The Turkeys Vote For Christmas

It is not often that you get to see an entire nation committ collective suicide but that is the effective result of the Greek elections. After a sustained attack by the banks who want the money they recklessly gambled away back and by European leaders more interested in their own careers than the welfare of their people, the Greeks cannot bring themselves to be rid of the Euro. They have clung to it like a child clings to its mother's skirts. They have been blackmailed, lied to and bullied unmercifully and, as Antonus Samaras said, "have decided to stay anchored to the Euro." Why anyone drowning would refuse to let go of an anchor is beyond understanding, but any real alternative was carefully hidden from sight. And there is an alternative as Iceland has amply demonstrated. It is possible to say "no" to the banks, arrest their directors and even impeach the politicians who have conspired with them to line their own pockets at everyone else's expense. After two years of dire predictions as to what would happen to Iceland if they didn't do as they were told, they have cast off the dead hand of the banks who are now queuing up to knock on that country's door and begging to be allowed to do business there once again. The world has been through 30 years of sheer economic insanity and, when the wheels came off, all our politicians could do was insist on more of the same. And, like sheep, most people have gone along with it. Entire countries have voted for austerity, inequality and poverty, frightened by two-faced politicians intent on protecting their own wealth and privileges. Some like France, however, have not. The stage is now set for a titanic struggle between the stupid and selfish on one hand and those with a better vision on the other. What happens next is up to us.

Spain: What's The Difference?

So Spain has been "rescued" by the European Bank, but the question is why no austerity package? The experts tell us that the difference is that the debt in Spain was that of its banks while that in Greece was sovereign debt caused by government overspending. Essentially, therefore, Spain was able to tell the European that they could save Spain's banks or not as they pleased, but that the government was not going to accept pauperising its own citizens further in order to facilitate a deal. The rest of Europe was handed a stark choice - bail out the Spanish banks or watch the Eurozone collapse completely. The truth is that the Spanish government chose not to borrow the huge amounts of cash that were coursing through the Spanish banks until 2008 whereas the Greek government did in order to subsidise the living standards of its citizens. There is no doubt that the Greeks were reckless and are now paying for it in spades. But the Greeks have a choice as to what they can do about it. They can leave the Euro, re-issue the Drachma and devalue like crazy to reduce their debt and give themselves a fighting chance of recovery. That they have chosen not to do so shows that they prefer to cling to the Euro's apron strings rather than face the uncertainty of going it alone. But, at the end of the day, what has all this support for Greek and Spanish banks actually achieved? Essentially taxpayers money has been pumped into the banking system to fill the black hole in liquidity caused by their reckless gambling on the property bubble. By shoring-up the banks governments have managed to keep property prices artificially inflated but this cannot solve the paradox of millions of empty properties on one hand and millions of essentially homeless people on the other. What our leaders are doing is not a solution it is an attempt to continue the problem and, worse yet, to breath more life into it. Not only are ordinary people being forced to pay for the mistakes of the banking system they are also being effectively barred from any reward for doing so. Our money is being used to save the banks but our children will still not be able to buy a home of their own, while rents continue to rise to feed the insatiable greed of a minority. All in this together? Don't make me laugh.

Spain's Bankia Seeks To Have Its Debt Nationalised.

It would seem that its towering block of offices is not the only thing that is wonky about Spain's fourth largest bank, Bankia. Ahead of this year's board meeting the bank has asked the Spanish government to bail it out yet again. Once again we are to treated to the spectacle of a failing business failing to fail and to private debt being nationalised by a business that seems to think that it lives in a socialist paradise. Funny how capitalism seems to be suspended when banks screw up isn't it? And who is that will eventually pick up the bill? Those who have made vast fortunes over the last 30 years? Not on your life. It will be Spanish taxpayers (those that are still left in work) and, eventually, the rest of Europe's taxpayers or, as our governments like to call us, the mugs. In the meantime the banks are still handing themselves lottery wins for bonuses and patting themselves on the back for being so incredibly gifted. Perhaps Adrian Beecroft is right after all and the people who run these institutions should be summarily dismissed with no right of appeal - now that might just improve productivity.

EU Conference Sits On Its Hands.

The EU Conference ended today with agreement that growth should be their primary objective and absolutely no agreement as to how that will be achieved. France and Germany are now clearly on different tracks with their customary united front entirely absent. Angela Merkel's contribution was to tell the Greeks to continue pauperising themselves or else while that country's exit from the Euro loomed ever-closer. David Cameron stood up for the rights of bankers, making it plain that he would not support a tax on the finance industry because that would damage Britain's interests and cause job losses. Apart from the sheer hypocrisy of David Cameron worrying about unemployment, something that has never bothered him before, his fierce support of the City is sickening. One of the first excuses the Tories used against the idea of a finance tax was that it needed to be done on an international basis. Faced with just that he has no choice now but to fall back on a weak and specious arguments to protect his rich mates from the levels of taxation that the rest of us have to suffer. Of course he will soon be portraying his refusal to support the idea as a "veto" while Europe will still go ahead ignoring us completely. The Euro is now plainly falling apart and the EU itself is in grave danger of following suit with even Labour now considering a referendum on Britain's membership. The neoliberal economic thesis is edging ever closer to its inevitable endpoint - the effective destruction of the world economy as the greed and stupidity continues to pour sand into its metaphoric gearbox and engine.

Is The G8 Serious?

The G8's official communique today was straightforward enough, they want debt-stricken Greece to remain in the eurozone. No disenting voices, no doubts, no alternatives. Now that, if you think about it, is rather surprising. Surely at least one of them would look at the situation in Greece and conclude that its exit from the Euro is not only sensible but perhaps the only viable solution. Then there's the Greeks themselves who, we are informed, are almost unanimous in their view that they have to stay in the Euro. Why? Staying in the straighjacket of the Euro is bankrupting them and bringing their society to the edge of collapse. Think about this. If Greece was about to exit the Euro it would have to be a closely kept secret to avoid panic in the markets and in order to put predatory speculators off the scent. In addition there would have to be a long period of preparation just to print the necessary new currency for Greece. Is it just me, or can anyone else hear the distant sound of printing presses?

Greece Refuses To Fall On Its Sword.

Greek politicians have now completed the final round of their new national game OXI! (NO!) and have failed once again to offer themselves up for sacrifice at the Euro altar. A disorderly exit from the Euro now seems inevitable. Yet the head of the European Bank, Christine Lagarde, has spoken of her bemusement over the present crisis, telling us that she thought she had "covered all the possibilities." All the possibilities except the most obvious it would seem. And that, apparently, is the nub of the problem. Many European leaders, though there are less of them every day, just cannot accept that their most cherished economic theories are more or less bunk. Nor can they bring themselves to see the glaringly obvious truth that the system is now broken beyond repair. It does not need fixing - it needs replacing. Growing inequality is no longer acceptable and, if we are to believe that "we're all in this together," we want concrete proof that it is so. Rewarding the wealthy for yet another failure is no longer an option. And if the wealthy can't accept this then they should be allowed to emigrate to Mars or Pluto or wherever they feel their money can keep them safe.

Germany Sucks The Blood Out Of Europe.

To be honest you can't blame Germany for taking the stance it has. Always productive, always efficient and always hard working, why should they pauperise themselves to save feckless countries such as Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy? There's no reason why they should except, of course, they allowed these countries to join the Euro for purely "political" reasons knowing that they were a disaster just waiting to happen. Now, in order to save the European banking system and their own economic future, they have no choice but to force austerity down everyone else's throat. If they don't the Euro will fall apart, European banks will either fail or have to be rescued by Germany alone and the German economy will go the way of all flesh. For the French, waking up to the realisation that the austerity strategy only gives them minimal protection, the temptation to jump ship is becoming overwhelming. Which leaves Britain. Why is it persuing austerity? For the narrow ideological interests of a tiny elite intent on protecting their money while the rest of us go under. In Britain the neoliberal economic thesis is being allowed to run its course to ultimate disaster, while Germany is forcing its neighbours down the same route even as it runs for the hills itself. For the German government it is a cold equation, for Britain it is the pure vindictiveness of Tory party that has no interest other than maintaining privilege for the wealthy. Unfortunately for Angela Merkel and David Cameron the ordinary people in Europe are not content to roll over and play dead. The message is clear. They said "We're all in this together." The people have said, "OK, then you can crash and burn with the rest of us."

Is The Euro Terminal?

In Greece the centre-right leader Antonis Samaras has found it impossible to create a coalition government based on austerity and staying within the Euro. In France the new President, Francois Hollande, has signalled that the compact with Germany will have to be renegotiated. Spain is fast approaching crisis as its industrial output slumps by another 7% and, in Italy, skepticism of the EU is growing apace. What does this all mean? It seems to indicate that the idea of a united Europe is fast coming unravelled. Not because it was a bad idea. Originally founded on two sound principles - preventing further European wars and creating a single market to increase wealth - it began to go downhill when the politicians forgot why it was created. They began to see it as a vehicle for their dreams and ambitions, a larger canvas on which they hoped to project an even larger image of themselves. The Euro was never necessary on strict economic criteria. It was only necessary for those politicians who saw the currency as a badge of honour and, as more and more European politicians saw it in those terms and clamoured for their countries to be included, it quickly lost its real purpose and was devalued even before it was launched. Now its continued existence and remaining within it has become a matter of pride for politicians who have been blinded by their own propaganda. Greece should and will probably leave the Euro, followed in quick succession by Spain and probably Italy. And if Hollande cannot get the Germans to change tack then France may well do the same. The Euro was a good idea ruined, like so many things, by the politicians - it will not be missed.