Free Republic

WE are about to make the biggest ­political decision of our lives. The Sun urges everyone to vote LEAVE. We must set ourselves free from dictatorial Brussels. Throughout our 43-year membership of the European Union it has proved increasingly greedy, wasteful, bullying and breathtakingly incompetent in a crisis. Next Thursday, at the ballot box, we can correct this huge and ­historic mistake. It is our last chance. Because, be in no doubt, our future looks far bleaker if we stay in Outside the EU we can become richer, safer and free at long last to forge our own destiny —...

The BBC has warned English football fans not to dress as crusaders when attending the Euro 2016 tournament this summer as they might cause offence to Muslims. The advice comes via their ‘iWonder’ website, aimed at a younger audience, which asks such pressing questions as “Was Shakespeare a feminist?” and “How green is my commute?” Posing the question: “Is it wrong to dress as a crusader for an England match?” the answer appears to be a resounding “yes”. “Crusaders were the perpetrators of violent attacks across Europe and the Middle East on Muslims, Jews and pagans,” the website intones, suggesting...

The European Central Bank announced Wednesday that it will phase out the 500 euro banknote because of concerns that this banknote "could facilitate illicit activities" ... Europe's top law enforcement officials maintain that the 500 euro banknote (worth about $576) makes it easy for criminals to launder money since it's so easy to move around undetected. In a report last year, Europol said cash was still the "instrument of choice" for terrorists and 500 euro notes were in high demand, though they're not popular for everyday transactions. ...

Iran wants to recover tens of billions of dollars it is owed by India and other buyers of its oil in euros and is billing new crude sales in euros, too, looking to reduce its dependence on the U.S. dollar following last month's sanctions relief. A source at state-owned National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC) told Reuters that Iran will charge in euros for its recently signed oil contracts with firms including French oil and gas major Total, Spanish refiner Cepsa and Litasco, the trading arm of Russia's Lukoil. "In our invoices we mention a clause that buyers of our oil...

It was just two days ago that Bloomberg implored officials to “bring on a cashless future” in an Op-Ed that calls notes and coins “dirty, dangerous, unwieldy, and expensive.” You probably never thought of your cash that way, but increasingly, authorities and the powers that be seem determined to lay the groundwork for the abolition of what Bloomberg calls “antiquated” physical money. We’ve documented the cash ban calls on a number of occasions including, most recently, those that emanated from DNB, Norway’s largest bank where executive Trond Bentestuen said that although “there is approximately 50 billion kroner in circulation, the...

The European Central Bank opened its money tap only slightly Thursday after raising market expectations of a more forceful move to jolt the economy out of its brush with deflation. Instead of expanding its asset purchases beyond 60 billion euros ($66 billion) per month, the ECB pushed back the purchase program's earliest end date by six months to March 2017. It left its key lending rate unchanged but dropped the interest rate paid... [snip] The dollar's strength against global currencies has helped to stall the U.S. manufacturing recovery, with the latest reading on national factory activity from the Institute for...

Discussion on the Greek bailout and implications for the EEC

Everything I needed to know about why the European Union would fail I learned at a truck stop. It was in 2001 when a bus tour I was on stopped at a truck stop on the German Autobahn. For the American readers, you must understand that European truck stops are much different from what you get in the states. In Europe, the facilities are clean and the food is actually decent. They don’t have the same hot dogs sitting in the cooker for five days. And no, you can’t buy six gallon soda cups. As it were, in this truck...

With the turmoil in Greece proving once and for all that in the absence of a fiscal union, the EMU simply cannot function or if it does, it will be subject to episodic crises stemming from endemic differences of opinion on fiscal policy, outsiders could be forgiven for looking upon the currency experiment as an abject failure. Indeed, the struggle to secure a bridge loan for Athens last week underscored the degree to which non-euro countries are reluctant to put their taxpayers on the hook for problems which they believe are the result of an ill-fated attempt to unite fundamentally...

The Simpsons had it right all along: With the provocative and dramatic Greek "time out" language pulled from the final finmin and summit draft language, the two most humiliating aspects of the latest extend and pretend "deal" for the Greek people will be the return of the Troika's (surely we can call it the Troika again as part of the Greek capitulation) IMF mission to Athens, and the escrowing of some €50 billion in  Greek assets in a liquidation fund. Granted said fund will not be domiciled in Luxembourg as was originally envisioned, but Europe will still have control and...

Eurozone leaders have agreed to offer Greece a third bailout, after marathon talks in Brussels. Amid one of the worst crises in the EU's history, the head of the European Commission said the risk of Greece leaving the eurozone had been averted. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said that after a "tough battle", Greece had secured a "growth package" and debt restructuring. Greece will now have to pass reforms demanded by the eurozone by Wednesday. These include measures to streamline pensions, raise tax revenue and liberalise the labour market. An EU statement spoke of up to €86bn (£61bn) of financing...

Germany has reportedly began preparing for Greece to be rejected from the eurozone, as the European Union faces less than 24 hours to save the country from collapse. Greece failed to give its creditors in the 19-country eurozone proof that it can deliver on its promises to implement tough austerity and reform measures in return for billions more in bailout money. Finance ministers canceled a European Union summit meeting Sunday in an effort to do everything it takes to get a deal done or to decide to eject Greece from the eurozone. Should a deal fall through, The Telegraph reports...

If Greece continues with austerity, it would be depression without end As the Greek saga continues, many have marveled at Germany’s chutzpah. It received, in real terms, the largest bailout and debt reduction in history and unconditional aid from the U.S. in the Marshall Plan. And yet it refuses even to discuss debt relief. Many, too, have marveled at how Germany has done so well in the propaganda game, selling an image of a long-failed state that refuses to go along with the minimal conditions demanded in return for generous aid.

So your moment has come, and frankly if you have the courage you should lead the Greek people out of the Eurozone with your head held high. Get back your democracy; get back control of your country. Give your people the leadership and the hope that they crave. Yes it will be tough in the first few months but with a devalued currency and with friends of Greece all over the world, you will recover.

Whether you like him or not, former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis is now a political legend. Here’s why: 1. The way he communicates With his blog and his Twitter account , he speaks directly to the people, his fans and his detractors, when he wants, how he wants it, without the media filter. Non-verbal communication is important too. The infamous video of Varoufakis ‘flipping his middle finger’ to Germany, which caused uproar in German media, may or may not have been faked by a German satirical TV show. In the end it doesn’t really matter. He may have an...

Almost every option facing debt-drenched Greece is bad, but there is only one that will end this Greek tragedy for good. Let Greece go bankrupt. Then let this once-rich nation, hit the restart button to rebuild its economy. What I’m suggesting for Greece is what might be called the Detroit option. Put Greece under receivership and let these new authorities figure out how to manage the debt and decide who will take a haircut and how big. Pensioners, bondholders, welfare recipients, government workers, the International Monetary Fund, all will have to settle for less — maybe a lot less. It’s...

Remember this?Well congratulations! You are now! Except for one thing: after a few non-lethal union concessions, Detroit got the State to bail them and their pensions out. Greece just said “no” to the EU’s demand for concessions, so…this should be fun.Hard to believe isn’t it? The country that founded democracy has discovered how to destroy it. Well actually, Alexis de Tocqueville identified that mechanism a couple of centuries ago: “The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money.” And we’ve been implementing it incrementally ever since:  Detroit’s giant tire...

ATHENS — Greece’s combative finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, who took a strong stand in demanding that creditors write off some of his country’s debts, abruptly resigned on Monday morning. Mr. Varoufakis had played a central role in rallying votes for a resounding no on a referendum on Sunday that asked Greeks whether they were willing to accept an arrangement with creditors that would require considerable further austerity, such as pension cuts. Mr. Varoufakis had threatened last week to resign in the event of a yes vote, and his decision to step down after he and his allies prevailed in the...

Greek referendum results live: No vote to eurozone bail-out deal leads by 60 per cent. After 20pc of the vote is counted, Greeks look to have voted 'No' with a 60pc majority against Europe's bail-out conditions

Sunday, Greeks should vote “no”!Hellenic voters are being asked whether they accept the terms offered by the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund to extend the bailout for Athens‘ troubled finances or give Prime Minister Tsipras a mandate to insist on a better deal.Those conditions include more cuts in government supported pensions, higher taxes and labor market reforms other European governments’ are often not inclined to accept in the conduct of their own affairs.Urging a Yes vote, European leaders and their supporters in private institutions claim more austerity would reinvigorate the Greek economy and permit Greeks to...