Monday, March 25, 2013

Paging Mr. Berra

                
Judging by the Cyprus bail out deal you'd think the financial market just won the Powerball lottery twice in a row. Not so fast Mr Gotrocks.  Articles plastered across the financial news tout a last minute bail out deal. All well and good for those who only read the headline and not the meat of the articles. We heard last week that depositors would take a 10% haircut on their accounts which caused the beginnings of a run on the banks. When that idea didn't fly it was back to the drawing board and the new plan calls for even more suffering with a proposed plan of anywhere between 20 and 40%. So you didn't like the plan of the bully punching you in the face? Well then this time he'll kick you in the nuts too. How do you like them apples?

But seriously this was all caused by several factors. Cyprus was in great financial shape just a few years ago but when it got sucked into the black whole of the housing and derivatives market then the picture turned bleak very fast. The nations' debt was a mere 2% of GDP back in 2004 jumping to 6% a few years later. Russia is said to have some 20 billion in investments which might be puzzling considering the main source of income for the nation like Greece is tourism. Ah but it was those tax breaks that sank the ship. Cyprus became a tax haven for wealthy Russians looking for a place to hide their gold and cash. And since Cyprus is a part of the Euro zone it can't print it's own money to stabilize it's markets should things go awry which they did. And the irony is not lost in that it was Germany in the 1930s who faced the very same situation only the names were changed.

So as the Wall Street boys pop their corks on the bubbly the game isn't over yet. What would you do knowing your bank statement would be 20% or more lighter if and when the banks open again? And limiting the amount of withdrawals to 100 euros isn't going to make for a healthy economy any time soon. Most food and rent is more than that these days. 

The underlying plan is to separate the assets of the two largest banks and creating a good bank and a bad bank. We've seen this before and it's the same story. The banksters get the assets while the taxpayers get the debt. Focus on the assets and forget about the debt because after all it's been sequestered into a bad bank. And yet again it's privatize the profits and socialize the losses. These crooks must think we're stupid.     

10 comments:

Ole Phat Stu said...

JFYI:
The €100 withdrawal limit is PER DAY.
So that's like €3,000 per month.
Most of us could live with that.

BBC said...

I for one don't give a shit what they do. The way I see things is that the money players are what drives the worlds economies and banks and it's all only about money and power to them.

So if a country is hurting I suppose it can hurt them but it all has never had much of an effect on me and I've watched countries go to hell all my life, I don't care if they go to hell, the fucking rich can worry about it but I'm not letting them suck me into playing along with them and helping them pay for it all.

I've never had much money in banks and investments and I seem to still be doing okay. And if this country tanks we are all in the same boat, I'm just better able to deal with it than most folks.

Get out and enjoy some of that sunshine.

BBC said...

€3,000 per month.... Well, I do just fine on less than 1000 a month U.S. funds.

Tom Harper said...

When the next meltdown happens, Yogi Berra will be ready with "Deja vu all over again."

Anonymous said...

Somebody git a rope.....

Demeur said...

Yeah Billy you'll be fine with everything until the bank is closed and the ATMs are empty.

And Stu only a few ATMs are operational in Cyprus. Most have been drained when this hit. They'll be fine you say? I don't think so.

I'm with Anon "get a rope".

BBC said...

A rope can be handy for lots of things, like hanging up a deer to skin it.

S.W. Anderson said...

This kind of thing will end when a very large number of very big banks are forced to eat their losses and go under or be taken apart by governments. And -- this is the crucial part -- when a whole lot of banksters wind up doimg 12-20 well-deserved years in prison.

BBC said...

I agree with S.W. Stop bailing those fucking crooks out.

The Blog Fodder said...

It was the banks put Hitler in power because they felt he would be most likely to pay the war reparations assigned them. They refused to bail out Germany and let the economy go, inflation run wild etc. As soon as Hitler was in power they ante'd up and stabilized everything.