Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Don't Get the Greek Financial Crisis? Read This

by Nicola Kean

The Greek financial crisis has been the most important economic story of the year—but what it actually means can be lost in breathless talk of defaults and loan tranches.

Luckily for those of us who aren’t keeping a close eye on the bond market or the price of the Euro, Reuters has put together a quick guide to the Greek crisis. The takeaway: Greece is on the verge of a Lehman Brothers-sized collapse.

So, why does it matter to the rest of the world? In short, if Greece defaults on its loans, a lot of European banks that hold the debt would suffe. The credit market would freeze—meaning banks may stop lending to each other. Not a positive thing for a global economy still in recovery.


More Here..

4 comments:

  1. The Vanity Fair article summed up the cause in one sentence: The biggest problem the banks had was that they had lent roughly 30 billion euros to the Greek government—where it was stolen or squandered.

    Apparently the government overpaid themselves and everyone else. They spent tons of money without keeping track, and didn't enforce the tax laws so there wasn't enough revenue to fulfill all their promises. On top of that, everyone involved in government and the health profession expected bribes to do any work. So all the politicians got rich, and the upper classes did very well while everyone else got poorer.

    Gee, it sounds like what's going on here in America with one exception. In the U.S., it was the banks--and the politicians--that got free money and squandered it. And the richest corporations pay no tax, so there isn't enough money to keep state and federal governments running.

    I guess what's next is for us to start rioting.

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  2. This piece does not spell out all the facts. Greece represents 2% of the Euro Zone GDP. $400 billion default across many Euro banks is a drop in a bucket. The Euro will not fail and Greece will rebuild and then learn to avoid banksters.

    The real problem in the world is USA. printing trillions of dollars out of thin air, almost 50 million on food stamps, endless wars, etc.

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  3. 2:26 Are you trying to tell us that the EuroZone has NOT printed trillions of Euros ( out of thin air) has NOT participated in EVERY
    major engagement in the last 20 years and do NOt have milions and millions on "assistance"?
    I urge you to travel to Spain or Ireland or Portugal or Italy.

    Guaranteed; you'll come up with a whole NEW comment

    ReplyDelete
  4. As 2.26 points out above
    “This piece does not spell out all the facts. Greece represents 2% of the Euro Zone GDP. $400 billion default across many Euro banks is a drop in a bucket.”

    The MSM of the USA and its principal bankrupt financial partner in the anglo/ American bankster block
    is desperately trying to beat up the “strong” dollar hegemony system by contrasting and exaggerating the problems of the EURO zone with a Greek domino theory.
    As a distraction from the major currency and national debt problem of the dying dollar hegemony system and weakening treasury bond markets.
    A last ditch play to create the impression that the dollar and buying American debt is the last strong safe refuge.

    Financial warfare.
    For a world view and more European centred analysis of how the globalised economic crisis will play out
    See the GEAB analysis @

    http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=25354

    1. at first (December 2009 - May 2010), it removed the European currency’s sense of invulnerability formed in 2007/2008, introducing doubts about its durability and more precisely putting the idea that the Euro was the natural alternative to the US dollar (or even its successor) into perspective.."
    “The Anglo-Saxon financial operators have played sorcerer's apprentice for the last year and a half and the first headlines in the Financial Times in December 2009 on the Greek crisis quickly became a so-called "Euro crisis". We will not dwell on the vicissitudes of this enormous chicanery with a news item (8) orchestrated from the City of London and Wall Street, as we have already devoted many pages to it in a number of GEAB issues throughout this period. Suffice it to say that eighteen months later the Euro is doing well while the dollar continues its downward spiral against major world currencies; and that all those who bet on the collapse of the Eurozone have lost a lot of money

    ReplyDelete

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