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Perry it's their whole system. Their entitlement system, what we would call pensions, is completely unsustainable. They know it is but no one is brave enough to tackle it. When I was their pre election the firefighters and other lobby groups ran massive ad campaigns to shame the politicians into ignoring the problem. Their real estate system of REO's and government buying all mortgages at retail is beyond ludicrous.
They are just, as I said, clueless. any kiwi who went there would be shocked at the financial incompetence in their system.
And let's not even start on the military spending.
They got away with it for a long time but the boomer problem is really starting to bite now. They are in big trouble and they just hope they can defer it to another generation.
USA at beginning of boom? You wait the US is going to melt down big time again. They are still bankrupt and financially inept. Domestic oil has delayed the consequences for now but it will come.
Damap, USA is technically "bankrupt" long time ago. I once asked a US renown economic professor about the value of one US dollar. He told me the value of one US dollar is worth as much as the government ability to honour it. The basis of capitalism is debt, and USA is the mother of all capitalism. As long as USA is strong {militarily and economically), "bankrupt" is just a technical term in the eye of Americans. For now, let's ride on the boom.
About two and a half thousand years ago, in ancient Greece, Thasos wanted to leave the Athenian controlled "Delian League" because the Athenians were trying to take control of the gold deposits on Thasos.
Britain scrambles fighter jet to intercept Russian bombers"It was very dangerous. Civil aircraft flying to the UK had to be rerouted," the source said.
"The Russians were flying with their transponders turned off so could only be seen on military radar. They haven't flown this far south before."
Last year, NATO conducted more than 100 intercepts of Russian aircraft, about three times as many as in 2013, amid sharply increased tensions between the West and Moscow over the Ukraine crisis.
Elizabeth Quintana, a senior research fellow at defence think-tank the Royal United Services Institute said Wednesday's incident was unusual however, and could be linked to Britain beginning an inquiry into the death nine years ago in London of Kremlin critic and ex-KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko.
The Finns and the Dutch, like the Germans, want Greece to stick to promises it made when they twice bailed it out.
And in southern Europe centrist governments fear that a successful Greek blackmail would push voters towards their own populist opposition parties, like Spain’s Podemos
.........
this newspaper’s solution: get Mr Tsipras to junk his crazy socialism and to stick to structural reforms in exchange for debt forgiveness
—either by pushing the maturity of Greek debt out even further or, better still, by reducing its face value.
Mr Tspiras could vent his leftist urges by breaking up Greece’s cosy protected oligopolies and tackling corruption.
A very logical dream—until you wake up and remember that Mr Tsipras probably is a crazy leftwinger and Mrs Merkel can barely accept the existing plans for QE.
Hence the second, disastrous outcome: Grexit. Optimists are right that it would now be less painful than in 2012, but it would still hurt.
In Greece it would lead to bust banks, onerous capital controls, more loss of income, unemployment even higher than today’s 25% rate
—and the country’s likely exit from the European Union.
The knock-on effects of Grexit on the rest of Europe would also be tough.
It would immediately trigger doubts over whether Portugal, Spain and even Italy should or could stay in the euro.
Deflation is setting in, so debt burdens rise despite fiscal austerity.
When policies are delivering such bad outcomes, a revolt by Greek voters was both predictable and understandable.
If Mrs Merkel continues to oppose all efforts to kick-start growth and banish deflation in the euro zone, she will condemn Europe to a lost decade even more debilitating than Japan’s in the 1990s.
Indicates yet more bluff and bluster from a leader under pressure at home.
A bit like when he sent warships off the Australian coast during the G20.
Only to be ignored and having to leave first as he was "tired"
The West should keep up sanctions pressure and hope low oil prices does the rest.
At some point one has to let these countries reach their true floor. If they want to be inept the consequences have to be enjoyed at some point surely?
As we congratulate ourselves on the buoyancy of our rock star economy, we need to appreciate that we are firmly locked into the global economy, writes Peter Lyons.
With Russian-backed separatists pressing their attacks in Ukraine, NATO's military commander, General Philip M. Breedlove, now supports providing defensive weapons and equipment to Kiev's beleaguered forces, and an array of administration and military officials appear to be edging toward that position, US officials said on Sunday.
and now greek voters have decided not to pay back their economy saving saviours
the uk, europe and the world
are worried
it will be the first step in the unfolding of
- the euro
- the eec
and so the current stability of the world's financial system
and who would be most hurt?
those that can't support themselves
..........
J.P. Morgan analyst David Mackie said the pressure will fall on the Greek government in the coming weeks, as it will run out of money.
He said the Greek government's tactic is to build support around the region outside Germany - long the biggest defender of austerity policies - before the hard task of negotiation really begins.
"We would highlight that nothing will be settled until everyone is at the negotiating table, including the Germans," he said in a statement.
"If anything, our sense of the German position is that it has been hardening rather than softening."
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