Euro – Page 11 – Infinite Unknown

Max Keiser on Greece: ‘The IMF is a Financial Mafia’

May 14, 2010April 28, 2010 by Infinite

Don’t miss:

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, on April 26, 2010:

– Greek Junk Contagion Presses EU to Broaden Bailout – ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet at CFR (April 26, 2010)

Translation via Helen Skopis of the recent interview with Max Keiser in Proto Thema newspaper in Athens.

Article in Proto Thema online – April 23, 2010 By Vassili Daliani

“The IMF is a Financial Mafia”

At a time when Greece is being dragged through the mud by the international press, Max Keiser, one of the most radical and outspoken financial analysts, stands by our side and talks openly about a “financial mafia” and “financial terrorists” that drove this country to its destruction.

As a former Wall Street broker for almost 25 years, he knows how the financial system operates. Max Keiser had foreseen the financial collapse of Iceland, he asks for the arrest of Goldman Sachs bankers and encourages Greeks to hold a referendum on whether the country should turn to the International Monetary Fund.

He is a presenter of financial shows on major worldwide TV networks, including the BBC, the English Al Jazeera and Russia Today. Max Keiser told “THEMA” that the government’s measures are unsubstantial maintaining that the IMF will impose the real measures. He believes that Greece is a country that will be sacrificed by the international markets and urges the Greek people to fight this prospective.

PT: Is the International Monetary Fund Greece’s only solution, or are there other alternatives?

MK: The only solution for Greece is to arrest the Goldman Sachs bankers immediately and all those involved in the fabrication of Greek economic data in 2000, when you became a member of the eurozone. The next step is to nationalize all banks like Sweden did in 1993. The International Monetary Fund is that last thing you need. You will lose your sovereignty. It exercises terrorism. You will be raped in such a way, that it will be the worst pain you have ever felt.

PT: There are those who believe that the IMF is not the “bad wolf” but the only solution for Greece

MK: If someone burns down your house in order to sell you charcoal, would you consider this logical? That is exactly what Goldman Sachs did to the Greek economy. They burned you down like arsonists and then they tell you not to worry they’ll give you charcoal. It’s outrageous. The IMF has said that it can provide Greece with help. The Wall Street investment hedge funds are attacking Greece’s bond market so that the Greek economy collapses. And they’re doing this for a simple reason; to force the Greek people to ask for help from the IMF. The IMF will say, we came because you asked for our help. Wall Street bankers work very closely with the IMF. It’s a financial mafia and the hedge funds are the assassins. Research conducted on Goldman Sachs in the USA and in Europe show how big a mafia it is. They are involved in illegal activity throughout the world.

PT: Where is the European Union? How would you explain the stance of France and Germany?

MK: Germany is on the side of the Wall Street bankers. Germany doesn’t care about Greece or the euro. The euro replaced a cheap capital in order to uphold competitiveness in its export market. As long as Greece is a problem, the euro falls, which is something that is in Germany’s interest.

The European Union and the euro are competing with the dollar. Unfortunately, the crisis will destroy the euro. The financial terrorists on Wall Street intend to destroy Portugal, and other countries, after Greece. The destruction of the euro will allow the dollar to be the only international currency, the only fiscal reserve. If a country wants to buy petroleum, it must purchase dollars first. If a country wants to buy copper, it must purchase dollars first. Because these and many other commodities are only sold in dollars. This means that the U.S. is making a continuous profit. The whole world is obliged to buy dollars. The euro threatened the empire of the dollar. It was naturally not appreciated by Wall Street bankers. They are using the crisis to destroy the euro. The Greek people must stand up to the bankers, just like the Icelandic people did.

Greek Junk Contagion Presses EU to Broaden Bailout – ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet at CFR (April 26, 2010)

April 28, 2010 by Infinite

At the end of the following article famous investor Marc Faber had to say this:

“The best would be to kick out Greece and the countries that abuse the system,” Faber said in an interview. “They didn’t have the fiscal discipline that was essentially imposed by EU.”

It seems that there are more important things for ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet to do right now than to speak at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, unless you know that those elitists at Bilderberg, CFR and the Trilateral Commission, that rule the governments, the central banks, the corporations and the media have created this entire financial crisis.

The elite is looting the people in the US, Europe and everywhere else.

The elite is bankrupting the people until they beg for world government and the New World Order.

What could Greece do?

– The Solution For Greece (Max Keiser, Matt Taibbi and Catherine Austin Fitts)

Message to the people of Greece: Avoid the IMF like hell, because the IMF is hell.

The people in Greece seem to have a much better understanding of what is happening to them than the people in the US and the UK.

Greek Junk Contagion Presses EU to Broaden Bailout (Update2)

Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, speaks at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, on April 26, 2010. (Bloomberg)

April 28 (Bloomberg) — Europe’s worsening debt crisis is intensifying pressure on policy makers to widen a bailout package beyond Greece after a cut in the nation’s rating to junk drove up borrowing costs from Italy to Portugal and Ireland.

As German Chancellor Angela Merkel delays approval of a 45 billion-euro ($59 billion) Greek rescue, the crisis is spreading. Portugal’s benchmark stock index yesterday fell the most since the aftermath of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s collapse, while the extra yield that investors demand to hold Italian and Irish debt over bunds remained near yesterday’s 10-month high.

Prof. Nouriel Roubini: ‘In A Few Days Time, There Might Not Be A Eurozone For Us To Discuss’

April 28, 2010 by Infinite

‘Spain is worse than Greece.’

Prof. Nouriel Roubini

– Roubini on Greece (Reuters):

Meanwhile, Tony Barber has already come to the conclusion that as far as Greece is concerned, “the political conditions for extra financial help from Germany just do not exist”.

Nouriel, of course, takes that kind of thinking to its logical conclusion, and kicked off the panel by announcing that it was just in time: “in a few days,” he said, “there might not be a eurozone for us to discuss.” There’s no way that Greece can implement the 10% spending cut it needs to do in order to stop its debt spiralling out of control at current interest rates — and even if it did, the economic effects would be disastrous.

Nouriel’s base case, then, is Argentina 2001: after all, Greece has a much higher debt-to-GDP ratio, much higher deficit-to-GDP ratio, and much higher current-account deficit than Argentina had back then. And if that’s the base case, there’s no way that Greek debt should be trading anywhere near its current levels.

Of course, this being Nouriel, it goes downhill from there: if Greece is worse than Argentina, he says, then Spain is worse than Greece. Its housing bubble and bust has left the banking sector much weaker than Greece’s; its unemployment situation, especially with the under-30 crowd, is much worse than Greece’s; and the cost of any Spain bailout would be so much more enormous than the cost of a Greek bailout as to be almost unthinkable. The only thing that Spain has going for it is that it isn’t quite at the edge of the abyss yet; if it gets its political act together and implements tough fiscal and structural reforms now, it can save itself. But clearly no one saw that happening, given Spain’s political history over the past 20 years.

Apr 27, 2010 22:14 EDT

– Standard & Poor’s Downgrades Greece’s Credit Rating to Junk (Bloomberg)

Greece: Bondholders May Lose $265 Billion as S&P Sees 70% Loss

April 27, 2010 by Infinite

– Standard & Poor’s Downgrades Greece’s Credit Rating to Junk (Bloomberg)

April 28 (Bloomberg) — Holders of Greek bonds may lose as much as 200 billion euros ($265 billion) should the government default, according to Standard & Poor’s.

The ratings firm cut Greece three steps yesterday to BB+, or below investment grade, and said bondholders may recover only 30 percent and 50 percent for their investments if the nation fails to make debt payments. Europe’s most-indebted country relative to the size of its economy has about 296 billion euros of bonds outstanding, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

The downgrade to junk status led investors to dump Greece’s bonds, driving yields on two-year notes to as high as 19 percent from 4.6 percent a month ago as concern deepened the nation may delay or reduce debt payments. Prime Minister George Papandreou is grappling with a budget deficit of almost 14 percent of gross domestic product.

“It’s now not just market sentiment, but a top rating agency sees Greek paper as junk,” said Padhraic Garvey, head of investment-grade strategy at ING Groep NV in Amsterdam.

Before yesterday, Greece’s bonds had lost about 17 percent this year, according to Bloomberg/EFFAS indexes. The 4.3 percent security due March 2012 fell 6.54, or 65.4 euros per 1,000-euro face amount, to 78.32.

Standard & Poor’s Downgrades Greece’s Credit Rating to Junk

April 27, 2010 by Infinite

George Papandreou, Greece’s prime minister, speaks at a press conference following the European Union Summit in Brussels, on March 26, 2010. (Bloomberg)

April 27 (Bloomberg) — Greece’s credit rating was cut three steps to junk by Standard and Poor’s, the first time a euro member has lost its investment grade since the currency’s 1999 debut. The euro weakened and stock markets throughout the region plunged.

Greece was lowered to BB+ from BBB+ by S&P, which also warned that bondholders could recover as little as 30 percent of their initial investment if the country restructures its debt. The move, which puts Greek debt on a par with bonds issued by Azerbaijan and Egypt, came minutes after the rating company reduced Portugal by two steps to A- from A+.

The turmoil comes as European Union policy makers struggle to agree on measures to ease the panic over swelling budget deficits. Leaders of the 16 euro nations may hold a summit after the Greek government’s decision last week to tap a 45 billion- euro ($60 billion) emergency-aid package failed to reassure investors, a European diplomat and Spanish official said.

“The markets are demanding their pound of flesh and want everything to be signed, sealed and delivered as of yesterday,” said David Owen, chief European financial economist at Jefferies International Ltd. in London.

The euro fell 1.3 percent to $1.3215 as of 2:58 p.m. in New York. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slid 3.1 percent to 261.65 points.

Jane Burgermeister: Polish Plane Crash Truth Video

April 25, 2010 by Infinite

I recommend to watch the entire video.

Added: 19. April 2010

Greece Faces Bond Rout as Budget Deficit Worsens, Greek Workers Strike

April 22, 2010 by Infinite

– CDS Traders Are Betting That France Is Next Up For A Sovereign Shakedown (As Are Spain And Portugal) (ZeroHedge)

– Q&A With Billionaire Jim Chanos Part I: ‘Greece Is A Prelude’ (Business Insider)

Protestors stand in front of the Greek Parliament in Athens, on April 22, 2010. (Bloomberg)

April 22 (Bloomberg) — The European Union said Greece’s budget deficit last year was worse than previously forecast and may top 14 percent of gross domestic product, fueling investor concern about a default and sending its bond yields soaring.

The EU’s statistics office said Greece’s deficit was 13.6 percent of GDP last year, topping the government’s two-week-old forecast of 12.9 percent and the EU’s November prediction of 12.7 percent. “Uncertainties” about the quality of the Greek data may lead to a further revision of as much of 0.5 percentage point, Luxembourg-based Eurostat said.

Greece’s benchmark 10-year bond yield rose to 8.49 percent, the highest since 1998 and more than twice the comparable German rate. The cost of insuring government debt against default climbed to a record today.

Greece’s widening deficit and questions about the accuracy of its economic data have undermined the credibility and enforcement of the EU’s budget rules and contributed to the 6.9 percent slide in the euro this year. The EU and the International Monetary Fund offered Greece as much as 45 billion euros ($60 billion) in emergency loans to assure investors the country can make its debt payments and shore up the euro.

Breaking the Rules

“They have played against the rules and now they’re getting the bill,” said Sylvain Broyer, chief European economist at Natixis in Frankfurt. “It’s a very uncomfortable situation for the Greek government. Greece has very much benefited from the currency region, but ignored the rules.”

Portugal, Not Greece, Poses The Greater Existential Threat To Europe’s Monetary Union

April 19, 2010 by Infinite

Must Germany bail out Portugal too?

The historic part of Lisbon, the Portugeuse capital, recreated after an earthquake devastated the City in 1755

The long-drawn saga in Athens can perhaps be deemed a case apart. Greece lied. Its budget deficit was egregious at 16pc of GDP last year on a cash basis. It wasted its EMU windfall, the final chance to bring public debt back from the brink of a compound spiral.

You cannot blame the euro for this, although EMU undoubtedly created a risk-free illusion that lured both Athens and creditors deeper into the trap – and now prevents a solution. Nor would an orderly default under IMF guidance along Uruguayan lines necessarily imperil Europe’s banks. The Bundesbank hints that letting Greece go would prove a healthier outcome for EMU in the long run, upholding discipline.

However, Portugal did not cheat (much) and did not start as an arch-debtor. It did mishandle the run-up to EMU in the 1990s, failing to offset a fall in interest rates from 16pc to 3pc with fiscal tightening. Boom-bust ensued. But that was a long time ago. Portugal has since settled down to a decade of sobriety. The reward never came.

Brussels admitted last week that Portugal’s external accounts have switched from credit in the mid-1990s to a deficit of 109pc of GDP. This has been caused by the incentive structures of EMU itself. “The more broadened access to credit induced a significant reduction in the saving rate, while consumption kept growing faster than GDP. This development led to an increase in Portuguese indebtedness,” it said.

The IMF’s January report – worth examining for its horrifying charts – said “The large fiscal and external imbalances that arose from the boom in the run-up to adoption of the euro have not been unwound, resulting in the economy becoming heavily indebted and growing banking system vulnerabilities. The longer the imbalance persists, the greater the risk the adjustment will be sudden and disruptive.” The IMF noted the “heavy reliance” of banks on foreign wholesale funding, equal to 40pc of total assets.

The No.1 Trend Forecaster Gerald Celente on ObamaCare, Dollar Devaluation And Gold

April 12, 2010April 12, 2010 by Infinite

Just in case you think what Gerald Celente says here is far-fetched:

– ‘All bets are off’ if US under WMD attack: Clinton (AFP):

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Sunday the United States could not rule out using nuclear weapons if it came under biological attack, saying in that case “all bets are off.”

“If we can prove that a biological attack originated in a country that attacked us, then all bets are off,” Clinton said in an interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

This is your government preparing you for the next false flag terrorist attack.

The next US target will (most probably) be Iran:

– US shipping hundreds of powerful bunker buster bombs for coming attack on Iran

An attack on Iran will start WWIII.

“The Worst Is Yet To Come.”

1 of 2:

Date: 11th Apr 10

“We Believe Gold 2000.”

2 of 2:

Date: 11th Apr 10

More from Gerald Celente:

Peter Schiff on ObamaCare

April 12, 2010 by Infinite

1 of 2:

Date: 11th Apr 10

2 of 2:

Date: 11th Apr 10

Greece Bailout: EU Governments Offer 45 Billion Euro Rescue Package

April 11, 2010 by Infinite

Not one day to early:

– GAME OVER – Greek Curve Goes Apeshit: Bloomberg Reports 3 Month Bid At 21.3%

– Greece: They’re Done

The next candidates are Portugal, Spain, Ireland and Italy.

And then the euro and the entire EU will fail.

April 11 (Bloomberg) — European governments offered debt-burdened Greece a rescue package worth as much as 45 billion euros ($61 billion) at below-market interest rates as they try to end its fiscal crisis and restore confidence in the euro.

Forced into action by a surge in Greek borrowing costs to an 11-year high, euro-region finance ministers said they would offer as much as 30 billion euros in three-year loans in 2010 at around 5 percent. That’s less than the current three-year Greek bond yield of 6.98 percent. Another 15 billion euros would come from the International Monetary Fund.

“This is a step of clarification that markets are waiting for — it shows there is money behind this,” Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker told reporters in Brussels today after chairing the ministers’ conference call. “The initiative for activating the mechanism rests with the Greek government.”

With the euro facing the sternest test since its debut in 1999, the 16-nation bloc maneuvered around rules barring the bailout of debt-stricken countries, aiming to prevent Greece’s financial plight from spreading and to mute concerns about the currency’s viability. Germany also abandoned an earlier demand that Greece pay market rates.

Gold Hits All-Time High In Sterling And Euro Terms

April 10, 2010April 10, 2010 by Infinite

– Gold hits 2010 high as Greece fear boosts buying (Reuters):

(Reuters) – Gold prices rose to their highest level this year on Friday, above $1,160 an ounce, as a downgrade of Greece’s debt renewed fears over the euro zone’s financial stability, prompting a flight to safer investments.

The metal ended the week about 3 percent higher, which marked the biggest gain since the week of January 10.

Got gold?

British gold investors have made a profit of 34pc since August last year (AFP)

In dollar terms the gold price is about 5pc below its record, but the weakness of the pound and the euro against the American currency means that for investors in Britain and the eurozone the precious metal has never been so valuable.

The price of an ounce of gold has reached record levels of £754 and €865 in recent trading, and the dollar price has reached a three-month high of $1,157.

In August last year the gold price in sterling terms was £562, so British gold investors have made a profit of 34pc, compared with a rise in the dollar price of 23pc over the same period.

Germany’s Bundesbank: Greek Rescue as a Threat to Economic Stability and Probably Illegal; Calls IMF ‘Inflation Maximising Fund’

April 9, 2010 by Infinite

– The Solution For Greece (Max Keiser, Matt Taibbi and Catherine Austin Fitts)

Germany’s Bundesbank has fired a warning shot at Chancellor Angela Merkel, attacking the joint EU-IMF rescue plan for Greece as a threat to economic stability and probably illegal.

The Bundesbank, headed by ultra-hawk Axel Weber, said the decision to bring in the IMF makes matters worse, arguing that the EU would impose tougher budgetary discipline. Photo: Reuters

Leaked extracts from an internal report appeared in the Frankfurter Rundschau and may have contributed to a fresh day of mayhem for Greek bonds. Investors were already digesting reports that Greek residents had shifted €10bn (£8.8bn) abroad over the first two months of the year.

The yield on two-year Greek bonds surged by 136 basis points in early trading to 8.3pc, up from 5.2pc last week. The market stabilised later as Athens announced a 40pc cut in the budget deficit over the first quarter, suggesting that austerity measures are bearing fruit.

The Bundesbank document offers a withering critique of the deal agreed by EU leaders two weeks ago, saying the plan had been cobbled together without consulting central banks and will lead to monetisation of debt. “It brings problems in respect to stability policy that should not be underestimated.”

The joint rescue between the IMF and the EU would turn the Bundesbank into a “money-printing machine” for the purchase of Greek bonds, according to Rundschau. This would breach the EU’s ‘no-bail clause’.

Hans Redeker, currency chief at BNP Paribas, said the report greatly strengthens the hand of EMU critics in Germany. A group of professors is already itching to file a complaint at the constitutional court to block the Greek rescue. “This reduces Merkel’s room for manoeuvre to zero,” he said.

The Bundesbank, headed by ultra-hawk Axel Weber, said the decision to bring in the IMF makes matters worse, arguing that the EU would impose tougher budgetary discipline.

The report mocked the IMF as the “Inflation Maximising Fund”, saying the body had gone soft under Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a French socialist and Keynesian. It has shifted focus from fiscal cleansing to “growth-oriented” financial policies. “Currency reserves from the Bundesbank cannot plausibly be made available for such purposes,” it said.

Greek Debt Crisis Deepens; Investors Rush to Sell Greek Bonds

April 9, 2010 by Infinite

– The Solution For Greece (Max Keiser, Matt Taibbi and Catherine Austin Fitts)

Market Turmoil Hits The Euro And Adds to Fears of Economic Collapse in Greece

Some European leaders, including Angela Merkel of Germany, have said that Greece should have to borrow money at market rates. (Photo: EPA)

The Greek debt crisis deepened today, despite reassurances from European Union officials that the country was not on the brink of default.

Financial markets ignored European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet’s comments that “a default is not an issue for Greece,” and continued their bond sell-off for a third day.

The yield on Greek bonds – which the country needs to pay to fund its schools, hospitals and other public spending – rose to 7.35%, almost twice as much as Britain’s. This puts more pressure on Greece, making its financing practically unsustainable. Investors want more details about a potential bailout package, something that the EU has so far failed to provide, dragging the crisis into its fourth month.

“It’s like game theory,” said Michael Krautzberger, head of European fixed-income at Blackrock, whose team manages $50bn (£33bn) in bond funds. “At the beginning of the crisis, the EU didn’t want to give help too quickly because they wanted to pressure Greece to cut their budget, but now we have reached a point where it’s clear they need the help. For a few weeks, we thought maybe they don’t need the help, now we have passed that point, the yields are now too high to stay too long.”

The premium that investors demand to buy Greek bonds soared to 440 basis points over German bunds, the highest since the euro was created a decade ago. The cost of insuring $10m of Greek debt leapt to a record $470,000, from $410,000 on Wednesday, before settling back at about $435,000, according to Markit data. That is more than four times the price paid for Britain’s debt protection.

The turmoil sent the euro and European equity markets lower, as a collapse of the Greek economy could have a domino effect on other southern European countries, such as Portugal. The euro weakened to $1.328, although it recovered slightly after Trichet’s comments, trading near $1.334. All major European stock indexes lost about 1%.

“Greece continues to look like a slow-motion train crash,” Steve Barrow, analyst at Standard Bank, said. “The crash has not occurred yet but it is coming. Efforts to avoid a crash seem doomed to failure, whether it is emergency loans or some other initiative. As the crisis plays out, so bond spreads are likely to widen much further and the euro fall much more.”

EU Commission ready to propose IMF style rescue fund for euro zone

March 8, 2010 by Infinite

A rescue fund to bailout (intentionally) incompetent governments, that have bailed out greedy, (intentionally) incompetent banksters with taxpayer money.

All of that taxpayer money ultimately landed in the hands of the elite criminals, that control the governments, the central banks and banks (and almost all corporations) and that have planned this entire financial crisis.

And as solution to the crisis will be the New World Order.

See also:

– EU considers creating IMF-style rescue fund (Washington Post)

– Euro Monetary Fund Has Promise, Problems (Wall Street Journal)

– Brussels ready to back eurozone monetary fund (Financial Times)

(Updates with details, quotes, background)

BRUSSELS, March 8 (Reuters) – The European Union’s executive is considering a new rescue fund for euro zone countries to prevent future financial crises like that in Greece, a spokesman said on Monday.

“Basically the (European) Commission is ready to propose such a European instrument for assistance which will require the support of all euro area member states,” Commission spokesman Amadeu Altafaj told a daily news briefing.

“There is a clear sense of determination to improve economic governance of the euro area.”

The idea of creating a European monetary fund was floated at the weekend by German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, who said he favoured a body that commanded “the experience of the International Monetary Fund and similar executive powers”.

Altafaj stressed it was too early to say whether the fund would be just a financial instrument or a new institutional body with a separate staff and budget.

“We are in very open discussions at this point in time, considering ways and means to be more effective both on the intervention side … but also the preventive side,” he said.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy: EU Must Back Greece or Jeopardize Euro

March 7, 2010 by Infinite

March 7 (Bloomberg) — French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the European Union must support Greece or risk destroying the euro as Prime Minister George Papandreou heads for Paris to lobby support for the debt-laden country.

“If we created the euro, we cannot let a country fall that is in the eurozone,” said Sarkozy yesterday before a meeting with Papandreou in Paris today. “Otherwise there was no point in creating the euro. We must support Greece because they are making an effort.”

EU leaders have so far refused to give financial aid to Greece and have ordered the government to cut its budget deficit, the EU’s highest, on its own. While Papandreou says steps taken this past week to slash the shortfall warrant more help from the EU, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said yesterday that his country is “not going to write a blank check.”

Papandreou is visiting Berlin, Paris and Washington after his government passed a 4.8 billion euro ($6.5 billion) austerity package on March 5. A poll published in To Vima newspaper today showed 51.9 percent of voters support him even after the cuts, compared with 47.5 percent who don’t.

Marc Faber: It’s Dead Simple, The Supply Of Dollars Will Grow Way Faster Than The Supply Of Gold

March 6, 2010 by Infinite

The Fed, creating the US dollar out of thin air, is the real Ponzi scheme here and not gold.

Marc Faber’s recommendation to continue buying gold every month, forever, received a full broadside on CNBC.

[At 3:45 in the video]:

“You see sir, I am a huge fan of yours, but I have a real difficulty here that I’d like you to help me out with. If I’m looking to invest in my retirement, I have a choice of investing in the American stock market, which is basically a play on change, bright people, working internationally in teams, around the world, and chasing the margin every day of their lives… OR… I can do what you’re suggesting and buy an inanimate object that sits in a dark, damp cellar somewhere, that may or may not be in short supply, may or may not glitter in the correct light, but really has no productive power. Isn’t gold the ultimate Ponzi scheme?”

Faber’s response:

“No, I don’t think it’s a Ponzi scheme, and it’s not a liability of someone else… it’s quantity cannot be increased at the same rate as you can print money… I’m not saying that the dollar will go straight away down because other currencies like the euro are even worse at the present time. But eventually if you print money, the purchasing power will lose.”

Germany Snubs Greek Aid Plea As Protesters Seize Finance Ministry in Athens

March 4, 2010 by Infinite

See also:
– Greece passes new deficit cuts to avert ‘catastrophe’ (Telegraph)

George Papandreou, Greece’s prime minister, pauses during a conference organized by The Economist in Athens, on Feb. 2, 2010. (Bloomberg)

March 4 (Bloomberg) — Greece’s pledge to deepen planned budget-deficit cuts failed to yield an offer of assistance from Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, as protesters in Athens seized the finance ministry building and blocked roads in the city center.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said a meeting tomorrow with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou won’t be “about aid commitments.” Her finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, said the third round of deficit-reduction measures this year were probably enough to convince investors to buy Greek debt.

While Papandreou is risking a backlash at home to meet European Union demands for more deficit cuts before allies even consider providing aid, Merkel is facing domestic opposition to tapping taxpayers to extend a financial lifeline to Greece.

“There would be no understanding in Germany for bailing out Greece,” Henrik Enderlein, a political economist at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, said by phone. “It’s a bit of catch-22 situation: if you give in to Greece and you put 5 billion or perhaps even 10 billion into some kind of rescue package or into some guarantees, then the German government would look irresponsible. However, if it doesn’t, then European Union leaders might put a lot of pressure on Merkel and say, look, we have to bail out Greece.”

You Could Now Be Arrested, In America, Just For Mentioning Europe’s Problems Over Dinner

March 3, 2010 by Infinite

George Soros

You know a company/country/continent is in trouble when authorities start cracking down on short bets against it.

That’s why it’s so disturbing how much heat European currency and sovereign debt speculators are getting these days.

Even the U.S. has climbed aboard the bandwagon now.

Reports of a U.S. Justice Department investigation into Soros Fund Management, SAC, and Greenlight Capital short positions against the euro broke last week.

Yet now the speculator clamp down is evolving into something completely terrifying. Apparently, it could now be considered collusion if you simply share economic opinions over dinner:

Euro-Denominated Gold Hits Record High

March 1, 2010 by Infinite

As the euro is plunging (and dollar by implication surging) with gold yet again flat and looking like it may turn positive for the day, gold denominated in euros just hit another all time record of €827.

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/01/2010 11:36 -0500

Source: ZeroHedge

Related information:

– China to Purchase 191.3 Tons of IMF’s Gold

– Famous Investor Marc Faber: ‘Buy Farmland And Gold’ – ‘Prepare For a Dirty War’

– George Soros not only doubled his gold investment, but also bought call options

– George Soros More Than Doubled Gold ETF Stake in 4th Quarter

– Fake Gold Bars in Fort Knox! What’s Next? The IMF sold Gold plated tungsten bars to India ?!

Societe Generale chief strategist Albert Edwards: Greek bailout only delays ‘inevitable’ Eurozone breakup

February 13, 2010February 13, 2010 by Infinite

‘The inevitable break-up of the eurozone.’

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — A bailout of Greece will only delay the inevitable breakup of the Eurozone because the one-size-fits-all interest rate policy imposed by the euro has left several countries in the region uncompetitive, Societe Generale strategist Albert Edwards said Friday.

Edwards, a noted bear, warned about the Asian currency crisis of the late 1990s before it happened. That turmoil led to Russia’s debt default and the collapse of hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management.

“The situation in Greece following hard on the heels of similar solvency issues in Dubai feels to me very much like the Russian default and LTCM blow-up in 1998,” SocGen’s /quotes/comstock/24s!e:gle (FR:GLE 39.00, -1.26, -3.13%) Edwards wrote in a note to investors Friday.

European leaders vowed this week to save Greece from a fiscal crisis that’s pushed the country’s relative borrowing costs to the highest level since the country joined the Eurozone more than a decade ago.

“Any ‘help’ given to Greece merely delays the inevitable break-up of the eurozone,” Edwards wrote.

Such concerns have triggered a slump in the euro in recent weeks. It’s also fueled a jump in relative borrowing costs for other countries in Europe with big fiscal deficits, such as Portugal, Ireland and Spain. With Greece included, this group has become known as the PIGS.

“The problem for the PIGS is that years of inappropriately low interest rates resulted in overheating and rapid inflation, even though interest rates might well have been appropriate for the eurozone as a whole,” Edwards explained.

Fears Rise of Euro Government Default, Euro And Stock Markets Slump

February 5, 2010 by Infinite

– Germany Warns of ‘Fatal’ Eurozone Crisis, Funds Flee Greece (Telegraph):

Germany has triggered a near-panic flight from southern European debt markets by warning that there will be no EU bail-outs, even though it fears the region’s economic crisis has turned dangerous and could prove “fatal” for the entire eurozone.

Financial markets swooned Thursday amid rising fears of a government debt default in Europe, highlighting the seriousness of the challenges facing the euro currency as fiscally challenged countries like Greece, Portugal and Spain dig themselves out of debt.

After a brief respite early this week, the cost of insuring against default the debt of euro-zone members with large budget deficits jumped late Wednesday and rattled investors more broadly on Thursday.

While Greece and Portugal have felt investors’ fire in recent days, now even larger economies like Spain are starting to come under pressure from worries about their weakened public finances.

Blue-chip stock indexes in Spain and Portugal slumped nearly 6% and 5%, respectively, while an index of Europe’s 600 biggest companies dropped 2.7%. The euro sank more than 1% against the U.S. dollar to an eight-month low of $1.3727 and lost 3% of its value against the Japanese yen.

The global economic downturn, and extensive government spending to fight it, have led to major fiscal problems in Europe, especially for less-dynamic economies like Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Spain. Such countries took advantage of their membership in the 16-nation euro bloc during the boom by borrowing at unusually low interest rates. But now, investors are worried about how they will reduce yawning budget deficits that exceed 12% of their economic output in the case of Greece and Ireland.

Marc Faber on Coming Sovereign Debt Crisis: Next Countries to Default are the US, Japan and the ‘PIIGS’

January 14, 2010January 14, 2010 by Infinite

Listen to what Marc Faber exactly says in the beginning of the video.

Arab states agree on single currency modelled on the euro in latest threat to dollar hegemony

December 16, 2009 by Infinite

The Arab states of the Gulf region have agreed to launch a single currency modelled on the euro, hoping to blaze a trail towards a pan-Arab monetary union swelling to the ancient borders of the Ummayad Caliphate.

Traders at the Kuwaiti Stock Exchange

“The Gulf monetary union pact has come into effect,” said Kuwait’s finance minister, Mustafa al-Shamali, speaking at a Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) summit in Kuwait.

The move will give the hyper-rich club of oil exporters a petro-currency of their own, greatly increasing their influence in the global exchange and capital markets and potentially displacing the US dollar as the pricing currency for oil contracts. Between them they amount to regional superpower with a GDP of $1.2 trillion (£739bn), some 40pc of the world’s proven oil reserves, and financial clout equal to that of China.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar are to launch the first phase next year, creating a Gulf Monetary Council that will evolve quickly into a full-fledged central bank.

The Emirates are staying out for now – irked that the bank will be located in Riyadh at the insistence of Saudi King Abdullah rather than in Abu Dhabi. They are expected join later, along with Oman.

The Gulf states remain divided over the wisdom of anchoring their economies to the US dollar. The Gulf currency – dubbed “Gulfo” – is likely to track a global exchange basket and may ultimately float as a regional reserve currency in its own right. “The US dollar has failed. We need to delink,” said Nahed Taher, chief executive of Bahrain’s Gulf One Investment Bank.

The project is inspired by Europe’s monetary union, seen as a huge success in the Arab world. But there are concerns that the region is trying to run before it can walk.

The revolt has begun: Greece defies Europe as EMU crisis turns deadly serious

December 15, 2009 by Infinite

Euroland’s revolt has begun. Greece has become the first country on the distressed fringes of Europe’s monetary union to defy Brussels and reject the Dark Age leech-cure of wage deflation.

George Papanderou, the Greek prime minister, faces potential riots if he cuts spending to address the deficit

While premier George Papandreou offered pro forma assurances at Friday’s EU summit that Greece would not default on its €298bn (£268bn) debt, his words to reporters afterwards had a different flavour.

“Salaried workers will not pay for this situation: we will not proceed with wage freezes or cuts. We did not come to power to tear down the social state,” he said.

Were we to believe that a country in the grip anarchist riots and prey to hard-Left unions would risk its democracy to please Brussels?

Mr Papandreou has good reason to throw the gauntlet at Europe’s feet. Greece is being told to adopt an IMF-style austerity package, without the devaluation so central to IMF plans. The prescription is ruinous and patently self-defeating. Public debt is already 113pc of GDP. The Commission says it will reach 125pc by late 2010. It may top 140pc by 2012.

If Greece were to impose the draconian pay cuts under way in Ireland (5pc for lower state workers, rising to 20pc for bosses), it would deepen depression and cause tax revenues to collapse further. It is already too late for such crude policies. Greece is past the tipping point of a compound debt spiral.

Ireland may just pull it off. It starts with lower debt. It has flexible labour markets, and has shown a Scandinavian discipline. Mr Papandreou faces circumstances more akin to those of Argentine leaders in 2001, when they tried to cut wages in the mistaken belief that ditching the dollar-peg would prove calamitous. Buenos Aires erupted in riots. The police lost control, killing 27 people. President De la Rua was rescued from the Casa Rosada by an air force helicopter. The peg collapsed, setting in train the biggest sovereign default in history.

Economists waited for the sky to fall. It refused to do so. Argentina achieved Chinese growth for half a decade: 8.8pc in 2003, 9pc in 2004, 9.2pc in 2005, 8.5pc in 2006, and 8.7pc in 2007.