Posted on 03/26/2013 12:14:48 PM PDT by Kartographer
Cypriots vented anger in the streets on Tuesday and were desperate to learn what would happen to their savings, with the government yet to reveal details of controls it will impose to prevent a run when banks reopen after a painful bailout.
A special administrator was appointed to run the country's biggest bank, which will take over accounts from the second biggest bank as part of the restructuring package designed to bail out and rein in the oversized financial sector.
Cyprus's banks were ordered to remain closed until Thursday, and even then will operate under as-yet-undisclosed capital controls imposed to prevent depositors from emptying the vaults.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
If they just levied a tax there would be endless hemming and hawing about how much and it would likely take months. And then the next legislature could rescind it.
This way, they get some recompense immediately for money doled out to Cyprus...AND there's the added benefit that in future people will be much more careful about asking for money. (Also keep in mind that upwards of 50% of the depositors are Russian...the Cypriots seem to have no qualms about the Russians taking over which gives you some idea of the mindset of the people.)
I agree with your point. I think the EU was doomed to fail from the beginning. (I guess it depends on what is considered failure)
They're trying to copy our system of having a Federal Gov't along with a system of states. But because they lean socialist they are having a heck of a time getting it done.
It seems like they will fail, probably followed by us.
> banks would be “opened” and peoples money passed out by force.
At that point money would not mean very much. Ammo, fighting skills, shelter and food would be all you need. There would be a lot of rotting corpses in the streets .
The vast majority of member states of the EU do not get a vote, either way. The only country that ratified the Treaty of Lisbon by referendum was Ireland, due to a requirement in their constitution for a popular referendum on such matters. And they were forced to revote due to the first vote being “no”. In the European Parliament, nobody has the power to write any laws—that power is held by the European Commission, which is also the executive body (i.e. no separation of powers; Montesquieu would have a fit).
Yes, nobody has to take a bailout (which are loans and not grants); but look at the record. Ireland’s government was highly resistant to any loans to bail them out, and that resulted in the government falling and being replaced with a government that was willing to take the loans. Same thing happened with Portugal and Spain. Both Greece and Italy were worse off; they have had their prime ministers appointed for them by the EU in order to artificially create governments that were receptive to bailout loans. Definitely a power play from the top, FWICS.
The USA isn’t a member of any imperial-like socialistic body with the cohesion of the EU, but we do have our own socialists that are bent on wrecking our economy (via borrowing, spending, taxation, welfare giveaways, illegal immigrant amnesty ad nauseam), mainly because the USA is still seen as the last major opponent to world socialism.
No, the EU has modeled their government after the USSR. The structure is very similar to the USSR (appointed Commission acting as Politburo, elected unicameral Parliament acting as rubber stamp); and like the USSR, the central government is about micromanaging its member states and destroying their individual identities (note the similarity between “European Demos” and “Soviet People” for example).
Have a good day.
You as well.
That is the people in those countries fault. If a government falls it means it lacks popular support in said nation. The bailout position became more popular among the people, and the result was a pro-bailout government.
No one is forced to stay in the EU. No one has to take bailouts. A country like Greece could pass on the bailout and leave, instead they chose to take bailouts and stay. It is what it is. The people are responsible for their own government.
The USA isn’t a member of any imperial-like socialistic body with the cohesion of the EU
The individual American states are - it's called the US federal government. Wherever possible the Democrat party prefers taxation done on a federal level to prevent some states with low taxes from being more competitive than the more socialist states. They do the same thing with regulation. The left much prefers that the US federal government mandate environmental rules through the EPA, for example, than fight for them on a state level. This is because they know those rules cost money and would make the states that don't enact them even competitive. The goal of the EU is essentially the same thing.
have small businesses started shutting down and letting go the younger workers?
I bet none of them are putting their cash into banks either.
This is the kind of thing you have warning people about
These countries joined the euro thinking they could all spend like madmen and the “others” would pay for it. The problem is that all of them thought the same way and there are no “others”.
Not bilateral by any stretch, and highly complicated. A member state can declare clausula rebus sic stantibus as a last resort, but with the USA basically out of the picture, who will support their contention?
- Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements.
- A Member State which decides to withdraw shall notify the European Council of its intention.
In the light of the guidelines provided by the European Council, the Union shall negotiate and conclude an agreement with that State, setting out the arrangements for its withdrawal, taking account of the framework for its future relationship with the Union. That agreement shall be negotiated in accordance with Article 218(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. It shall be concluded on behalf of the Union by the Council, acting by a qualified majority, after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament.
- The Treaties shall cease to apply to the State in question from the date of entry into force of the withdrawal agreement or, failing that, two years after the notification referred to in paragraph 2, unless the European Council, in agreement with the Member State concerned, unanimously decides to extend this period.
- For the purposes of paragraphs 2 and 3, the member of the European Council or of the Council representing the withdrawing Member State shall not participate in the discussions of the European Council or Council or in decisions concerning it. …
I have a feeling that finding cash in Cyprus will be like finding ammo here.
The bankers and the regulatory agencies are first in line for being responsible for what is happening here. They are allowed leverage to the gills with crap debt that was always bound to fail. Same thing that has and is happening here.
There were always rules in fractional reserve banking that pretty much made sure that they would stay solvent. Those rules are gone in the interest of greed and thin glass floor expansion. And this is where we have ended up.
Eventually, bond investors then pensioners will take haircuts, and our US currency will also suddenly be adjusted downward to reflect the levels of manufacturing on our own soil (not only “American-based” manufacturing, much of which happens elsewhere). Many useless employees of debt will be laid off in the process.
They’ll huff, puff, screech and do nothing but be as poor as the real producers they’ve connived against for decades: the many who did well, when we had a large, real private sector. They’ll be helpless and scorned even by the the folks they previously sucked up to (environmentalist, politically correct, anti-American, most influential constituents in politics).
Yeah, I guess even a crazy tin foil head wrapped prepper is right every once and a while. ;-)
You take it too far here. I hope I've made it abundantly clear that I am no fan of the EU, but it's nothing even close to the Soviet Union. The EU is far more of a soft tyranny - which most member states are voluntarily joining.
No, the governments didn’t fall because of popular demand.
Lots of people and parties are popular till the majority of the citizens figure out there are real consequences to doing something like bucking the EU. Most Europeans in the member nations still prefer to stay in the Eurozone at almost any cost. A majority of voters in these countries are not willing to walk about from the EU. Greece just had a perfect opportunity to do so, and the people didn't do it.
Yes, the stealing of what was stolen continues.
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