You know the economy's bad when you go to a store and are accosted by no less then three sales clerks as soon as you walk in the door. Had I stepped back to the 1950s or what? "Let me guide you right over to the aisle where you want to be", said the older clerk with the store apron as he's handing me the newest discount flyer. Didn't know if I looked like J. Gotrocks with hundreds hanging out of me pockets. The cashiers stood in eager anticipation kind of like sharks at feeding time. "And don't forget we have a sale next week and since your a "preferred" customer you get to come in a day early and there's a 20% discount for everything you can squeeze into a bag" says her. She did just about everything but preform oral sex on me before I was out the door. All this and I only bought $3 worth of stuff.
In Greece life for the common folk isn't looking too good. The massive tax increases and cuts to pensions are taking their toll. As I reported in an earlier blog post a while back the Greek government had imposed a 29% tax that was tied to their electric bill. Don't pay it and your power was cut off. Now I'm hearing that the total tax increase is up to 40% of income along with a 50% cut in pensions. Greeks being resourceful people have turned to burning wood for heat which has lead to air pollution alerts in the city of Athens and elsewhere in addition to tree poachers. The going joke in Athens these days: When asked about a pile of furniture in the corner the homeowner responds "That's my retirement plan".
Greece is set to sell T-bills on Feb 12 not to get the country rolling again but only to roll over existing debt. The banksters buy the bonds and use them as collateral to draw liquidity from the central bank. In short that means less money supply in the economy which is great for the banksters as that raises interest rates but causes prices to rise on everything else. Now you know what it means to throw gasoline on a fire, economically speaking.
If that did make you pause and wonder things in the UK are not much better. A bill that just passed parliament imposes a "bed room tax". That's right anyone having a spare bedroom now gets their tax credit on the household cut by about $100 a month. Sounds much like our mortgage deductions here in the U.S. But the kicker is that now the government expects people to just move to a smaller place when there is a shortage of housing. The other solution suggested was to ask for more hours at work to cover that cost. Yeah right! First thing I've ever heard out of a supervisors' mouth is "there's no overtime here!"
My suggestion to them was to start knocking out some walls and make a couple of one bedroom flats but they informed me that the authorities inspect places once each year. This program was set up to punish the working poor because this is subsidized housing we're talking about. Nothing like kicking a guy when he's down eh? Can't be denyin the rich banksters their cushy offices or their spare vacation homes now could we?
And here's the perfect gift tie for your mortgage banker compliments of those who lost their homes through no fault of their own.
UPDATE: No banks failed this week.
6 comments:
Buddy isn't complaining, he is in Nicaragua for the next three months enjoying parrots, lucky fucker.
Rather than impose more self-punishing austerity, the Greeks should sell bonds to finance a large-scale buildup of their tourism industry. Make many of their islands the go-to place for NW Europeans, Brits and others to escape the cold and damp, and enjoy sun and sand, staying in nice hotels and villas made affordable for middle-class and working-class families. Get young Greeks, students, etc., to vounteer to help build these tourist locations in return for room, board, low pay and certificates they can redeem to stay in those places in future years.
If they could pull it off, the Greeks would start bringing in much more foreign hard currency. That could be very helpful in digging themselves out of the hole they're in. More austerity will only make things worse.
If you can go to Greece and get a private room with a private bathroom and three meals a day for 95 dollars a week I guess that would be okay.
If not your better choice is Nicaragua.
Your post reminded me of the 2nd segment of yesterday's Saily News. LOL cats are in charge of the govt
SW the problem is those well to do Europeans were too busy sucking the remaining life blood out of the Greeks to worry about tourism. Now it's their own private islands they're after.
Billy a better bet would be Costa Rica. You don't have to worry much about getting kidnapped there.
No Roger LOL cats couldn't be in charge. They'd do a far better job than what we have now.
We looked at Greece last fall and went back to Turkey. Cheaper and better. If we do go to Greece it won't be for beach time, it will be as sight seeing touristas. And for that I would still rather go to Turkey.
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