Financial
Even the Germans see the looming disaster. Even as claims of economic recovery rebound in the Euro-echo chamber we note Greek youth unemployment exceeding fifty percent and similar news in many parts of Europe. What happened to a world where young men could mow lawns or work at the local grocery store after school? Are young women still allowed to operate lemonade stands, or "baby sit"? With the ongoing demise of whole business sectors where…
How are things in Egypt these days? Aside from the growing student uprising nothing much unless of course you count inflation of more than 7% per month. The Morsi government has its hands full with trying to force Egyptians into the Muslim Brotherhood mold while maintaining some vestige of free enterprise (which was somewhat tolerated by Mubarak). There is no off switch in Morsi's hands that will stop the juggernaut. Look for price controls and…
Spain's agony deepens as the unemployment rate climbs and hunger stalks the nation.Argentina's reflections on the Spanish wreckage are more than just cautionary. They are echoes of suffering from those who also know suffering from the same disease. The Argentine resonance and warning should echo around the globe. Spain is a canary and the air in our global mine is growing more foul. It should by now be apparent to all that governmental tampering with…
The model of Cypriot pain should be carefully studied since the financial contagion is spreading like a disease across the planet. Desperation has infiltrated every level of society. Pensions have been discontinued, reduced, and delayed. Salaries have been cut for government workers and the diminution of commerce ripples down to the most fundamental businesses. The Cypriot devolution accelerates, sucking whole communities into its yawning vortex. What about Malta, Slovenia, Slovakia, Luxembourg? May God help those…
As Italy struggles to form and retain a new government, we note the increased rate of Italian small business failure. Will this somehow be counterbalanced by new central government policy, or will continuation of failed policy remain? We can only speculate that in light of the Cypriot "job", everyone had better watch out for whatever they have saved or borrowed against. If Europe is recovering, what do these numbers mean? "Even in…
It is now revealed (to everyone's surprise we are sure) that other countries are contemplating the “Cyprus maneuver” to temporarily balance their books. Spain, Italy, Portugal and others have been quietly borrowing emergency funds from the EU and “haricut” discussions are in progress. We have gathered several news snippets from various EU news sources, and present them for our readers' review. Where there is smoke, fire is certainly nearby. Can you smell it? We will…
Something very unpleasant indeed has been stirred up by “investigative journalists” and is now hitting the global fan. We have sampled articles from press around the world to illustrate the reach and depth of this revelation. It appears that many thousands of individuals across the globe have chosen to park money in offshore tax havens, possibly with the intent of evading taxes in their own lands. For those readers who chuckle to themselves at the…
The EU has now found a paradigm that appears to work. Forcibly take a sufficient amount of money from individuals to cover that debts that were incurred by their elected officials. One might argue the morality of this course by suggesting that to take money from citizens to cover their country's debts is only right since they elected the politicians who bankrupted their country in the first place. One might also argue that politicians of…
The Cypriot banks (and citizens it appears) are friendless and forlorn as the EU's weight comes to bear. We can have nothing but sympathy for the unimaginable chaos awaiting residents (and foreign depositors) in the Cypriot banking system. Whatever their sins, and there are sure to be a few, this “haircut” amounts to “grand theft international”. Perhaps a computer game of the same name will soon hit the streets. We predict that the money which…