7 Ways My Modern Country Turned Into a Dystopia Overnight. #3.
Crime and Suicide Rates Skyrocket Milos Bicanski/Getty Images News/Getty Images Unemployment creates a domino effect. If I lose my job, I am forced to reduce my army of Ferraris down to seven, and can only eat caviar-sprinkled truffles straight off the thighs of a male model twice a week. This means less work for professional Ferrari polishers and truffle-sprinklers, which in turn means they cannot afford somebody else's services ... soon, nobody is working anymore, because nobody can afford anything.
Vladimir Rys/Getty Images News/Getty Images So please, come visit Greece! Unsurprisingly, suicides and crime have spiked. Svetlanka777/iStock/Getty Images "It's Raining Men, Hallelujah. " -- Leonard Cohen Roughly 10,000 suicides in the United States, the European Union, and Canada from 2007 to 2010 can be blamed on the Great Recession. . #2. Nobody riots like the Greeks. Matc13/iStock/Getty Images Guess the Internet does keep you from real activism. #1. Greek debt crisis: Goldman Sachs could be sued for helping hide debts when it joined euro - Europe - World - The Independent.
A leading adviser to debt-riven countries has offered to help Athens recover some of the vast profits made by the investment bank.
The Independent has learnt that a former Goldman banker, who has advised indebted governments on recovering losses made from complex transactions with banks, has written to the Greek government to advise that it has a chance of clawing back some of the hundreds of millions of dollars it paid Goldman to secure its position in the single currency.
The development came as Greece edged towards a last-minute deal with its creditors which will keep it from crashing out of the single currency. Read more: Tsipras tells creditors what he's prepared to doEU comes round to US demands to scrap Greek debtAthens blinks first, promises to 'immediately implement' reforms Goldman Sachs Manhattan headquarters Goldman Sachs is said to have made as much as $500m from the transactions known as “swaps”. Antigone (Addy) Loudiadis Loading gallery In pictures: Greek referendum. Understanding the Financial Crisis in Greece. What did the Greeks reject? : OutOfTheLoop. Greece is the latest battleground in the financial elite’s war on democracy. Greece may be financially bankrupt, but the troika is politically bankrupt.
Those who persecute this nation wield illegitimate, undemocratic powers, powers of the kind now afflicting us all. Consider the International Monetary Fund. The distribution of power here was perfectly stitched up: IMF decisions require an 85% majority, and the US holds 17% of the votes. The IMF is controlled by the rich, and governs the poor on their behalf.
It’s now doing to Greece what it has done to one poor nation after another, from Argentina to Zambia. The same programme is imposed regardless of circumstance: every country the IMF colonises must place the control of inflation ahead of other economic objectives; immediately remove barriers to trade and the flow of capital; liberalise its banking system; reduce government spending on everything bar debt repayments; and privatise assets that can be sold to foreign investors. Consider the European Central Bank. Banks fined over foreign exchange rigging; Greek default fears grow - as it happened. Our City editor, Jill Treanor, has helpfully written a Q&A about the forex scandal, to help explain today’s fines.
And here it is: What are the foreign exchange markets? Each day, £3.5tn changes hands in the foreign exchange markets. Each week, the equivalent of a year’s global trade in physical goods takes place. The markets are open 24 hours a day, although 40% of the activity takes place in London. Where does it trade? There is no equivalent of a stock exchange for currencies. Many of them have nicknames. Such is the size of the market, dealers trade in millions, and often billions (known as yards). Why does it matter? The prices of currencies have an impact on everyone, from holidaymakers to companies manufacturing cars or selling clothes. How did the traders rig it? As the markets never close, there is no single closing price in the currency markets. Is this like the Libor scandal? To a certain extent. Regulators are announcing penalties against some of the world’s biggest banks for their role in manipulating the foreign exchange markets.
Five Big Banks Plead Guilty to Rigging Currency Markets and No One Goes to Jail. James S.
Henry say the $5.89 billion they are collectively required to pay in penalties won't even get at 3% of their annual earnings. . - Bio James S. Transcript SHARMINI PERIES, EXEC. End DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. Comments Our automatic spam filter blocks comments with multiple links and multiple users using the same IP address.