vlogolution network » hyperinflation

Greece – is it so bad to offer the people a choice, and why are Eurocrats so terrified of Democracy?

Alexander P Morris — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 12:54:10 +0000

(Mish) Great article by Mike Shedlock on the Greek/Euro Dilemma – “Is there any reason Greek voters should not be given a choice? I think not. They may not make a wise choice but what is the likelihood that political hacks and political opportunists will?”

“Take a good look at Iceland. In repeated attempts, political hacks (with banker’s interests in mind) attempted to sell Icelandic citizens into debt slavery. A referendum saved the day. Sadly, voters were forced to repeat the referendum, and once again voters made the correct decision. .. Iceland is now in full recovery simply because it told the EU and IMF to go to hell.”

“Greece does not have an easy way out. However, its problems are no doubt far worse than if it told the EU and the IMF to go to hell two years ago. Greece should have gone bankrupt long ago. Heck, it should not be in the EU in the first place, and the EU is primarily to blame even though Greece lied to get in.”

“(PeterTchir) If a leader in the Middle East finally gave into months of protest and decided to give the people a real say on an important issue, the Western leaders would be rejoicing. .. But if a fellow Western leader dares let his people express their wishes more directly than via “their representatives” they are all shocked and outraged. In the meantime other Greek politicians are busy taking advantage to gain power rather than helping their citizens.”

“(PaterTenebrarum) The eurocracy is at its heart deeply undemocratic – if it were up to the ‘technocrats’ leading it, national subsidiarity would have long ago become a relic of the past and democratic interference with their plan to erect a socialist super-state would be kept to a bare minimum. .. This can be seen by the fate suffered by previous referendums: when the Irish and French e.g. said ‘no’ and ‘non’ respectively to the Lisbon treaty, the referendums were simply repeated to get the ‘right’ result. As Stalin once sagely remarked, it doesn’t matter who votes for what anyway – what matters is who counts the votes. So far, the eurocrats have always gotten the results that they wanted, by hook or by crook.

Shall I tell you the truly terrifying thing about the EU? It’s not the absence of democracy in Brussels, or the ease with which Eurocrats swat aside referendum results. It’s the way in which the internal democracy of the member states is subverted in order to sustain the requirements of membership. ..

I wish I could convey the sheer horror that his proposal provoked in Brussels. The first rule of the Eurocracy is “no referendums”. Brussels functionaries believe that their work is too important to be subject to the prejudices of hoi polloi (for once, the Greek phrase seems apposite). Referendums are always seen as irresponsible; but, at a time when the euro is teetering on the brink, Papandreou’s proposal was seen as an act of ingratitude bordering on treason. ..

Eurocrats are prepared to pay any price rather than admit that the single currency was a mistake – or, more precisely, to expect their peoples to pay, since EU officials are exempt from national taxation. The peripheral countries are to suffer poverty, unemployment and emigration, the core countries perpetual tax rises, so that supporters of the euro can save face.”

“(DanielHannan) Euro-enthusiasts in Brussels and in Athens are ready to bring down an elected government rather than allow a referendum. Yet the funny thing is that Papandreou is a Euro-enthusiast. He fervently wants to remain in the euro, and had been planning to campaign for a Yes vote. His sin, in the eyes of Brussels, was not to hold the wrong opinions, but to be too keen on democracy. ..”

“Whose Skin Are We Saving? No eurocrat or politician outside of Greece gives a rat’s ass about helping Greece. The only skin they want to save is their own. That realization coupled with my earlier proposal that Papandreou was tired of beatings, meetings, and riots is by far the most likely reason Papandreou decided to “walk away” from the mess via referendum.”

Full Story: In Praise of Papandreou’s Referendum Decision; Eurocrats Terrified of Democracy; Parade of Cowards (Mish)

As usual, this is more about bailing out the banks and protecting those who made foolish investments above all else. It’s also interesting to note that while private bond holders of Greek debt was expected to take a 50% haircut, my understanding is that the ECB (who currently owns about half of all outstanding Greek bonds) would still be holding their Greek bonds at par.

This is not to say Greece is not also at fault. There’s plenty of blame to go around. However, to this day the War Reparations forced upon Germany after World War I are still largely blamed for leading Germany into hyperinflation and the eventual rise of Hitler. And perhaps Germany eventually owning and/or controlling most of Greece’s key assets to pay back its debts is not something those “pesky” Greek citizens are willing to accept quite that easily.

Regarding Papandreou’s recent changes to his top military staff, while only Papandreou and his closest confidants know exactly what’s going on, given he called a referendum to offer the people a “say”, it would seem unlikely he is considering a “military coup”. I would speculate his motive would more likely be to assure that the military will remain loyal to the “best interests of Greece”, as opposed to the “best interests of the European Union”.

(MartinArmstrong) “The most important aspect is the economy. Screw that up and you get war, depression, and starvation. We then elect a whole bunch of people to posts and automatically assume these people have the (1) real intelligence ABOVE average to comprehend such complex subjects, and (2) they understand the right thing to do. Where did we ever get these ideas? Most of the staff members employed by politicians are smarter than the people they work for. But unless they believe an economic crisis is possible, they will not even look at the issue.” — Martin Armstrong, Happy Days Are Here Again

Goldman Advises the Fed to go Nuclear, and set a Target for Nominal GDP

Alexander P Morris — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 18:57:00 +0000

Best summed up by this comment by black swan on the BusinessInsider post:

“@Tom Hunter: ‘indicating that they will use additional asset purchases to help bring actual nominal GDP back to trend over time’

translation: this ship is sinking and we want to stick the taxpayers with trillions of dollars more of our impaired financial sewage, like we did with QE1, AIG and the GSEs, before we get stuck with it and go down with the ship. Allow us to sail away in our own ship, loaded down with looted treasure and flying the Jolly Roger, to the land of offshore accounts.”

In his latest US Economics Analyst note, Goldman’s Jan Hatzius offers up his suggestion for the next phase of Fed policy:

“With short-term interest rates near zero and the economy still weak, we believe that the best way for Fed officials to ease policy significantly further would be to target a nominal GDP path such as the one shown in the chart on the right, indicating that they will use additional asset purchases to help bring actual nominal GDP back to trend over time. The case would strengthen further if deflation risks reappeared clearly on the radar screen.”

Full Story: Goldman Advises The Fed To Go Nuclear, And Set A Target For Nominal GDP (BusinessInsider)

Most IMPORTANT Video You’ll Ever See – The Exponential Growth Function

Alexander P Morris — Sat, 14 May 2011 20:06:46 +0000

“Arithmetic, Population and Energy” may very well be one of the most important videos you’re likely to watch. While the math behind the exponential function is relatively simple and straight forward, its repercussions in markets, for resources, and for society as a whole are widely misunderstood or outright ignored. In fact, in relation to population growth alone, the Chinese seem to be the only ones who “get it”. Ironically, their distasteful “one child per family” population policy has done more to conserve energy, reduce pollution, and conserve resources than pretty much any other, more “politically-correct”, initiatives taken to date. Lack of understanding of these concepts is also one of the most basic ways politicians and governments (in conjunction with the media) mislead its citizens. “In Growth We Trust” – All our problems stem from Exponential Growth. For those who invest in the stock market, it’s also one of the most important key concepts to understand for those interested in generating substantial returns. And of course, its ramifications for our future are immeasurable and incomprehensible if not directly addressed sooner than later.

A few notable quotes:

“It is the nature of the human species to reject what is true but unpleasant and to embrace what is obviously false but comforting.” — H.L. Mencken’s social philosophy

“Thinking is very upsetting. It tells you things you’d rather not know.” – cartoon

“The Greatest Shortcoming of the Human Race is our inability to Understand the Exponential Function.” — Dr. Albert A. Bartlett

Complete YouTube Playlist for Parts 1 to 8

Great Historical Overview of Currency Failures and Hyperinflation

Alexander P Morris — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 20:00:51 +0000

Great video presented by Timothy Terrell at the Mises Circle at Furman University: “The Coming Currency Crisis and the Downfall of the Dollar”. For those who are interested in better understanding fiat currencies and reckless inflation from a history perspective, this video provides a terrific overview.

You’ll also gain a better understanding of the magnitude of damage and theft inflation perpetrates against a country’s people (and especially against its middle and lower classes who least understand its disruptive effects).

Everyone’s thrilled when Apple’s iPad2 provides a greater bang for the buck for less money than the original. So why do governments and central banks try and convince people that higher prices are good for everything else?

Remembering Those Who Died for Our Independence

Alexander P Morris — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:50:09 +0000

The Declaration of Independence by John Trumbull (1795). Trumbull's famous painting is often identified as a depiction of the signing of the Declaration, but it actually shows the drafting committee presenting its work to the Congress.

It’s always wise to remember the price people paid to provide us with so many of the freedoms that we take completely for granted today. Especially in these times when our civil rights are being stripped away one after another by the government “elite” all in the name of protecting us from terrorists, banksters, panics, and ponzi schemes often created and orchestrated by those same people behind the scenes. Bernie Madoff has been given 150 years in jail for orchestrating a huge ponzi scheme. But who will go to jail when the greatest ponzi schemes of all time go bust? Who will pay when the monetary system collapses into hyperinflation and the social security and medicare systems collapse altogether? Instead, they’ll probably give the same people who helped cause the problems kudos for “saving” us from the mess, along with a few more trillion dollars of some new currency to help “save us” from themselves…

(read more...)

The U.S. Dollar connection to inflation, the economy, and boatloads of debt

Alexander P Morris — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 22:00:00 +0000

An interesting interview with Daryl Montgomery of the New York Investing Meetup (http://investing.meetup.com/21), discussing how the U.S. Dollar and monetary policy relates to inflation, the economy, and the government’s out-of-control spending spree.

Global Perspectives on the Decline and Fall of the US Dollar

Alexander P Morris — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 22:00:00 +0000

An interesting interview with Daryl Montgomery of the New York Investing Meetup (http://investing.meetup.com/21), discussing how foreign markets such as China have fared since the Fed’s last rate cut, along with the potential global repercussions to come.