Tag Archives: Austerity

Billionaire Greek Ship Owners Surface While Home Economy Sinks

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“Greece’s shipping magnates control 23 percent of the world bulk carrier fleet, according to the report, even as their home country accounts for less than 0.4 percent of the world economy.  As social pressures mount, the privileged tax status of the shipping industry has come under increasing scrutiny as successive Greek governments look to boost revenue. The industry pays no tax on international earnings brought into the country under rules incorporated in Greece’s constitution in 1967.  With limited demand from their domestic market, Greek ship owners have long looked beyond home shores for business.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-09/billionaire-greek-shippers-surface-on-tax-exempt-overseas-profit

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Spain’s Podemos Backtracks on Aim to Restructure Spanish Public Debt

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“Spanish anti-austerity party Podemos backtracked on a pledge to restructure the country’s public debt, saying it may not be needed.  ‘In Spain, putting an end to austerity doesn’t imply a unilateral debt restructuring — it’s not necessary,’ Nacho Alvarez, head of economic policy for Podemos, told reporters in Madrid. Instead, the party is looking at private debt relief, including a possible restructuring of household mortgage debt, he said.  Podemos’s leader Pablo Iglesias previously highlighted the need to restructure Spain’s 1.1 trillion euros ($1.21 trillion) of debt, matching rhetoric from his allies in Greece’s Syriza party as he primes his new party to fight elections later this year.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-14/podemos-backtracks-on-aim-to-restructure-spanish-public-debt

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The World’s Biggest Economic Fallacies… and How to Profit From Them

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“As the long lines at Greek banks and ATMs attest to, banks don’t really have all of your money.  Bloated government spending in Greece also reveals the failure of Keynesian economics, which advocates a large state role in the economy. It reveals the failure of the bailouts, which did nothing constructive. They only delayed the inevitable. Greece reveals that government bonds are not sacrosanct.  All of these things – fractional reserve banking, Keynesian economics, the false safety of government debt, and the bailout model – are firmly embedded in today’s conventional wisdom. The crisis there helps to illuminate these fundamental flaws in mainstream economic thinking.”

http://www.internationalman.com/articles/the-worlds-biggest-economic-fallacies-and-how-to-profit-from-them

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Report Predicts Increase in Sales of Private Greek Islands

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“Knight Frank, a real estate consultancy company, released a report on island real estate across the world, noting that Greece’s financial policies could lead to increased sales of the country’s islands.  One of the main aspects of the deal, and the sticking points of the negotiation, is a fund of 50 billion dollars worth of public assets that will be monetized through privatizations and other means over time. The fund will be controlled by the Greek government under the supervision of European institutions.  Considering that there are anywhere from 1,200 to 6,000 islands in Greece, and just over 200 of them are inhabited, Greek islands are likely to be used as a tool in this liquidation process.”

http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/07/14/report-predicts-increase-in-sales-of-private-greek-islands/

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Former Finance Minister: Europe’s Vindictive Privatization Plan for Greece

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“Our proposal was greeted with deafening silence. More precisely, the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers and the troika continued to leak to the global media that the Greek authorities had no credible, innovative proposals on offer – their standard refrain. A few days later, once the powers-that-be realized that the Greek government was about to capitulate fully to the troika’s demands, they saw fit to impose upon Greece their demeaning, unimaginative, and pernicious Treuhand model.  At a turning point in European history, our innovative alternative was thrown into the dustbin. It remains there for others to retrieve.”

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/greece-privatization-plan-public-assets-by-yanis-varoufakis-2015-07

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Warren Buffett and Alessandro Proto Reportedly Buy Greek Island

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“American billionaire investor Warren Buffett and Italian Alessandro Proto have reportedly bought the island of Agios Thomas for 15 million euros, according to Proto Thema.  Agios Thomas is located to the northwest of the island of Aegina in the Saronic Gulf of the Aegean Sea. The island is 1.21 square kilometers.  The two men completed the alleged purchase this past Thursday and plan to develop real estate on the island. In the past, Buffett, whose estimated net worth is 67.6 billion dollars according to Forbes magazine, had previously said that there are many opportunities in Greece and a lot of people who are willing to invest in the country.”

http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/07/20/warren-buffett-and-alessandro-proto-buy-greek-island/

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Greek Banks Reopen but Cash Limits Remain and Taxes Soar

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“The cash-strapped nation got a short-term loan from European creditors to pay more than 6 billion euros ($6.5 billion) owed to the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank.  But for most Greeks, already buffeted by six years of recession, Monday was all about rising prices as tax hikes demanded by creditors took effect. There are few parts of the Greek economy left untouched by the steep increase in the sales tax from 13 to 23 percent. strict controls on cash flows, including a ban on check-cashing and payments abroad as well as limits on cash withdrawals, remained in effect.  New rules permit the withdrawal of up to 420 euros a week.”

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/greeks-find-banks-open-restrictions-place-32559279?singlePage=true

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Greek Island Trials Digital Currency Solution to Boost Economy

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“Drachmae Connect, a tourism business network, is using NXT technology in attempt to help ease liquidity problems and business-to-business trade in the Island of Agistri. The initiative aims to attract tourists with major discount tokens that can be purchased at their website. The opportunity of a decentralized equity and crowdfunding platform to the local Greek businesses is also on the table, similar to the WIR franc baking system. Part of the idea is to use NXT-generated assets as digital coupons and business-independent ‘air miles’ of a sort, facilitate business from tourists among other obvious benefits, like easy, decentralized fintech security.”

http://cointelegraph.com/news/114814/greek-island-trials-digital-currency-solution-to-boost-economy

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Greek Island to Trial Gold-Backed Digital Currency Alternative to the Euro

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“The mayor of the Greek island of Angistri has agreed to a trial of the digital currency Nautiluscoin as a way to attract tourists.  Brian Kelly, the founder of Nautiluscoin, published an article on CNBC on July 8 announcing the news that mayor Ioannis Athanasiou had given his support to the plan.  Angistri is a 13.3 square kilometer island near the Greek port of Piraeus, and a population of 1,142 inhabitants.  To explain the difference between Nautiluscoin and other digital currencies such as Bitcoin, Kelly described how a central ‘Nautiluscoin Stability Fund’ plans to keep the majority of the coins itself, only selling them when demand has risen.”

http://cointelegraph.com/news/114787/greek-island-to-trial-gold-backed-digital-currency-alternative-to-the-euro

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The Troubled Greek Bailout Process Lurches Forward

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“On July 13, Athens reached a deal with its creditors to begin negotiations for a third bailout for the country, only a few days after Greeks voted against austerity in a referendum. Then, early on July 16, the Greek Parliament approved a list of painful reforms, including spending cuts on pensions and higher taxes. The vote was extremely controversial, both inside Parliament and out. Though the austerity measures were approved, 32 lawmakers from the ruling Coalition of the Radical Left party, known commonly as Syriza, voted against the reforms, whole another six party members abstained.  Outside Parliament, Athens saw its most violent protests of the year.”

https://www.stratfor.com/analysis/troubled-greek-bailout-process-lurches-forward

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