Greece Debt, Creative Accounting?

13 11 2011

Is the news about Greece being suddenly broke true or is there a scheme to use fictional debt to wipe out workers’ gains and steal a lot of money?

This blog, ce399,  has an intersting article (plus others)

Professor Georganta told the Financial Times on Friday: “I am still convinced the methodology was incorrect and the deficit number had no scientific foundation . . . it should have been revised downwards.”

Striking members of Elstat’s union blocked access to its building on Friday in support of Prof Georganta’s view. One union member said: “We face another round of salary cuts and maybe sackings because of what happened with Eurostat and the deficit figures.”





LIVE: Updates from Greece + USA sent 400 TANKS

19 10 2011

Athens Indy Media reports –

http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=en&article_id=1343265

From Oct. 3:

The U.S. approved to grant 400 M1A1 Abrams to Greece

According to information of the “Hellenic Defence & Technology” magazine, the U.S. authorities approved to grant 400 M1A1 Abrams tanks to the Greek Army, which will include options between simple refurbishment – worth tens of millions dollars for all the tanks- and upgrading to a higher level of operational capability, with a higher corresponding cost. The relative Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) is expected soon. . . .

http://paper.li/occupymanhattan/1317517749





Democracy’s Cradle, Rocking the World

11 07 2011

Somehow the NY Times let this one in . . . .

By MARK MAZOWER

YESTERDAY, the whole world was watching Greece as its Parliament voted to pass a divisive package of austerity measures that could have critical ramifications for the global financial system. It may come as a surprise that this tiny tip of the Balkan Peninsula could command such attention. We usually think of Greece as the home of Plato and Pericles, its real importance lying deep in antiquity. But this is hardly the first time that to understand Europe’s future, you need to turn away from the big powers at the center of the continent and look closely at what is happening in Athens. For the past 200 years, Greece has been at the forefront of Europe’s evolution. . . .  (more)

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/30/opinion/30mazower.html





Bankers Order the Looting of Greece

23 06 2011

From James Pilant

http://southwerk.wordpress.com/2011/06/18/bankers-order-the-looting-of-greece-via/

“According to Max Keiser, people of the kinds of Forbes are already in Greece to get its assets for pennies on the Euro. It is now clear the rest of the countries will come next. That is the plan.”





US Workers in Turmoil

17 06 2011

Lots of headlines at World Socialist Web Site  –

http://wsws.org/

Too much to post all the headlines!  Suggest Labor/Worker interested readers bookmark that page.

Related:

How to fix crumbling U.S. roads, rails and airways
Falling tax revenue is hurting U.S. shipping and prosperity
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-to-fix-crumbling-us-roads-rails-and-airways-2011-06-17?dist=afterbell





Greece to probe U.S. banks

19 05 2010

Well, hell — at least someone is doing it! – F.C.

(Reuters) – Greece may investigate U.S. investment banks and their role in the run-up to the Greek debt crisis which has shaken faith in euro zone economies, Prime Minister George Papandreou said in comments broadcast on Sunday.

Wall Street and major banks around the world are attracting scrutiny from regulators who are looking at transactions that occurred in the run-up to the subprime mortgage meltdown and financial crisis….(more)

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64F0Y020100516





“Wall Streets is headed toward international pariah status”

11 03 2010

Michael Collins writes –

 Wall Streets is headed toward international pariah status thanks to two recent actions by the European Union (EU).

On Tuesday, the EU announced that it was banning Wall Street banks from the lucrative government bond business in Europe. They didn’t express official concern or fire off a warning shot. They simply banned Wall Street from financing government bond deals like the one Goldman Sachs sold to Greece. The Guardian pointed out that Wall Street bond business from European governments has gone down over the last two years. Now the business is gone period. In effect, the EU has labeled Wall Streets business tactics as too dangerous for their governments to handle.

Then on Wednesday, the President of the European Commission said that the EU was considering a ban on government debt speculation through Credit Default Swaps (CDS) President José Manuel Barroso announced that, “the Commission will examine closely the relevance of banning purely speculative naked sales on Credit Default Swaps of sovereign debt.” While not an outright ban, the threat of banning CDS on national debt would be a major loss for the world’s financial speculators, particularly those in the United States and Great Britain….(more)

http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2010/03/10/economicwarfare