Analysis: Is the euro zone running out of time on debt crisis?
By Luke Baker
BRUSSELS | Tue Nov 30, 2010 7:51am EST
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The euro zone debt crisis is moving at a such a pace, with pressure now mounting on several countries simultaneously, that European Union institutions may find it impossible to get ahead of the markets.
After Greece‘s deficit and debt problems emerged in late 2009, there were five months of steadily rising Greek sovereign bond yields and efforts by EU officials to contain the threat before a 110 billion euro ($140 billion) bailout was arranged.
The lag was understandable because the EU had never had to deal with such a crisis since the euro’s introduction in 1999. Once a rescue mechanism was agreed for Athens, it was only a matter of days before the funds were disbursed.
In the case of Ireland, it took weeks of market pressure driving bond yields higher — with the spread over German bunds widening — before Ireland requested help, an EU-IMF team was dispatched, and an 85 billion euro bailout was assembled.
But now financial market pressure is being brought to bear on Portugal, Spain, Belgium and Italy all at once.
Read more at: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AT26420101130
The Euro was a bluff from the beginning, because it was a hidden devaluation/inflation.
It was defined that € 1.- should be worth approx. German DM 2.-.
Some two years later, the effective (buying) value was € 1.- approx. = DM 1.- …
The value was effectively halved, and that also means that people lost half of their savings!
They could buy half as much for their money than they could before.
I haven’t kept a record of how salaries grew, but I suppose that they grew a lot slower than the prices.
On the other hand, debts were also effectively halved, from which the rich and the industry profited a lot more than the average population and the poor, who anyway didn’t really “afford” to have any big debts, since they didn’t invest in business with borrowed money, and certainly only the more wealthy invested borrowed money in real-estate.
So the Euro contributed to increasing the gap between rich and poor and reducing the “middle class” in the population.
Cf. this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fyq7WRr_GPg&feature=player_embedded#
Smoke and mirrors.
The markets will react according to opportune circumstances as usual. They’re a bunch of gambling addicts.
If only people would not react and rev up.
But that’s asking a lot.
The international financiers aren’t supernatural either.
And they have a hell of a fight amongst themselves.
Let’s see what happens.
They’re not going to ask anyone’s permission politely.
Julian Assange doesn’t bother me one way or another.
Only the Truth will set us free.
So let’s have as much of it as is proven as possible.
I have a certain suspicion …
Could it be that, e.g., the German government wants to invest money, while it is still worth more than later, in real estate and similar projects – like the “ominous” railway station in Stuttgart – rather than “wasting” it for pensions and support of the unemployed and other social needies. A trick to bind capital in something like “lasting values” rather than using it for the people?