Allianz Global Investors Capital

The Canadian Patriot Act Arrives: Ottawa To Give Security Agencies More “Detention And Surveillance” Powers

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– The Canadian Patriot Act Arrives: Ottawa To Give Security Agencies More “Detention And Surveillance” Powers (ZeroHedge, Oct 23, 2014):

Stop us when the flashbacks to September 11, and its Patriot Act aftermath, become too close for comfort.

As Reuters reported moments ago, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Thursday the government will expedite plans to give more powers of detention and surveillance to security agencies in the wake of an attack on Parliament.

“They need to be much strengthened, and I assure you, Mr. Speaker, that work which is already under way will be expedited,” he told the House of Commons, one day after a gunman launched an attack on Parliament and was shot dead.

On the other hand, instead of giving the government even more authoritarian power to do with civilian liberties as it sees fit and appropriate, perhaps the government’s agencies could have simply done their work better under the existing laws and regulations, especially after the Sky News report that the Ottawa shooter, Canadian born Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, was already on a terror watch list.

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PIMCO, The World’s Biggest Bond Fund, Expects Greece And Other European Economies To Default – Allianz Global Investors Capital: Greek Default ‘Inevitable’

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– Greek cabinet approves austerity budget (Telegraph, June 22, 2011):

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Pimco, the world’s biggest bond fund, shrugged off last night’s vote of confidence in the Greek government warning that it expects Greece and other European economies to default on their debts to resolve their problems.

“For the next three years, we’re going to see different economies work out different problems. For European economies, especially Greece, it would be through default,” Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive of Pimco, said in Taipei on Wednesday in a video conference.

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“Nothing has been done to enhance growth,” he said. “No single (Greek) indicator has shown strength. They are afraid a restructuring would hurt European banks.”

However, he doubted a Greek default could trigger another global financial crisis: “Ireland, Portugal, Italy and Spain would have to be involved. But Greece is too small in terms of economic impact.”

Horacio Valeiras, chief investment officer of fund firm Allianz Global Investors Capital (AGIC), predicted that Ireland and Portugal, countries that also received financial bailouts in the wake of the global credit crisis, will have to restructure their debts.

“We are not investing in Greece, Ireland, Spain and Portugal,” he said at the press briefing. He sees default in Greece as “inevitable”.

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California-based Pimco (Pacific Investment Management Company), is based in California and is the world’s biggest bond fund manager with nearly $1.3 trillion in assets under management.