"Twelve years ago, Portugal eliminated criminal penalties for drug users. Since then, those caught with small amounts of marijuana, cocaine or heroin go unindicted and possession is a misdemeanor on par with illegal parking. Experts are pleased with the results." Continue reading →
"It may be misleading to project the crisis and resolution in Cyprus onto other quite different financial crises in other quite different economies. The common ground may be a rising fear of capital controls and the search for safe havens that won't implode or change the rules overnight. The sudden emergence of risk in what was perceived to be a safe haven will likely spark interest in non-banking safe havens, for example, precious metals, and what correspondent Mark G. calls the Glass Jar Bank, which he observes is still a popular alternative in Eastern Europe to entrusting one's cash to banks." Continue reading →
"There has been much in the news over the past two weeks commemorating the 10th anniversary of the beginning of the pre-emptive Iraq War. The above YouTube video commemorates the ending of an even greater conflict, World War I, which began in 1914 and ended in 1918. This is one of the most powerful and heart-wrenching documentaries you will ever watch, especially the never-to-be-forgotten recitation of the Siegfried Sassoon poem, Aftermath, by actor Jeremy Irons at the end of the program (which garnered an Emmy Award)." Continue reading →
"Russia's recent large-scale crackdown against organizations designated as 'foreign agents' has now been extended to German political foundations. Russian state prosecutors have launched investigations of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS), a political think tank aligned with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union party, and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES), the think tank of the center-left Social Democratic Party, according to German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung." Continue reading →
"Big depositors- many of them Russian — face losses of up to 40 percent as the result of a so-called 'bail-in' to back 10 billion euros in EU financial aid to stabilize the Cypriot banking system. 'It's worth trying, it's not going to be easy, its not going to be a one-off, 24-hour court case, but the nature of the action itself sounds like expropriation,' said Andrey Goltsblat, at law firm Goltsblat BLP. There could be a basis to sue either Cyprus or individual banks, say lawyers who have been contacted by current and prospective clients seeking redress. 'People are just frustrated and ... are trying to find a way to get their money off Cyprus,' said Goltsblat." Continue reading →
"The country, another relative newcomer to the euro, is struggling with its own banking problems. The IMF expects Slovenia will have to recapitalize its three largest banks this year, which could cost a billion euros. That will increase Slovenia's budget deficit, which is bad news because the country is already having trouble selling sovereign bonds on the open market in order to finance the government. So, the question is whether Slovenia will be the next EU member state to need a bailout. Slovenia's top central banker, Marjo Kranjec – who also sits on the ECB Governing Council – says it's not going to happen." Continue reading →
"Cyprus’ sudden acquiescence to demands by international lenders to confiscate 40 percent or more of bank deposits over 100,000 euros ($130,000) and limit withdrawals to 100 euros per day, while keeping the banks shut, has turned much of the country overnight into a fright-filled society with many people unable to get their hands on enough cash to pay for anything except food. Credit cards weren’t being accepted because businesses believe they won’t be paid, making the instruments as worthless as the plastic of which they are made. Checks weren’t being accepted either as Cyprus has become a cash society, even if most people are cashless." Continue reading →
"It is difficult to avoid the conclusion we have made in past articles that much of what passes for solutions in the EU are actually being implemented to aggravate what is already injured. The idea perhaps is that a lingering crisis gives Brussels's Eurocrats the ability to further implement a 'deeper' political union. Are you an investor? Are you betting on the euro – or even the EU? In the era of the Internet, when people increasingly understand how the 'great game' is played, the deliberate (evolutionary) deepening of a crisis is perhaps unwise." Continue reading →
"Most Americans would not be directly affected if North Dakota decided to seize citizens' money in order to pay its bills, but all Americans would be deeply disturbed by such an action. The principle of the matter couldn't be clearer; outright theft is wrong. But it'd probably be fear, not principle, that would have people heading for their banks in droves to withdraw cash as fast as possible. People not living in Europe should not kid themselves into thinking that this is just a European problem. With a fractional reserve banking system, it doesn't take a majority of bank depositors to decide to withdraw their cash to put their banks out of business." Continue reading →
"Since Sunday, a trio of Bitcoin apps have soared upSpain’s download charts, coinciding with news that cash-strapped Cyprus was planning to raid domestic savings accounts to pay off a $13 billion bailout tab. Fearing contagion on the other end of the Mediterranean, some Spaniards are apparently looking for cover in an experimental digital currency. That Spaniards would consider converting a portion of their dwindling savings into a peer-to-peer currency vulnerable to wild price fluctuations and the odd thieving Trojan speaks volumes about banking confidence in some parts of Europe." Continue reading →