The red flags and marching songs of Syriza [3] during the Greek crisis [4], plus the expectation that the banks would be nationalised, revived briefly a 20th-century dream: the forced destruction of the market from above. For much of the 20th century this was how the left conceived the first stage of an economy beyond capitalism. The force would be applied by the …
Blaming the Victim: How Greece Became a Nation Under Occupation By Andrew Gavin Marshall
In the early hours of Thursday morning, July 16, the Greek Parliament passed a host of austerity measures in order to begin talks on a potential third bailout of 86 billion euros. The austerity measures were pushed onto the Parliament by Greece’s six-month-old leftist government of Syriza, elected in late January with a single mandate to oppose austerity. So what exactly happened …
Germany Showing ‘Lack of Solidarity’ Over Greece: Stiglitz
Nobel-prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, seen on May 12, 2015 in Washington, DC, accused Germany of displaying a “lack of solidarity” with debt-laden Greece that has badly undermined the vision of Europe. (AFP/file) Prominent economist and Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz accused Germany on Sunday of displaying a “lack of solidarity” with debt-laden Greece that has badly undermined the vision of …
China’s share plunge casts lengthening shadow over global markets By Nick Beams
Global stock exchanges appear to have weathered the initial shock wave from the powerful “no” vote in the Greek referendum, largely in the belief that the Syriza-led government is even more anxious to secure an agreement with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund to impose austerity. At the same time, however, the financial markets could soon be hit …
Europe is blowing itself apart over Greece – and nobody seems able to stop it By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
Like a tragedy from Euripides, the long struggle between Greece and Europe’s creditor powers is reaching a cataclysmic end that nobody planned, nobody seems able to escape, and that threatens to shatter the greater European order in the process. Greek premier Alexis Tsipras never expected to win Sunday’s referendum on EMU bail-out terms, let alone to preside over a blazing …
On Brink of ‘Irreparable Split’ Between Rich and Poor Nations, European Leaders Scramble – Lauren McCauley
In the wake of Greece’s historic ‘No’ vote this weekend, European leaders are scrambling to cement a new deal after the resounding rejection of the austerity program that has heretofore dominated fiscal policy and conversation. European Parliament President Martin Schulz confirmed that Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will address parliament plenary on Wednesday morning. Tsipras is expected to put forth a new …
Financial Nonsense Overload – Dmitry Orlov
“Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad” goes a quote wrongly attributed to Euripides. It seems to describe the current state of affairs with regard to the unfolding Greek imbroglio. It is a Greek tragedy all right: we have the various Eurocrats—elected, unelected, and soon-to-be-unelected—stumbling about the stage spewing forth fanciful nonsense, and we have the …
GREECE’D: We Voted ‘No’ to slavery, but ‘Yes’ to our chains By Greg Palast
We Greeks have voted ‘No’ to slavery — but ‘Yes’ to our chains. Not surprisingly, by nearly two-to-one, Greeks have overwhelmingly rejected the cruel, economically bonkers “austerity” program required by the European Central Bank in return for an ECB loan to pay Greece’s creditors. In doing so, the Greek people overcame an unprecedented campaign of fear from the Greek and …
Behind the Greek Crisis By William R. Polk
Focusing exclusively on the monetary aspects of the Greek crisis the media misses much of what disturbs the Greeks and also what might make a solution possible. For over half a century, Greeks have lived in perilous times. In the 1930s, they lived under a brutal dictatorship that modeled itself on Nazi Germany, employing Gestapo-like secret police and sending critics …
Financial Bombshells: Greece and JPMorgan By Bill Holter
Not that almost any and all news today is enough to make you scratch your head, two pieces of news yesterday were bombshells! I am talking about Greece’s stance of staying IN the Eurozone and the Zerohedge article regarding JPMorgan “cornering” the global commodity markets. Let’s first start with Greece, who could have seen this one coming? They are taking the …