Παρασκευή

CNBC : «Φανταστείτε μια χώρα να χάνει όλους τους αποφοίτους της. Τι μέλλον μπορεί να έχει»;


Αυτή την Ελληνική τραγωδία αποκαλύπτει το CNBC σε ένα συγκλονιστικό αφιέρωμα της Λόρης Ιωάννου, αποκαλύπτοντας το πραγματικό Grexit. Ένα Grexit που χαρίζει το πολυτιμότερο αγαθό που διαθέτει ένα έθνος, σε άλλα: Το μέλλον του.
Στο αφιέρωμα ξεχωρίζει το αποκαλυπτικό βίντεο – ιστορικό της κατάρρευσης. Ίσως το πιο αληθινό αφιέρωμα στον δρόμο του ολέθρου που έστησε ο Σημιτης και ολοκλήρωσε ο Παπανδρέου με τον Σαμαρά, αφού αποκαλυπτει το σκανδαλο των Ολυμπιακών, των πλαστών στοιχείων της ΟΝΕ, το φιάσκο του Βατοπαιδίου που χρησιμοποιήθηκε για να έλθει ο Παπανδρέου στην εξουσία, αλλά και των περιβόητων εταιρειών αξιολόγησης που βοήθησαν τον Παπανδρέου να υποδουλώσει την χώρα.

Όπως σημειώνεται, «τα στατιστικά στοιχεία για το άρθρο προέρχονται από την έρευνα του καθηγητή του Πανεπιστημίου Μακεδονίας και συγγραφέα Λόη Λαμπριανίδη.
«Οι μισοί από τους 160.000 με 180.000 αποφοίτους πανεπιστημίων που έχουν φύγει από την Ελλάδα, τα τελευταία χρόνια, είναι κάτοχοι διδακτορικού» όπως σημειώνεται.
Επιπλέον, αντλούνται στατιστικά στοιχεία από την έρευνα της Endeavor Greece και τη σχετική έκθεσή της, «σύμφωνα με την οποία, 200.000 άνθρωποι εγκατέλειψαν την Ελλάδα από την αρχή της κρίσης, πριν από πέντε χρόνια».
Όπως τονίζεται, «ένα από τα πλέον ανησυχητικά στοιχεία είναι ότι η τάση για μετανάστευση δεν έχει υποχωρήσει, ενώ το 46% των Ελλήνων που ζουν στη χώρα σκοπεύουν να εγκατασταθούν στο εξωτερικό».
Όπως σημειώνεται στο δημοσίευμα, «τη στιγμή που η ΕΕ θέλει την Ελλάδα να ανορθωθεί και να αναδιαρθρώσει την οικονομία της, η δύναμη της φαιάς ουσίας, που απαιτείται για τη μεταμόρφωση αυτή, φεύγει από τη χώρα», ενώ σε άλλο σημείο, επισημαίνεται ότι «σημαντικός παράγοντας για τη φυγή εγκεφάλων είναι ψυχολογικός, σύμφωνα με τον Αλέξη Πανταζή, συνιδρυτή της Hellas Direct».
Επίσης, αναφέρεται ότι «αυτή η αβεβαιότητα έχει εμποδίσει πολλούς ανθρώπους από διάφορους τομείς» και «υπάρχει μια αίσθηση παράλυσης και τα πράγματα έχουν χειροτερέψει μετά τις εκλογές» όπως είπε ο Χάρης Μακρυνιώτης, διευθύνων σύμβουλος της Endeavor Greece.
Σύμφωνα με το δημοσίευμα, «όπως εξήγησε (ο κ. Μακρυνιώτης), όλοι περιμένουν να δουν πως θα εξελιχθεί η τετράμηνη παράταση του νέου σχεδίου διάσωσης της ΕΕ και αν η Ελλάδα θα μείνει στο ευρώ».
 Στη συνέχεια, αναφέρει ότι «η επίπτωση στην καθημερινή ζωή μπορεί να γίνει αισθητή από όλους» και ότι «οι τράπεζες δεν δανείζουν, κρατώντας τις εγκρίσεις σε αναμονή. Αυτό σημαίνει ότι για ένα μικρομεσαίο επιχειρηματία δεν υπάρχει κεφάλαιο κίνησης, τώρα. Και αν είστε ένας επιχειρηματίας που ψάχνει για κεφάλαια εκκίνησης, οι επενδυτές δεν ανοίγουν το πορτοφόλι τους. Αντ΄ αυτού, περιμένουν να δουν τι θα συμβεί με το ευρώ, δεδομένου ότι οποιαδήποτε αλλαγή θα επηρεάσει τις αποτιμήσεις».

Δείτε το αφιέρωμα εδώ.

Ποιος θα πληρώσει ρε λαμόγια το ομολογο; H τράπεζα, η ο κοσμάκης;


 
 
 
Είναι ένα από τα ομόλογα, για τα οποία μίλησε ο Τσίπρας χτες στην συνεδρίαση της κοινοβουλευτικής ομάδας του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ (παγίδα θανάτου).
Μετά τις χτεσινές αποφάσεις της ECB «έσφιξαν τα γάλατα».
Τα χρήματα του ELA δεν μπορούν να χρησιμοποιηθούν.
Σύμφωνα με την απόφαση του Σταϊκούρα, της παροχής εγγύησης, https://diavgeia.gov.gr/doc/ΒΙΨΞΗ-ΩΕΥ
«Το κόστος που θα βαρύνει το Δημόσιο, σε περίπτωση κατάπτωσης της εγγύησης του Δημοσίου, ενδέχεται να ανέλθει στο ποσό των 3.609.600.000 ευρώ πλέον των προβλεπομένων από τους όρους του οικείου ομολογιακού δανείου τόκων και πάσης φύσεως επιβαρύνσεων, το ακριβές ύψος της οποίας δεν μπορεί να υπολογιστεί.»
Σε περίπτωση κατάπτωσης της εγγύησης το επιτόκιο που θα τρέχει για το ομόλογο είναι : κυμαινόμενο euribor 3μηνών πλέον περιθωρίου 12,00% ετησίως.
Σύμφωνα με την ιστοσελίδα
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/26/alpha-bank-ae-idUSnBw265196a+100+BSW20141126
οι τόκοι που επιβαρύνουν το ομόλογο της ALPHA είναι 111.441.587,20€
Θα πληρωθεί το συγκεκριμένο ομόλογο από την ALPHA ή θα καθαρίσουν πάλι τα κορόιδα;
Σε κάθε περίπτωση αύριο το μεσημέρι η ΤτΕ και το Υπουργείο Οικονομικών οφείλουν να ενημερώσουν τα …κορόιδα.
Eμείς λέμε να το στείλουν στον άθλιο Σταϊκούρα να το πληρώσει από την τσέπη του.


 
 
 
Λήγει αύριο ένα ομόλογο «φάντασμα», κατά Βαρουφάκη, ύψους 3.609.600.000€, της ALPHA BANK, το οποίο εκδόθηκε με την εγγύηση του ελληνικού δημοσίου (υπογράφων Σταϊκούρας), στις 18-12-2013, διάρκειας 15 μηνών και ημερομηνία λήξης 27-2-2015.
Το ερώτημα είναι αν θα πληρωθεί το ομόλογο αυτό από την ίδια την τράπεζα ή θα το επιβαρυνθεί το ελληνικό δημόσιο. 


Με «απώλειες» λένε 12,24 δισεκατομμυρίων ευρώ έκλεισε ο Ιανουάριος όσον αφορά στο υπόλοιπο των καταθέσεων σύμφωνα με τα στοιχεία που ανακοίνωσε η Τράπεζα της Ελλάδας. Άλλοι λένε…ΧΑΘΗΚΑΝ. Τώρα γιατί «χάθηκαν» αφού είναι στις τσέπες του κοσμάκη για καλό και για κακό, μόνο αυτοί ξέρουν . Όχι απλώς δεν χάθηκαν αλλά ..σιγουρεύτηκαν ότι δεν θα χαθούν .  

Το υπόλοιπο για νοικοκυριά και επιχειρήσεις, διαμορφώνεται πλέον στα 148 δισεκατομμύρια ευρώ, ποσό που είναι χαμηλότερο από αυτό του προηγούμενου «κύματος φυγής» τον Μάιο και τον Ιούνιο του 2012 και αντίστοιχο μόνο με αυτό που είχαν οι τράπεζες το καλοκαίρι του 2005.

Οι μεγαλύτερες απώλειες προκλήθηκαν από τα νοικοκυριά και ειδικά τις προθεσμιακές καταθέσεις.
Οι καταθέσεις επιχειρήσεων και νοικοκυριών περιορίστηκαν στα 148 δισεκατομμύρια ευρώ, από 160 δισεκατομμύρια ευρώ που ήταν τον Δεκέμβριο του 2014 και 164 δισεκατομμύρια ευρώ που ήταν τον Νοέμβριο.

Ρωτάμε γιατί αφού ο ELA την 31/12/2014 ήταν μηδενικός και γιατί αφού μέχρι σήμερα σηκώθηκαν από τις τράπεζες καταθέσεις 20 Δις, γιατί ρε λαμόγια χρειαστήκαμε ELA 65 Δις ;;;

Τι πληρώνουμε με τα 65 αυτά Δις του ELA, που και πάλι δεν φτάνουν ;;;

Παίρνουν πίσω το μέτρο για τα βουλευτικά αυτοκίνητα;



Το θέμα των βουλευτικών προνομίων απασχόλησε, μεταξύ άλλων, η ενημέρωση επί κοινοβουλευτικών ζητημάτων που παρέθεσε η Πρόεδρος της Βουλής Ζωή Κωνσταντοπούλου στα μέλη της ΚΟ του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ, με ορισμένους βουλευτές να εκφράζουν την έντονη δυσφορία τους για την πρόθεση του πρωθυπουργού να τους τα περιορίσει.
Κάλεσαν δε την κυρία Κωνσταντοπούλου να αγνοήσει την πρόταση του κ. Αλέξη Τσίπρα για κατάργηση του βουλευτικού αυτοκινήτου αλλά και αυτή του υπουργού Δημοσίας Τάξης Γιάννη Πανούση να τους πάρει τον έναν από τους δύο αστυνομικούς που έχουν για συνοδεία.
Oρισμένοι βουλευτές υποστήριξαν πως το βουλευτικό αυτοκίνητο είναι απαραίτητο «εργαλείο δουλειάς» και πως ο πρωθυπουργός δεν πρέπει να τους το στερήσει. Σημείωσαν ότι αρκετοί δεν έχουν την οικονομική άνεση να έχουν ιδιωτικό ΙΧ και πως εάν τους αποστερηθεί το βουλευτικό τότε θα αναγκάζονται να μετακινούνται με μέσα μαζικής μεταφοράς. Άλλοι δε, πρότειναν να μην γίνει «οριζόντια» η κατάργηση των βουλευτικών ΙΧ, αλλά να μπουν οικονομικά κριτήρια.
Οι ίδιες πηγές αναφέρουν ότι η Πρόεδρος τους είπε ότι οι κληρώσεις για τα αυτοκίνητα θα γίνουν κανονικά και άρα δεν θα υπάρξει κατάργηση.
Επιπροσθέτως, έντονες διαμαρτυρίες υπήρξαν και για την απόφαση του υπουργού Δημόσιας Τάξης να τους πάρει τον έναν από τους δύο αστυνομικούς καλώντας την Πρόεδρο να μεσολαβήσει προκειμένου να τους επιστραφεί.
Να σημειωθεί ότι στην ενημέρωση προσήλθε η πλειοψηφία των μελών της ΚΟ του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ που δεν έχει υπουργοποιηθεί. Συγκεκριμένα παρέστησαν περί τους εξήντα βουλευτές και κυρίως εκείνοι που ελέγχτηκαν για πρώτη φορά.

Αντί να είναι φυλακή κάνει.... και δηλώσεις.



Ας μας πει πρώτα το πολιτικό σίχαμα γιατί έπρεπε να επιβαρυνθούν τα ταμεία με ένα εκατομμύριο χωρίς να υπολογίζονται άλλα πενήντα χιλιάρικα τον χρόνο για ….σέρβις ,για να κυκλοφορεί η κωλάρα του με τεθωρακισμένο αμάξι και μάλιστα πληρωμένο από τα μαύρα ταμεία και μετά να κάνει δηλώσεις περί αλήθειας.
Την ανησυχία του για τις επιπτώσεις που μπορεί να έχει η... δημιουργική ασάφεια της κυβέρνησης στους πολίτες και τη χώρα εκφράζει το χοντρογούρουνο ο  Βενιζέλος. Μιλά για σωρεία διαπραγματευτικών λαθών που μας έχουν οδηγήσει χιλιόμετρα πίσω και θέτει το ερώτημα «που πηγαίνουμε σε σχέση με το χρέος». Η χώρα πρέπει να ξαναβρεί στόχους. Μπορούμε να ξαναμαζέψουμε τα πράγματα, γιατί αυτό που συμβαίνει δεν συνιστά τιμωρία προς την προηγούμενη κυβέρνηση, αλλά τιμωρία για τον Έλληνα πολίτη που δεν βλέπει προοπτική. Και ιδίως για τον πιο αδύναμο.

Μπορούμε να ξαναμαζέψουμε τα πράγματα μόνο στη βάση της αλήθειας. Ένα μεγάλο ψέμα χώρισε την κοινωνία σε μνημονιακούς και αντιμνημονιακούς. Τώρα μια μεγάλη και γενναία αλήθεια, μπορεί να ενώσει το έθνος.


ΑΠΟΚΑΛΥΨΗ: 140 εκατομμύρια πλιάτσικο με «μυστικά κονδύλια» από την συμμορία του πατροκτόνου φραγκοφονιά, του εθνικού ολετήρα γιωργάκη! Κυκλοφορεί ελεύθερος και μάλιστα έδωσε ΟΛΟΚΛΗΡΟ το επιτελείο του στον Αλέξη... τι σκατά συμβαίνει;

Τετάρτη

H Τουρκία εκτός του Συστήματος Αεροπορικής Διοίκησης και Ελέγχου του ΝΑΤΟ - Τι σημαίνει αυτό για την ΠΑ

Ως το πρώτο βήμα ουσιαστικής αποστασιοποίησης από τις ΗΠΑ εκλαμβάνεται η απόφαση της Τουρκίας να μην διασυνδέσει το μελλοντικό της αντιαεροπορικό/αντιβαλλιστικό σύστημα στο δίκτυο αεράμυνας του ΝΑΤΟ, σύμφωνα με όσα εγγράφως δήλωσε ο υπουργός Άμυνας της χώρας İsmet Yılmaz.πριν δύο ημέρες.
Η απόφαση της Τουρκίας κυριάρχησε ως θέμα συζήτησης στην πρώτη ημέρα της κολοσσιαίας έκθεσης αμυντικού υλικού IDEX 2015 που γίνεται στο Αμπού Ντάμπι και μάλιστα στο τουρκικό περίπτερο (ίσο ή και μεγαλύτερο από το αντίστοιχο γερμανικό) οι Τούρκοι ιθύνοντες τόνιζαν ότι "Η Τουρκία είναι πολύ μεγάλη για να δεχθεί να εκχωρήσει της αντιβαλλιστική της άμυνα σε άλλα κράτη ή να κοινοποιεί στους πάντες στοιχεία για την στρατηγική της αεράμυνα"!
Τι σημαίνει - μεταξύ άλλων - αυτό: Οτι χάνεται η γνώση που μέσω του ΝΑΤΟ αποκτά εμμέσως η ελληνική πλευρά για μετακινήσεις και τοποθετήσεις των αντιαεροπορικών δυνάμεων της Τουρκίας και ενισχύεται στο στοιχείο του αιφνιδιασμού από τουρκικής πλευράς.
Το πρόγραμμα του Τουρκικού Αντιαεροπορικού/Αντιβαλλιστικού Συστήματος Μεγάλου Βεληνεκούς (Τ-LORAMIDS) έχει κλείσει οριστικά προς την πλευρά της κινεζικής China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corporation (CPMIEC) που προσφέρει το αντιαεροπορικό/αντιβαλλιστικό σύστημα FD-2000 (εξαγωγική έκδοση του ΗQ-9 που αποτελεί αντίγραφο του ρωσικού S-300), με χρηματοδότηση του προγράμματος αξίας $3,44 δισ.
Φυσικά με την επιλογή αυτή αλλάζουν τα πάντα στο Αιγαίο για την Πολεμική Αεροπορία, προς το χειρότερο, βέβαια.
Σε οποιαδήποτε επιλογή των Τούρκων τα πράγματα δεν θα ήταν εύκολα για την ΠΑ, αλλά άλλο να προμηθεύονταν τα Patriot που τα γνωρίζει άριστα η Αεροπορία αφού τα επιχειρεί, άλλο το γαλλικό σύστημα το οποίο και αυτό πιθανον θα επιχειρεί σε λίγο καιρό το Ναυτικό με την χρήση των πυραύλων επιφανείας-επιφανείας ASTER-30 των FREMM και άλλο να επέλεγαν το ρωσικό για το οποίο ισχύει ότι και για τα Patriot: Τα S-300 τα ξέρει πολύ καλά η ΠΑ.
Αντ'αυτού επέλεξαν το μοναδικό που αγνοεί η ΠΑ, έστω και αν βασίζεται στην τεχνολογία των S-300PMU1, αλλά έχει καλύτερες κινηματικές επιδόσεις το βλήμα και φτάνει μέχρι τα 200 χλμ ακτίνα δράσης.
Αν τοποθετηθεί σε μικρό βάθος στα μικρασιατικά παράλια θα αλλάξει ολόκληρη την ισορροπία δυνάμεων στην περιοχή και ίσως αναγκάσει την ΠΑ να προχωρήσει σε προωθημένη διάταξη των μεγάλου βεληνεκούς συστημάτων της πέρα από την Σκύρο...
Σε συνδυσμό με την απόκτηση των 100 F-35 η τουρκική Αεροπορία, "στριμώχνει" στρατηγικά την ΠΑ με ιδιαίτερα πιεστικό τρόπο. Μπορεί να αμύνεται υπερπηδώντας τα νησιά του Α.Αιγαίο και προσβάλλοντας τα ελληνικά μαχητικά και τα ΑΣΕΠΕ ERIEYE πριν καν εγκαταλείψουν την ηπειρωτική Ελλάδα και να επιτίθεται σε πρώτο πλήγμα "αόρατη". Τα ψέματα τελειώνουν.
Η επιλογή του FD-2000 έχει προκαλέσει σφοδρές αντιδράσεις στους κόλπους της Βορειοατλανικής Συμμαχίας καθώς πρόκειται για αντιαεροπορικό σύστημα που δεν είναι διαλειτουργικό με το Σύστημα Αεροπορικής Διοίκησης και Ελέγχου (ACCS) του ΝΑΤΟ, αλλά η Τουρκία όχι απλώς το ξεπέρασε αλλά δηλώνει ότι ΔΕΝ θέλει να είναι πλέον διαλειτουργικό!
Στην αξιολόγηση πρώτευσε το FD-2000, δεύτερο ήρθε το SAMP/T Aster 30 της ιταλο-γαλλικής κοινοπραξίας ενώ τη τρίτη θέση κατέλαβε το Patriot της αμερικανικής Raytheon. Η οριστική απόφαση επιλογής του συστήματος θα γίνει μέχρι τις 24 Απριλίου.  Και η ολοκλήρωση του προγράμματος με την κήρυξη επιχειρησιακής ετοιμότητας αναμένεται να γίνει το 2020.
Η Κίνα δίνει πλήρη πρόσβαση και τεχνογνωσία στην Τουρκία για κατασκευή όχι μόνο του συγκεκριμένου πυραυλικού συστήματος, αλλά ολόκληρης γενιάς πυραυλικών συστημάτων.
Έχει ακτίνα δράσης 200 χλμ, μπορεί να καταρρίπτει αεροσκάφη μέχρι το ύψος των 30.000 μέτρων και το βλήμα κατευθυνεται προς τον στόχο με ταχύτητα 4,2 Mach, μεταφέροντας την κεφαλή βάρους 180 κιλών!
Που σημαίνει ότι μέχρι το τέλος του 2020, μπορεί η Τουρκία να κατασκευάζει το δικό της Α/Α σύστημα μακρού βεληνεκούς εγχώριας ανάπτυξης.
Στην τυπική της μορφή μία πλήρης πυροβολαρχία του συστήματος HQ-9 αποτελείται από αυτοκινούμενο (επί οχήματος ND1260) ραντάρ έρευνας Type 305B/YLC-2V, αυτοκινούμενο (επί οχήματος Taian TAS-5380) ραντάρ εγκλωβισμού HT-233, αυτοκινούμενο ηλεκτροπαραγωγό ζεύγος ισχύος 200 kW, αυτοκινούμενο μετασχηματιστή ηλεκτρικής ισχύος, όχημα τοπογραφικής αναγνώρισης EQ-2050 (το κινεζικό ανάλογο του HMMWV), αυτοκινούμενο κέντρο ελέγχου πυρός TWS-312, μέχρι οκτώ οχήματα μεταφοράς – εκτόξευσης (TEL: Transporter Erector Launcher) Taian TAS-5380 με τέσσερα βλήματα έκαστο (δηλαδή συνολικά μέχρι 32 βλήματα έτοιμα προς εκτόξευση) και οχήματα μεταφοράς –αναχορηγίας Taian TAS-5380 που διαθέτουν γερανό και μεταφέρουν τέσσερα βλήματα έκαστο.
Επιπρόσθετα, η πυροβολαρχία μπορεί να εμπλουτιστεί με ένα κινητό ραντάρ έρευνας χαμηλού ύψους Type 120 (χρησιμοποιείται όχημα ND1260), ένα κινητό (επί οχήματος ND1260) ραντάρ έρευνας–εγκλωβισμού Type 305A με κεραία ενεργού ηλεκτρονικής σάρωσης (AESA), σύστημα το οποίο προσφέρει αντιβαλλιστικές δυνατότητες, και παθητικά συστήματα εντοπισμού στόχων χαμηλής παρατηρησιμότητας (stealth).
Για όποιον πολιτικό νομιζει ότι "Θα μας σώσουν οι Αμερικανοί από την Τουρκία" ας εξετάσει πολύ προσεκτικά το περιεχόμενο της τουρκικής απόφασης για έξοδο από το Σύστημα Αεροπορικής Διοίκησης και Ελέγχου (ACCS) του ΝΑΤΟ: Θα αντιληφθεί ότι χάνεται για το ελληνικό σύστημα προειδοποίησης μια έγκαιρη και κρίσιμη παράμετρος έγκαιρης προειδοποίησης των τουρκικών κινήσεων-μετακινήσεων και μάλιστα σε στρατηγικό επίπεδο...

Τρίτη

Ζωή Κωνσταντοπούλου: Η Βουλή πρέπει να λειτουργεί με 300 βουλευτές!



Σε μια κίνηση με ύψιστο συμβολισμό για την λειτουργία των δημοκρατικών θεσμών στο κοινοβούλιο προχώρησε πριν λίγο η πρόεδρος της Βουλής Ζωή Κωνσταντοπούλου η οποία ζήτησε την παρουσία των προφυλακισμένων βουλευτών της Χρυσής Αυγής στην ψηφοφορία για την άρση ασυλίας του βουλευτή της ΝΔ Άδωνι Γεωργιάδη.
Πιο συγκεκριμένα και ενώ η Ζωή Κωνσταντοπούλου, αφού διάβασε κατά γράμμα όλο τον κανονισμό και τις διαδικασίες που προβλέπονται, ανέφερε ότι αναβάλλεται για άλλη ημέρα η ψηφοφορία.
Ο λόγος ήταν, όπως ανέφερε η ίδια, πως απέστειλε αίτημα στον εισαγγελέα για να δώσει άδεια και να παραβρεθούν στη Βουλή οι προφυλακισμένοι βουλευτές της Χρυσής Αυγής, ωστόσο, αυτό απορρίφθηκε.
Η Πρόεδρος της Βουλής τόνισε ότι επιθυμία της είναι να συμμετέχουν όλοι οι βουλευτές σε αυτές τις διαδικασίες και ότι θα υποβάλει εκ νέου αίτημα.
Τον λόγο πήρε στη συνέχεια ο Ευάγγελος Μεϊμαράκης σημειώνοντας ότι «Το Προεδρίο της Βουλής δεν αποφασίζει, αλλά μόνο εισηγείται. Ανοίγετε ένα κακό προηγούμενο».
Στο ίδιο μήκος κύματος και ο Κυριάκος Μητσοτάκης ο οποίος ανέφερε ότι «Ανοίγουμε κερκόπορτα με αυτή την ιστορία. Θα πρέπει σε κάθε ψηφοφορία να τους καλούμε και εφόσον δεν υπάρχει άδεια θα πρέπει να αναβάλουμε τις διαδικασίες».
Εκτός από την αντίδραση της ΝΔ η οποία ήταν ούτος ή άλλως αναμενόμενη, η πρόεδρος της Βουλής με την ακύρωση της διαδικασίας ψηφοφορίας και την επανακατάθεση του αιτήματος στην εισαγγελία για την παρουσία των βουλευτών της ΧΑ στη Βουλή ουσιαστικά στέλνει αίτημα για έμμεση «εισήγηση» προς τις δικαστικές αρχές  ότι δεν μπορούν να απέχουν  δημοκρατικά εκλεγμένου αντιπρόσωποι του λαού από τη λειτουργία του κοινοβουλίου.
Παράλληλα η προεδρος της Βουλής ισοπεδώνει τηρώντας όμως απαρέγκλιτα το νομοθετικό πλαίσιο της λειτουργίας του κοινοβουλίου τη φασιστική συμπαιγνία ΝΔ-ΠΑΣΟΚ και δικαστικών κύκλων σε βάρος του τρίτου μεγαλύτερου κόμματος της χώρας. 

Τον Α.Τζιτζικώστα "δείχνει" για νέο πρόεδρο της ΝΔ ο Κ.Καραμανλής - Τελειωμένος ο Α.Σαμαράς

Eντονες παρασκηνιακές διεργασίες διεξάγονται το τελευταίο διάστημα στην ΝΔ για την διαδοχή του Αντώνη Σαμαρά. Οι δελφίνοι πλέον εκδηλώνονται ανοιχτά, αλλά το μεγαλύτερο ενδιαφέρον παρουσιάζει η άποψη των «Καραμανλικών» που θέλουν για την ηγεσία του κόμματος ένα πρόσωπο άφθαρτο και νέο, προκρίνοντας τον Περιφερειάρχη Κεντρικής Μακεδονίας Απόστολο Τζιτζικώστα.
Οι εξελίξεις στη ΝΔ πήραν μία μικρή παράταση λόγω των διαπραγματεύσεων της κυβέρνησης με τους Ευρωπαίους εταίρους και της λίστας των μεταρρυθμίσεων. Διαφάνηκε και πάλι ωστόσο πώς ο Αντώνης Σαμαράς δεν μπορεί να ορθώσει αντιπολιτευτικό λόγο, καθ’ ότι εγκλωβισμένος στην πολιτική του μνημονίου και στην Κοινοβουλευτική Ομάδα που θα γίνει τελικώς στις 5 Μαρτίου εικάζεται πως θα τεθεί ευθέως θέμα ηγεσίας.
Το κλίμα αμφισβήτησης είναι έντονο, όπως διαφάνηκε από τα δείπνα με κύριο «μενού» τον Αντώνη Σαμαρά και την απόφαση κορυφαίων στελεχών του κόμματος να ζητηθεί η παρέμβαση του Κώστα Καραμανλή προκειμένου να ανοίξουν οι διαδικασίες διαδοχής. 
Ο στενός συνεργάτης του πρώην πρωθυπουργού Ευάγγελος Αντώναρος ωστόσο χθες «χτύπησε» για ακόμη μία φορά δείχνοντας μάλιστα τον επόμενο πρόεδρο της ΝΔ ή τουλάχιστον αυτόν που θα ήθελαν οι «Καραμανλικοί». Κι όλοι γνωρίζουν ποιος ελέγχει το κόμμα. 
Στον προσωπικό του λογαριασμό στο twitter ο κ. Αντώναρος έγραψε αρχικά «Είχα πει. Αναπάντεχο το όνομα του Επιτρόπου. Αναπάντεχο το όνομα του Προέδρου της Δημοκρατίας. Τώρα λέω: Αναπάντεχο το όνομα του επόμενου προέδρου της ΝΔ».
Ως προς τον Επίτροπο, αναφέρεται στον Δημήτρη Αβραμόπουλο, τον οποίο λίγοι είχαν προβλέψει. Ομοίως, τον Προκόπη Παυλόπουλο, που πρότεινε ο Αλέξης Τσίπρας και εξελέγη Πρόεδρος της Δημοκρατίας. Ως προς τον επόμενο πρόεδρο της ΝΔ, τα πράγματα είναι κάπως νεφελώδη. Θέμα ηγεσίας δεν έχει τεθεί επισήμως, παρά μόνο σε επίπεδο δηλώσεων ή παρασκηνιακών «ζυμώσεων».
Η αναφορά του κ. Αντώναρου προκάλεσε καταιγισμό ερωτήσεων στο twitter και ο φερόμενος ως εκφραστής των απόψεων του Κώστα Καραμανλή επανήλθε με νέο «τιτίβισμα» αναφέροντας πώς «Πολλοί φίλοι με ρωτούν. Έχω ξεκάθαρη άποψη. Η ΝΔ έχει ανάγκη ριζική ανατροπή. Πρώτα σε πολιτικό-ιδεολογικό επίπεδο και μετά με ηλικιακή ανατροπή».
Η δεύτερη αυτή αναφορά του μάλλον ξεκαθάρισε το τοπίο αφού έδειξε σχεδόν ξεκάθαρα πως εννοεί τον Περιφερειάρχη Κεντρικής Μακεδονίας. Με τον Απόστολο Τζιτζικώστα ο Κώστας Καραμανλής έχει στενές επαφές το τελευταίο διάστημα, είχαν κατ΄ιδίαν συναντήσεις, όπως και με άλλα κορυφαία στελέχη του κόμματος.
Εκτιμάται πώς ο κ. Τζιτζικώστας είναι ένα πρόσωπο νέο και άφθαρτο, συγκεντρώνει δηλαδή τα στοιχεία εκείνα προκειμένου η ΝΔ να κάνει την «φυγή προς τα εμπρός», ξεφεύγοντας από την οικογενειοκρατία και αντιμετωπίζοντας τον Αλέξη Τσίπρα που είναι ένας νέος πολιτικός. 
Το ερώτημα ωστόσο είναι πώς ο κ. Τζιτζικώστας θα βρει απέναντι του κορυφαία στελέχη του κόμματος, όπως ο Κυριάκος Μητσοτάκης, η Ντόρα Μπακογιάννη, ο Νίκος Δένδιας, η Όλγα Κεφαλογιάννη και από το «καραμανλικό» μπλόκ μπορεί να «παίξει» ο Ευριπίδης Στυλιανίδης. 
Ο πρώτος, ο Κυριάκος Μητσοτάκης έκανε το πρώτο επίσημο βήμα για τη διεκδίκηση της αρχηγίας του κόμματος μη ψηφίζοντας τον Προκόπη Παυλόπουλο για Πρόεδρο της Δημοκρατίας και ανοίγοντας «μέτωπο» με τους «καραμανλικούς» θεωρώντας πώς δεν πρόκειται ποτέ να τον στηρίξουν στη μάχη της διαδοχής του Αντώνη Σαμαρά.
Παρασκηνιακά κινούνται και οι υπόλοιποι δελφίνοι, όπως η Ντόρα Μπακογιάννη, ο Νίκος Δένδιας και η Όλγα Κεφαλογιάννη που επίσης ο καθένας θεωρεί πώς ο Αντώνης Σαμαράς έχει τελειώσει και όσο πιο σύντομα αποχωρήσει τόσο καλύτερα για το κόμμα. Στο παρασκήνιο γίνονται διεργασίες, καταγράφονται συμμαχίες και όταν δοθεί το σύνθημα τότε οι υποψήφιοι διεκδικητές της αρχηγίας θα βγούν μπροστά.
Γνωρίζουν ωστόσο όλοι πώς ο Α. Σαμαράς είναι κολλημένος με την καρέκλα και είναι πολύ δύσκολο να εγκαταλείψει την αρχηγία της ΝΔ αν δεν αισθανθεί πώς αμφισβητείται έντονα. Αυτός είναι και ο λόγος που έχει ζητηθεί η παρέμβαση του Κώστα Καραμανλή προκειμένου να μην οδηγηθεί η παράταξη σε έναν εσωκομματικό «πόλεμο» χαρακωμάτων και βρεθεί πολύ πιο χαμηλά από εκεί που είναι σήμερα. 

Παρασκευή

GREECE (AND THE E.U.) CHOOSES RED DUSK RATHER THAN GOLDEN DAWN

SYRIZA's Alexis Tsipras: Samson between the pillars of the Greek state.

by Dimitrios Papageorgiou

The results of the Greek elections were not really a surprise to any Greek except those hopelessly in love with the previous government. Everyone knew that after five years of austerity, which has been harder on Greece than most wars, a lot of people gave up hope on any chance of a smooth transition to an era of stability, and felt the need to replace their government.

As I have stated in my Vdare article, SYRIZA was effectively pushed into its present position by the supposedly conservative New Democracy Party through the criminalisation of Golden Dawn which was the main opponent of SYRIZA in gathering the votes of those opposed to government policies. The disaffected – and there are many in Greece – were actually funneled by the establishment and the previous government to vote for SYRIZA, since that was the only option seriously opposed to the austerity measures.

Since GD was branded a “criminal organization” many of the voters automatically turned to SYRIZA as a means of opposing the austerity measures. For example, an unprecedented 12% of New Democracy’s voters moved over to SYRIZA. You cannot explain such a radical change of views easily. Of course, amongst those were many who were feeling insecure about their positions in the comfortable public sector and wanted to guard as many of their privileges as possible, an option that GD was not actually offering.

So, the result of the Greek elections was totally decided by the necessity of overthrowing the economical policies of austerity and public sector cuts. It was not a choice of ideologies. The main debate in Greece was about the economic crisis. SYRIZA has promised a lot of stuff to a lot of people. I would feel surprised if they managed to keep half their promises.

Alas SYRIZA comes with a full package of policies that range far beyond the "mere" economic concerns of normal Greeks. While the economy had been the only subject under discussion on the road to the ballot, the next day things already seemed to be taking on a different shape, with the new prime minister deciding to pay homage at a communist memorial before going to receive the keys to power. His main election slogan "First time left" has been taken seriously by a number of his associates with some of them openly making revanchist comments about the Greek civil war.

First stop, a Communist memorial.
In the festivities for SYRIZA's win one could only marvel at the number of gay pride flags right next to Che Guevara's pictures, an obvious reason for a smile on the face of anyone that knows Guevara's stance towards homos.

The liberal agenda of SYRIZA will also include reform of the position of the Orthodox Church in the Greek State, the advancement of laws suited to gays and other "special groups," and of course its pro-immigration stance is already clear, although none of this was in the minds of most of those voting for SYRIZA.

A party comprised of various far-left tendencies, ex-Maoists, Stalinists and anarchists, coexisting under the flag of attaining real power, will decide the fate of Greece in the coming years. Amongst those in the Greek Government are Mr. Voutsis, father of a condemned anarchist bank-robber, and Mr. Kotzias, who, during the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, wrote a book defending the communist regime in Poland. Mrs Christodolopoulou, who is now responsible for immigration, has already written that she is against guarding the borders and that every state has to have an open corridor for immigrants.

Golden Dawn survives, and waits for better days


GD remained the third party in Greece as it was in last year’s Euro elections, albeit losing some of its vote. It scored 6.3% of the vote, slightly down from its 6.9% in previous national elections and the 9.3% in last year's Euro elections. Considering the circumstances, this is still impressive because, from the point of view of the voters, the party's only value is as a declaration of intent or protest vote.

During the previous years the party has seen its members shot on the streets, its leadership jailed, and a massive campaign of defamation by every major media outlet. Additionally, they did not receive the state money that, by law, they are entitled to. The fact that the party still exists as the third party of Greek politics shows a strength that the system did not expect from this party. The political establishment had hoped that GD would not manage to get the third position so that they could start talking about its decline. This did not happen, but of course the party will face no different stance from the new government.

For its part Golden Dawn would love to see a coalition government between SYRIZA and New Democracy as that would make it possible for it to become the main force of opposition. Alas the system is not stupid and it has shown that it can learn from its mistakes. So when PASOK (the socialist party that ruled Greece for many years) crumbled under the weight of its coalition with New Democracy, we saw a number of small parties forming up. Some of them are already dead like DIMAR, a small centre-left party that served its purpose. The Independent Greeks, a supposedly centre-right party that has just entered a coalition with SYRIZA will probably be headed towards a similar fate. There are at least two or three more parties with positions vague enough to be able to work with any of the major parties.

So, one can only say that while GD managed to survive, the most it can do is wait for a fatal error by the New Democracy party, which will now enjoy some of the benefits of being in opposition, such as being able to adopt more populist rhetoric. It will, of course, face internal trouble over the next months, but its result was high enough to guarantee that it will not go into a free fall like PASOK did, whose voters abandoned it in favour of SYRIZA. In the best case it will be a "battle of the trenches" between ND and GD.

One can say that the decision to make Greece a country run by leftists was taken in large part in the corridors of the New Democracy party, which obviously preferred it, hoping that a "normal" left-right cycle of staying in power would occur between them and SYRIZA, rather than having a stronger GD. One can only wonder how much this decision was influenced by Brussels, who clearly had something to say about everything that the ruling party was deciding. This "invisible" hand on the tiller was so clear that a large number of Greeks protested that their country was run by emails from Brussels.


Failed Discipline, Failed Reforms And Grexit: Why The Euro Failed


Tyler Durden's picture

 
Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith of OfTwoMinds blog,
There is no substitute for the discipline of a market that cannot be manipulated by political elites.
It's not that difficult to understand why the euro is doomed to fail. Given its structure, there is no other possible outcome but failure. Greece's exit (Grexit) will simply be the first manifestation of the inevitable structural failure of the euro.
 
To understand why this is so, we have to start with two forms of discipline: the market and the state. The market disciplines its participants by discovering the price of not just goods and services but of currencies and the potential risks generated by fiscal and trade imbalances.
 
When nations issue their own sovereign currencies, the global foreign exchange (FX) market enforces an iron discipline on all participants. If a nation prints excessive quantities of its currency without boosting its production of goods and services by an equivalent amount, the FX market punishes this nation by devaluing its currency.
 
The market provides unwelcome feedback to the imbalances of interest rates, credit and currency: imports become prohibitive, nobody wants to buy the nation's bonds unless the interest rate compensates for the higher risk, and so on.
 
The political and financial leadership of the nation would eliminate this feedback if they could. Unfortunately for the domestic leadership, the FX market is too big to manipulate for long. Domestic governments and central banks can try all sorts of fancy footwork (pegging their currency to stronger currencies, etc.) but in the end, the market will sniff out the fundamental imbalance between the rigged price of the nation's currency and its market value.
 
The domestic political and financial leadership/Elites are powerless to stop or evade the discipline of the FX market. They can complain and protest and claim an international conspiracy brought down their financial fantasies, but the reality is the market is made up of many participants, all of whom want to make money, not lose it by accepting a bunch of political BS as the actual truth.
 
The other form of structural discipline is imposed by the state (government in all its forms, including central banks). A typical example is the state legislature imposes a cap on state borrowing, i.e. the state is not allowed to borrow more than 3% of expenses annually.
 
We all know what happens to these kinds of state-imposed discipline: they are ignored, bypassed, watered down or gutted. Why is this so? The reason is that all political systems, regardless of their ideology, are influenced by powerful elites and vested interests.
 
When some political cap stands in the way of enriching or protecting a politically powerful elite or vested interest, the cap is quickly reduced to a PR play.
 
This is the fundamental flaw in state fiscal discipline: it is always a political construct and thus contingent on what benefits powerful elites and constituencies.
 
The disciplinary foundation of the euro is wholly political. In agreeing to join a monetary union of one currency, the EU nations eliminated the market's ability to provide feedback on the imbalances building up in their economies.
 
In effect, they replaced the discipline of a market that cannot be manipulated for a political discipline that can be manipulated as a matter of course.
 
Canny domestic politicos are well-versed in ways to hide fiscal and credit imbalances. Masking financial realities is their bread and butter.
 
So what happens when you impose a super-state (the EU) on the member nations? the super-state becomes the cozy home for canny politicos who play the same old hide-and-seek financial games on a larger stage.
 
The official response to this intrinsic lack of discipline is for the central banks to print money and issue more credit. Does issuing more money and credit provide any fiscal discipline? Of course not--it does the opposite, freeing the canny politicos (yes, the ones supposedly in charge of imposing discipline on the system) to escape any consequences from their fraud and profligacy.
 
The idea that the political leadership of a state or super-state could impose a discipline equivalent to that imposed by a market was always a fantasy. As a result, the idea that political discipline could impose painful and difficult reforms on politically powerful elites and vested interests was also a fantasy.
 
This is why Greece has no choice but to exit the euro. The politicos in the EU will "do whatever it takes" to extend the fantasy their discipline is equal to the discipline of the FX market, but everyone knows it's all PR and lies.
 
There is no substitute for the discipline of a market that cannot be manipulated by political elites, and as a result there can be no real reforms until the euro is dissolved and the FX market forces the true cost of systemic imbalances on the domestic participants who created and maintained the imbalances.
 
Reform cannot be triggered by borrowing more money--it can only be triggered by defaulting on existing debts that cannot be paid. Bailouts are never about enabling reform--they're about preserving the Status Quo Elites' and vested interests' share of the swag.

The Not So Erratic Philosophy of Yanis Varoufakis

Marx, Syriza and the Future of Greece
by ANN ROBERTSON and BILL LEUMER
Greece’s new finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, has been mandated by the leftist Syriza government to negotiate new conditions with the “troika” (the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund) for the continuation of Greece’s desperately needed bailout. He has just written a smashing op-ed for The New York Times that forcefully outlines his government’s approach to the negotiations. It deserves a standing ovation.
Currently Greece has been receiving a bailout in stages, but only on the condition that it imposes brutal austerity measures on the Greek working class and poor, including laying off state workers, lowering the minimum wage, imposing regressive taxes, and weakening labor union rights. These measures have produced what Varoufakis has called a “humanitarian crisis” in Greece with hunger spreading and many losing such basic amenities as electricity. One might think that the bailout would bring money into Greece that could then be used to help the most desperate. But in fact, the bailout money never stops in Greece; it goes directly to Greece’s creditors at the expense of the Greek people. It has amounted to a massive transference of wealth from those who are struggling to get by to those who are rich. Now the troika wants even more severe austerity as a condition for continuing the bailout.
The new Syriza government has announced that enough is enough. It campaigned and won the elections on the clear platform that the austerity measures must stop, not only because of the humanitarian crisis, but they simply do not work. They have caused Greece’s economy to slide into a depression. The economy has shrunk 25 percent, and unemployment has spiked to 25 percent – 50 percent for young people. More austerity will simply cause further shrinking of the Greek economy with seemingly no hope for an exit. If Syriza were to betray its mandate to stop the austerity, it would amount to political suicide because the Greek working class is prepared to fight to end austerity.
Yanis Varoufakis wrote his op-ed to assure everyone concerned, including Greece’s creditors, that while the Syriza government is prepared to pay back its debts, although not on the same scale as before, it will not bend on its rejection of austerity. He put it unambiguously:
“I am often asked: What if the only way you can secure funding is to cross your red lines and accept measures that you consider to be part of the problem, rather than of its solution? Faithful to the principle that I have no right to bluff, my answer is: The lines that we have presented as red will not be crossed.”
Convinced that the Europeans and Greece can find a win-win compromise where both can emerge victoriously, although creditors will suffer some form of a “haircut,” Varoufakis argued that Syriza is not motivated by some “radical-left agenda,” but invoked the German philosopher Immanuel Kant, perhaps as a sop to the Germans, to explain the Greek government’s concern for everyone’s welfare:
“One may think that this retreat from game theory is motivated by some radical-left agenda. Not so. The major influence here is Immanuel Kant, the German philosopher who taught us that the rational and the free escape the empire of expediency by doing what is right.”
Kant’s ethics were dazzling in their simplicity. His fundamental contention was that doing the right thing coincided with doing the rational thing, which was the same as acting freely, as opposed to being driven by selfish passions. For example, if we wanted to know if stealing could ever be ethically justified, Kant counseled that we pose this question: What if everyone stole? In other words, would it make sense for someone to want stealing to become a universal code of conduct? And, of course, people who steal certainly do not want others to follow their example, for they do not want to become victims of stealing themselves. Hence, they adopt a rationally flawed, self-contradictory code: everyone should abstain from stealing except them.
But Kant’s abstract ethical doctrine does not do justice to Mr. Varoufakis’ political philosophy. Elsewhere in his op-ed he put it this way:
“The great difference between this government [the new Syriza government] and previous Greek governments is twofold: We are determined to clash with mighty vested interests in order to reboot Greece and gain our partners’ trust. We are also determined not to be treated as a debt colony that should suffer what it must.”
This is not the philosophy of Kant where all are treated as equal, atomized individuals, it is the philosophy of Marx. It is raw class war. The Syriza government is out to defend the working class majority at the expense of the rich, who have been shirking on paying their taxes and are waist-deep in corruption. “No more ‘reform’ programs that target poor pensioners and family-owned pharmacies while leaving large-scale corruption untouched,” Varoufakis insisted in his op-ed. In an interview with the BBC he put it this way: “We are going to destroy the basis upon which they [the Greek oligarchy] have built, for decade after decade, a system and network that viciously sucks the energy and the economic power from everybody else in society.”
Marx argued that in class societies, there is no single ethics that can bridge class divisions. Rather, our ethical outlook is deeply defined by our class position. Many in the working class, for example, are convinced of the ethical imperative that the rich pay higher taxes, that their businesses be tightly regulated, that people who fall on hard times through no fault of their own be helped, etc. But many who are rich are equally convinced that such policies are examples of “the politics of envy” and that nothing could be more morally depraved than to transfer money from the good, hard-working wealthy people to the lazy poor.
And because this is a class war, it becomes all the more significant that leaders of major German unions have courageously come out in opposition to their own government to support Syriza’s anti-austerity platform. This is the real reason why European leaders, who represent their respective capitalist classes, refuse to budge on Greece’s debt. They are perfectly aware that in war one must not display weakness; it will only embolden and strengthen “the enemy.” But success also breeds success. Thanks to Syriza’s electoral victory in Greece, Podemos, which also rejects austerity, has surged in Spain, as was evidenced by its recent rally in Madrid of hundreds of thousands. Any small victory of Syriza in its confrontation with its troika opponents will be a victory for Podemos and all the other anti-austerity parties throughout Europe. More European governments could possibly fall. The class struggle could intensify.
Varoufakis has described himself as an “erratic Marxist.” He is far more of a Marxist than a Kantian. It’s the only moral thing to be.

Ann Robertson is a Lecturer at San Francisco State University and a member of the California Faculty Association.
Bill Leumer is a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 853 (ret.). Both are writers for Workers Action and may be reached at sanfrancisco@workerscompass.org.

Ironman Varoufakis’s Revolutionary Plan for Europe



Don't Tell Anyone in Berlin


by MIKE WHITNEY
“The ongoing dispute between the German and Greek governments is nothing less than a democratic revolution against German hegemony and the attempt of the Germans and their paladins in the EU to dictate Greek domestic policy.”
–Mathew D. Rose, It’s a revolution, Stupid! Naked Capitalism
“Germany is eating itself over Greece. It is eroding its moral authority, and seems prepared to destroy the eurozone’s integrity just to make a point.”
–Paul Mason, Germany v Greece is a fight to the death, a cultural and economic clash of wills, Guardian
If you haven’t been following developments in the Greek-EU standoff, you’re really missing out. This might be the best story of the year. And what makes it so riveting, is that no one thought that little Greece could face off with the powerful leaders of the EU and make them blink. But that’s exactly what’s happened. On Monday, members of the Eurogroup met with Greece’s finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, to decide whether they would accept Greece’s terms for an extension of the current loan agreement. There were no real changes to the agreement. The only difference was semantics, that is, the loan would not be seen as a bailout but as “a transitional stage to a new contract for growth for Greece”. In other words, a bridge to a different program altogether.
In retrospect, Varoufakis’s strategy was pure genius, mainly because it knocked the EU finance ministers off balance and threw the process into turmoil. After all, how could they vote “thumbs down” on loan package that they had previously approved just because the language was slightly different? But if they voted “thumbs up”, then what?
Well, then they would be acknowledging (and, tacitly, approving) Greece’s determination to make the program less punitive in the future. That means they’d be paving the way for an end to austerity and a rethink on loan repayment. They’d also be conceding that Greece’s democratically-elected government had the right to alter the policies of the Eurogroup. How could they let that happen?
But, then again, how could they vote it down, after all, it was basically the same deal. As Varoufakis pointed out in a press conference on Monday:
“We agree to the terms of our loan agreements to all our creditors”. And we have “agreed to do nothing to derail the existing budget framework during the interim period.”
See? It’s the same deal.
This is the conundrum the Eurogroup faced on Monday, but instead of dealing with it head-on, as you would expect any mature person to do, they punted. They put off the loan extension decision for another day and called it quits. Now maybe that was the smart thing to do, but the optics sure looked terrible. It looked like Varoufakis stared them down and sent them fleeing like scared schoolchildren.
Now, remember, Monday was the absolute, drop-dead deadline for deciding whether the Eurogroup would approve or reject the new terms for Greece’s loan extension. That means the Eurogroup’s task could not have been more straightforward. All they had to do was vote yes or no. That’s it.
Instead, they called ‘Time Out’ and kicked the can a little further down the road. It was not a particularly proud moment for the European Union. But what’s even worse, is the subterfuge that preceded the meetings; that’s what cast doubt on the character of the people running EU negotiations. Here’s the scoop: About 15 minutes before the confab began, Varoufakis was given a draft communique outlining the provisions of the proposed loan extension. He was pleasantly surprised to find that the document met all his requirements and, so, he was prepared to sign it. Unfortunately, the document was switched shortly before the negotiations began with one that backtracked on all the crucial points.
I’m not making this up. The freaking Eurogroup tried to pull the old switcheroo on Varoufakis to get him to sign something that was different than the original. Can you believe it? And it’s only because Varoufakis studiously combed through the new memo that he was able to notice the discrepancy and jam on the brakes. As it happens, the final copy was just a rehash of the same agreement that Varoufakis has rejected from the onset. The only difference was the underhanded way the Eurogroup tried to slip it by him.
Now you tell me: Would you consider people who do something like that “trustworthy”?
Of course not. This is how people behave when they don’t care about integrity or credibility, when all that matters is winning. If the Eurogroup can trick the Greeks into signing something that’s different than what they think they’re signing; then tough luck for the Greeks. “Caveat emptor”. Buyer beware. The Eurogroup has no problem with that kind of shabby double-dealing. That’s just how they play the game.
But their trickery and bullying hasn’t worked, mainly because Varoufakis is too smart for them. And he’s too charismatic and talented too, which is a problem for the EU bigwigs who resent the fact that this upstart Marxist academic has captured the imaginations of people around the world upsetting their little plan to perpetuate Greece’s 6-year long Depression. They never anticipated that public opinion would shift so dramatically against them, nor had they imagined that all of Europe would be focused laserlike on the shady and autocratic workings of the feckless Eurogroup. That’s not what they wanted. What they wanted was carte blanche to impose their medieval policies on the profligate Greeks, just like the good old days after Lehman Brothers tanked. After all, that’s how a “anti-democratic imperialist project” like the EU is supposed to work, right?
Right, except now Varoufakis and his Marxist troopers have thrown a wrench in the Eurogroup’s plans and put the future in doubt. The tide has turned sharply towards reason, solidarity and compassion instead of repression, exploitation and cruelty. In just a few weeks, the entire playing field has changed, and Greece appears to be getting the upper hand. Who would have known?
If you look at the way that Varoufakis has handled the Eurogroup, you have to admire the subtlety, but effectiveness of his strategy. In any battle, one must draw attention to the righteousness of their cause while exposing the flaws in the character of their adversary. The incident on Monday certainly achieved both. While David never really slayed Goliath, Goliath is certainly in retreat. And that’s alot better than anyone expected.
As for the “cause”, well, that speaks for itself. The Greek bailout was never reasonable because the plan wasn’t designed to create a path for Greece to grow its way out of debt and deflation. No. It was basically a public relations smokescreen used to conceal what was really going on behind the scenes, which was a massive giveaway to the banks and bondholders. Everyone knows this. Check this out from Naked Capitalism:
“According to the Jubilee Debt Campaign, 92% of €240 billion Greece has received since the May 2010 bailout went to Greek and European financial institutions.” (Naked Capitalism)
Yep, it was all just one big welfare payment to the moocher class. Meanwhile, the Greeks got zilch. And, yet, the Eurogroup wants them to continue with this same program?
No thanks.
As far as Greece’s finances are concerned, they’ve gotten progressively worse every year the bailout has dragged on. For example, Greece’s debt-to-GDP ratio has gone from 115 percent in 2010 more than 170 percent today. The country is headed in the wrong direction, which is what makes Varoufakis’s remedies so compelling. It’s because everyone knows that ‘if you are already in a hole, stop digging’. That’s the logic behind Varoufakis’s position; he simply wants to “stop digging.” But that can’t be done by borrowing more money to repay debts that only get bigger with each new bailout. And it can’t be done by implementing excruciating belt-tightening measures that increase unemployment and shrink the economy. It can only be done by reducing one’s debts and initiating programs that help to grow the economy back to health. This isn’t rocket science, but it is anathema to the retrograde ideology of the European Union which is one part bonehead economics and one part German sanctimony. Put the two together and you come up with a pre-Keynesian dystopia where one of the wealthiest regions in the world inches ever-closer to anarchy and ruin for the sole purpose of proving that contractionary expansion actually works. Well, guess what? It doesn’t, and we now have six years of evidence to prove it.
It’s worth noting that the Eurogroup hasn’t budged one inch from its original position. In other words, there really haven’t been any negotiations, not in any meaningful sense of the word. What there has been is one group of pompous blowhards reiterating the same discredited mantra over and over again, even though austerity has been thoroughly denounced by every reputable economist on the planet. Of course that doesn’t matter to the ex-Goldman swindlers at the ECB or their hairshirt counterparts in Berlin. What they want is to extract every last drop of blood from their Greek victims. That’s their game. And, of course, ultimately what they want to do is annihilate the entire EU welfare state; crush the unions, eviscerate pensions, wages and health care, and privatize everything they can get their greasy hands on. That’s the real objective. Greece’s exorbitant debts are just a means to an end, just a way to decimate the middle class in one fell swoop.
Keep in mind, the EU just narrowly avoided a triple-dip recession in the third quarter, which would have been their third slump in less than six years. How do you like that track record? It just illustrates the stunning mismanagement of the Union’s economic affairs and the incompetence of the bureaucrats making the decisions. Even so, these same leaders have no qualms about telling Greece to step in line and follow their diktats to the letter.
Can you believe the arrogance?
Fortunately, Greece has broken from the herd and set out on a new course. They’ve disposed of the mealy-mouth, sellout politicians who used to run the country and put the A-Team in their place. And, boy, are they happy with the results. Syriza’s public approval ratings are through the roof while Varoufakis has become the most admired man in Europe. The question is whether this new troupe of committed leftists can deliver the goods or not. So far, there’s reason for hope, that is, if we can agree about what Varoufakis’s strategy really is.
In earlier writings, Varoufakis said that he wants a New Deal for Greece. He said:
“Unless we have a new deal for Europe, Greece is not going to get a chance….It’s a necessary condition that the eurozone finds a rational plan for itself…. until and unless the eurozone finds a rational plan for stopping this train wreck throughout the European Union, throughout the eurozone, Greece has no chance at all.” Naked Capitalism)
Okay, so Varoufakis wants to stay in the EU, but he wants a change in policy. (Reducing the debts, ending austerity, and boosting fiscal stimulus.) But he also has more ambitious plans of which no one in Brussels, Frankfurt or Berlin seems to be aware. He wants to change the prevailing culture of the Eurozone; gradually, incrementally, but persistently. He wants a Europe that is more democratic and more responsive to the needs of the member states, but he also wants a Europe that is more united via institutions and programs that will strengthen the union. He believes that success will only be achieved if concrete steps are taken “to unify the banking system”, mutualize debt (“the Federal Government having its own debt over and above states.”) …”And thirdly we need an investment policy which runs throughout the Eurozone… a recycling mechanism for the whole thing. Unless we have these things,… I’m afraid there is absolutely nothing to avert the continuation of this slow motion derailment.” (Naked Capitalism)
So, there you have it. Nationalize the banking system, create a Euro-wide bond market, and establish mechanisms for fiscal transfers to the weaker states like we do in the US via welfare, food stamps, gov contracts, subsidies etc. to create some balance between the very rich and productive states like California and New York and the poorer states like South Dakota and Oklahoma. That’s what it’s going to take to create a viable United States of Europe and escape these frustratingly recurrent crises. Varoufakis knows this, but of course he’s not pushing for this. Not yet at least.
Instead, he’s decided to take it slowly, one step at a time. Incremental change, that’s the ticket. Just keep plugging away and building support until the edifice cracks and democracy appears.
That’s Varoufakis’s plan in a nutshell: Revolution from within. Just don’t tell anyone in Berlin.
MIKE WHITNEY lives in Washington state. He is a contributor to Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion (AK Press). Hopeless is also available in a Kindle edition. He can be reached at fergiewhitney@msn.com.

Germany v Greece is a fight to the death, a cultural and economic clash of wills

Berlin’s attitude to Syriza looks condescending, the Greek popular mood is verging on a national revolt – and there is little sign of either side backing down
Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras
Alexis Tsipras: 'exactly the kind of guy you find in German business meetings.' Photograph: Kostis Ntantamis/NurPhoto/REX
Last week, after the European Central Bank staged its coup against the Greek banks, forcing them to rely on emergency assistance, I asked a friend in Athens whether there’d been a rise in anti-German sentiment. “Hard to say,” he replied. “It has been running at such a fever pitch recently that it would be difficult for it to get any higher.”
Hellenic culture, of course, has a unique relationship with Germany. The Greek-American comedian Yannis Pappas, whose alter-ego Mr Panos parodies the “lazy Greek” stereotype, responded to the ECB’s move with an instant video blog. With cruel humour, it evoked the high death toll among German paratroopers landing on Crete in 1941. And it went viral.
This is the cultural background to the meeting last week between Wolfgang Schäuble and Yanis Varoufakis, respectively the German and Greek finance ministers. It took Varoufakis less than five minutes in the press conference to get to the N-word. “Germany must and can be proud that nazism has been eradicated here,” said the Greek finance minister, “but it’s one of history’s most cruel ironies that nazism is rearing its ugly head in Greece, a country which put up such a fine struggle against it.”
The subtext understood by many Greeks was: you were once Nazis, we fought and beat you, you have no moral right to push our country into chaos. It must have been tough for the Germans to hear – but they’ll be hearing an even tougher message should their politicians succeed in ejecting Greece from the euro.
For Germany’s unwillingness to lead Europe is the old problem. The new problem is Germany’s demonstrable willingness to break up Europe. Pleas for the continent’s largest economy to expand state spending are met with the schwarze null policy: 0% budget deficits, imposed by law. Brazen acts of proxy warfare by the Kremlin are met with diplomatic dithering. The sight, on top of that, of large anti-Muslim demonstrations in this, the richest and most politically stable country in Europe, is now reviving hostility towards Germany way beyond Greece.
Advertisement
As a child in the 1960s, I swapped bubblegum cards showing the depredations of the SS and the Luftwaffe’s dastardly behaviour at Dunkirk. But, being trained in classical music, I was also lucky to be exposed to the best of German culture: to Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Brahms. So, when I say what follows, it is not out of hostility or ignorance.
Germany is eating itself over Greece. It is eroding its moral authority, and seems prepared to destroy the eurozone’s integrity just to make a point. As long as the Greeks obeyed the troika, they could be cast as the stereotypes on which Mr Panos plays: foul-mouthed, lazy Mediterraneans, addicted to a welfare system they cannot afford, which is the subtext of magazines such as Bild. By voting for Syriza, the Greeks have challenged the stereotype. Prime minister Alexis Tsipras is exactly the kind of guy you find in German business meetings; a polyglot with a polite smile and no tie. Varoufakis, if you took away his Greek passport and gave him a better suit, could be a German technocrat from central casting.
Against the Greeks, suddenly it is German politicians who look old, condescending, out of touch. While various Anglo-Saxon politicians have tried to foster positive relations with Tsipras – New York Mayor Bill de Blasio going publicly tie-less in his congratulation call after the election – the German political class has not.
Meanwhile, the German press has concentrated on disparaging the new Greek leaders, suggesting they are, among other things, antisemitic. In that context, it was welcome that Syriza’s most senior female politician, Rena Dourou, used a Holocaust memorial speech last week to make an eloquent attack on modern antisemitism.
Dourou also used the speech to state Syriza’s only case for debt relief: that Greece is as central to western culture as Judaism, and that solidarity should be moral as well as economic. “The dialectical tension between Athens and Jerusalem, symbolising the claims of reason and revelation,” she said, citing Leo Strauss, “feeds the heart, the nucleus of the political tradition of the so-called western world.”
Greece may be near-insolvent, its pensioners huddled over wood stoves in freezing flats without electricity, but – says Syriza – it stakes a superior claim than Germany when it comes to the creation of Europe and modernity. It may be at the bottom of the economic pecking order, but Europe was supposed to be more than an economy. Greece, like Germany, is a strong, visceral state of mind. If nations were measured by the salience of their culture – its bite, its saltiness, its addiction to beauty – Hellenic culture would stand equal to its Teutonic counterpart. And that is what makes the economic clash of will so visceral, too.
What’s about to happen is a fight to the death. Either Germany drives Greece to insolvency, and out of the eurozone, or the German taxpayer signs up to an outcome that flies in the face of the rules-based mentality at the heart of German culture.
Germany needs to handle this carefully; the rest of Europe is watching. My pals and I from the bubblegum card era were brought up in a country that had not seen occupation or fascism or genocide. Greece saw all of these, and Syriza’s victory has opened a floodgate of discussions about the past at Greek dinner tables. The popular Greek response to the ECB’s move last week is in danger of taking on the character of national revolt: a replay of the Battle of Crete, where the Greeks lose physically but win morally, at irreparable cost to the attacker.
That imagery like this is being thrown around in modern Europe is a testimony to how badly modern Europe is failing.

Paul Mason is the economics editor at Channel 4 News. Follow him @paulmasonnews

The Coercion of Greece

 
The Economist’s February 6 cover displayed the Venus de Milo statue pointing a revolver, with the headline “Go ahead, Angela, make my day.” In the editors’ upside-down world, Greece is threatening Europe, or at least Germany.  Really?
 
On Monday, February 16, European officials “handed Athens an ultimatum: Agree by Friday to continue with a bailout program or risk the funding that the country needs to avoid a default,” the New York Times reported.
 
Then there is Wolfgang Schäuble, Germany’s finance minister and die-hard supporter of the failed austerity policies that brought Greece six years of depression. On February 11, according to the Financial Times, he “hinted darkly that a Greek plan to leave the bailout at the end of the month could draw a harsh reaction from financial markets.”
 
“I wouldn’t know how financial markets will handle it, without a programme — but maybe he [Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras] knows better.”
 
Schäuble knows very well that it is not “the markets” who will decide how much capital flows out of the Greek banking system if it fails to renew the troika program that expires on February 28.  He knows that it is the actions of the European Central Bank (ECB) that will determine how the markets will react.  His transparent threat is like that of a gangster shaking down a store owner, pretending not to know who is responsible for the vandalism that happens to afflict businesses who don’t make their payments to the mob.
 
And it’s not just payments that he is shaking down Greece for, but a commitment to transform the Greek economy into something that voters never wanted. Among the “reforms” that Schäuble is insisting upon are measures that will further weaken the bargaining power of labor. These include moving away from industry-wide collective bargaining to negotiation at the firm level, making collective dismissals easier, and legalizing employer lockouts (currently illegal in Greece).
 
Many observers don’t seem to get it, but this is all about the European authorities using coercion to accomplish political as well as economic goals. That’s why these people have not been content to just rely on their enormous bargaining power and the threat of economic dislocation that would ensue if Greece is forced out of the euro. Instead, they have been pro-active:  on February 4 the ECB announced that it would no longer accept Greek government bonds as collateral. This was a deliberate effort to crash Greek financial markets and increase capital flight so as to force Syriza to capitulate as soon as possible.
 
There appear to be important divisions within the troika. According to press reports, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has been challenging German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the issue of austerity.
 
In short, Syriza, having chosen to stay within the eurozone, has had little choice but to try and make its struggle Europe’s struggle, in order to force a change in eurozone-wide policies. Since austerity has failed miserably not only in Greece but in almost all of the eurozone, this is possible – and is some European authorities’ greatest fear at the moment.
 
Their other fear, of course, is that Greece will be forced out of the euro. It is commonly stated that this could cause some kind of European financial collapse, but that appears unlikely. Much more likely is that Greece, after an initial financial crisis, would recover much faster than its neighbors, and others would also want to leave.
 
That is another reason that coercion is such an important element here. To be effective, coercion must go beyond the present crisis and present the threat of chaos even after the (presently still unlikely) event that Greece would leave the euro. (The mafia is threatening not only you, but your family after you are killed.) That was part of the threat to Argentina in 2001 and into 2002, even after its default and devaluation. The consensus opinion, which included virtually all of the major media, was that Argentina’s troubles were just beginning, and there would be years of suffering ahead. As it turned out, Argentina suffered a severe financial crisis and recession, but only for three months. Freed from the IMF’s austerity policies, it then began a robust recovery in which GDP grew by 63 percent over the next six years.
 
Greece would appear to be much better situated for an economic recovery outside the eurozone than Argentina was after its devaluation and default. Argentina got no outside help; on the contrary, multilateral institutions drained money from the economy in 2002. Greece might not need any outside help, since it is running a current account surplus. But if it did, according to press reports, Russia (with $380 billion in reserves) and China (with $3.9 trillion) have offered assistance. The amounts of money that Greece might need to borrow would be trivial for China, and pretty small for Russia too.
 
So European coercion would come into play in the event of an exit too. The European authorities could try to block trade credits (this was another threat to Argentina) and otherwise injure the Greek financial system. They could try to pressure China and other countries not to provide loans. But it is unlikely that they would succeed in isolating Greece, and it is not clear that they could get political support in Europe for this kind of vindictiveness.
 
For now, at least, the coercion does not seem to be intimidating the Greeks. Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis made it clear on Monday that ultimatums would not be accepted.  Tsipras’ approval rating is running at 75 percent, including 42 percent of those who voted for the then-ruling party in the January election. This is a triumph of democracy for Greece, and for Europe.
 
Mark Weisbrotcounterpunch.org