MISSION STATEMENTS
- Jefferson
"To stand in silence when they should be protesting makes cowards out of men."
- Abraham Lincoln
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
"Powerlessness and silence go together. We...should use our privileged positions not as a shelter from the world's reality, but as a platform from which to speak. A voice is a gift. It should be cherished and used."
– Margaret Atwood
"There is no act too small, no act too bold. The history of social change is the history of millions of actions, small and large, coming together at points in history and creating a power that [nothing] cannot suppress."
- Howard Zinn (historian)
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent"
- Thomas Jefferson
30/6/11
ΑΓΡΙΕΣ ΚΑΛΟΚΑΙΡΙΝΕΣ ΜΕΡΕΣ 2..( ΤΑΓΜΑΤΑ ΕΦΟΔΟΥ ΣΕ ΔΡΑΣΗ )
Το παρακράτος έγινε το κράτος σε μία αντιπαράθεση που κέρδισαν ενάντια στον λαό οι 155 ψηφίσαντες το μεσοπρόθεσμο συμβόλαιο εθνικού θανάτου μεν , αλλά έχασαν για πάντα τον λαό που υποτίθεται πως εκπροσωπούν.
Πύρρειος η νίκη, αλλά το ΠΑΣΟΚ μας έχει συνηθίσει εδω και καιρό να κυβερνά ελέω Μαμμωνά...
Υ.Γ. Να ευχαριστήσετε λοιπόν δημόσια και άμεσα την κυβέρνηση της Wall Street αλά Σημίτη/Πάγκαλο για την "στήριξη", κι ας πάρει ο αέρας και την σημαία και το "παλιάμπελο" για μιά χούφτα δολλάρια, για τριάκοντα αργύρια...
ΤΡΑΠΕΖΕΣ ΣΤΑ ΟΡΙΑ...
More capital flight from Greek banks as depositors movemoney out and draw-down to compensate for lower incomes |
We often try and scope out the state of the Greek banking sector on this blog, because in our opinion, private sector bank solvency (or lack therof) represents a major soft-spot in the underbelly of the Greek economy. Not only is the Greek government running a deficit whose balance is being sustained by the Troika, but every time a Greek depositor goes to a local bank to pull out some money these days, that money is coming from the European Central Bank.
And it isn't just depositors looking to move their savings to a safer location that are taking their money out of the domestic banking system. As the following report form Moody's points out, there is also an inevitable drawdown in balances going on, as more Greeks are forced to tap into their savings in order to compensate for lower incomes.
Lastly, this report by Moody's reiterates a point that we have made before on this blog, and this is that the ECB's capital funding availability is such that total Greek bank liabilities (to the European Central Bank) exceed the ECB's own capital and reserves. The ECB cannot afford, therefore, to continue propping up Greek banks in the face of more capital flight without eventually confronting a solvency problem of its own.
Maybe this is why an Italian has been put in charge of running things at what is otherwise a hawkish ECB, with its headquarters in post-Weimar Germany. This is certainly not what the framers of Maastricht had envisioned.
From Moody's:
Our discussions with rated Greek banks last week and public information lead us to estimate that private-sector customer deposit outflows in the banking system amount to around 8% since the beginning of 2011, which is a key credit negative for Greek banks. The potential for further deposit outflows constitutes a major liquidity risk for banks as depositor sentiment is affected by negative political developments and Greece’s capability for timely repayment of its debt obligations. We expect Greek banks to find it increasingly challenging to lower their dependence on ECB repo funding as deposit balances continue to decline.
Private-sector deposits have been declining since late 2009, while outflows in May and June accelerated, as shown in the exhibit below. Greece’s heated political tensions (government reshuffling and resistance to the new austerity package) and the uncertainties regarding the Troika’s (European Union, European Central Bank, and International Monetary Fund) commitment to continue funding support to Greece are driving deposits elsewhere.
However, the roughly 8% deposit decline so far in 2011 also reflects the “cash-burn” effect of the country’s recession, with the economy expected to decline by 3.8% this year. We estimate that more than half of the year-to-date deposits decline is due to a steady draw-down of deposits to compensate for lower income by individuals and companies.
Based on recent media reports, confidence-sensitive depositors concerned about local banks’ financial health have also been transferring funds abroad and converting their deposits into gold coins, while others have been placing their cash into bank safety-boxes. The increasing liquidity risk for the banks is compounded by the volatile nature of government deposits, which are not incorporated in the exhibit above, and account for 6.7% of total deposits in April 2011 and are utilised to repay maturing government securities.
An acceleration of deposit outflows is one of the key risks for Greek banks and something that is beyond the control of either local or European authorities. A sustained decline of deposits by more than 35% (roughly equal to the consolidated banking system’s liquid assets and ECB funding availability) within a short period of time, would cause a severe shortage of cash among banks. This estimate takes into account the imminent availability of an additional €30 billion of government guarantees that can also be used for ECB funding, providing an extra buffer to any future deposit outflows, although these funds are yet to be dispersed. The availability of ECB funding through repo transactions would mitigate liquidity pressures, provided this method of funding remains available in the event of a sovereign default.
ECB funding has increased significantly since January 2010, as capital markets and the inter-bank market are still closed to Greek banks. The latest available data show that at the end of April 2011, overall ECB funding stood at €87 billion, comprising more than 21% of the banks’ total liabilities, compared to 59.4% for deposits. With the decline in customer deposits, we expect Greek banks to find it increasingly challenging to reduce their ECB funding dependence, which is their primary objective based on their funding plans committed to the Central Bank of Greece.
28/6/11
Ο ΕΧΘΡΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΕΥΡΩΠΗΣ
Ο ΕΧΘΡΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΕΥΡΩΠΗΣ
| Δείκτες | Ποσοστά |
| Μερίδιο της Γερμανίας στο ΑΕΠ της ΕΕ | 20,4% |
| Μερίδιο Ελλάδας, Πορτογαλίας και Ιρλανδίας μαζί, στο ΑΕΠ της ΕΕ* | 5,0% |
| Αλλαγή του ποσοστού ανεργίας στη Γερμανία (2008/2009) | -0,8% |
| Αλλαγή του ποσοστού ανεργίας στην Ελλάδα (2008/2009) | +8,3% |
| Κόστος τυχόν διάσωσης της Ελλάδας για κάθε Γερμανό** | 465 € |
| Σύνολο σημερινών δανείων της Γερμανίας στην Ελλάδα | 8,4 δις € |
| Τόκοι και προμήθειες που έχει εισπράξει η Γερμανία από την Ελλάδα | 225 εκ. € |
| Εξαγωγές της Γερμανίας στην Ελλάδα το 2010 | 5,9 δις € |
| Ανάπτυξη της Γερμανίας το 2011 | +3,2% |
| Ανάπτυξη της Ελλάδας το 2011 | -3,0% |
| Μέσος μισθός εργαζομένων στη Γερμανία** | 42.400 € |
| Μέσος μισθός εργαζομένων στην Ελλάδα | 23.900 € |
| Εργατικό κόστος ανά ώρα στη γερμανική μεταποίηση | 33,10 € |
| Εργατικό κόστος ανά ώρα στην ελληνική μεταποίηση | 16,60 € |
| Παραγωγικότητα ανά ώρα στη Γερμανία | 37 € |
| Παραγωγικότητα ανά ώρα στην Ελλάδα | 24 € |
| Συντάξεις της Γερμανίας σε ποσοστό του ΑΕΠ της | 11,4% |
| Συντάξεις της Ελλάδας σε ποσοστό του ΑΕΠ της | 11,7% |
| Χώρα | ΑΕΠ | Χρέος | Ποσοστό στο συνολικό |
| Γερμανία | 2.407,2 | 1.762,2 | 24,96% |
| Ιταλία | 1.520,9 | 1.760,8 | 24,94% |
| Γαλλία | 1.919,3 | 1.489,0 | 21,08% |
| Ισπανία | 1.051,2 | 559,7 | 7,92% |
| Ολλανδία | 570,2 | 347,0 | 4,91% |
| Βέλγιο | 337,8 | 326,6 | 4,62% |
| Ελλάδα | 237,5 | 273,4 | 3,87% |
| Αυστρία | 276,9 | 184,1 | 2,60% |
| Πορτογαλία | 163,9 | 125,9 | 1,78% |
| Ιρλανδία | 163,5 | 104,7 | 1,48% |
| Φιλανδία | 171,0 | 75,6 | 1,07% |
| Σλοβακία | 63,3 | 22,6 | 0,32% |
| Σλοβενία | 34,9 | 12,5 | 0,18% |
| Κύπρος | 16,9 | 9,5 | 0,13% |
| Λουξεμβούργο | 37,8 | 5,5 | 0,08% |
| Μάλτα | 5,7 | 3,9 | 0,06% |
ΔΙΕΘΝΗ ΣΤΟΙΧΗΜΑΤΑ ΓΙΑ ΤΟ ΚΑΖΙΝΟ "Η ΕΛΛΑΣ"...
- 110 reads
27/6/11
ΑΓΡΙΕΣ ΚΑΛΟΚΑΙΡΙΝΕΣ ΜΕΡΕΣ...("ΔΡΟΜΟΣ"- ΑΡΓΥΡΗΣ ΝΤΙΝΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ)
"Αντ1 – Εζέλ και βάλτε φερετζέ"
"Αν έχετε πατρίδα, αν έχετε τιμή, σίριαλ να γυρίσετε για την κατοχή"
αφιερώνεται στον ΑΝΤ1
Είναι ένα επεισόδιο από τη σειρά "Στο Δρόμο" με δημοσιογραφική έρευνα του Αργύρη Ντινόπουλου, που πρόβαλε ο ΑΝΤ1 την περίοδο 1997-1998.
Σκηνοθεσία: Μιχάλης Γαλανάκης.
Σήμερα, η περίφημη "σχολή... ANT1" παρουσιάζει τούρκικα σήριαλ τραβηγμένα στα εδάφη που υπερασπίστηκαν με το αίμα τους τα παλληκάρια εκείνα...
Συγχαρητήρια ΑΝΤ1...απο τον Αργύρη Ντινόπουλο 20 χρόνια πρίν στην σημερινή κατάντια...
26/6/11
CDS @ GREEK CRISIS
The Credit Default Swaps That Underlie the Greek Crisis
Rickards on Regulatory Capture, Corrupt Banks, and the Credit Default Swaps on Sovereign Defaults
Around 2000 I came to roughly the same conclusions that he does. I had the opportunity to study the European money system while it was forming in graduate business school, and it just did not make sense.
The euro was probably going to fail unless the union became a unified federal government with one set of laws and taxation policy, with the kind of revenue distribution that exists amongst states in the US, for example.
A single currency cannot span independent fiscal authorities because it removes the ability of the currency to flucuate in value based on their independent economic health, acts of God, and social policy choices of the different social organizations. This is basic monetary theory. I was surprised that it lasted as long as it did, but it was to the advantage of the financial world to tolerate the attendant deceptions because they were growing fat on it.
And a similar thing can be said for the global currency trading regime based on the dollar and arbitrary valuations subject to national manipulation. It has allowed multinational corporations and banks to achieve tremendous power and advantage over local governments.
I always thought that a crisis would be put forward as an opportunity for the 'one-worlders' to once again promote their idea of a one world government, and a universal order of central financial authority that eventually and inevitably evolves into a single political system. And that is still very much in the cards.
For this to happen, national governments must be undermined and absorbed, their people brought down to their knees financially. And then their saviors can begin the work of ordering their lives.
25/6/11
ΚΑΙ ΛΙΓΟ ΓΕΛΙΟ ΓΙΑ Σ/Κ, ΚΑΝΕΙ ΚΑΛΟ...
just one little more?
...bon appetit, till you blow (the world) all up...
THE PAPAS & THE PAPAS...

One family has dominated Greek politics for more than half a century: the Papandreous.
A George Papandreou was in charge in the 1960s at a time of constitutional upheaval. And a George Papandreou rules now amid a financial crisis that threatens the nation with ruin.The current prime minister's father, Andreas Papandreou, and his namesake grandfather were larger-than-life leaders credited as reformist architects of modern Greece but also blamed by many for the country's mountain of debt.In a historic irony, George Jr. is being forced to dismantle state projects championed by his leftwing father, who poured borrowed billions into job guarantee schemes and expensive development ventures that fostered corruption and helped lay the groundwork for the current crisis."The son is paying for his father's sins," said author and political commentator Nikos Dimou.The scion of the Papandreous is the ultimate insider who's also seen as something of an outsider.He's known as "George the American" because he was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, where his father taught at university. He studied at Amherst College and Harvard University, among other prestigious overseas educational institutions. During anti-government rallies, protesters have chanted "George, Go Home!"Papandreou now faces the near impossible task of sweeping away graft, party patronage and corruption, while fixing wrecked national finances.He is under immense pressure from just about everyone: European and IMF lenders, hostile opposition parties and the protesting public, even one-time staunch supporters of his Socialist party, including powerful unions and civil servants' groups.A failure by Greece to pay back its debts could plunge many other EU countries into financial turmoil and threaten the fragile global economic recovery. At the same time, Papandreou has to manage the anger of a public hit by savage budget cuts and spiraling unemployment.Many say Papandreou's approach to Greece's recovery is valid, but that he lacks the strong leadership skills and charisma of his father and his grandfather.Andreas Papandreou's mastery of populist politics and his powers of persuasion were exemplified in rousing speeches to hundreds of thousands of supporters at mass rallies. They helped earn him three terms in office in the 1980s and '90s as leader of the party he founded — the Panhellenic Socialist Movement party, or PASOK.He was credited with taking on the country's entrenched rightwing elite but also blamed for expanding the established patronage system that packed the public sector with loyalists in exchange for votes and allowed Greeks to live beyond their means. The country's public debt under his rule through the 1980s shot up dramatically."George Papandreou must somehow undo what PASOK has done throughout its history," said Dimou, including taking on powerful trade unions loathe to lose privileges.It's a daunting task for George Papandreou who has spent much of his career in politics living up to the expectations of his powerful family and an aging core of Socialist supporters.George Papandreou Sr. was also a three-time prime minister whose involvement in Greek politics dated back to the 1920s. His friendship and support of Greek liberal statesman Elftherios Venizelos vaulted him to the forefront of the country's political scene and kept him there for decades.His liberal politics earned him powerful enemies among Greece's right-wing establishment. But it was his staunch anti-monarchist stance that prompted the political crisis that saw him ousted from office and eventually led to a 1967-74 military dictatorship.After military rule collapsed, George Sr.'s son, Andreas, galvanized the center-left vote and swept to power in 1981.Even party loyalists question whether the younger Papandreou has the political strength to deal with Greece's financial woes.Commentators point to Papandreou's difficulty in quelling dissent within his party over the deeply unpopular austerity package that has caused the Socialists to slip behind the rival conservatives in opinion polls.Publisher George Kyrtsos argued that Papandreou mistakenly pandered to unions and other party backers after losing a 2007 general election in order to keep his position as party leader."He's a victim of his own tactics," Kyrtsos said.He described Papandreou as an intelligent politician who grasps the "big picture" of unfolding events, but who is let down by his own weak management style and inability to keep track of details.Analyst George Tzogopoulos said there's still some doubt as to whether Papandreou can tame the trade unions and rein in party dissenters."It's his last chance," Tzogopoulos said. "I give him a bit over 50 percent that he'll succeed."What's more, Papandreou has been ineffective in communicating the gravity of Greece's predicament, commentator Dimou said."This government has lost the game not only on handling the economy, but also on public opinion," he said. "The government hasn't managed to sufficiently explain the situation and that these measures are necessary."He also lacks his father's populist touch, Dimou argued — a trait that could be useful when facing a wave of public discontent."George Papandreou doesn't have the same personality, the charisma," he said. "It's like telling an actor without any talent to play Hamlet ... He doesn't possess the talent."
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