Greece: Crony Capitalists Will Squeeze You and Freeze You

Posted on by Freedomwat.ch Staff

“The household price for heating oil in Greece reached 1,266 euros per 1,000 liters (264 gallons) in the second quarter of 2012, surging 48 percent from a year earlier, according to the International Energy Agency. Greeks pay both excise and value-added taxes on heating oil that can make up 42 percent of the total cost. Greece’s oil prices are high because of laws that protect the country’s two refining companies and prevent competition, said Pavlos Eleftheriadis, a lecturer in law at the University of Oxford in England, who studies monopolies. ‘The Greek political system works for the insiders,’ said Eleftheriadis, a native of Greece.”

http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2012/12/in-greece-crony-capitalists-will.html

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Detlev Schlichter: What is wrong about the euro, and what is not

Posted on by Freedomwat.ch Staff

“Merkel is desperately trying to pretend that these governments are not bankrupt, that the debt will be repaid, and in so doing she throws good money – that of the German taxpayer – after bad. Most of the governments in Europe, plus the US, the UK and Japan, are unlikely to ever repay their debt, and the big risk is that, once the 40-year fiat money boom that facilitated this bizarre debt extravaganza has ended for good, a lot of that debt will have to be restructured, which means it will be defaulted on. That is not the end of the world, albeit the end of the type of government largesse that has defined politics in the West for generations.”

http://detlevschlichter.com/2012/12/what-is-wrong-about-the-euro-and-what-is-not/

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What the Eurozone Financial Crisis Is Really About

Posted on by Freedomwat.ch Staff

“Greek hospitals are in such dire straits that staff are failing to keep up basic disease controls such as using gloves and gowns, threatening a rise in multidrug-resistant infections, according to Europe’s top health official. Greece already has one of the worst problems in Europe with hospital-acquired infections, and disease experts fear this is being made worse by an economic crisis that has cut health care staffing levels and hurt standards of care. With fewer doctors and nurses to look after more patients, and hospitals running low on cash for supplies, risks are being taken even with basic hygiene.”

http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2012/12/not-good-this-is-what-eurozone.html

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Portuguese Residency For Non-EU Citizens

Posted on by Freedomwat.ch Staff

“On October 9 2012 the Portuguese government passed a new law that will enable investors from non-EU countries to gain residency if they either transfer one million or more euros in capital into Portugal, form a business that creates a minimum of 30 jobs, or purchase a property to the value of a minimum of €500,000. Dubbed the ‘Golden Passport,’ this new visa will allow non-EU citizens to receive a Portugal visa, permitting them to enter and stay in Portugal assuming at least one form of investment is undertaken for a minimum period of five years.”

http://news.liveandinvestoverseas.com/Investment/portuguese-residency-for-non-eu-citizens.html

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Moody’s downgrades France’s credit rating

Posted on by Freedomwat.ch Staff

“In what will be a severe blow to Socialist president François Hollande, the agency said it was reducing the country’s rating from AAA to AA1, claiming France’s ability for economic growth was being hampered by ‘structural challenges’ including its lack of competitiveness, high unemployment, public debt and market rigidity. It said it was not confident Hollande’s government could – or would – introduce the necessary structural reforms and spending cuts to improved its rating in the medium term and expressed concern over France’s exposure to risks from other ailing eurozone countries.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/11/20/moodys-downgrades-frances-credit-rating/

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Spain considers automatic residency to foreign home buyers

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“Spain may offer automatic residency to foreigners such as Chinese and Russians who buy homes in the country, aiming to help the ruined housing market, a government official said Monday. ‘We have proposed to the other ministries that for residents who acquire a home in Spain for more than 160,000 euros ($205,000), that will automatically entail a residency permit,’ said junior trade minister Jaime Garcia-Legaz. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy later told a news conference that ‘no decision’ had yet been taken on formally launching the scheme, but said that Spain’s stock of unsold housing needed to be sold at ‘reasonable prices’.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/11/19/spain-considers-automatic-residency-to-foreign-home-buyers/

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Greeks commemorate 1970s student uprising crushed by US-backed military junta

Posted on by Freedomwat.ch Staff

“Thousands of Greeks marched behind a blood-stained national flag on Saturday to commemorate the violent suppression of a 1973 student uprising against a US-backed military junta. The bloodied flag that flew over the Athens Polytechnic on the night of November 17, 1973 — seen as a key moment in the restoration of democracy to Greece — was carried as usual at the head of the annual demonstration in memory of those who died. Police said about 20,000 people marched in total in the capital. Outside the U.S. embassy, some of the protesters set fire to an American flag.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/11/17/greeks-commemorate-crushed-1970s-student-uprising/

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Here’s What’s In That Economist Article That Has France Outraged

Posted on by Freedomwat.ch Staff

“Here are some key bullets from the report. Public spending is 57% of the nation’s output. Debt-to-GDP is 90%. No new company has entered the CAC-40 stock market index since 1987. Nobody gets fired. Unions protest over any reforms. France still has a high standard of living, and has some of the best companies in the world, but growth has stalled. Unemployment is 10%. Youth unemployment much higher. France can still borrow cheaply, but it’s also resting on past laurels (it’s still a gigantic tourist destination). New President Francois Hollande is ostensibly powerful, but his approval rating has plunged.”

http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2012/11/heres-whats-in-that-economist-article.html

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Spain’s Anti-Tax “Carrot Rebellion”

Posted on by Freedomwat.ch Staff

“If there was a prize for fighting back against tax authorities, the Italians would probably deserve first place. I’m not aware of any other country where tax offices get firebombed. The Italians also believe in passive forms of resistance, with tens of thousands of boat owners sailing away to protect themselves from the government. But the Spanish are beginning to get into the swing of things, perhaps because they are increasingly upset by the plethora of tax hikes imposed by the supposedly right-of-center government in Madrid.”

http://danieljmitchell.wordpress.com/2012/11/18/two-cheers-for-spains-anti-tax-carrot-rebellion/

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French officials furious at Economist “time-bomb” taunt

Posted on by Freedomwat.ch Staff

“French officials angrily rejected a charge by Britain’s The Economist weekly on Friday that France was the ‘time-bomb at the heart of Europe’ and a danger to the euro single currency, accusing the magazine of sensationalism. French public spending accounts for 56 percent of gross domestic product, the highest level in the euro zone, and public debt reached 90 percent of GDP this year. Hollande’s deficit-reduction strategy is based two-thirds on tax increases, much of it on businesses, and one-third on spending cuts.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/16/us-eurozone-france-economist-idUSBRE8AF0FR20121116

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The Freedom Watch

International Intelligence for the Resistance

Tag Archives: Austerity

Greece: Crony Capitalists Will Squeeze You and Freeze You

Detlev Schlichter: What is wrong about the euro, and what is not

What the Eurozone Financial Crisis Is Really About

Portuguese Residency For Non-EU Citizens

Moody’s downgrades France’s credit rating

Spain considers automatic residency to foreign home buyers

Greeks commemorate 1970s student uprising crushed by US-backed military junta

Here’s What’s In That Economist Article That Has France Outraged

Spain’s Anti-Tax “Carrot Rebellion”

French officials furious at Economist “time-bomb” taunt