors to ease austerity demands. Greece's Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis will present a proposal at a Wednesday meeting of euro area finance ministers in Brussels that will ask for an 8 billion-euro increase in the stock of Treasury Bills the country is allowed, said a government official who asked not to be named as the negotiations are confidential. It will also seek the disbursement of 1.9 billion euros of profits that euro area central banks made on their Greek bonds holdings.
No, that's not it. What emerged as the biggest point of leverage overnight was the following threat reported hours ago by Reuters, citing the Greek defense minister Kammenos, who essentially threatened to go to Russia and/or China if Europe decline to cooperate. Per Reuters:
Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said that if Greece failed to get a new debt agreement with the euro zone, it could always look elsewhere for help.
"What we want is a deal. But if there is no deal - hopefully (there will be) - and if we see that Germany remains rigid and wants to blow apart Europe, then we have the obligation to go to Plan B. Plan B is to get funding from another source," he told Greek television show that ran in to early Tuesday. "It could the United States at best,it could be Russia, it could be China or other countries," he said.
Of course, it clearly wouldn't be the US which would never act against the interest of its European "allies", so the real threat was very clear: converting Greece from a member of the Eurozone to an expansion of the Eurasian economic zone and a landing pad for both Russia and China into Europe. This is also a possible outcome we hinted at two weeks ago in "Putin's Unexpected Victory: Europe Furious That Greece Is Now A Russian Sanctions Veto."
More:
Kammenos is the leader of Independent Greeks, a nationalist anti-bailout party that is the junior coalition partner of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' radical left Syriza party.
Greece is seeking a new debt agreement with the euro zone that will allow it to shake off much of the austerity that has been imposed by a European Union/International Monetary Fund bailout since 2010.
The euro zone, particularly Germany, has shown no willingness to ease its requirement that Greece make deep budget cuts and economic reforms.
As noted above, this is after all Europe, which means Eurozone ministers always float trial balloons headlines ahead of major meetings like the one tomorrow, gauge the market reaction, then quickly retract them. Well, the market test has been conducted...
U.S. STOCK INDEX FUTURES HIT SESSION HIGHS ON REPORT ON PROPOSAL FOR SIX-MONTH EXTENSION FOR GREECE
... with the EURUSD jumping 50 pips, and US equity futures surging by nearly 1%. And now, we await the denial of the "trial balloon" because when it comes to the way Europe operates, some things never change.
The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.
There was much confusion earlier today surrounding the immediate fate of Greece, when first thing in the morning Bloomberg reported a rumor that the European Commission would grant Greece a 6 month extension, sending futures surging, and then several hours later, futures surged some more when Germany's finance minister crushed the first rumor, saying "it was wrong" and that without a Greek program, it was "all over."
Which means that the only relevant overnight news when stripping away the endless trial balloons and BS that Europe covers itself with before every important economic summit, was what the Greek defense minister said as reported by Reuters, namely that Greece now has a Plan B if Europe refuses to budge - the same "plan" we hinted last month:
Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said that if Greece failed to get a new debt agreement with the euro zone, it could always look elsewhere for help.
"What we want is a deal. But if there is no deal - hopefully (there will be) - and if we see that Germany remains rigid and wants to blow apart Europe, then we have the obligation to go to Plan B. Plan B is to get funding from another source," he told Greek television show that ran in to early Tuesday. "It could the United States at best, it could be Russia, it could be China or other countries," he said.
In other words, a threat that if Europe doesn't need Greece (as the EuroStoxx50 and S&P500 are so giddy to confirm), then Greece also doesn't need Europe for the only reason it has needed it for the past 6 years: to provide funding.
Not only that, but Greece would also promptly default on debt held by the ECB and launch the contagion that UBS described earlier, with the only question being how quick it would spread across what is left of the European "Union" and Eurozone.
Western observers were certainly not amused at the Greek comments. As Newsweek reported, Dr Jonathan Eyal from defence and security think tank the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) called Kammenos' statement an "unbecoming threat from a NATO member state."
He told Newsweek: "It's another reminder that the Greeks have never offered the kind of solidarity to Europe that Europe has shown to Greece."
"It's very obvious the Russians have an opportunity to subsidise a country that can stop a consensus that is required to keep up sanctions on Russia. It's very grave indeed. The repercussions of this could be quite serious depending on what Greece do in return."
This would lead to the unthinkable: should Greece pivot to Russia it would permit Putin to build Russian bases on NATO soil!
Eyal was not impressed: "It's possible although it's a farfetched. If you were to see Russian bases in NATO territory it would obviously raise serious concerns." Or, as Putin would call it, victory. Of course, just because on the surface this possibility appears "farfetched" is why the western punditry is refusing to completely ignore it.
We bring this all up because as everyone by now knows, tomorrow night is the emergency Eurogroup meeting when, among other things, Greece will ask for a bridging loan to cover funding needs until August, something which Germany has already suggested is a non-starter, and yet hopes remain that somehow a compromise will emerge. Furthermore, while there are future meetings in the immediate future, as a reminder Europe's 10 day ultimatum to approve the bailout program is ticking, and runs out just in time for the next meeting, after which all bets will be off. So for all intents and purposes, tomorrow is when Greece must get some much needed clarity on what happens next: whether Europe is ready to compromise or, if not, consider Plan B.
And while most are aware of all of the above, it is the Plan B aspect which few have considered. It is here that as Kathimerini reported yesterday, things are indeed getting serious, to the point where one may be forced to even think about the "unthinkable."
As Greek Kathimerini reported, "Greece's Foreign Minister Nikolaos Kotzias is to visit Moscow on Wednesday to hold talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Russia's Interfax and TASS news agencies reported on Monday citing a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry."
In other words, at precisely the same time as the FinMin is in Brussels discussing the fate, or lack thereof, of Greece in the Eurozone, the new Greek foreign minister will be in the Kremlin, getting instant updates from Brussels and perhaps discussing the fate of Greece in the Eurasian Economic Union.
Which means that as soon as tomorrow night, if the Eurozone is indeed intent on kicking Greece out as some have suggested, we may know if not Russia but Europe is who suddenly becomes more "isolated", as one of its current member flips allegiance to the man most hated by the entire "developed" world.
Or put in the simplest of terms, tomorrow Greece will decide: Europe, or Russia.
The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.
Quote:This would lead to the unthinkable: should Greece pivot to Russia it would permit Putin to build Russian bases on NATO soil!
Ooh I like this! That would make things very interesting. If Germany has any sense they would follow Greece and ditch Washington.
I just heard on the radio when I got in that Greece has not asked for any money from the EU. Just time and space to pay back what they believe they owe.
Quote:He [Dr Jonathan Eyal] told Newsweek: "It's another reminder that the Greeks have never offered the kind of solidarity to Europe that Europe has shown to Greece."
Interesting the way it is worded. It is like Russia is not part of Europe. Stalin also knew that the most of Europe never really accepted Russia as part of Europe even if for geographical purposes Europe starts at the Ural mountains. As a Georgian he was culturally more orientated towards Asia and believed Russia's future was there too. Dr Eyal also has an incredibly short memory it seems about Greece's role in Europe. While his Prime Minister was busy collaborating with Hitler Greece already had anti fascist brigades. Wont even mention the cradle of democracy thing.
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." Karl Marx
"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.
“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.
Quote:Greek talks with euro creditors collapse as 'disaster' moves closer
Hopes for a deal took a hit after some finance ministers, including Germany's Wolfgang Schaeuble, raised concerns over the new Greek government's negotiating tactic
Greece's crunch talks with its European creditors broke down after just four hours today, pushing the country closer towards a potential exit from the single currency.
Greece refused to countenance an extension of the existing €172bn bailout programme, while the rest of the eurozone's finance ministers said this was a non-negotiable first step to talks.
"There is no alternative to a request to an extension of the programme" said Pierre Moscovici, the European Commission's economics and financial affairs commissioner. That was echoed by Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the chairman of the Eurogroup. "It is up to the Greek authorities now to decide whether they would want such an extension" he said. "There was a very strong opinion across the whole Eurogroup that it has to come from the Greek authorities... They have to make up their mind whether they will ask for an extension of the current programme."
Mr Dijsselbloem said there could be a new Eurogroup meeting on Friday if Greece requested an extension over the next few days. However, the Greek side suggested that Mr Dijsselbloem had gone back on an earlier understanding by trying to push Greece into extending the existing agreement.
A draft text leaked from the Brussels meeting of eurozone finance ministers contained the suggestion that Greece would "successfully conclude the [bailout] programme" and "request a six-month technical extension". The Athens government has repeatedly said it will not agree to continue with the existing programme, which it blames for pushing Greece into a deep economic depression. It is instead demanding a bridge loan from creditors until the summer while an entirely new programme can be fashioned. It wants this to include a cancellation of a large tranche of the country's debt and an easing of the requirement for Greece to run primary budget surpluses for the forseeable future.
The Finance Minister, Yanis Varoufakis, tonight said there would be no capitulation to the pressure from the Eurogroup. "Nothing good has ever come out of ultimatums... In the next few days any notion of ultimatum is going to be withdrawn," he said. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was one of many to raised their concerns (AP)
The country's bailout is due to lapse on 28 February. Without a new agreement in place by then, Greece could find its banking system shut off from access to the European Central Bank's liquidity lifeline.
Greek three-year bond yields yesterday rose above 17 per cent, while 10-year bond yields hit 9.47 per cent. The higher near-term effective borrowing costs of the country imply heightened investors default concerns. "With every day of stalemate, the Greek economy, its banking system and its tax revenues are likely to weaken further," said Holger Schmieding of Berenberg Bank.
There were few signs of support for Greece from other eurozone states last night. "There is no chance of a bridge loan [for Greece], so this has left us working with the extension of the programme," said Edward Scicluna, the Maltese Finance Minister. Asked what would happen if the Greeks did not ask for a programme extension, he added: "That would be it; it would be a disaster."
The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.
21-02-2015, 01:27 PM (This post was last modified: 23-02-2015, 11:54 PM by Magda Hassan.)
Strong words - weak wills.
An insightful article from VoltaireNet:
Quote:
The Assassination of Greece
by James Petras
James Petras was Director of the Center for Mediterranean Studies in Athens (1981-1984) and adviser to Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou (1981-84). Here he analyzes the Greek crisis and its issues within the European Union.
VOLTAIRE NETWORK | NEW YORK (USA) | 21 FEBRUARY 2015
In 1980 Greece was admitted to the European Economic Council as a vassal state of the emerging Franco-German Empire. With the election of Andreas Papandreou, leader of the Pan-Hellenic Socialist Party, with an absolute majority in Parliament, hope arose that radical changes in domestic and foreign policy would ensue. [5] In particular, during the election campaign, Papandreou promised a break with NATO and the EEC, the revoking of the US military base agreement and an economy based on social ownership' of the means of production. After being elected, Papandreou immediately assured the EEC and Washington that his regime would remain within the EEC and NATO, and renewed the US military base agreement. Studies in the early 1980's commissioned by the government which documented the medium and long-term adverse results of Greece remaining in the EEU, especially the loss of control of trade, budgets and markets, were ignored by Papandreou who chose to sacrifice political independence and economic autonomy in favor of large scale transfers of funds, loans and credit from the EEC. Papandreou spoke from the balcony to the masses of independence and social justice while retaining ties to the European bankers and Greek shipping and banking oligarchs. The European elite in Brussels and Greek oligarchs in Athens retained a stranglehold on the commanding heights of the Greek political and economic system.Papandreou retained the clientelistic political practices put in place by the previous right-wing regimes only replacing the rightist functionaries with PASOK party loyalists.The EEC brushed off Papandreou' phony radical rhetoric and focused on the the fact they were buying control and subservience of the Greek state by financing a corrupt, clientelistic regime which was deflecting funds for development projects to upgrade Greek economic competitiveness into building a patronage machine based on increased consumption.The EEC elite ultimately knew that its financial stranglehold over the economy would enable it to dictate Greek policy and keep it within the boundaries of the emerging European empire.Papandreou's demagogic "third world" rhetoric notwithstanding, Greece was deeply ensconced in the EU and NATO. Between 1981-85, Papandreou discarded his socialist rhetoric in favor of increased social spending for welfare reforms, raising wages, pensions and health coverage, while refinancing bankrupt economic firms run into the ground by kleptocratic capitalists. As a result while living standards rose, Greece's economic structure still resembled a vassal state heavily dependent on EEC finance, European tourists and a rentier economy based on real estate, finance and tourism.Papandreou solidified Greece's role as a vassal outpost of NATO; a military platform for US military intervention in the Middle East and the eastern Mediterranean; and market for German and northern European manufactured goods.From October 1981 to July 1989 Greek consumption rose while productivity stagnated; Papandreou won elections in 1985 using EEC funds. Meanwhile Greek debt to Europe took off … EEC leaders chastised the misallocation of funds by Papandreou's vast army of kleptocrats but not too loudly. Brussels recognized that Papandreou and PASOK were the most effective forces in muzzling the radical Greek electorate and keeping Greece under EEC tutelage and as a loyal vassal of NATO.Lessons for Syriza: PASOK's Short-term Reforms and Strategic Vassalage
Whether in government or out, PASOK followed in the footsteps of its rightwing adversary (New Democracy) by embracing the NATO-EEC strait-jacket. Greece continued to maintain the highest per capita military expenditure of any European NATO member. As a result, it received loans and credits to finance short-term social reforms and large scale, long-term corruption, while enlarging the party-state political apparatus.With the ascent of the openly neoliberal Prime Minister Costas Simitis in 2002, the PASOK regime "cooked the books", fabricated government data on its budget deficit, with the aid of Wall Street investment banks, and became a member of the European Monetary Union. By adopting the euro, Simitis furthered deepened Greece's financial subordination to the non-elected European officials in Brussels, dominated by the German finance ministry and banks.The oligarchs in Greece made room at the top for a new breed of PASOK kleptocratic elite, which skimmed millions of military purchases, committed bank frauds and engaged in massive tax evasion.The Brussels elite allowed the Greek middle class to live their illusions of being prosperous Europeans' because they retained decisive leverage through loans and accumulating debts.Large scale bank fraud involving three hundred million euros even reached ex-Prime Minister Papandreou's office.The clientele relations within Greece were matched by the clientele relations between Brussels and Athens.Even prior to the crash of 2008 the EU creditors, private bankers and official lenders, set the parameters of Greek politics. The global crash revealed the fragile foundations of the Greek state and led directly to the crude, direct interventions of the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission the infamous "Troika". The latter dictated the austerity' policies as a condition for the "bail-out" which devastated the economy, provoking a major depression; impoverishing over forty percent of the population, reducing incomes by 25% and resulting in 28% unemployment.Greece: Captivity by Invitation
Greece as a political and economic captive of the EU had no political party response. Apart from the trade unions which launched thirty general strikes between 2009 2014, the two major parties, PASOK and New Democracy, invited the EU takeover. The degeneration of PASOK into an appendage of oligarchs and vassal collaborator of the EU emptied the socialist' rhetoric of any meaning. The right wing New Democracy Party reinforced and deepened the stranglehold of the EU over the Greek economy. The troika lent the Greek vassal state funds("bail-out") which was used to pay back German, French and English financial oligarchs and to buttress private Greek banks. The Greek population was starved' by austerity' policies to keep the debt payments flowing-outward and upward.Europe: Union or Empire?
The European economic crash of 2008/09 resounded worst on its weakest links Southern Europe and Ireland. The true nature of the European Union as a hierarchical empire, in which the powerful states Germany and France could openly and directly control investment, trade, monetary and financial policy was revealed. The much vaunted EU "bailout" of Greece was in fact the pretext for the imposition of deep structural changes. These included the denationalization and privatization of all strategic economic sectors; perpetual debt payments; foreign dictates of incomes and investment policy. Greece ceased to be an independent state: it was totally and absolutely colonized.Greece's Perpetual Crises: The End of the "European Illusion"
The Greek elite and, for at least 5 years, most of the electorate, believed that the regressive ("austerity") measures adopted the firings, the budget cuts, the privatizations etc. were short-term harsh medicine, that would soon lead to debt reduction, balanced budgets, new investments, growth and recovery. At least that is what they were told by the economic experts and leaders in Brussels.In fact the debt increased, the downward economic spiral continued, unemployment multiplied, the depression deepened. Austerity' was a class based policy designed by Brussels to enrich overseas bankers and to plunder the Greek public sector.The key to EU pillage and plunder was the loss of Greek sovereignty. The two major parties ,New Democracy and PASOK, were willing accomplices. Despite a 55% youth (16 30 years old) unemployment rate, the cut-off of electricity to 300,000 households and large scale out-migration (over 175,000), the EU (as was to be expected) refused to concede that the austerity' formula was a failure in recovering the Greek economy. The reason the EU dogmatically stuck to a failed policy' was because the EU benefited from the power, privilege and profits of pillage and imperial primacy.Moreover, for the Brussels elite to acknowledge failure in Greece would likely result in the demand to recognize failure in the rest of Southern Europe and beyond, including in France Italy and other key members of the EU [6]. The ruling financial and business elites in Europe and the US prospered through the crises and depression, by imposing cuts in social budgets and wages and salaries. To concede failure in Greece, would reverberate throughout North America and Europe, calling into question their economic policies, ideology and the legitimacy of the ruling powers. The reason that all the EU regimes back the EU insistence that Greece must continue to abide by an obviously perverse and regressive austerity' policy and impose reactionary "structural reforms" is because these very same rulers have sacrificed the living standards of their own labor force during the economic crises [7].The economic crises spanning 2008/9 to the present (2015), still requires harsh sacrifices to perpetuate ruling class profits and to finance state subsidies to the private banks. Every major financial institution the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the IMF toes the line: no dissent or deviation is allowed. Greece must accept EU dictates or face major financial reprisals. "Economic strangulation or perpetual debt peonage" is the lesson which Brussels tends to all member states of the EU. While ostensibly speaking to Greece it is a message directed to all states, opposition movements and trade unions who call into question the dictates of the Brussels oligarchy and its Berlin overlords.All the major media and leading economic pundits have served as megaphones for the Brussel oligarchs. The message, which is repeated countless times, by liberals, conservatives and social democrats to the victimized nations and downwardly mobile wage and salaried workers, and small businesspeople, is that they have no choice but to accept regressive measure, slashing living conditions ("reforms") if they hope for economic recovery' which, of course, has not happened after five years!Greece has become the central target of the economic elites in Europe because, the Greek people have gone from inconsequential protests to political powers. The election of Syriza on a platform of recovering sovereignty, discarding austerity and redefining its relations with creditors to favor national development has set the stage for a possible continent-wide confrontation.The Rise of Syriza: Dubious Legacies, Mass Struggles and Radical (Broken) Promises
The growth of Syriza from an alliance of small Marxist sects into a mass electoral party is largely because of the incorporation of millions of lower middle class public employees, pensioners and small businesspeople. Many previously supported PASOK. They voted Syriza in order to recover the living conditions and job security of the earlier period of "prosperity" (2000-2007) which they achieved within the EU. Their radical rejection of PASOK and New Democracy came after 5 years of acute suffering which might have provoked a revolution in some other country. Their radicalism began with protests, marches and strikes were attempts to pressure the rightwing regimes to alter the EU's course, to end the austerity while retaining membership in the EU.This sector of SYRIZA is radical' in what it opposes today and conformist with its nostalgia for the past. the time of euro funded vacation trips to London and Paris, easy credit to purchase imported cars and foodstuffs, to feel modern' and European' and speak English!The politics of Syriza reflects, in part, this ambiguous sector of its electorate. In contrast Syriza also secured the vote of the radical unemployed youth and workers who never were part of the consumer society and didn't identify with "Europe". Syriza has emerged as a mass electoral party in the course of less than five years and its supporters and leadership reflects a high degree of heterogeneity.The most radical sector, ideologically, is drawn mostly from the Marxist groups which originally came together to form the party. The unemployed youth sector joined, following the anti-police riots, which resulted from the police assassination of a young activist during the early years of the crisis. The third wave is largely made up of thousands of public workers, who were fired, and retired employees who suffered big cuts in their pensions by order of the troika in 2012. The fourth wave is ex PASOK members who fled the sinking ship of a bankrupt party.The Syriza Left is concentrated at the mass base and among local and middle level leaders of local movements. The top leaders of Syriza in power positions are academics, some from overseas. Many are recent members or are not even party members. Few have been involved in the mass struggles and many have few ties with the rank and file militants. They are most eager to sign a "deal" selling out the impoverished GreeksAs Syriza moved toward electoral victory in 2015, it began to shed its original program of radical structural changes (socialism) and adopt measures aimed at accommodating Greek business interests. Tsipras talked about "negotiating an agreement" within the framework of the German dominated European Union. Tsipras and his Finance Minister proposed to re-negotiate the debt, the obligation to pay and 70% of the "reforms"! When an agreement was signed they totally capitulated!For a brief time Syriza maintained a dual position of opposing' austerity and coming to agreement with its creditors. It's "realist" policies reflected the positions of the new academic ministers, former PASOK members and downwardly mobile middle class. Syriza's radical gestures and rhetoric reflected the pressure of the unemployed, the youth and the mass poor who stood to lose, if a deal to pay the creditors was negotiated.EU SYRIZA: Concessions before Struggle Led to Surrender and Defeat
The "Greek debt" is really not a debt of the Greek people. The institutional creditors and the Euro-banks knowingly lent money to high risk kleptocrats, oligarchs and bankers who siphoned most of the euros into overseas Swiss accounts, high end real estate in London and Paris, activity devoid of any capacity to generate income to pay back the debt. In other words, the debt, in large part, is illegitimate and was falsely foisted on the Greek people.Syriza, from the beginning of negotiations', did not call into question the legitimacy of the debt nor identified the particular classes and enterprise who should pay it.Secondly, while Syriza challenged "austerity" policies it did not question the Euro organizations and EU institutions who impose it.From its beginning Syriza has accepted membership in the EU. In the name of "realism" the Syriza government accepted to pay the debt or a portion of it, as the basis of negotiation.Structurally, Syriza has developed a highly centralized leadership in which all major decisions are taken by Alexis Tsipras. His personalistic leadership limits the influence of the radicalized rank and file. It facilitated "compromises" with the Brussels oligarchy which go contrary to the campaign promises and may lead to the perpetual dependence of Greece on EU centered policymakers and creditors.Moreover, Tsipras has tightened party discipline in the aftermath of his election, ensuring that any dubious compromises will not lead to any public debate or extra-parliamentary revolt.The Empire against Greece's Democratic Outcome
The EU elite have, from the moment in which Syriza received a democratic mandate, followed the typical authoritarian course of all imperial rulers. It has demanded from Syriza (1) unconditional surrender (2) the continuation of the structures, policies and practices of the previous vassal coalition party-regimes (PASOK-New Democracy) (3) that Syriza shelve all social reforms, (raising the minimum wage, increasing pension, health, education and unemployment spending (4) that SYRIZA follow the strict economic directives and oversight formulated by the "troika" (the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund) (5) that SYRIZA retain the current primary budget surplus target of 4.5 percent of economic output in 2015-2017.To enforce its strategy of strangulating the new government, Brussels threatened to abruptly cut off all present and future credit facilities, call in all debt payments, end access to emergency funds and refuse to back Greek bank bonds that provide financial loans to local businesses.Brussels presents Syriza with the fateful "choice", of committing political suicide by accepting its dictates and alienating its electoral supporters. By betraying its mandate, Syriza will confront angry mass demonstrations. Rejecting Brussels' dictates and proceeding to mobilize its mass base, Syriza could seek new sources of financing, imposing capital controls and moving toward a radical "emergency economy".Brussel has "stone-walled" and turned a deaf ear to the early concessions which Syriza offered. Instead Brussels sees concessions as steps' toward complete capitulation, instead of as efforts to reach a "compromise".Syriza has already dropped calls for large scale debt write-offs, in favor of extending the time frame for paying the debt. Syriza has agreed to continue debt payments, provided they are linked to the rate of economic growth. Syriza accepts European oversight, provided it is not conducted by the hated "troika", which has poisonous connotations for most Greeks. However, semantic changes do not change the substance of "limited sovereignty".Syriza has already agreed to long and middle term structural dependency in order to secure time and leeway in financing its short-term popular impact programs. All that Syriza asks is minimum fiscal flexibility under supervision of the German finance minister-some "radicals"!Syriza has temporarily suspended on-going privatization of key infrastructure (sea- ports and airport facilities) energy and telecommunication sectors. But is has not terminated them, nor revised the past privatization. But for Brussels "sell-off" of Greek lucrative strategic sectors is an essential part of its "structural reform" agenda.Syriza's moderate proposals and its effort to operate within the EU framework established by the previous vassal regimes was rebuffed by Germany and its 27 stooges in the EU.The EU's dogmatic affirmation of extremist, ultra neo-liberal policies, including the practice of dismantling Greece's national economy and transferring the most lucrative sectors into the hands of imperial investors, is echoed in the pages of all the major print media. The Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Le Monde are propaganda arms of EU extremism. Faced with Brussel's intransigence and confronting the historic choice' of capitulation or radicalization, Syriza tried persuasion of key regimes. Syriza held numerous meetings with EU ministers. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Finance Minister Yánis Varoufákis traveled to Paris, London, Brussels, Berlin and Rome seeking a "compromise" agreement. This was to no avail. The Brussels elite repeatedly insistedebts would have to be paid in full and on time.Greece should restrict spending to accumulate a 4.5% surplus that would ensure payments to creditors, investors, speculators and kleptocrats.The EU's lack of any economic flexibility or willingness to accept even a minimum compromise is a political decision: to humble and destroy the credibility of SYRIZA as an anti-austerity government in the eyes of its domestic supporters and potential overseas imitators in Spain, Italy, Portugal and Ireland [8].Conclusion
The strangulation of Syriza is part and parcel of the decade long process of the EU's assassination of Greece. A savage response to a heroic attempt by an entire people, hurled into destitution, condemned to be ruled by kleptocratic conservatives and social democrats.Empires do not surrender their colonies through reasonable arguments or by the bankruptcy of their regressive "reforms".Brussel's attitude toward Greece is guided by the policy of "rule or ruin". "Bail out" is a euphemism for recycling financing through Greece back to Euro-controlled banks, while Greek workers and employees are saddled with greater debt and continued dominance. Brussel's "bail out" is an instrument for control by imperial institutions, whether they are called "troika" or something else.Brussels and Germany do not want dissenting members; they may offer to make some minor concessions so that Finance Minister Vardoulakis may claim a partial victory' a sham and hollow euphemism for a belly crawlThe "bail out" agreement will be described by Tsipras-Vardoulakis as new' and "different' from the past or as a temporary' retreat. The Germans may allow' Greece to lower its primary budget surplus from 4.5 to 3.5 percent next year' but it will still reduce the funds for economic stimulus and "postpone" raises in pensions, minimum wages etc.Privatization and other regressive reforms will not be terminated, they will be "renegotiated". The state will retain a minority "share".Plutocrats will be asked to pay some added taxes but not the billions of taxes evaded over the past decades.Nor will the PASOK New Democracy kleptocratic operatives be prosecuted for pillage and theft.Syriza's compromises demonstrate that the looney right's (The Economist, Financial Times, NY Times, etc.) characterization of Syriza as the "hard left" or the ultra-left have no basis in reality. For the Greek electorate's "hope for the future" could turn to anger in the present. Only mass pressure from below can reverse Syriza's capitulation and Finance Minister Vardoulakis unsavory compromises. Since he lacks any mass base in the party, Tsipras can easily dismiss him, for signing off on "compromise" which sacrifices the basic interests of the people.However, if in fact, EU dogmatism and intransigence forecloses even the most favorable deals, Tsipras and Syriza, (against their desires) may be forced to exit the Euro Empire and face the challenge of carving out a new truly radical policy and economy as a free and independent country.A successful Greek exit from the German Brussels empire would likely lead to the break-up of the EU, as other vassal states rebel and follow the Greek example. They may renounce not only austerity but their foreign debts and eternal interest payments. The entire financial empire the so-called global financial system could be shaken . . . Greece could once again become the cradle of democracy'.
Thirty years ago, I was an active participant and adviser for three years (1981-84) to Prime Minister Papandreou. He, like Tsipras, began with the promise of radical changes and ended up capitulating to Brussels and NATO and embracing the oligarchs and kleptocrats in the name of "pragmatic compromises". Let us hope, that facing a mass revolt, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Syriza will follow a different path. History need not repeat itself as tragedy or farce.
[1] Financial Times 7-8/2/15, p. 3.[2] Financial Times 10/2/15, p. 2.[3] Financial Times 2/6/15, p. 3.[4] Financial Times 9/2/15, p. 2.[5] The account of the Andreas Papandreou regime draws on personal experience, interviews and observations and from my co-authored article "Greek Socialism: The Patrimonial State Revisited" in James Kurth and James Petras, Mediterranean Paradoxes: the Politics and Social Structure of Southern Europe (Oxford: Berg Press 1993/ pp. 160 -224).[6] The Economist 1/17/15, p. 53.[7] Financial Times 2/13/15, p. 2.[8] The Economist 1/17/15, p. 53.
The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.
Today and tomorrow, in a special triple-header, The Slog examines three news' situations where the truth is slowly beginning to out: Greece v eurogroup, the Ukraine, and the whoring of newspaper titles who have already taken the corporate shilling anally. First today, what really happened behind closed doors before the eurogroup meeting last Friday. This afternoon, while I still see Syriza and the Greek People as the best means we have at the moment of pricking Troika2's balloon, I have to recognise that Syriza too is playing the game of spin. It has been pressured into this, however, by an outrageous 4-onto-1 bullying session the preceded Friday's meeting. Yesterday morning I picked this up from the agreed text after Friday's eurogroup:
…the new Greek government must not introduce legislation that contradicts or takes back measures agreed with the creditors…'
I confess that I hadn't read that anywhere, but then an AP release contained the same phrase. And yes, it seems, Yanis Varoufakis did agree' to the phrase. Linking this to a surprisingly aggressive question from Paul Mason at the press conference "How does it feel to have just trashed Greek democracy?" I at first thought it wasjust Masonic rhetoric. But then, reading this piece, a lot of things seemed to fall into place. Further digging around has confirmed most of the piece. It seems that a pre-meet just before eurogroup was called at which the attendees were Lagarde, Moscovici, Dijsselbloem, Draghi, Schäuble and Varoufakis. (This is why the original eurogroup scheduled start-time was put back an hour from 4.30 to 5.30). It was positioned to Yanis Varoufakis as a formality: a means of agreeing a final text. In fact, within two minutes the Greek finance minister found himself surrounded by a hostile group…and Moscovici studying his shoes a lot. Although accounts differ on the nature of the threats, they appear to have consisted of a blunt warning that the Four Horse-destroyers of the Acropolis would strangle the Greek economy by cutting off funding to the banks through the ELA system. Furthermore, it seemed that the big Greek banks already knew this. Go back to The Slog's Eurobank story of Friday if you're looking for further evidence of this. So now we must all me included revise our view of what the real situation is. Basically, Mason's question was well put: subjected to sheer Mafiaesque bullying, Varoufakis had to extract the best he could. This seems to consist of Syriza being given a free hand for four months to sort out all the problems it didn't create…but the free hands were to be tied for the duration. Yanis was tweeting last night to deny the story as "a fake", but the sources used by Mason and the PressProject piece (and me) tell a different story. Syriza cannot now carry out a reversal of the sell-offs and austerity policies, because the accord' overtly forbids them from so doing. And all around them, the Party's bigwigs know that the bnking enemy within stands ready to stab them in the front any time Mario Draghula rises from his coffin to give the word. I truly do not know why Yanis didn't walk away and let them boil in their own pot. I accept that its easy to be an armchair tough-guy when you're not the one being beaten up, but what would they have done if with hopes riding so high the Greek finance minister had simply said, "OK, your ball, your rules. I choose not to play." Tragically, he has fallen for an almost exact remake of the Cyprus heist The only good thing to emerge is that this is further proof of the nasty-arsed fascists with whom we're dealing, and just how little real belief in democracy such clown-gargoyle mutants have. It also from an English perspective once again rams home what a cowardly closet Conservative Nigel Farage really is: all over the Greeks like a rash when he wanted a higher EU profile before the euro-elections…but now he smells power in his nostrils, Farage is become the Mouse with No Voice. But no worries for Wriggle Barage: once again, Brussels-am-Berlin just handed UKip another million votes. So folks, Dr Strangelove, a Dutch hairdresser, a daft French tart who can't even average quarterly figures properly, and an Italian banking fraudster whose career has seen 100% cloud cover throughout: this unpleasant quadruped has just grabbed the balls of the only bloke in years to suggest a way out of eurozone indebtedness for the People as opposed to the pernicious incompetents at the top. It may be true that nothing is real anyway. But in a 3-dimensional Universe, there is plenty for some sociopaths to get hung about…and millions going hungry as a result of their madness. Several sources in Greece are now sceptical about just how "straightforward" getting agreement to Syrisa's reforms is going to be tomorrow. We shall see.
The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.
![[Image: DebtReuters_3184169g.jpg]](http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03184/DebtReuters_3184169g.jpg)
![[Image: osborne-epa_3184807b.jpg]](http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03184/osborne-epa_3184807b.jpg)
![[Image: AmbroseEvans-Pritc_1805020j.jpg]](http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01805/AmbroseEvans-Pritc_1805020j.jpg)
![[Image: share-fb.svg]](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/template/ver1-0/i/share-fb.svg)
[/TD]![[Image: share-tw.svg]](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/template/ver1-0/i/share-tw.svg)
[/TD]![[Image: share-p.svg]](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/template/ver1-0/i/share-p.svg)
[/TD]![[Image: share-in.svg]](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/template/ver1-0/i/share-in.svg)
[/TD]![[Image: share-share.svg]](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/template/ver1-0/i/share-share.svg)
[/TD]![[Image: share-email.svg]](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/template/ver1-0/i/share-email.svg)
[/TD]![[Image: GreeceHeaderImages_3134118b.jpg]](http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03134/GreeceHeaderImages_3134118b.jpg)
![[Image: ben_marlow_2946497j.jpg]](http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02946/ben_marlow_2946497j.jpg)
![[Image: comments.gif]](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/template/ver1-0/i/share/comments.gif)
![[Image: VarouBerlinBloombe_3189525g.jpg]](http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03189/VarouBerlinBloombe_3189525g.jpg)
![[Image: picture-5.jpg]](http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/pictures/picture-5.jpg)
![[Image: 30-Greece-Protest-AFP.jpg]](http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/article10050172.ece/alternates/w620/30-Greece-Protest-AFP.jpg)
![[Image: 30-Wolfgang-Schaeuble-AP.jpg]](http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/article10050171.ece/alternates/w460/30-Wolfgang-Schaeuble-AP.jpg)
![[Image: ligne-rouge.gif]](http://www.voltairenet.org/squelettes/elements/images/ligne-rouge.gif)
![[Image: zoom-32.png]](http://www.voltairenet.org/squelettes/elements/images/zoom-32.png)
![[Image: 1-5151-34c36.jpg]](http://www.voltairenet.org/local/cache-vignettes/L400xH300/1-5151-34c36.jpg)
![[Image: puce-cebf5.gif]](http://www.voltairenet.org/local/cache-vignettes/L9xH11/puce-cebf5.gif)
(1) unconditional surrender 
ebts would have to be paid in full and on time.Greece should restrict spending to accumulate a 4.5% surplus that would ensure payments to creditors, investors, speculators and kleptocrats.The EU's lack of any economic flexibility or willingness to accept even a minimum compromise is a political decision: to humble and destroy the credibility of SYRIZA as an anti-austerity government in the eyes of its domestic supporters and potential overseas imitators in Spain, Italy, Portugal and Ireland [![[Image: rien.gif]](http://www.voltairenet.org/rien.gif)
![[Image: headlines.png?w=812&h=132]](https://hat4uk.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/headlines.png)