Ambassador Leonidas Chrysanthopoulos on the Greek economic crisis: could this Greek Tragedy lead to civil war?

Published on December 17th 2012

By Barbara Van Haute

Editorial Note:  Of all the nations experiencing traumatic economic difficulties during the course of the current Great Recession, Greece has suffered the most adverse consequences.  The country’s five year economic problems have been longer and deeper than that of any developed country.  In fact, Greece has gone through a catastrophic depression otherwise unknown in the West.

The  standard of living has dropped drastically; unemployment has reached 26%; the debt to GDP ratio  is over 180%; the country’s “fiscal cliff” is looming bankruptcy;  social spending and the “safety net” have been eviscerated; while demonstrations and riots target both domestic debt reduction measures and the financial institutions  of the European Union power brokers. In response, the European Union

ΔΙΑΔΩΣΤΕ ΤΟ ΠΑΝΤΟΥ: 400 δισεκατομμύρια Euro θα προσφέρουν στην Ελλάδα στις 9 Σεπτεμβρίου 2012 οι Ομογενείς, με επιτόκιο 0,5 % με αποπληρωμή πάνω από 100 χρόνια!

Συμφώνα με δημοσίευμα του Καναδικού CNW, η οργάνωση END – END NATIONAL DEBT με Πρόεδρο τον Δρ Εμμανουήλ Λαμπράκη στις 9 Σεπτεμβρίου 2012 θα προσφέρουν στην Ελλάδα 400 δισεκατομμύρια Euro με επιτόκιο 0,5 % και αποπληρωμή πάνω από 100 χρόνια!!!!! Σκοπός τις προσφοράς αυτής είναι η αποπληρωμή του χρέους της Ελλάδας. Το κείμενο δημοσιεύτηκε στις 5 Σεπτεμβρίου και μπορείτε να το διαβάσετε ολόκληρο εδώ. Το κείμενο αναφέρει τα εξής:

http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1030629/usd-50-billion-dollar-sovereign-loan-to-the-republic-of-cyprus-for-100-years

TORONTO, Sept. 5, 2012 /CNW/ – The Canadian Bureau of END (End National Debt) a Philanthropic NGO, on behalf of Mr Artemios Sorras, a founding member of END and benefactor of the loan, announces that the New York Head Quarters of END via its Chairman Dr. Emmanuel Lambrakis have officially offered a

Yannis Varoufakis: The Greek economy is finished …. This is our Great Depression

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Broadcast: 18/06/2012

Reporter: Leigh Sales

With a pro-bailout and pro-austerity party claiming victory in the Greek election, economist Yanis Varoufakis joins us from Athens to reflect on what the result means for the economy and the Eurozone.

Transcript

LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: Joining us now from Athens is the Greek economist Yanis Varoufakis.

The obvious question is: what happens now?

YANIS VAROUFAKIS, ECONOMICS, ATHENS UNIVERSITY: Well, the derailment of the train that is the eurozone, which started with Greece and then other carriages started leaving the tracks sequentially – Ireland, Portugal, now Spain – is continuing. And yesterday’s vote is not going to change that at all. All exuberance and celebrations are completely and utterly misplaced. I’m afraid that the eurozone and

Media Dictatorship in Greece

 

Al Jazeera’s feature on the Greek media in the video that follows, underlines the truth many have known in Greece for several years now. The fact that graffiti on walls says «switch off the TV» goes to show that Greeks no longer view news bulletins and journalists as objective.

The picture above was snapped during last year’s demonstrations at the end of May in Thessaloniki. It was one of many messages taped on columns outside the city’s symbol of pain and freedom, the White Tower, which translates to: «If TV said it, it’s probably a lie.»

Though links between political parties and the media have been common knowledge to Greeks, far too

Money Aplenty for Politicians: Let the rest eak cake

Another €10 million dished out to Greek political parties

They got paid once for the upcoming elections by voting an amendment in the late hours of the night at the beginning of April. Not satisfied with the necks they sucked on the first time, the Greek vampire politicians are set to obtain extra funding to the tune of €10 million. Whatever the case may be, it was a contingency measure, you see.

The first time round, MPs voted to divert funds from debt installments owed to banks in order to finance political parties in view of the elections of May 6. The official explanation for the extra cash was  «in order to secure the conditions for continuity of political parties in the national elections.»

Yes, people were outraged, but who gives a cowpat over at the IMF or the European Commission? We

Constitutional violations that have occurred recently in Greece

The following constitutional violations have occurred during the last years in Greece of the economic crisis:

1. Contrary to the constitution, the voting of the Memorandum of passage 1 and the illegal signing of the first loan agreement by Mr. G. Papakonstantinou, under no legitimacy and in secrecy by the Greek people and the parliament. In violation of the constitution, under Memorandum 2, the assignment of sovereignty and control of the Greek state in which foreign powers have no legitimacy to intervene in the internal affairs of Greece but they are committed to safeguard the interests of questionable lenders and not to violate the rights of Greek people.

2. From the November 11, 2011, the illegal and unconstitutional appointment, against the will of the Greek people as prime minister of Mr Lucas Papademos and the cooperation with the party leaders of

German debt to Greece (video)

This report by Kostas Vaxevanis for the Greek show «Pandora’s Box» (NET, Feb. 21th 2012), investigates the German debt to Greece, accounting of over €400 billion, with interest rates included. This is higher than the current Greek external debt. It is made by the reparations that Germany still refuses to pay to Greece since WWII, plus a loan supplied forcibly by the occupied Greece to Nazi Germany at the same period.

Does Greece, therefore, owe as much as it does or should someone else pay long overdue debts? Watch the documentary broadcast on Greek public television with English subtitles (press the CC button)

MySatelite

Greece Debt Free products give 50% of the value of their profits to reduce Greek national debt

Greece Debt Free is a celebration of the Greek entrepreneurial spirit and the power of taking action toward reducing the Greek national debt to sustainable levels.  Greece Debt Free is a platform for people to Campaign, Connect and Contribute to organize and seek positive economic change.

Greece Debt Free products donate 50% the value of their profits to help reduce Greek debt. Concerned citizens and supporters

Forget about preventing default in Greece, control it, says Europe

By Michael Steininger, Christian Science Monitor | 08:54 am

Greece’s European partners are increasingly skeptical that Athens can avoid default.The highly indebted country is working feverishly to secure a debt write-off to avoid default, but international investors see even that as a default of sorts.

With only weeks to go before a crucial bond repayment date, statements from European leaders reveal a growing mistrust in the Greek political class’s ability and willingness to implement deficit cutting measures.Without those measures, Greece will not receive a necessary second bailout from international lenders, and without the bailout, it will likely

Βραδυφλεγής βόμβα…Σε θανάσιμη παγίδα έβαλαν την χώρα…!!!

Η δανειακή σύμβαση είναι άμεσα πληρωτέα…σε περίπτωση χροεκοπίας οποιουδήποτε ομολόγου !!!!

Προσέξτε τι αναφέρει η παράγραφος 8 Περιστατικά χρεοκοπίας (EVENTS OF DEFAULT) της δανειακής σύμβασης που υπογράψανε:

The Lenders, may, by written notice (served by the Commission acting on their behalf) (and acting in accordance with the terms of the Intercreditor Agreement) to the Borrower cancel the Facility and/or declare the outstanding principal amount of the Loans to be immediately due and payable, together with accrued interest, if:

…

Mass S&P downgrade as Greek debt impasse hit euro zone

By Matthias Sobolewski and Dina Kyriakidou

BERLIN/ATHENS (Reuters) – Standard & Poor’s downgraded the credit ratings of nine euro zone countries, stripping France and Austria of their coveted triple-A status but not EU paymaster Germany, in a Black Friday 13th for the troubled single currency area.

«Today’s rating actions are primarily driven by our assessment that the policy initiatives that have been taken by European policymakers in recent weeks may be insufficient to fully address ongoing systemic stresses in the eurozone,» the U.S.-based ratings agency said in a statement.

In a potentially more ominous setback, negotiations on a debt swap by private creditors seen as crucial

Let Them Eat π

Yet another excellent article from Sturdyblog that steers away from the usual propagandist ranting of the media that is simply a tool in the hands of speculative bankers and other investor think tanks geared towards shaping public opinion to suit their needs.

The only regret I have when reading this gem is that punches were pulled. Papademos and Monti need to be seen as usurpers of democracy and their respective rise to power called coups d’état, plain and simple. Most important of all is the fact that people in Greece believe their country’s rising debt is not just 30-years’ worth of bad politics, corruption and inept members of Parliament — it’s been a methodical, calculated plan executed with preciseness, enabling the few to live off the many.

My firm belief is that this has been in the making for a long time. Greece practically hasn’t had a single patriot in office since WWII. Foreign interests influenced and still influence decisions to benefit everyone but us Greeks. Some saw the world as an orange, squeezing (half of it) as much as they could out of Third World countries — sorry, that would be developing countries to those who want politically correct euphemisms used to spice up slavery as an on-going evolutionary process towards development. Now that the orange is starting to shrivel, they’ve decided to pick up the other half by turning to Europe and as I foresee other developed countries and squeeze out the savings it managed to accumulate throughout the years.

Enjoy the read, and many thanks to the author for a very fine piece.

The Reaper

Let Them Eat π

Some months ago I tried to explain that the crisis in Greece concerned the entire globe directly and that what was happening to my country was nothing short of an economic coup d’état. Naturally, I was accused of doom-mongering and over-dramatising. It pains me to have been proven absolutely right on

The Death of Democracy and National Sovereignty in Europe

As Johan Van Overtveldt, the editor-in-chef of Trends magazine states, Greece is «condemned to go down in a vicious circle of more recession, more unemployment, larger government deficits or budget deficits and so an endless need of additional money to fill up the gaps.»

So why continue the loans? Why continue the Euro sham? Since Italy is next, and France’s banking system will follow suit, why fix something that already smells putrid?

Brussels will undoubtedly push the situation to its advantage and demand to step in at any time.

Contagion: Europe on The Brink as Debt Crisis Spreads To Spain

• This is going to end badly for the world. I do not believe that Asia will escape, it may suffer less but will suffer nevertheless.

  CONTAGION: EUROPE ON THE BRINK AS DEBT CRISIS SPREADS TO SPAIN 

  By Emily Fox for www.express.co.uk

  FEARS of contagion in Europe intensified today as the debt crisis spread to Spain. Spain was forced to pay nearly 7 per cent to borrow 3.56 billion euros (£3billion) on bond markets. Italian

United We Stand…

Published August 3, 2011

United we stand, divided we fall – a statement we all have heard, read, uttered. No one can deny its common sense. No one can argue that its premise is false. More than ever this statement applies to the needs of Greece. Why? What begs the unification of the people in Greece today? What is the core issue in Greece today? The failing economy is the apparent answer. The lack of sovereignty is also key. However, the core issue is that Greece is travelling on a road of severe impoverishment at lightening speed. At the end of the road a third world country awaits. The lack of sovereignty is the vehicle that carries Greece to the final destination. And the failing economy fuels this vehicle.

The impoverishment of Greece will not only be the result of the unbearable austerity measures but of the loss of national wealth, the loss of all that is necessary to revitalise a crippled economy, condemning

Turkey postpones pursuit of Greek debt in good will gesture

Ankara has postponed the pursuit of a Greek debt of around $300 million arising from a natural gas purchase from Turkey, as Turkey ruled out the suggestion that payment of the debt may be in the form of real estate as inappropriate.

THE ANSWER (To Whom Do We Owe This Money, Exactly?)

Children have a terrifically simple way of exploring the limits of adult knowledge. They do so by asking a question, then responding to each new piece of data with “but, why?”. The almost inevitable ending to this line of questioning is either “because I said so” or “I don’t know, that’s just how it is”.

I seem to have a elicited a similar response when, on Friday, I posted the blog “To Whom Do We Owe This Money, Exactly?” Since then, that post has been read by 20,000 people on the blog (and many thousands more via a circulating viral email). I have received many hundreds of responses whether by direct comment, email, Facebook or Twitter. The blog has been re-tweeted 1,000 times and shared on Facebook 1,200 times – before being flagged as abusive! The responses almost universally accept that the research is accurate.

The answer is: we owe this money, primarily, to the financial sector we went into debt to bail out.

To Whom Do We Owe This Money, Exactly?

I have followed the political debate about the austerity programme of cuts relatively closely over the last few months. I have been witness to countless television and radio debates in which the importance of our credit rating status, so that we may borrow money on better terms, is repeated with military-drummer-like regularity; in which any possible criticism of the assault currently under-way on public services is met with lachrymose alacrity by three words “our national debt”.

Equally, I have been amazed by the rarity of the question “to whom do we owe this money?” It is a fairly esoteric subject, but an important one nevertheless – don’t you think?