Italian showdown with Germany as Enrico Letta rejects ‘death by austerity’

"Italy’s new premier Enrico Letta is on a collision course with Germany after vowing to end death by austerity, and warned that Europe itself faces a 'crisis of legitimacy' unless it charges course. He said the country is in 'very serious' crisis after a decade of stagnation and warned of violent protest if the social malaise deepens. The grand coalition of Left and Right - the first since the late 1940s - will abolish the hated IMU tax on primary residences, a wealth levy imposed by ex-premier Mario Monti, and push for tax cuts for business and young people to pull the country out of perma-slump. A rise in VAT to 22pc in July may be delayed." Continue reading

Continue ReadingItalian showdown with Germany as Enrico Letta rejects ‘death by austerity’

The Tenuous Nature of Borderless Money

"The G20 has fully endorsed the plan, and its implementation is complete or underway in member jurisdictions. The US is a G20 member, so don't kid yourself into believing it can't happen in America. It can and will. The Cyprus event has been carefully framed as an anomaly when in fact it is part of a well-orchestrated script. Americans are just one financial crisis away from triggering the provisions of the G20-backed FSB financial resolution regime. And that almost certainly will include restrictions on the movement of capital. Once your money is trapped inside the US, any type of concocted emergency 'tax' can be imposed on your wealth." Continue reading

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Bank of Cyprus converts portion of uninsured savings to equity

"Bank of Cyprus (BoC) said on Sunday it had carried out a conversion of uninsured cash deposits in the bank into equity, one of the conditions of international lenders to offer the cash-starved island financial aid. The process, known as a 'bail-in', made depositors in the bank pay for its recapitalisation, after the institution was hit by massive losses from its exposure to debt-crippled Greece. It converted 37.5% of deposits exceeding €100,000 on March 26, into 'class A' shares – nominal value €1 -- with an additional 22.5% held as a buffer for possible conversion in the future. Another 30% would be temporarily frozen and held as deposits." Continue reading

Continue ReadingBank of Cyprus converts portion of uninsured savings to equity

20 Signs That The Next Great Economic Depression Has Already Started In Europe

"The truth is that Europe is a lot like the United States. We are both drowning in unprecedented levels of debt, and we both have overleveraged banking systems that resemble a house of cards. The reason why the U.S. does not look like Europe yet is because we have thrown all caution to the wind. The Federal Reserve is printing money as if there is no tomorrow and the U.S. government is savagely destroying the future that our children and our grandchildren were supposed to have by stealing more than 100 million dollars from them every single hour of every single day. But the alternative scares the living daylights out of our politicians." Continue reading

Continue Reading20 Signs That The Next Great Economic Depression Has Already Started In Europe

EU against austerity: Protesters clash with police amid unrest in Spain, Portugal

"Police detained at least 15 in Madrid, including one minor, as they used force to quell an angry mob of protesters near the Spanish parliament, united under a 'Besiege Congress' slogan calling for the government to quit. The riots come as Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is set to announce a raft of measures on Friday aimed at tackling the country's recession. An estimated 1,400 policemen were deployed around the chamber as politicians cancelled the session for the day. Protesters held signs that read '6.2 million reasons' in a reference to the latest jobless figures and when police charged them they chanted 'You have jobs, we do not.'" Continue reading

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Greece’s great fire sale

"The idea of snapping up a Greek island certainly has its appeal. In March the Emir of Qatar bought six for £7 million, while a Russian oligarch bought Skorpios – previously owned by the Onassis family – earlier this month for a reported £65 million, as a present for his 24-year-old daughter Ekaterina Rybolovlev. To that end, the royal palace on Corfu, where Prince Philip was born, is now also for sale. So too is a large coastal estate which, the government boasts on its website, is next door to land owned by the Rothschild banking dynasty. Officials refuse to discuss prices, saying that it depends on offers and the development proposals." Continue reading

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Greece to sack 15,000 state workers in next two years to unlock bail-out cash

"Greece is in deep recession, GDP has contracted by 22pc since 2008 and unemployment has spiralled to 27pc as the Greek government has implemented deeply unpopular EU-IMF austerity measures or 'fiscal adjustment' in return for loans. 'Our society has reached its limits. But finally we are meeting our targets and the programme is being improved,' said Antonis Samaras, the Prime Minister, in a nationally televised address. 'Soon, Greece will not depend on the memorandums. Greece will have growth, it will be competitive and outward-looking. In other words, we will have a strong Greece.'" Continue reading

Continue ReadingGreece to sack 15,000 state workers in next two years to unlock bail-out cash

Portugal’s elder statesman calls for ‘Argentine-style’ default

"Portugal's leading elder statesman has called on the country to copy Argentina and default on its debt to avert economic collapse, a move that would lead to near certain ejection from the euro. Mario Soares, who steered the country to democracy after the Salazar dictatorship, said all political forces should unite to 'bring down the government' and repudiate the austerity policies of the EU-IMF Troika. 'Portugal will never be able to pay its debts, however much it impoverishes itself. If you can’t pay, the only solution is not to pay. When Argentina was in crisis it didn’t pay. Did anything happen? No, nothing happened,' he told Antena 1." Continue reading

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New demolition technique shrinks Tokyo hotel ‘in a clean manner’

"Passers-by in Tokyo’s busy Akasaka district have started to notice something odd about a 40-floor hotel — it has shrunk to about half its original height. Slowly but surely, and with none of the explosions or dust normally associated with the demolition of skyscrapers, the hotel is being torn down. Engineers reinforced the top floor with steel beams and then effectively lopped it off, keeping it in place to be used as an adjustable lid that can be lowered down the building on an external support frame. Workers at the Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka have brought in 15 hydraulic jacks on which this 'lid' now sits as they remove one floor at a time." Continue reading

Continue ReadingNew demolition technique shrinks Tokyo hotel ‘in a clean manner’