Posted on July 10, 2015 by Bob Livingston
The banksters and eurozone oligarchs are coming down hard on Greece in order to make an example of it. They admit as much.
Sigmar Gabriel, the German vice-chancellor and economy minister, said there could be no question of writing off Greek debt because other countries that have had loans such as Ireland, Portugal and Spain would demand equal treatment.“I really hope that the Greek government — if it wants to enter negotiations again — will accept that the other 18 member states of the euro can’t just go along with an unconditional haircut,” he said.“How could we then refuse it to other member states? And what would it mean for the eurozone if we’d do it? It would blow the eurozone apart, for sure.”
In other words, the bankster Troika (the European Commission, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund) is refusing to give Greece any break in the terms of the loans it piled on the Greek government even though it knew Greece was in trouble when it piled the loans on in the first place. Like Mafia “collectors,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem are putting the heat on the Greek people, threatening to break their knees if they don’t pay up.
Greeks must accept the banksters’ terms or else.
When Cyprus hit this point two years ago, the banksters raided the depositsheld by the citizens. The predatory banksters take no prisoners.
Now we know that bail-ins are the law of all the lands. Deposits aren’t safe. Forget government guarantees. Deposits are funds for the banksters to raid.
The Greek people are recognizing what’s coming down the pike and have turned to spending on tangible assets. In Austrian School parlance it’s called the “crack-up boom,” in which a critical mass of people concludes that their government is actively trying to devalue its currency. Consumers respond by spending their money on real things that hold value before governments can reduce the money’s worth.
Greek businesses are reporting a run on ovens, refrigerators, dishwashers and cars. The people want to use their savings before the banksters can get their hands on them. Businesses are using their reserves and paying employees in cash and buying equipment they don’t yet need but can’t be seized, like deposits held in accounts can be.
The Trioka’s plan is for more crushing debt on longer terms and Trioka-enforced austerity on the people in the form of higher taxes and cuts in pensions. If that plan is the result, Greeks will remain slaves to the banksters.
Austerity is in the future for the Greek people. But they should decide what form it takes.
If the Trioka won’t forgive a portion of Greece’s debt, the Greeks should tell the Trioka to pound sand, default on its obligations, and move on. As David Stockman wrote in February, Greece should announce it’s leaving the euro and set the terms of how much if its obligations it will pay.
Moreover, after a 2-3 year debt service suspension needed to stabilize its economy and public finances, it can live with a modest primary budget surplus for years to come in order to devote perhaps 4% of GDP to servicing its $175 billion of legitimate external debt. Except this time the required fiscal surpluses would be thrashed out in the democratic forum where the very idea of rule by the people first arose.Likewise, Greece can re-establish its own central bank, currency and international credit if it is willing to abide by a second cardinal rule. Namely, its reconstituted central bank must be constitutionally prohibited from monetizing the debt of the Greek state or receiving government subsidies after its initial capitalization to create a Drachma based monetary system.Let its central bank own RMB, USD and gold. Under that central banking arrangement, domestic interest rates would be set by market forces. Reckless printing of Drachma to buy any of these global assets would be self-evidently futile — even to central bankers. And a financial system and currency which strictly shackled its central bankers would in no time become a haven for domestic savers and capital inflows, alike.
It’s the only way for the Greek people to ever be free.
Moreover, the Greek situation should serve as a lesson to Americans. Get your money out of the banks. Leave only enough there to cover your bills. Hold a couple of months of cash in reserves.
Government money is not value and it is not a store of wealth. It is in truth a confidence game that confiscates wealth and labor and impoverishes the people over time.
Governments do not like for you to know that real money is gold and silver and is an asset that you should own, so I’m telling you so you’ll know before it’s too late.
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