Greece Financial Default Watch

[Letsbereal]

Bundesbank Chief Warns Greece On Rescue Deal
12 May 2012, Berlin (Associated Press)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=152556893

The head of Germany's central bank is warning that there would be no basis for further financial aid to keep Greece afloat if the country backs off agreements with international creditors.

The comments by Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann, who is also a member of the European Central Bank's governing council, came as Greek politicians, deeply divided over the value of austerity and reform measures that creditors demanded in exchange for rescue loans, flounder in efforts to form a new government.

"If Athens doesn't stand by its word, that is a democratic decision — but that means the basis for further financial aid falls away," Weidmann was quoted Saturday as telling the German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

"The donor countries also have to justify themselves to their population."

Bailing out countries such as Greece has been unpopular in Germany and other prosperous nations.

Asked about a possible Greek exit from the 17-nation euro, Weidmann said that "the consequences for Greece would be more serious than for the rest of the Eurozone."

"I think it is too simplistic to assume that the problems in Greece would be solved if the country leaves the Eurozone," he added.

"An exit from the currency union would be historically unprecedented and linked with great uncertainty."

Since last Sunday's indecisive Greek election, German officials have insisted on the need for Athens to stick to its existing course, which has become hugely unpopular with Greek voters.

"There is no easy way for Greece," Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was quoted as saying in an interview with the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

"We have gone to the limits of what the financial markets will believe from us — there is no better solution," he added.

"Now Greece must show whether it has the strength to put together the necessary majorities for that. I can only hope that those responsible in Greece quickly understand that."

Schaeuble said that "if the Greeks have an idea for what more we can do to encourage growth, we can always talk about it and consider that."

But he insisted that the main task is to make Greece competitive, and that means carrying through the already-agreed reform program — "otherwise, the country has no prospects."

Schaeuble already has suggested that the eurozone could deal with an abrupt exit by Greece.

"We cannot force any country to remain in the euro," he was quoted as saying. "Of course we do not want Greece to leave — that is very clear.

But ... we would be a funny government if we did not prepare for all conceivable cases in order to be able to master them — even situations that would not be easy for Europe."

[Letsbereal]

Europe Blinks: Troika Willing To Change Terms Of Greek Bailout Deal
12 May 2012, by Tyler Durden (Zero Hedge)
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/europe-blinks-troika-willing-change-terms-greek-bailout-deal

And so it all begins anew:
From Bloomberg: IMF, EU, ECB Open to Changes in Greek Aid Deal, Real News Says

The so-called troika of the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank is willing to make six important changes to Greece’s financial aid agreement if a pro-European government is formed in the country, Real News said.

The Troika is willing to extend by one year to end 2015 the time for Greece to cut its budget deficit as well as to proceed with a restructuring of loans, the Athens-based newspaper reported in its Sunday edition preleased today, citing “well informed” sources at the European Commission.

The Troika is also willing to maintain the force of collective labor agreements, to alleviate the level of pension cuts or restore certain pensions to previous levels and to keep wage levels in the private sector and reduce the average tax burden on employees, the newspaper said.

If confirmed, and with Germany having stated repeatedly this will not happen,

there is a very high possibility this is just another press-based red herring (remember all those FT headlines of an imminent Chinese bailout of Europe?) seeking to exacerbate the political power grab in Europe,

where Germany is now surrounded on all sides, this will mean that the outcome of the Greek elections is no longer relevant, as Syriza will propose an adjustment to the bailout plan,

Europe will promptly agree since a pro-bailout "coalition government" of ND, Pasok and Syriza will have be formed, and all shall be well, at least until the next Greek bailout in a few months.

Then the country will need yet another priming DIP from Europe, and the fiasco begins anew, only this time with even less money left in Greece to be pillaged and plundered by the country's creditors.

That, and of course, German capital being pledged in the form of more "contingent liabilities" which are anything but.

But for now, between a Greek "solution", and China easing again, it appears that all has been saved.

If only for a few more days, which as the central planning regime is coming to an end, appears the best the planners can obtain.

At the end of the day, it is once again Mr. Panos who explained it all perfectly, and showed just who has all the leverage in Europe.

[Letsbereal]

Banks prepare for the return of the drachma
11 May 2012, by Douwe Miedema and Sarah White - London (Reuters)
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/05/11/uk-banks-drachma-idUKBRE84A0D920120511

Banks are quietly readying themselves to start trading a new Greek currency.

Some banks never erased the drachma from their systems after Greece adopted the euro more than a decade ago and would be ready at the flick of a switch if its debt problems forced it to bring back national banknotes and coins.

From the end of the Soviet Union - which spawned currencies such as the Estonian Kroon and the Kazakh Tenge - to the introduction of the euro, they have had plenty of practice in preparing their systems to cope with change.

Planning behind the scenes has been underway since Europe's debt crisis erupted in Greece in 2009, said U.S.-based Hartmut Grossman of ICS Risk Advisors who works with Wall Street banks.

"A lot of the firms, particularly in Europe and also here, have been looking at that for a long time," said Grossman, who added that the latest Greek political crisis had brought matters "to a little bit of a head".

"But there really has been contingency planning at all of the financial institutions for that to happen ... Greece leaving the euro zone is not a new idea," he said.

The EU says it wants Greece to stay in the common currency, and opinion polls show Greeks want to keep it.

But they also voted last Sunday for parties opposed to a bailout with the EU and IMF, throwing Greece's future in the bloc back into doubt.

The elections threw into doubt the EU/IMF aid package that came at the price of harsh austerity measures, and was reached only after much haggling between banks and politicians over a €100 billion debt reduction.

While the deal averted financial market catastrophe by allowing Greece to continue repaying its reduced debts, any future problems could be yet more troublesome, even if Athens managed the process in a more or less orderly fashion.

A Greek departure from the euro would create legal and practical problems for the banks which would dwarf the relatively straightforward technical job of dealing in a new currency.

SCENARIOS

Greece would almost certainly impose foreign exchange controls if it were to drop out of the euro, bankers said, but dealing in any new currency would still be possible.

"Forex desks can get ready relatively quickly. It depends on exactly how the exit from the euro happens," said Lewis O'Donald, the London-based Chief Risk Officer at Japanese investment bank Nomura.

Currencies that are not freely tradable, such as the Chinese yuan, are widely mirrored in off-shore foreign exchange markets through the use of derivative instruments, such as non-deliverable forwards, or NDFs.

The problem may be bigger for euro zone banks which need cash for individuals or companies doing business in Greece.

They face the problem of what exchange rate to use, depending on the laws Athens might draw up for trade it its currency.

If Greece forced an exchange rate of, say, one euro to one new drachma, this could impose huge losses on foreign banks because such a rate would not hold on the markets.

Controls on the movement of capital could be a nightmare for banks with loans in Greece, potentially making it illegal for companies to repay debt in euros.

Even if it were not illegal, companies might no longer be able to repay foreign creditors because their cash had been converted overnight into drachmas - a currency that would rapidly lose its value due to the dire state of the Greek economy.

That would, in turn, make it tough for any lender to get its money back, whatever contract it might have.

"Our assumption is that an exit route somehow has capital controls in place, or an inability for a creditor to enforce (legal rulings) under English law into Greece," O'Donald said.

SHOUTING 'FIRE!'

Banks have studied several options to protect themselves as best they can, including switching to U.S. law for new derivative transactions or loans.

So far few have taken such steps due to doubts about how effective they would be, and also because they are afraid to add to market concerns.

"Banks are very, very reluctant to start shouting 'fire!'. They know what happens and what panic looks like," said one London-based lawyer advising financial firms.

Instead, most are simply checking the governing law of their contracts, hedging against defaults and running through every legal argument a Greek euro exit could throw up.

"There are still areas which will be grey in some respect and which will lead to conflicts of law that may have to be resolved in court," Nomura's O'Donald said.

Many banks have been simulating a rupture of the euro in "war games".

But little is known about how an exit would work, and legal departments are poring over financial contracts, raising questions about the very nature of a currency.

"If transactions are denominated in the euro, what is the status of those transactions in the event that there is a change of the make-up of that currency?" said Miles Kennedy, a partner at accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

With such questions unanswered, stuffing cash machines with enough drachma banknotes is almost an afterthought.

For Greece itself, it certainly won't pose a problem. The country's national bank has its own banknote printing press and mint and has continued to print euro banknotes ever since joining the single currency in 2001.

[Letsbereal]

Euro Officials Begin to Weigh Greek Exit as Euro Weakens (Update 1)
14 May 2012, by Patrick Donahue (Bloomberg)
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-13/euro-officials-begin-to-weigh-greek-exit-from-common-currency.html

Excerpt:

"We’re really getting to a denouement,” Michael O’Sullivan, head of portfolio strategy at Credit Suisse Private Banking, said today in a Bloomberg Television interview.

“We’re getting to the part where a decision has to be made” on whether Greece leaves the 17-nation currency union, he said.

Euro finance ministers meeting today in Brussels may discuss the bailout for Greece, as well as the situation in Spain, where the government last week made a fourth attempt to clean up banks.

Getting German Chancellor Angela Merkel to weaken her demand that debt cutting be the core of the crisis response will be a key objective of new French President Francois Hollande when the two meet tomorrow in Berlin.

The euro fell for the 10th day in 11, weakening 0.4% to $1.2872 at noon in Brussels, the lowest in three months.

Bonds in Italy and Spain tumbled, with Spanish 10-year yields climbing to more than 6.2% today for the first time since Dec. 1.

Each country’s spread against German 10-year notes jumped by more than 30 basis points.

[TahoeBlue]

Bank run in Greece.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/47434632/

Greeks Withdraw Nearly $1 Billion From Local Banks - Tuesday, 15 May 2012

...
Attempts to form a government in Greece collapsed on Tuesday, jolting financial markets at the prospect that leftists opposed to the terms of an EU bailout could sweep to victory in a June election and nudge the euro zone crisis into a dangerous new phase
...

"I think people need to prepare for the eventual removal of Greece from the EU and investors are getting ahead of that before they're forced to," said Matthew McCormick, vice president and portfolio manager at Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel

[Letsbereal]

It's Official: Greece To Pay May 15 Bond Maturity
15 May 2012, by Tyler Durden (Zero Hedge)
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/its-official-greece-pay-may-15-bond-maturity

Earlier, we reported on media speculation that this was a done deal. We now get confirmation.

GREEK FINANCE MINISTRY TO PAY EU435 MLN BOND

GREECE SAYS TODAY'S DECISION DOESN'T PREJUDICE FUTURE DECISIONS - no, just those you have to COMPLY with

In other words, just as Zero Hedge predicted in January, non-Greek law bondholders, who did not comply with the PSI, had all the leverage.

And by the way, this is not Greece masking the decision. This is the international bondholder community strong-arming Greece behind the scenes,

as non-payment on strong covenants bonds would be tantamount to a null and voiding of virtually the entire strong covenant sovereign bond market instantaneously.

And again: congratulation to all those who were not Steve Rattnered into agreeing to the PSI, and held out: the 135% annualized return is worth it.

Just keep this in mind when the PSIs of Portugal, Ireland, Spain and Italy take places next.

[Letsbereal]

Greece to hold new elections on June 17: reports
16 May 2012, by Kim Hjelmgaard - London (MarketWatch)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/greece-to-hold-new-elections-on-june-17-reports-2012-05-16

Greece is to stage a repeat of its divisive May 6 election on June 17, according to media reports.

Reuters, citing a source from the Democratic Left party, said that Greek leaders have also appointed Panos Kammenos, of the Independent Greeks party, as the nation's caretaker prime minister pending the vote.

Russia Today, on Twitter, also reported that the election would be held in mid-June, citing Greek state TV.

[Letsbereal]

Fitch cuts Greece to 'CCC' on possible EMU exit
17 May 2012, by Sue Chang - San Francisco (MarketWatch)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fitch-cuts-greece-to-ccc-on-possible-emu-exit-2012-05-17

Fitch Ratings on Thursday downgraded Greece's sovereign rating to CCC from B- due to heightened risk that Greece may have to exit the Economic and Monetary Union.

The strong showing of political parties opposing austerity in the recent election and the failure of the parties to form a government underscores the lack of national support for the E.U.-IMF bailout program, Fitch said.

"In the event that the new general elections scheduled for June 17 fail to produce a government with a mandate to continue with the E.U.-IMF program of fiscal austerity and structural reform, an exit of Greece from EMU would be probable," said Fitch in a statement.

A Greek exit from the EMU is likely to result in defaults in the private sector as well as sovereign euro-denominated obligations, the ratings agency said.

Triple-C grade is categorized as "poor quality" with possibility of default.

[Letsbereal]

Fitch cuts Greece banks following latest downgrade
18 May 2012, by Mia Lamar (MarketWatch)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fitch-cuts-greece-banks-following-latest-downgrade-2012-05-18

Fitch Ratings on Friday lowered it rating on five Greek banks closer to default territory, pointing to its two-notch downgrade earlier this week on the debt-ravaged nation.

The ratings firm on Thursday cut its ratings on Greece by two notches to triple-C, citing an increased risk that Greece may exit the European Union's Economic and Monetary Union.

Fitch's downgrade on the five Greek banks also leaves the group with a triple-C rating, which is in highly speculative territory.

[Letsbereal]

ECB, EU draw up Greek exit plans: trade chief
18 May 2012, Frankfurt (MarketWatch)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ecb-eu-draw-up-greek-exit-plans-trade-chief-2012-05-18

The European Commission and the European Central Bank are working on contingency plans in the event Greece exits the euro, Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said in an interview with a Belgian newspaper published Friday, news reports said.

The ECB and the commission, which is the executive arm of the European Union, are "working on emergency scenarios in case Greece does not make it," De Gucht was quoted as saying.

A commission spokeswoman denied any contingency plans for a Greek exit were being prepared, while an ECB spokesman said the bank doesn't "engage in any speculations about any emergency plans or possible scenarios" and would therefore not comment on the statement, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

[Letsbereal]

It's payback time: don't expect sympathy – Lagarde to Greeks
25 May 2012, by Larry Elliott and Decca Aitkenhead (The Guardian)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/25/payback-time-lagarde-greeks

Take responsibility and stop trying to avoid taxes, International Monetary Fund chief tells Athens

The International Monetary Fund has ratcheted up the pressure on crisis-hit Greece after its managing director,

Christine Lagarde, said she has more sympathy for children deprived of decent schooling in sub-Saharan Africa than for many of those facing poverty in Athens.

[Satyagraha]

It's payback time: don't expect sympathy – Lagarde to Greeks
25 May 2012, by Larry Elliott and Decca Aitkenhead (The Guardian)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/25/payback-time-lagarde-greeks

Take responsibility and stop trying to avoid taxes, International Monetary Fund chief tells Athens

The International Monetary Fund has ratcheted up the pressure on crisis-hit Greece after its managing director,

Christine Lagarde, said she has more sympathy for children deprived of decent schooling in sub-Saharan Africa than for many of those facing poverty in Athens.

I post the full text of this article, because it is the most ACCURATE EXAMPLE of how the banksters will be talking about "AUSTERITY" as it increases it's genocidal grip on the US and elsewhere:



The International Monetary Fund has ratcheted up the pressure on crisis-hit Greece after its managing director, Christine Lagarde, said she has more sympathy for children deprived of decent schooling in sub-Saharan Africa than for many of those facing poverty in Athens.

In an uncompromising interview with the Guardian, Lagarde insists it is payback time for Greece and makes it clear that the IMF has no intention of softening the terms of the country's austerity package.

Using some of the bluntest language of the two-and-a-half-year debt crisis, she says Greek parents have to take responsibility if their children are being affected by spending cuts. "Parents have to pay their tax," she says.

Greece, which has seen its economy shrink by a fifth since the recession began, has been told to cut wages, pensions and public spending in return for financial help from the IMF, the European Union and the European Central Bank.

Asked whether she is able to block out of her mind the mothers unable to get access to midwives or patients unable to obtain life-saving drugs, Lagarde replies: "I think more of the little kids from a school in a little village in Niger who get teaching two hours a day, sharing one chair for three of them, and who are very keen to get an education. I have them in my mind all the time. Because I think they need even more help than the people in Athens."

Lagarde, predicting that the debt crisis has yet to run its course, adds: "Do you know what? As far as Athens is concerned, I also think about all those people who are trying to escape tax all the time. All these people in Greece who are trying to escape tax." She says she thinks "equally" about Greeks deprived of public services and Greek citizens not paying their tax.

"I think they should also help themselves collectively." Asked how, she replies: "By all paying their tax."

Asked if she is essentially saying to the Greeks and others in Europe that they have had a nice time and it is now payback time, she responds: "That's right."

(continued)

================

So we see that the international banksters, who have been raping and pillaging the people of Africa under cover of the United Nations, via NGO's that get foundation funding, via pharmaceuticals and their use of Africans for experimentation (Tuskeegee is still being conducted: it got exported to Africa), and via corporations in conjunction with local governments who have stolen the natural resources - think 'diamonds', ores, etc.) have succeeded in creating the largest underclass of people in the world.

NOW THEY POINT TO THESE VICTIMS TO JUSTIFY CREATING MORE VICTIMS.

A bully goes into a school yard and beats up a little kid.
The kid is laying in a ditch, bleeding.
The bully then begins to beat up another kid, and someone says - "Hey! Don't you feel sorry for the helpless kid you're beating up?"
The bully says, "No, I don't. I feel sorry for that kid over there in the ditch.".

[TahoeBlue]

I post the full text of this article, because it is the most ACCURATE EXAMPLE of how the banksters will be talking about "AUSTERITY" as it increases it's genocidal grip on the US and elsewhere:

She is obscene, Who is the IMF ? Who pays her salary? She was selected years ago for these types of jobs

see her BIO.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/05/news/international/lagarde_imf_pay/index.htm
IMF gives Lagarde $550,000 pay package
By Ben Rooney @CNNMoney July 5, 2011: 11:30 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Christine Lagarde, the incoming head of the International Monetary Fund, will receive over $550,000 a year in total compensation, the organization said Tuesday.

The former finance minister of France's pay package includes an after-tax salary of $467,940 a year and an annual allowance of $83,760 for living expenses, the IMF disclosed.
...
Lagarde, the first woman to run the global financial institution, begins her 5-year term as managing director Tuesday.

She takes over at a crucial time for the IMF, which is working closely with the European Union and the European Central Bank to provide financial support for Greece and other troubled European economies.

The IMF has also been rocked by the controversy surrounding Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former managing director, who resigned in May after being accused of sexually assaulting a hotel maid in New York.

Strauss-Kahn was released from house arrest last week after prosecutors said the credibility of the alleged victim was in question.

When he was appointed in 2007, Strauss-Kahn was awarded a salary of $420,930 a year and an allowance of $75,350, according to IMF records.
 
http://articles.cnn.com/2011-05-18/us/new.york.imf.perks_1_strauss-kahn-imf-borrowing?_s=PM:US
IMF chief enjoys generous salary, perks
May 18, 2011|By Brian Todd and Dugald McConnell, CNN

For Dominique Strauss-Kahn, life inside an 11-foot by 13-foot Rikers Island cell, however temporary, was a major change. For years, Strauss-Kahn had enjoyed every bit of the upper-crust lifestyle, salary and perks that come with his job as managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

According to his contract, Strauss-Kahn's salary in 2010 was $441,980.00. That's more than President Barack Obama makes, and Strauss-Kahn pays no taxes on his income. In addition, Strauss-Kahn receives a yearly allowance of $79,120.00 in monthly installments which, the contract says, comes "... without any certification or justification by you, to enable you to maintain, in the interests of the Fund, a scale of living appropriate to your position as Managing Director."
...
For critics of the IMF, the salary and perks are hard to take -- especially, they say, given that the institution imposes stark conditions on the governments it lends money to.

"Not only are taxpayers in borrowing countries paying that salary; but then they're actually having to pay the costs in a second way, which is that they have to undertake the policies that the IMF demands, which often hurt particularly ordinary working-class people," said Peter Chowla of the Bretton Woods Project, a watchdog that monitors the policies of the IMF and World Bank. It's taxpayers in countries hard-hit by the global recession, such as Greece, Ireland and Portugal, who feel the pinch more than most, he said.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Lagarde
Christine Madeleine Odette Lagarde (née Lallouette; born 1 January 1956

Lagarde was born in Paris as Christine Madeleine Odette Lallouette into a family of academics. Her father Robert Lallouette was a Professor of English at the Faculty of Rouen; her mother Nicole worked as a teacher.[8] As a teenager, Lagarde was a member of the French national synchronised swimming team.[9]

After graduation in 1974 at the Lycée François 1er in Le Havre, she went on an AFS scholarship to the Holton-Arms School [an elite "finishing" school" ] , a girls' school in Bethesda, Maryland, USA.[10]

Then she graduated from law school at Paris West University Nanterre La Défense, in Greater Paris, France, and obtained a Master's Degree in political science from the Institut d'études politiques d'Aix-en-Provence (Sciences Po Aix).[11]

Since 2010, she has presided over the Institute's board of directors.[12]
 
Lagarde worked as an intern in 1974 at the United States Capitol, as Representative William Cohen's (R, ME)

[ ...During his first term in Congress, Cohen became deeply involved in the Watergate investigation. As a member of the House Judiciary Committee, he was one of the first Republicans to break with his party, and voted for the impeachment of President Richard Nixon. During this time, Time magazine named him one of "America's 200 Future Leaders
...
After retiring from the Senate, Cohen was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the position of Secretary of Defense during Clinton's second term, from 1997 to 2001.
]

congressional assistant,[13] in particular working in communications with Cohen's French-speaking constituents during the Judiciary Committee Watergate hearings.


http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/true-costs-imf
The True Costs of the IMF
by Ian Vásquez

This article originally appeared in the Washington Times.

In calling for $18 billion to finance the International Monetary Fund, U.S. treasury secretary Robert Rubin claimed that "the IMF has not cost the taxpayer one dime." The number-two man at the IMF, Stanley Fischer, concurs, asserting that "contributions to the IMF are not fundamentally an expense to the taxpayer; rather, they are investments." Those appeals are thoroughly disingenuous
...
In any event, it is untrue that the IMF does not cost U.S. taxpayers a dime. The interest the United States earns at the IMF is below the rate of U.S. Treasury bonds -- in other words, it doesn’t cover the cost of borrowing.

By funding the IMF, the United States is actually losing money because it borrows cash at one rate (bonds) and invests it at a lower rate (IMF). The Congressional Research Service has calculated that in this way the IMF has added at least $4.6 billion to the national debt. It will add more if the current funding requests are approved.

http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/glance.htm

■Membership: 188 countries
■Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
■Executive Board: 24 Directors representing countries or groups of countries
■Staff: Approximately 2,610 from 154 countries
■Total quotas: US$364 billion (as of 5/21/12)
■Additional pledged or committed resources: US$1 trillion
■Loans committed (as of 5/21/12): US$247 billion, of which US$189 billion have not been drawn (see table)
■Biggest borrowers (amount agreed as of 5/21/12): Greece, Portugal, Ireland
■Biggest precautionary loans (amount agreed as of 5/21/12): Mexico, Poland, Colombia
■Surveillance consultations: Consultations concluded for 128 countries in FY2011 and for 112 countries in FY2012 as of 03/05/12
...
Resources: The IMF’s resources are provided by its member countries, primarily through payment of quotas, which broadly reflect each country’s economic size.

At the April 2009 G-20 Summit, world leaders pledged to support a tripling of the IMF's lending resources from about US$250 billion to US$750 billion.

To deliver on this pledge, the current and new participants in the New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB) agreed to expand the NAB to about US$570 billion, which was approved by the Executive Board of the IMF on April 12, 2010 and became effective on March 11, 2011 following completion of the ratification process by NAB participants.

When concluding the 14th General Review of Quotas in December 2010, Governors agreed to double the IMF’s quota resources to approximately US$730 billion and a major realignment of quota shares among members.

When the quota increase becomes effective, there will be a corresponding rollback in NAB resources.

In April 2012, member countries announced additional pledges to increase the IMF’s resources by over $430 billion to help strengthen global economic and financial stability.


http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-05/14/content_7775080.htm
China may have bigger say in restructured IMF
By Wang Xu (China Daily)
 Updated: 2009-05-14 07:36


Notice how no one is talking about how we have doubled "our" USAS quota to the IMF:

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/03/27/geithner-urges-congress-to-back-imf-world-bank/
Geithner urges Congress to back IMF, World Bank
By Agence France-Presse
Tuesday, March 27, 2012 16:57 EDT
...
The Obama administration is lobbying for the support of conservative Republicans in Congress to endorse its pledged contribution to the IMF’s $365 billion increase in its “quotas”, or permanent capital resources, ahead of the Fund’s target date of October.
 
The US is slated to roughly double its current quota level of about $65 billion [ TO $130 BILLION !!! ] , though the administration has yet to make a formal request to Congress for it.
 
But failure to eventually ratify the increase could water down Washington’s 18 percent share of IMF quotas, which gives it dominant influence over Fund activities.
 
IMF managing director Christine Lagarde earlier this month warned that the Fund was far short of support — as of March 12 it had the backing of holders of 53 percent of quotas, and needs to reach the 70 percent threshold.
 
Geithner stressed that a financially constrained IMF unable to continue play a major role in Europe “would hurt our economy.”

http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/quotas.htm
Overall Quota Increase (percent)
Fourteenth General  December 2010 100.0

[larsonstdoc]

  Gandhi had it right---"Poverty is the worst form of violence."

  We are going to see a lot of violence VERY SOON.

  When people lose everything, they lose it.
                                ---Gerald Celente

[TahoeBlue]

 Gandhi had it right---"Poverty is the worst form of violence."

  We are going to see a lot of violence VERY SOON.

  When people lose everything, they lose it.
                                ---Gerald Celente

Notice they have DOUBLED the IMF "quota" and now have the U.S. paying 130 BILLION for WHAT???!!!

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/03/27/geithner-urges-congress-to-back-imf-world-bank/
The US is slated to roughly double its current quota level of about $65 billion [ to 130 BILLION !!! ]


http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42019.pdf

The quota increase is expected to come via a repositioning of the NAB resources that were pledged in 2009. As part of the new quota increase to be completed by September 2012, member countries’ commitments to the NAB are expected to be proportionally reduced to fund the increase in their quota.

Action by Congress will likely be required for the United States to participate in this plan.

According to one analyst, for the United States to participate in the quota increase, the Congress would need to authorize a shift of about $65 billion from the funds appropriated for increased U.S. IMF participation in the FY2009 Supplemental Appropriations Act.43

There would be no impact on the federal budget since U.S. contributions to the NAB and quota are both recorded on the federal budget as an exchange of assets with the IMF. In addition to increasing the size and composition of IMF quota, there was also agreement on some reform of the IMF Executive Board, which would also need congressional approval since the IMF’s Articles must be amended for them to take effect. These include:

• the transfer of two European chairs to emerging market countries;
• the move to an all-elected Executive Board, eliminating the practice of appointing Executive Directors and allowing all countries to participate in Executive Director elections;44 and
• establishment of a second alternate Executive Director position for multi-country
constituencies with at least seven countries

[Letsbereal]

Greece will run out of money by end of June, warns former PM Lucas Papademos
27 May 2012,  (AFP - Telegraph)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9293101/Greece-will-run-out-of-money-by-end-of-June-warns-former-PM-Lucas-Papademos.html

Excerpt:

Former Greek prime minister Lucas Papademos has reportedly warned that Greece may run out of money by the end of June if international bailout funds are cut off following next month's election.

"From late June onwards, the ability of the government to fund its obligations fully depends on the approval of the subsequent installments of loans from the EFSF and the IMF ," To Vima newspaper quoted Papademos as saying in a leaked memo.

"The available funds in the Greek government will be reduced gradually from about €3.8bn [£3bn} on May 11 to about €700m on June 18 and from June 20 will enter negative territory at the level of around €1bn."

[TahoeBlue]

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/france-criticises-imf-chiefs-view-greeks-154146888.html
...
The French government spoke out on Sunday against comments by International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde suggesting that Greeks were dodging taxes.
 
"I find (Lagarde's comments) rather simplistic and stereotypical," government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem told French television after the IMF managing director's comments last week outraged Greece.
...

Strauss-Kahn pays no taxes on his income

Here is the bit where these IMF SOB's pay no "national" taxes on their income and are "compensated for the taxes they DO pay!!!"

So LaGarde pays no TAXES - The IMF PAYS the cronies / HER TAXES!!!! Unfreaking believable!!!! :

http://www.politics.ie/forum/economy/189296-imf-global-payday-loan-company-countries-who-have-got-into-trouble-2.html

How much tax does Lagarde pay?

http://www.imf.org/external/np/adm/rec/policy/salary.htm
...
The IMF strives to treat all staff equitably regardless of nationality, a principle which extends to tax treatment. The Fund's base salaries in Washington, DC, are paid net-of-tax. However, because some staff members are liable to income taxation on their Fund earnings while others are not, tax equalization adjustments are applied to two potential sources of inequity:
 •Tax Allowance for U.S. Taxpayers
Although IMF member countries have agreed to exempt from taxation Fund staff who are nationals of other countries, they may impose taxes on their own nationals. As the United States taxes U.S. nationals on their Fund earnings, the Fund pays a "tax allowance" to staff members paid on a net-of-tax basis who are subject to U.S. national, state, or local income tax on their Fund compensation.

| - - - -

Related:

http://www.european-council.europa.eu/media/582311/05-tesm2.en12.pdf
THE EUROPEAN STABILITY MECHANISM
...

Art. 36(5)
 
Staff of the ESM shall be subject to an internal tax for the benefit of the ESM on salaries and emoluments paid by the ESM, subject to rules to be adopted by the Board of Governors. From the date on which this tax is applied, such salaries and emoluments shall be exempt from national income tax.
 
The ESM is tax exempt under Art 36(1)
 
Within the scope of its official activities, the ESM, its assets, income, property and its operations and transactions authorised by this Treaty shall be exempt from all direct taxes.

[Letsbereal]

Tarpley’s World Crises Radio – May 26, 2012 http://tarpley.net/world-crisis-radio/

Download: WCR-20120526.mp3 http://tarpley.net/audio/getfile.php?f=WCR-20120526.mp3

Also about the Greek elections in the last segments. Very interesting.

[Satyagraha]

France criticises IMF chief's view on Greeks
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/france-criticises-imf-chiefs-view-greeks-154146888.html

The French government spoke out on Sunday against comments by International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde suggesting that Greeks were dodging taxes.

"I find (Lagarde's comments) rather simplistic and stereotypical," government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem told French television after the IMF managing director's comments last week outraged Greece.

Lagarde told Britain's Guardian newspaper in an interview published Friday that Greeks must "help themselves" by all paying their taxes, saying she was more concerned about Africans in poverty than Greeks hit by the economic crisis.

Her comments were also criticised by French radical-left politician Jean-Luc Melenchon who said Lagarde should resign.

"What gives her the right to speak in this manner to the Greeks?" he said in an interview with France 3 television, describing her comments as "undignified".

"It's the Orthodox Church that should pay its taxes," said Melenchon, pointing out that public servants and the "courageous people" of Greece have "no way of escaping taxes" as they are taken automatically from monthly salaries.

==============================

Lagarde is just a minion following orders from her masters.
She thinks she's 'in the club'.
She's deluded.

[Letsbereal]

Greece needs boosted reform for future funding: EC
30 May 2012, by Stelios Bouras - Athens (MarketWatch)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/greece-needs-boosted-reform-for-future-funding-ec-2012-05-30

Greece will need to pick up the pace of reforms in order to secure future funding from international creditors, the European Commission said Wednesday.

In a country report on Greece, the commission reiterated that the economy is seen contracting at an annual pace of 4.7% in 2012, with the potential risk for further deterioration, and that the country's medium-term economic performance will depend on the implementation of structural reforms.

"Comprehensive international financial assistance can continue to be provided only if policy implementation improves," the commission said in its report.

"The determination of the Greek authorities to stick to the agreed policies will be tested in the coming months when deficit-reducing measures to close the large gap for 2013-14 need to be identified," it said.

Under the terms of the country's latest €130 billion bailout, Greece must detail in June some €11.5 billion worth of spending cuts to close fiscal gaps in 2013 and 2014.

The commission said Greece has made insufficient progress in reforming public procurement procedures and its tax policy -- a change that was supposed to have been voted in by lawmakers in September last year.

Additionally, progress in privatizations has been slower than planned on account of adverse market conditions and technical and legal hurdles in preparing assets for sale, it added.

[Letsbereal]

Greece Risks Trade Constraints as Insurers Cut Export Coverage
31 May 2012, by Howard Mustoe and Greg Viscusi (bloomberg)
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-30/euler-hermes-suspends-insurance-cover-for-exports-to-greece.html

Euler Hermes SA, the world’s biggest credit insurer, said it will no longer cover new shipments of goods to Greece because of the risks of the nation leaving the euro currency and customers defaulting on payments.

The insurer, a unit of Allianz SE, took the decision because exporting to Greece has become “significantly more risky,” Paris-based Euler Hermes said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.

The insurer is still working under the assumption Greece will remain in the euro zone, it said.

“We will still cover those shipments under way and internal commercial transactions,” spokeswoman Bettina Sattler said by telephone today. Future shipments to the country won’t be covered, she said.

The lack of export insurance, which pays companies if a client defaults, raises the prospect that certain goods will no longer reach Greek companies and stores.

Austria’s OeKB Versicherung AG said on May 29 it will also drop coverage of new shipments to Greece and Coface SA of France said it’s only doing business with “the healthiest Greek companies.”

Greeks vote again June 17 after elections on May 6 failed to produce a workable majority in parliament, as parties opposed to sticking to Greece’s part of an aid agreement with the European Union won most of the votes.

Euler Hermes said on May 26 it was reviewing its coverage of exports to Greece because of the risk of the country exiting the euro.

Atradius NV, the trade-credit insurer owned by Grupo Catalana Occidente SA, and Sace SpA, Italy’s trade-credit insurer, said earlier this week they continue to cover reasonable risks on new supplies to Greece, while closely monitoring developments in the country.

Euler Hermes had gross premiums last year of €2.28 billion ($2.9 billion), up 5.9% from the year earlier.

[Letsbereal]

Greece’s Credit Rating Cap Cut by Moody’s on Euro Exit Risk
2 June 2012, by Angus Whitley (bloomberg)
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-02/greece-s-credit-rating-cap-cut-by-moody-s-on-euro-exit-risk.html

Excerpt:

Greece had its highest possible credit rating lowered by Moody’s Investors Service, which said there’s an increasing risk the country may exit the euro region.

Greece’s country ceiling, the highest rating that can be assigned to a domestic debt issuer, was cut to Caa2, Moody’s said in a statement late yesterday in New York.

The best rating on any Greek security is currently B1, four levels higher, Moody’s said.

A Greek exit from the euro may exhaust official funding sources and rack up direct costs of €360 billion ($444 billion), or 3.8% of euro-area GDP, Societe Generale SA said yesterday.

Greek parliamentary elections on June 17 may drive the risk of an exit higher, according to Moody’s.

“If that were to occur, the maximum rating Moody’s would assign to Greek securities would fall further,” Moody’s said in its statement.

“Although the risk of a euro exit by Greece is substantial, it is still not what it considers its ‘central case’ or most likely scenario.”

Any rating changes stemming from the new ceiling, which is Moody’s fourth-lowest junk rating, will be announced in the next week, according to yesterday’s statement.

[Letsbereal]

History shows Greek exit from euro is not suicide - Monetary unions break up all the time without world ending
7 June 2012, by Gabriel Stein - London (MarketWatch)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/history-shows-greek-exit-from-euro-is-not-suicide-2012-06-07

Is “Grexit” — Greece leaving Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union — suicidal? Or is it rather staying in and submitting to austerity that will kill off the country?

Both views have recently been heard in the Greek political debate (as well as outside Greece). While both views could in theory be right, it is unlikely that either is.

[TahoeBlue]

From Drudge:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/47793980
Greeks Withdraw $1 Billion a Day Ahead of Vote
Published: Wednesday, 13 Jun 2012

Greeks pulled their cash out of the banks and stocked up with food ahead of a cliffhanger election on Sunday that many fear will result in the country being forced out of the euro.
...
The European Union and International Monetary Fund  have warned that Greece, which has only enough cash to last for a few weeks, must stick to the conditions of the bailout deal or risk seeing funds cut off.
...
Fears that Greece will collapse financially and leave the euro have slowly drained Greek banks over the last two years. Central bank figures show that deposits shrank by about 17 percent, or 35.4 billion euros ($44.4 billion) in 2011 and stood 165.9 billion euros ($208.1 billion) at end-April.

Money is also going out of the country....

http://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2012/06/12/greeks-keep-transferring-their-money-abroad-estimated-e100-500-million-per-day/
Greeks Keep Transferring Their Money Abroad; Estimated €100-500 Million per Day
Posted by keeptalkinggreece in Economy

Greek banks are bleeding as concerned citizens transfer their money abroad to secure them in case of a euro exit and return to drachma. Estimated 100 million to 500 million euro are tranferred from the Greek banks abroad on a daily basis due to citizens worries about the outcome of the economic crisis and the political uncertainty in Greece.
 
Estimations about withdrawals from banks speak of 5 to 6 billion euro in the month of May, while June started negative as well.
 
From the end of 2009 until today, the bank deposits of Greek banks have been decreased at 80 billion euro.(zougla.gr)

[Letsbereal]

Greece will probably need third aid package
13 June 2012, (MarketWatch)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/greece-will-probably-need-third-aid-package-2012-06-13

Greece will probably need a third aid package soon, as the crisis-stricken country is falling behind on key reforms, German newspaper Die Zeit reports in a preview of an article to be published Thursday.

Germany's parliament could discuss further financial assistance for Greece as early as this summer, the newspaper reports.

But a third aid package will only be forthcoming if Greeks elect a new government Sunday that supports further reforms, the newspaper reports.

Since Greece can no longer finance itself in the markets, official lenders must fill the gap, the newspaper says.

[Letsbereal]

Euro zone OK with looser terms for Greece: report
13 June 2012, (MarketWatch)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/euro-zone-ok-with-looser-terms-for-greece-report-2012-06-13

The euro zone wants to negotiate a loosening of the terms of Greece's fiscal consolidation program, German newspaper Financial Times Deutschland reports Wednesday.

Any new Greek government will demand changes to the country's savings program, regardless of the outcome of Sunday's general elections, the newspaper reports, citing people close to the matter.

If other member states want Greece to remain in the euro zone, they won't be able to refuse such negotiations, FTD reports.

The Troika--comprising the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund--is proceeding on the assumption that Greece has already violated the terms of its reform plan, the newspaper reports, citing people close to the matter.

The Troika will confirm at its next visit to Greece that the reform program hasn't been fulfilled, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told politicians at a meeting of his party's parliamentary group, FTD reports.

But the Troika is still officially calling on Greece to meet all its reform pledges. "We expect the Greeks to fulfil all agreed commitments," a spokesman for the European Commission told FTD.

[Letsbereal]

Fitch says Greece needs 'robust response'
13 June 2012, (MarketWatch)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fitch-says-greece-needs-robust-response-2012-06-13-94851635

Fitch Ratings believes Greece's hypothetical exit from the euro zone would have a modest direct impact on banks of other euro-zone countries, but the indirect fallout from a Greek redenomination could be severe for banks in neighboring countries, most notably Spain and Italy.

The ratings company said banks with units or branches in Greece would be most affected and the impact they face would depend on the extent to which they are funding Greek assets cross-border.

Fitch also said policy makers would need to make "a robust response," backed up by specific policy actions in order to prevent contagion from a Greek redenomination.

The firm said willingness to extend Spain a EUR100 billion credit line to support its banks is a clear sign of policy makers' willingness to do what is necessary.

Fitch said the impact on euro-zone banks' ratings would depend on the effectiveness of the policy response.

Banks in Portugal and Ireland are more vulnerable to contagion risks as these nations could be perceived as "next in line" for a euro exit.

On Tuesday, Moody's Investors Service lowered its ratings on the Bank of Cyprus and Hellenic Bank Ltd. one notch further into junk territory, noting the Cypriot banks' extensive operations in Greece make them vulnerable to an increased risk of a Greek exit from the euro zone.

Moody's also plasce the ratings on both banks on review for further downgrade.

[Letsbereal]

Greek Bank Run Update: Up To $1 Billion A Day Now
13 June 2012, by Tyler Durden (Zero Hedge)
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/greek-bank-run-update-1-billion-day-now

Yesterday, we did an update of the Greek bank jog, when noting that between €100-€500 million per day was being withdrawn from Greek banks based on Kathimerini reports.

24 hours later the jog has become a trot with the most recent estimate from Reuters now estimated at nearly double:

"Combined daily deposit outflows from the major Greek banks have reached 500-800 million euros over the past few days, with the pace picking up as the election draws closer and rising noticeably on Tuesday, two bankers said."

This is roughly $1 billion a day in the upper case, and a number that is approaching 0.5% of the entire documented €170 billion (now likely much less) deposit base.

Deposit outflows at smaller and medium sized banks were running at 10-30 million euros.

"This includes cash withdrawals, wire transfers and investments into money market funds, German Bunds, U.S. Treasuries and EIB bonds," said one banker, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Fears that Greece may have to quit the single currency and return to a weak drachma have fuelled a steady stream of withdrawals by companies and businesses alarmed at the prospect of seeing the value of their deposits cut sharply.

The result of the election, called after a previous vote in May failed to produce a government, remains too close to call, with the conservative New Democracy party running neck and neck with radical leftist SYRIZA.

Both groups say they want Greece to remain in the single currency but SYRIZA has pledged to scrap a 130 billion euro bailout agreement signed in March which has imposed some of the toughest austerity measures seen in Europe in decades.

At the daily rate of doubling the "estimate" by Friday the trot will be an all out sprting and Greece will be experiencing a $4 billion in outflows. We wonder which banks will have any cash left at that point.

How much of this is fact, and how much pre-election rumormongering to scare people from voting against Syriza remains to be seen.

Due to the polling moratorium it is impossible to get any grasp of which is the most popular party in Greece currently, even if the polls that had been released had the accuracy of an Excel random number generator.

[Letsbereal]

Greece jobless rate soars http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPi4c-lilp0

Greece tourism hit by eurozone crisis http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXWj3q_7IjQ

[Letsbereal]

ECB Tells Court Releasing Greek Swap Files Would Inflame Markets
14 july 2012, by Elisa Martinuzzi and Gabi Thesing (Bloomberg)
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-14/ecb-tells-court-releasing-greek-swap-files-would-inflame-markets.html

Excerpt:

The European Central Bank said it can’t release files showing how Greece may have used derivatives to hide its borrowings because disclosure could still inflame the crisis threatening the future of the single currency.

Bloomberg News is suing the ECB to provide the documents under European Union freedom-of-information rules.

The papers may help show the role EU authorities played in allowing Greece to mask its deficit for almost a decade before the nation’s troubled finances necessitated a €240 billion ($301 billion) bailout and the biggest debt restructuring in history.

Disclosing the files when Bloomberg News first sought them in 2010 would have “fueled negative perceptions about Greece’s ability to honor its debt,” ECB lawyer Marta Lopez Torres said at a hearing of the European Union’s General Court in Luxembourg today.

“It’s the same now with Spain” which “isn’t able to borrow money,” she said. “Markets are reacting in very volatile ways. It’s affecting the euro economy.”

Greece may seek to leave the euro if parties opposed to the austerity measures imposed with the rescue win elections on June 17.

Meanwhile, Spain’s 10-year borrowing costs jumped to a euro- era record today after the nation’s credit rating was cut to one step above junk by Moody’s Investors Service following Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s request for bank aid this week.

“Markets will perform better when they have transparency,” Timothy Pitt-Payne, lawyer for Bloomberg News, told the court.

“The question is who knew what; and when did they know it?”

[Letsbereal]

Greece Sinks Into Despair: 'There's Nothing Here Anymore'
15 June 2012, by Catherine Boyle (CNBC)
http://www.cnbc.com//id/47814459

Extreme political uncertainty, rampant corruption, queues forming at soup kitchens, and aid from non-governmental organizations (NGOs)—all these are more commonly associated with countries still developing Western-style economies.

Yet they are now a daily reality for many Greeks, prompting some to mutter that the country is in danger of regressing decades in its development.

“We are moving from being a Western country to a poor country,” George Protopapas, national director of international charity SOS Children’s Villages, told CNBC.

“I’m worried that it’s going to be like in Ceausescu’s Romania or Bulgaria in the early 1990s.”

Of course, there is no universal concept for how to label developing and developed countries, and development isn’t always a linear process.

What really differentiates Greece from struggling developing countries is its large, well-educated middle class and cultural identification with the West.

It’s difficult to sit in Syntagma Square—the central Athens square that is home to the Greek parliament, with its upmarket hotels and shops— ahead of Sunday's Greek elections and see the country sinking back.

Yet many of the people in suits chatting on their iPhones have had their pay slashed in the past year, and there are few shops that are busy.

Greece itself, with its strange mixture of capitalism and socialism, was always one of the least developed of the European Union countries.

There are many now who argue that it should never have been allowed to join the euro at all.

It is often mentioned as the country where the foundations of modern democracy were laid millennia ago, but its current democracy is less than four decades old.

Greece’s 20th-century development was notoriously hampered by political upheaval, including a fascist dictatorship, an army-led coup,

and a period of occupation by Nazi Germany — one of the spectres being raised by those opposed to external forces like the troika having input into Greek policy.

After recent stringent cuts as part of the bailout, non-governmental organizations are providing some of the services, like health, normally provided by the government.

This kind of aid is much more often associated with the developing world. Diseases such as HIV and malaria are on the rise.

The medical charity Medecins du Monde — Doctors of the World — known for its work in the Third World, saw the number of Greeks coming to its clinics double in 2011.

“Many patients are retired elderly citizens whose pensions have been substantially reduced because of the austerity measures implemented by the government in recent years,” the charity noted in recent research.

And such charities are paying taxes on donations for the first time, as well as facing rising costs across the board.

Immigrants from developing countries are starting to see more chance for prosperity in their home countries than Greece.

Ade, who emigrated from Nigeria in 2005, is planning to go back home as soon as she can afford to.

“There’s nothing here for me anymore, and I can’t contribute to society if I can’t work,” she told CNBC as she waited for free medical treatment (she is four months pregnant) at a center funded by the Orthodox Church.

There are also concerns that the escalating cost of heating and electricity, the result of tax rises brought in by the government following the bailout, coupled with a rising number of unpaid invoices, could lead to power cuts.

Energy companies in Greece are already struggling.

State-run PPC needs to pay $657.2 million (which it doesn’t have in its coffers after recent falls in revenue) by June 22 or persuade its banks to roll over its debts. And people increasingly can’t pay their bills.

Close to a third of the Greek population — the highest level in Europe — was considered at risk for poverty or social exclusion by Eurostat in 2010, when the economic and political situation was not as dire as it now appears.

And nearly 20% of Greek children live in homes unable to afford at least 3 out of 9 basic items.

“We are the band that’s still playing on the Titanic.

We have to play on and keep working even though the ship is sinking,” Protopapas told CNBC about his charity, which helps struggling families and has seen a dramatic increase in calls for its help.

[Letsbereal]

Webster Tarpley’s World Crises Radio – June 16, 2012 http://tarpley.net/world-crisis-radio/

Download: WCR-20120616.mp3 http://tarpley.net/audio/getfile.php?f=WCR-20120616.mp3

Also about the Greek elections in the last segments. Very interesting.

Michael Chiotinis, blogger of Athens, Greece (English Blog) http://thegreekperspective.blogspot.com

(Greek Blog) Google trans from Greek: http://tinyurl.com/7xql5e5

I Hope That I'm Wrong...
Posted 9 hours ago by Michael Chiotinis
http://thegreekperspective.blogspot.nl/2012/06/i-hope-that-i-wrong.html

It seems that New Democracy will be the first party by popular vote with a very small lead.

The best interpretation though of the popular vote is that more than 50% of Greek people want to see the end of IMF control over Greece.

Because of the electoral law, the difference in the number of seats in the parliament between the first two parties means that a coalition government will be formed with the first party (New Democracy) as the core.

The coalition partners will probably be PASOK and/or the Democratic Left.
 
This leaves what seems to be a minority but what actually is a majority of people that cannot be expressed and that given the circumstances and the dire economic conditions are and will become increasingly desperate.

A difference of 2 percentage points could mean more than the simple determination of the next government, rather it could fundamentally change the course of history.

Not only could it mean unprecedented phenomena of social unrest or worse social explosion,

but a weak pro-austerity government ready to sign whatever the Troika demands will deprive Europe of a chance to find real ways of dealing with the problems and thus save itself.

Exactly the reverse of the mainstream argument,

I believe that the election result as it seems right now, will mean the breakup of the Euro, as a Syriza government could have been the only chance to save it.

See Greek results on the official website http://ekloges.ypes.gr/v2012b/public/index.html

votes%  -  equivalent to seats
29,66% - 129 New Democracy
12,28% - 033 Pasok
06,26% – 017 Democratic Left
48.2% – 179 seats together

26,89% - 071 Syriza
07,51% - 020 Independent Greeks
06,92% – 018 Golden Dawn
04,50% - 012 Greek Communist Party
45.82% – 121 seats together

94.02% take 300 seats total

Other much weaker and in fact undemocratic scenario because 42% rules over 52% while having 162 seats over 138 seats trough the crazy 50+ seats rule: A 50-seat bonus automatically given to the party which comes first would give a theoretical New Democracy-PASOK alliance 162 seats in the 300-seat parliament.

votes%  -  equivalent to seats
29,66% - 129 New Democracy
12,28% - 033 Pasok
41.94% – 162 seats together

26,89% - 071 Syriza
07,51% - 020 Independent Greeks
06,92% – 018 Golden Dawn
06,26% – 017 Democratic Left
04,50% - 012 Greek Communist Party
52.08% – 138 seats together

94.02% take 300 seats total

[TARA]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/18/opinion/krugman-greece-as-victim.html?_r=1&smid=fb-share

Greece as Victim
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: June 17, 2012

Ever since Greece hit the skids, we’ve heard a lot about what’s wrong with everything Greek. Some of the accusations are true, some are false — but all of them are beside the point. Yes, there are big failings in Greece’s economy, its politics and no doubt its society. But those failings aren’t what caused the crisis that is tearing Greece apart, and threatens to spread across Europe.

No, the origins of this disaster lie farther north, in Brussels, Frankfurt and Berlin, where officials created a deeply — perhaps fatally — flawed monetary system, then compounded the problems of that system by substituting moralizing for analysis. And the solution to the crisis, if there is one, will have to come from the same places.

So, about those Greek failings: Greece does indeed have a lot of corruption and a lot of tax evasion, and the Greek government has had a habit of living beyond its means. Beyond that, Greek labor productivity is low by European standards — about 25 percent below the European Union average. It’s worth noting, however, that labor productivity in, say, Mississippi is similarly low by American standards — and by about the same margin.

On the other hand, many things you hear about Greece just aren’t true. The Greeks aren’t lazy — on the contrary, they work longer hours than almost anyone else in Europe, and much longer hours than the Germans in particular. Nor does Greece have a runaway welfare state, as conservatives like to claim; social expenditure as a percentage of G.D.P., the standard measure of the size of the welfare state, is substantially lower in Greece than in, say, Sweden or Germany, countries that have so far weathered the European crisis pretty well.

So how did Greece get into so much trouble? Blame the euro.

Fifteen years ago Greece was no paradise, but it wasn’t in crisis either. Unemployment was high but not catastrophic, and the nation more or less paid its way on world markets, earning enough from exports, tourism, shipping and other sources to more or less pay for its imports.

Then Greece joined the euro, and a terrible thing happened: people started believing that it was a safe place to invest. Foreign money poured into Greece, some but not all of it financing government deficits; the economy boomed; inflation rose; and Greece became increasingly uncompetitive. To be sure, the Greeks squandered much if not most of the money that came flooding in, but then so did everyone else who got caught up in the euro bubble.

And then the bubble burst, at which point the fundamental flaws in the whole euro system became all too apparent.

Ask yourself, why does the dollar area — also known as the United States of America — more or less work, without the kind of severe regional crises now afflicting Europe? The answer is that we have a strong central government, and the activities of this government in effect provide automatic bailouts to states that get in trouble.

Consider, for example, what would be happening to Florida right now, in the aftermath of its huge housing bubble, if the state had to come up with the money for Social Security and Medicare out of its own suddenly reduced revenues. Luckily for Florida, Washington rather than Tallahassee is picking up the tab, which means that Florida is in effect receiving a bailout on a scale no European nation could dream of.

Or consider an older example, the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s, which was largely a Texas affair. Taxpayers ended up paying a huge sum to clean up the mess — but the vast majority of those taxpayers were in states other than Texas. Again, the state received an automatic bailout on a scale inconceivable in modern Europe.

So Greece, although not without sin, is mainly in trouble thanks to the arrogance of European officials, mostly from richer countries, who convinced themselves that they could make a single currency work without a single government. And these same officials have made the situation even worse by insisting, in the teeth of the evidence, that all the currency’s troubles were caused by irresponsible behavior on the part of those Southern Europeans, and that everything would work out if only people were willing to suffer some more.

Which brings us to Sunday’s Greek election, which ended up settling nothing. The governing coalition may have managed to stay in power, although even that’s not clear (the junior partner in the coalition is threatening to defect). But the Greeks can’t solve this crisis anyway.

The only way the euro might — might — be saved is if the Germans and the European Central Bank realize that they’re the ones who need to change their behavior, spending more and, yes, accepting higher inflation. If not — well, Greece will basically go down in history as the victim of other people’s hubris.

[Letsbereal]

Guy says it all, Must hear: Greek Pro-Bailout Party Wins Most Seats as Majority Reject the Deal http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neRvn6vAe4o

Jun 17, 2012 by TheRealNews

Dimitri Lascaris: New Democracy win a hollow victory as majority of Greeks reject austerity and underlying problems remain unsolved.

(Rounded on 0 Decimal)

votes%  -  equivalent to seats
30% – 129 New Democracy
27% – 071 Syriza
12% – 033 Pasok
08% – 020 Independent Greeks
07% – 018 Golden Dawn
06% – 017 Democratic Left
05% – 012 Greek Communist Party
02%
02%
01 %

100% – 300 seats total

See results on the official Greek website http://ekloges.ypes.gr/v2012b/public/index.html

[Letsbereal]

Greek New Democracy, Pasok form coalition: reports
20 June 2012, by Sara Sjolin - London (MarketWatch)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/greek-new-democracy-pasok-form-coalition-reports-2012-06-20

A deal between the pro-bailout New Democracy party and socialist Pasok has been struck to form a new coalition government following parliamentary elections on Sunday, news reports said.

Details of who the ministers will be are expected to be finalized later Wednesday, according to the reports.

The BBC further said that the small Democratic Left party also is expected to be part of the governing coalition with New Democracy and Pasok.

As the winner of the majority vote in the elections on Sunday, New Democracy had until Thursday to form a government; otherwise the antiausterity Syriza would have had a chance, as it came in second.

Read the full story: Greece to confirm coalition government http://www.marketwatch.com/story/greece-to-confirm-coalition-government-2012-06-20

[Letsbereal]

Greece may be cut to emerging market status
20 June 2012, by Myra P. Saefong - San Francisco (MarketWatch)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/greece-may-be-cut-to-emerging-market-status-2012-06-20

MSCI Inc. announced changes late Wednesday to its review lists for potential reclassifications within its widely-used emerging markets indices, including the possible reclassification of Greece to emerging markets.

The provider of investment decision support tools said the MSCI Greece Index is "structurally no longer in line with developed markets size requirements with only two index constituents."

MSCI said it may open consultations on proposals to reclassify the index to "stand-alone market status outside of the regular reclassification cycle if the country were to introduce accessibility restrictions to its equity market following a potential exit of the country from the European Monetary Union."

The MSCI Korea Index remains under review for possible reclassification to developed markets, as it continues to meet "most of the developed markets criteria," notably in economic development, market size and liquidity, MSCI said.

[TahoeBlue]

http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/countries_e/greece_e.htm

MEMBER INFORMATION

Greece and the WTO

 This page gathers information on Greece's participation in the WTO. Greece has been a WTO member since 1 January 1995. It is a member State of the European Union (more info). All EU member States are WTO members, as is the EU (until 30 November 2009 known officially in the WTO as the European Communities for legal reasons) in its own right.

We pay this SOB's salary!!! And he gets paid TAX FREE  ....

Pascal Lamy - WTO Der Fuehrer


On 13 May 2005, Pascal Lamy was chosen as the next director-general of the World Trade Organization, and took office on 1 September 2005 for a four-year term. On 30 April 2009, Lamy was re-elected unanimously by the WTO general council for a second term of four years, beginning 1 September 2009.[4] He also serves as the chairman of the organization's Trade Negotiations Committee


http://www.twnside.org.sg/title2/wto.info/2009/twninfo20090719.htm
WTO head Pascal Lamy rebuffed on own pay rise attempt
Published in SUNS #6743 dated 17 July 2009

Geneva, 16 July (Chakravarthi Raghavan*) -- The world may be in a deep economic and financial crisis, and enterprises may be going bankrupt, and CEOs and employees everywhere may be taking cuts in their remuneration, but the WTO Director-General, Mr. Pascal Lamy appears to have recently sought a 30 percent increase in his own emoluments.

He was however rebuffed by an informal meeting last week of a core group of countries, including all the leading industrial countries in the budget committee, according to reports published in the Indian and Brazilian media.

According to the report in the Business Standard in India, quoting trade diplomats in Geneva, a core group of the WTO's budgetary committee shot down the a demand from Mr. Lamy for a 30 per cent hike in his salary and other emoluments. The informal core group meeting is reported to have told Lamy that it was not proper to raise such a demand at a time of wage deflation and a generalised freeze of salaries of the top CEOs.

Lamy gets current about half-a-million swiss francs. The WTO budget is expressed in swiss francs and is paid by members according to their world trade shares.
...
Lamy reportedly not only wanted his emoluments to be increased by 30 percent, to bring them in line with those at the IMF, World Bank, European Central Bank and other institutions, but he also wanted a down payment on his pension benefits, on the basis that his term at the WTO would not get him full benefits.
...
The US, the largest contributor to the WTO's budget, according to the report, said it was unrealistic to consider a demand to increase the salary and the emoluments of the director general when many CEOs all over the world are forced to live with either steep salary cuts or a generalised freeze. The report cited trade diplomats as saying that a senior US official, who took part at the meeting, conveyed that Lamy was no exception and it was improper to raise his salary.
...

https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/vacan_e/comp_package_e.pdf
WTO COMPENSATION PACKAGE


Net Salary:
WTO salaries are generally exempt from income tax 1

1 Most member states have granted WTO staff exemption from national income taxation on their
WTO emoluments. In cases where Member States do tax the emoluments of their nationals, the WTO will
reimburse the income tax to the staff member.
| = = = = =

part of Gatt Treaty - Can you here the Freedom sucking away sound

Oh yes and Treaties are meant to be broken...

http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/x7354e/x7354e01.htm
Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT)

History of the Development of the SPS Agreement

KEY POINTS
The importance of Article XX(b) in GATT which permits countries to restrict imports to protect human, animal or plant life or health.

The significance of the 1979 "Standards Code" negotiated in the Tokyo Round in establishing the role of international standards in justifying trade restrictions and dispute settlement procedures, though the Code was limited to those countries which ratified it.
...

One important result of the Tokyo Round was the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (the 1979 TBT Agreement or "Standards Code")1. Although this agreement was not developed specifically for the purpose of regulating sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, it covered technical requirements resulting from food safety and animal and plant health measures, including pesticide residue limits, inspection requirements and labelling. Governments that were signatories to the 1979 TBT Agreement agreed to use relevant international standards (such as those for food safety developed by the Codex Alimentarius Commission) except when they considered that these standards would not adequately protect health. This represented the beginning of the principle of harmonization.

Governments negotiating the 1979 TBT Agreement also created provision for the notification of other governments, through the GATT Secretariat, of any technical regulations which were not based on international standards, thereby initiating what would develop into procedures based on the principle of transparency. The 1979 TBT Agreement also included provisions for settling trade disputes arising from the use of food safety and other technical restrictions. Since the GATT had no enforcement mechanism to ensure that members met their obligations under the agreements, the establishment of dispute settlement procedures which could be relevant to SPS measures provided significant strength to the TBT.



http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/sps_e/spsund_e.htm
...
In the Tokyo Round of multilateral trade negotiations (1974-79) an Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade was negotiated (the 1979 TBT Agreement or "Standards Code")
...
The 1979 TBT Agreement included provisions for settling trade disputes arising from the use of food safety and other technical restrictions
...

http://infousa.state.gov/economy/trade/glossac.html#agrtech
AGREEMENT ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE (TBT) — A WTO agreement to ensure that the standards and regulations imposed by governments and governmental authorities do not unnecessarily restrict or distort trade. This agreement recognizes that the need to comply with different foreign technical regulations and standards has an impact on international trade, and that the high costs involved in such compliance may discourage manufacturers from trying to sell abroad.

The agreement imposes rules to reduce the risk that technical standards and regulations are adopted and applied simply to protect domestic industries.

The purpose of the agreement mirrors that of its predecessor, the 1979 Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, which was negotiated during the GATT Tokyo Round.

The 1979 TBT Agreement, also called the Standards Code, laid down the rules for the preparation, adoption, and application of technical regulations, standards, and conformity assessment procedures.

The WTO TBT Agreement strengthens and clarifies the provisions of the 1979 agreement.

The WTO agreement is accompanied by a Code of Good Practice, which is designed to serve as a guide for bodies that prepare, adopt, and apply standards. See also Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures; Agreement on Government Procurement; Codes of Conduct; Customs and Administrative Entry Procedures; General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade; Government Procurement Policies and Practices; Licensing; Most-Favored-Nation Treatment; Nontariff Barriers; Packaging, Labeling, and Marking Regulations; Quarantine, Sanitary, and Health Laws and Regulations; Standards; Technical Regulations; Tokyo Round; Transparency; Uruguay Round; World Trade Organization.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Agreement_on_Tariffs_and_Trade

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is a multilateral agreement regulating international trade. According to its preamble, its purpose is the "substantial reduction of tariffs and other trade barriers and the elimination of preferences, on a reciprocal and mutually advantageous basis."
 
It was negotiated during the UN Conference on Trade and Employment and was the outcome of the failure of negotiating governments to create the International Trade Organization (ITO).

GATT was signed in 1947 and lasted until 1993, when it was replaced by the World Trade Organization in 1995.

The original GATT text (GATT 1947) is still in effect under the WTO framework, subject to the modifications of GATT 1994.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Organization
...
The GATT was the only multilateral instrument governing international trade from 1946 until the WTO was established on January 1, 1995.[15] Despite attempts in the mid 1950s and 1960s to create some form of institutional mechanism for international trade, the GATT continued to operate for almost half a century as a semi-institutionalized multilateral treaty regime on a provisional basis
...
The WTO has 155 members (to become 156 on the pending accession of Russia)[57] and 29 observer governments (including the Russian Federation).[58] In addition to states, the European Union is a member. WTO members do not have to be full sovereign nation-members.
...
The WTO oversees about 60 different agreements which have the status of international legal texts. Member countries must sign and ratify all WTO agreements on accession
...
The Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures—also known as the SPS Agreement—was negotiated during the Uruguay Round of GATT, and entered into force with the establishment of the WTO at the beginning of 1995. Under the SPS agreement, the WTO sets constraints on members' policies relating to food safety (bacterial contaminants, pesticides, inspection and labelling) as well as animal and plant health (imported pests and diseases).

The Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade is an international treaty of the World Trade Organization.

It was negotiated during the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and entered into force with the establishment of the WTO at the end of 1994.

The object ensures that technical negotiations and standards, as well as testing and certification procedures, do not create unnecessary obstacles to trade".[64] The Agreement on Customs Valuation, formally known as the Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of GATT, prescribes methods of customs valuation that Members are to follow. Chiefly, it adopts the "transaction value" approach.

[Letsbereal]

GREECE: World Crisis Radio
Most Recent Program – June 23, 2012
Download: WCR-20120623.mp3 http://tarpley.net/audio/getfile.php?f=WCR-20120623.mp3

votes% – equivalent to seats
29,66% – 129 New Democracy
12,28% – 033 Pasok
——————————————————————————–
41.94% – 162 seats together

26,89% – 071 Syriza
07,51% – 020 Independent Greeks
06,92% – 018 Golden Dawn
06,26% – 017 Democratic Left
04,50% – 012 Greek Communist Party
——————————————————————————–
52.08% – 138 seats together

94.02% take 300 seats total

See results on the official Greek website http://ekloges.ypes.gr/v2012b/public/index.html


Disagree with Michael Chiotinis [0 decimal] rounding method, for example 2,77% = 2,8 % Not 2,7%!,

but agree with Michael’s general assertion of the whole situation tough.

votes%
29,66% – 29,7% New Democracy
12,28% – 12,3% Pasok
——————————————————————————–
41.94% – 41.9%

26,89% – 26,9% Syriza
07,51% – 07,5% Independent Greeks
06,92% – 06,9% Golden Dawn
06,26% – 06,3% Democratic Left
04,50% – 04,5% Greek Communist Party
——————————————————————————–
52.08% – 52.1%

As long as these ‘sad peoples’ or sheople keep on putting Goldman Sachs in the driver seat, like what just happened in Greece and will happen again in the U.S. I am afraid, trying to explain the concept seems often ‘pearls before swines’.

Or bottums Up: This will end but the hard way for these sad sheoples I am afraid to conclude.

So, I fully agree with Michael Chiotinis on this level.

Not unexpected at all indeedy for those of us who can see but fearmongering mingled in the propaganda mix seems to work very effectively. Same ol -ol … nevertheless.

Everything’s out a pocket. They can’t get ahead in no way they try. Banksters are working everybody. They’re working poor folks to death.

It’s got the poor folks wondering: “which is which?”, “Surely somebodies doing sometin’ slick, down town”, they might think.

The problem situation is abstract. Make me wanna holler:

“Oh, Lord have mercy to seen. Won’t somebody please help them to see land Lord.”

Ofcourse I do realize that I am preaching before the choir here but hopefully some ‘inactive’ quest observers will be persuaded to go to the next ‘active’ level in any shape or form.

[Letsbereal]

Greece to ask EU payback for 'sacrifices'
28 June 2012, (AFP)
http://www.france24.com/en/20120628-greece-ask-eu-payback-sacrifices

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras will ask EU partners on Thursday to "respond to sacrifices" by recession-hit Greeks, and seek changes to the conditions of a second EU-IMF bailout, a report said.

The top-selling daily Ta Nea said that Samaras, who is recovering from eye surgery and will miss an EU summit in Brussels, made the call in a letter to be delivered by President Carolos Papoulias, who will represent Greece.

Papoulias, who flew economy class to Brussels, has already delivered a copy of the letter to EU President Herman Van Rompuy, Greek reports said.

The full contents of the letter have not been made public.

But according to government sources, the newly-elected conservative premier argues that Greece's latest rescue package, which provides Athens with an additional €130 billion ($163 billion) must be revised to take into account a greater-than-expected recession, Ta Nea said.

On the other hand, Samaras insists that he will "honour" Greek pledges to overhaul the economy, slash the deficit and control a runaway debt of over €350 billion, Ethnos daily said.

Samaras heads a three-party coalition put in place after June 17 elections with the aim of renegotiating Greece's bailout by placing more emphasis on growth to overcome a five-year recession.

The conservatives, socialists and moderate leftists in the coalition want to bargain for a two-year extension to 2016 for Greece to meet fiscal targets under a memorandum signed with the so-called 'troika' of creditors -- the EU, IMF and the European Central Bank.

The government has said it also wants to freeze some reforms, such as minimum wage cuts and more flexible rules for companies wanting to shed staff, which it sees as exacerbating poverty and a jobless rate already at more than 20 percent.

But Athens is unlikely to secure any extra breathing space from Brussels until the completion of an audit by the so-called troika of the International Monetary Fund, European Union and European Central Bank on the country's finances.

The inspection, last held in February, was delayed by a week after Samaras' surgery. Greece's designated finance minister also fell ill last week and had to be replaced.

At the summit, which begins at 1300 GMT, EU leaders will examine a compact for growth and jobs aimed at countering record unemployment and an economic downturn.

The heads of state and government will also discuss plans to create a banking union and increasingly centralise control over budgets.

But the summit is expected to agree only on a roadmap to be finalised at another summit at the end of the year.

[Letsbereal]

IMF says Greece 'missed' some bailout targets
12 July 2012, (AFP)
http://www.france24.com/en/20120712-imf-says-greece-missed-bailout-targets

The International Monetary Fund said Thursday that Greece has failed to meet a number of targets in the IMF bailout program, insisting it is too soon to discuss revisions to the plan.

"So far, some targets were met, a number were missed and in some cases we don't have enough of the data to assess" whether different measures may be open to discussion, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said.

The IMF reiterated it was in discussions with the Greek authorities on the agreed IMF-EU program for €130 billion ($158.3 billion) in rescue financing.

"We're not in the position of negotiating the program's objectives.

They remain the basis for the discussion," the spokesman said at a regularly scheduled news conference.

"But if there are ideas how to better achieve those objectives, we are open to that, as we are in the case of any other program."

The IMF spokesman's comments came a day after the Greek coalition government reiterated its commitment to renegotiate the austerity plan agreed with its EU and IMF creditors.

Rice noted that an IMF fact-finding mission had just ended in Athens and a mission was expected to return to the Greek capital on July 24,

"to commence discussions on, again, how to bring the program fully back on track."

The IMF will issue a report following a review of the findings, he said.

"It's premature to get into which of the different measures might be open to discussion."