Political, financial turmoil in Greece

Something more realistic than Obama's airy dismissal of the troubles which may lie ahead-

http://rt.com/uk/270976-greek-crisis-uk-threat/

Greek debt crisis a threat to UK financial system – Bank of England
Published time: July 01, 2015 13:4

The Bank of England (BoE) has warned the Greek debt crisis is a threat to UK financial stability and could trigger wider problems on financial markets.

In its twice-yearly Financial Stability Report published Wednesday, the BoE claimed the risks associated with Greece had “worsened” and that the situation “remains fluid.”

The BoE said it was working with the Treasury, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and European counterparts to draw up a contingency plan to safeguard the British economy.

and

The UK central bank’s warning echoes similar statements by Chancellor George Osborne on Tuesday.

Osborne said the threat of the Greek crisis to the British economy must not be “underestimated.”

He added: “We hope for the best, but we are preparing for the worst.

lily wrote:I didn't think about salting vegetables, Sabot but will now take a look at that just in case.

Mind you, I can fish from the end of my yard.....

Lily, I am still eating the vast quantity of Runner Beans I salted ten years ago. And it doesn't affect the taste. You just have to rinse them off several times.
This all saves Freezer space, of course.

That is amazing, Sabot.  

More astounding arrogance from the EU:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-07-02/eu-parliament-president-tells-greecetime-another-puppet-government










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EU Parliament President Tells Greece:Time For Another Puppet Government
Tyler Durden's pictureSubmitted by Tyler Durden on 07/02/2015 13:52 -0400


European Parliament president Martin Schulz said his faith in the Greek government had reached "rock bottom," and, as AFP reports, that he hopes it resigns after Sunday's referendum. Luckily, he has an idea for a solution... the time between the departure of Tsipras' hard-left Syriza party and new elections would have to "be bridged with a technocratic government, so that we can continue to negotiate."

As AFP reports,

Schulz on Thursday told German Handelsblatt business daily that "new elections would be necessary if the Greek people vote for the reform programme and thus for remaining in the eurozone and Tsipras, as a logical consequence, resigns."

The time between the departure of Tsipras' hard-left Syriza party and new elections would have to "be bridged with a technocratic government, so that we can continue to negotiate," Schulz was quoted as saying.

"If this transitional government reaches a reasonable agreement with the creditors, then Syriza's time would be over," he said. "Then Greece has another chance."

Schulz charged that Tsipras was "unpredictable and manipulates the people of Greece, in a way which has almost demagogical traits."

"My faith in the willingness of the Greek government to negotiate has now reached rock bottom," he said
* * *

Just what The Greeks need - another "Yes man" puppet government to implement whatever Europe's bankers demand.



Just what's needed right now - a German giving Greeks more reasons to make remarks about the EU and the Fourth Reich.

Disgusting!

Insults and remarks about Nazis now in full flow:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-07-02/german-press-does-it-again-give-me-money-or-i-shoot

As that piece finishes....

Thank goodness they are all 'partners' in the 'union' of Europe...

IMO, the EU has been running on the falsehood that the assorted nations of Europe just love each other, and can't wait to be more perfectly integrated. The reality is that most of them can't stand their neighbours, and try to get along as they know only too well what the alternative is.

Then along comes the Greek crisis, and German leaders revert to their bad old habit of thinking everyone else in Europe should behave like Germans, and off we go again. In one week, German politicians have done more damage to the concept of the EU than UKIP managed in years.

This is a good piece:

http://annaraccoon.com/2015/07/03/straight-to-hellas/#comments

Pensioners are allowed 120 Euros. Is that 120 Euros a week? It surely can't be for a month.

I am currently surviving on very little more than that at the moment, and somewhat less in recent years. Thank goodness I pulled myself together and got on with it. But then I am not in the habit of getting hysterical and falling about crying.

Yes, that's a week, Sabot.

There's an interesting comment in the piece on Anna's blog:


I still listen occasionally to the BBC World service because when the BBC Commisars are off duty, supping champagne, an occasional truthful piece of journalism slips past them. This one was a piece about Greece and how, once outside the urban centre (Athens basically) things are going rather well for the locals. They had a reporter in some country spot where there was an Apricot Festival going on. The folk there were rather happy. They said that since the economic crisis many of their young people had come back from the cities and the area was being reinvigorated as they found work and the slow death of the area as everyone got old and decrepit had stopped. Of course there was little suggestion that anyone could afford a Mercedes Cayenne on the sale of apricots, but there was no doubt they would all have plenty to eat and drink and next year, the apricots would grow again.

I suspect that applies to most people outside cities in the southern regions of Europe - even in rural France. People actually can survive without a Starbucks on every corner...

What an interesting link in a comment following that good article by Petunia Winegum.

http://www.mining.com/tag/greece/

Interesting indeed, Lily.

I hope for their own sakes' that Greece votes NO on Sunday; if they get cold feet, the IMF, Troika, call them what you want, but VULTURES pretty much covers it, are going to loot and destroy their nation.

They are never going to get out from under.

If Greece votes NO, they will have hard times ahead, but at least it will be their own hard times. Also, China is interested in Greece playing a role in their new Silk Road project, and I am sure Russia would be happy to strike deals, too - without interfering in Greek politics.

Like you, I hope they get the courage to vote NO and deal with the aftermath.  There will be a lot of light at the end of the tunnel if they do.

I genuinely cannot see myself voting to stay in Europe next year, Lily, not after this. Merkel and co let their masks slip, and what lies beneath wasn't terribly pretty to see.

Not one of them has shown the slightest concern for ordinary Greeks, just for their damned banks, and their glorious European Union. Time it went back to being a trading bloc, and forgot all the rest, IMO.

Good for you, Bonny.  Remember how the Common Market was originally sold?
It sounded excellent, didn't it?  

Go back to trading.

I voted for the Common Market in that referendum, Lily. But I did NOT vote for this bloated, bullying, unelected monster.

They knew most people would not vote for that so did the sneak attack instead.

Minor scuffles this afternoon, huge NO demo this evening:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-07-03/police-fire-tear-gas-stun-grenades-ahead-tspiras-speech-live-feed



Mark Lowen ‏@marklowen 4h4 hours ago
I've stood on this roof a few times over the years - and this is as big a crowd as I can remember. #oxi #greece

====

Mark Lowen ‏@marklowen 4h4 hours ago
#Tsipras: "we choose to live with dignity in Europe. Democracy must return here where it was born. They don't have right to blackmail us"

To be honest, I worry that the election count may be rigged if it comes out as yes....

Indeed - not as if it hasn't been done before, Lily. Two things work against that, European votes are paper, not machine, and it was called so recently, it will have made it harder for the Vultures to get the fix in?

It's not good, though, there is so much riding on this, I will be surprised if there aren't dirty tricks of some kind.

Bonny, it comes to something when people like them, who are supposed to be honest in their dealings, cannot be trusted.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-07-03/greek-banks-considering-30-haircut-deposits-over-%E2%82%AC8000-ft-reports


Greek banks are preparing contingency plans for a possible “bail-in” of depositors amid fears

The plans, which call for a “haircut” of at least 30 per cent on deposits above €8,000, sketch out an increasingly likely scenario for at least one bank, the sources said.

A Greek bail-in could resemble the rescue plan agreed by Cyprus in 2013, when customers’ funds were seized to shore up the banks, with a haircut imposed on uninsured deposits over €100,000.

It would be implemented as part of a recapitalisation of Greek banks that would be agreed with the country’s creditors — the European Commission, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank.

“It [the haircut] would take place in the context of an overall restructuring of the bank sector once Greece is back in a bailout programme,” said one person following the issue. “This is not something that is going to happen immediately.”

Greek deposits are guaranteed up to €100,000, in line with EU banking directives, but the country’s deposit insurance fund amounts to only €3bn, which would not be enough to cover demand in case of a bank collapse.

With few deposits over €100,000 left in the banks after six months of capital flight, “it makes sense for the banks to consider imposing a haircut on small depositors as part of a recapitalisation. . . It could even be flagged as a one-off tax,” said one analyst.

I am astounded that anyone still has any more than a few hundred euros for direct debits, etc., left in any Greek bank.

PS - Calling it a 'haircut' can't disguise the fact that such a plan is pure theft, taking from the poor to give to big banks - can't have anything upsetting Deutsche Bank, can we?

Sigh.....

So, watching film of last night's demos, the NO banners, etc., seemed to be noticeably more home-made than the YES pro-Europe banners.

I thereby declare that the NO demo was the genuine one, and the YES demo was organised from above.