" Enligt uppgifter som tyska statstelevisionen hämtat från Bank of International Settlement, "Centralbankernas bank", så är Grekland skyldig franska banker 92 miljarder euro och tyska banker 43 miljarder euro. Även det amerikanska bankväsendet är invol
Början av december, 2010. "På EU:s toppmöte den 28 oktober uppges Tysklands förbundskansler Angela Merkel ha flaggat för att Tyskland har börjat fundera på att överge EMU. ”Om det här är den klubb som euron verkar utvecklas till kanske Tyskland borde dra
By PAUL KRUGMAN Published: October 23, 2011 ...at this point, Greece, where the crisis began, is no more than a grim sideshow. The clear and present danger comes instead from a sort of bank run on Italy, the euro area’s third-largest economy. Investors, fearing a possible default, are demanding high interest rates on Italian debt. And these high interest rates, by raising the burden of debt service, make default more likely.
COSTAS LAPAVITSAS, ECONOMICS PROF., UNIV. OF LONDON: "The source of power for Germany as an economic presence at the moment is very much the eurozone."
"Since the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, Greece has spent an estimated €216bn on armaments, although I am 100% certain that in absolute terms its defence expenditure is much greater than official documents would show due to the so-called secret funds the state has access to," said Katerina Tsoukala, a Brussels-based security expert.
If Greece is any guide, Merkel will vociferously demand more reforms and transparence in the banking sector. The February 10 deadline might pass. Cyprus will come up with a list of promises. Gradually the rhetoric will change. Words like “progress” will show up. “Black money” will disappear from the media. This might even culminate with a heartwarming meeting in Berlin between Merkel and Christofias. And suddenly, voting against the Cyprus bailout, once a safe bet, will become politically risky. It worked before. It might work again. If not, Cyprus with all its “black money” might become the first Eurozone country to go bust.
Mark Blyth (author of "Austerity - The History of a Dangerous Idea") interviewed by C. J. Polychroniou for Truthout 16.2.14 "The rise in debt was a consequence of the lending crisis, not a spending crisis." "the greatest bait-and-switch in human history"