marco, polo

Through the lens of history and particular Weltanschauung that has kept relations between China and much of the Western world at an awkward age--not really maturing beyond mystique and fear and trade that seemed to erupt like spontaneous generation until the 1970s, this outreach of munificence--offers to buoy up the image and reputation of the euro and the EU--is difficult to put into context. I don't believe fears of quid pro quo and other obligations are entirely valid, because it is in China's best interest to sustain its biggest export market, and prior trade deals and wonky, uncomfortable balances of exchange or supersaturation of markets, cheap and laxer labour seemingly popped into existence from nothing, overnight, for America and took on threatening airs, which were probably unjustified. The EU is not under new-management and is a far sight less beholden, financially and politically, to Chinese vehicles of recapitalization than it would be to the sacrifice, the martyred attitude, of local big banks and their minders. Just as it only takes the gentlest of persuasions to set off one's latent xenophobia, as with questions of immigration and multiculturalism, stories of Chinese investors buying up vineyards in Bordeaux or copying Austrian villages on the sly I am sure are enflaming and raise suspicions.

Investment opportunities surely can be sour and toxic things, but Europeans, though they should never stop watching their governments, are not ransoming their principles on this nor compromising their voice in trade relations, jobs, the environment or human rights. Maybe Chinese intervention was not absolutely necessary and only leaves the EU with the bigger challenge of not letting a bailout enable more of the same sloppy behaviour, but it did not come unbidden and unwelcome. With so much of the world economy built on illusion and deception, and the utility of wealth diminished the more one has of it, money at rest, when it could go to a greater good, assuaging some baseless (instead of being in hock to those fears) is a positive development.

geldpolitik or punch & judy

A few voices, weary of demi-solutions that because of self-interest no one is willing to meet half-way, continual scolding and talk whose length is outstripping modern patience and sensibilities, have raised a disturbing spectre of concern, which, I think, is forgetting the spirit of an experiment that strives for cooperation and integration without surrendering identity or sovereignty: some European Union members that have been made to feel on the periphery or only marginally engaged have expressed fear about the EU becoming enfeoffed (belehnte), paying tribute to a new Napoleonic marauding or Holy and Roman Empire of the Germans--or something more sinister.

Those fears and the United Kingdom's dour divisiveness are of course allowed but are not helpful and probably only stoke the power of the real beneficiaries of that tribute that will be paid to the banks and financial institutions. Money managers of course play an important role in remediation and recovery (or delay and dalliance) but they should not be ceded powers they do not have. Banks are like any other utility, regulated and often owned by the State, like plumbing and power-grids, and nothing more--though they've grown beyond pipes and a series of tubes, like wireless communication service providers and social networking platforms, into something that we are beholden to and tyrannized by. The EU is limited in the paths that it can sound, and that is probably a very mature and responsible thing for all parties--like it won't print more euro or tolerate laggards too well--but the solvency of big banks should not obscure real marketplace choices and resolution.

omicron, omega

Did you know that the Greek letters omicron and omega just mean little-o, big-o respectively? Euro notes and coins bear both Latin and Greek script, which I believe is a piquing reminder of the mutual glossing that may have been behind the monetary union. Since the Maastricht Treaty, no one wanted to exclude any established members of the old or new Europe, regardless of the maturity of their economies and markets, and I do not believe that Greece and other nations unilaterally covered-up their fiscal health and talked their way into membership.
I am sure that to a large extent, against warnings of economists and analysts that saw at the time weaknesses, hyperbole and litotes, that such obstacles were overlooked towards the formation of a more perfect union, and not a German or a French hegemony or a north, south schism. It parallels the lesson unlearned with the economic collapse fuelled by the housing bubble, which with exuberance oversold the properties market to all and sundry on the hopes that value would keep increasing. I have great hopes for the euro and the ideas behind it still--including the absolute solvency of each country’s financial systems without respect for outside shaming and subjective ratings, should it not lead to overarching micro-management of each country’s affairs or usher in conservative governments that undo the social and equitable fabric of its constituents, but I do think that one aspect that this vision elided over was that of competition and customers. Within a bloc of currency, it is hard for one country, maintaining its standard of living and government support, to compete with another, more advanced in manufacturing. It is that competitiveness that will lead to recovery and growth, and not an outsider's idea of discipline or scope of government responsibility.  The average shopper, I do not think, would forgo price or quality (or his or her own sense of protectionism) to seek out Greek, Spanish, Italian or Portuguese goods to fan their solidarity. The money-changers (nummularium) did a brisk business across borders, as well, and within Europe, we are our own best trading-partners.

hashtags

While I do not believe that the American people are an apathetic lot, I do believe there has been an institutionalization of the mechanisms that rob people's appetite for protest and a general swath of demotivation.

That said, I do not want to lose hope for the sit-ins going on across the country (EN/DE)--although the same dismissive mechanisms are certainly a extinguishing factor. There has been violence, police brutality, kettling, and worse yet either total disregard by the media or a high moralizing tone: most reporting comes through the lens of British journalism whose civil unrest, in the eye of the public, went from student tuition rallies to rioting and destruction--though Britain's protesters are more experienced with kettling and entrapment, and those you do deign to notice these unwashed masses take a paternal tone. Calling the movement unfocussed and without specific demands, some commentators sigh with regret that such behaviour is unbecoming and does not seem like promising deportment for a generation struggling with unemployment and staying the course in higher education. Editors might as well throw in the over-sold dream of home ownership for all and just compound the frustrations of the organizers and occupiers: the problems are so big and systemic that anyone could intuit them, without further explanation. It is ironic that this has become more scolding about responsibility, when the apex of success in money-matters is portrayed by the cavalier day-trader who beats the trends and bets against his better interests and patience. No one is dissecting this short-fused punchline, and the protesters are not drop-outs but are rather trying to make the rules more inclusive.

wallet inspector or nickel-and-dimed

Rarely I think new policies are introduced without calculated unpopularity, and I think that this is the case with the announcement of one of the biggest banks of America (recursively named) that it will begin charging its customers a nominal monthly convenience fee for using their point of sale debit cards.

All the outrage and resentment that have been generated over this relatively harmless move might be the final straw that causes the public to move their money and quit enabling these too-big-to-fail. If such a mildly unsettling PR failure can bring about revolution, then I am happy for it, but I think the message was instead designed to make the public at large forget about all their past transgressions and focus on this new tangible and across the board policy: never mind all the billions in tax-payer bailout assistance, predatory loans, aggressive and faulty repossessions, casually firing tens of thousands from its own workforce, being generally unrepentant about abetting the whole global financial , and now they have the nerve to nickel-and-dime people for the privilege of using their own money (merchants already pay a premium for renting debt-card machines), which the banks profit from by holding it. I think it will backfire.  One would do better to always use cash: all those electronic trillions in sovereign debt and corporate assets the world around could not fit physically fit into all the bank vaults of the world, if this trend snowballs and that’s quite something for cash-on-hand.

negative reinforcement or forever blowing bubbles

The reigning coalition in Germany has been compelled to make some difficult decisions and try to apply some sophistical cheer to an approach to the debt crisis that's been shown to be a costly failure. The public needs convincing that their tax monies are not being squandered and that this rescue package is not just a furtherance (kicking the can) of the same game, same irresponsibility and same greed that's bigger than the public's interests or hopes or aspirations. Such dishonesty and futility is being broached, I'd venture, mostly because of the berating and scolding that the European Union as a whole received from a very paternal and ironic United States: blamed for the global financial crisis and blamed for perpetuating fear and manufacturing and hiring timidity through its inaction. A lot of unsolicited advice has been traded since the public became aware of this Great Game but never in the form of an official rebuke and lecture. I hope the EU does not fold to this sort of pressure, since its only in the interest of the States and the Elite Them to stoke a virtual euro bubble. It's all hearsay.

Speaking of economic bubbles, Magic Eight Ball is indicating that the next boom and bust cycle may lie in the agricultural business--in food and drink. Cows and cars are already competing over fodder, leading to shortages and price inflation all around. I'm afraid that there will be a land-grab of the limited suitable fields and pastures, just like the exuberance that accelerated property prices during the Housing Crisis only to fall and to dash greed as well as livelihoods. There will probably also be action to turn more small farms into franchisees of agribusiness conglomerates, like the unstinting corporations that have put genetically modified crops, biofuels and corn-syrup into the food-chain. There are more of us to feed and only so much space left to grow what we need, without further decimating the environment. Hitching up home prices to a dangerous and unsustainable height was bad enough--it's scary to try to imagine how the situation might look with more immediate and needful provisions.

basta and geldpolitik

I am not sure what to make of this Fire Sale that the United States has announced with its apparent intent to offer unlimited US dollar-denominated loans to try to hold interest rates down for European countries coming against their debt thresholds. This emergency relief seems like a mechanism to undo the gossipy damage done by downgrades from the credit rating agencies, since credit-worthiness determines the upward usury on loans--in other words, to allow everyone to keep playing. Though ostensibly Germany's Federal Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (Bundes-ministerium für Ernährung, Landwirtschaft und Verbraucher-schutz) may be an exception, it seems like most of the work of governments, bullied by supranational finance institutions, is devoted to protecting the lender organizations and promoting good PR for their schemes and trustworthiness, with little regard or recourse for the debtors. Holding players to another round, without rigid or fair rules to play by, instead of allowing a pass or fold yields diminishing returns and impoverishes everyone, no matter what the window-dressing. These insubstantial lifelines tossed to the EU allows the dollar to dodder a bit longer at favourable lows and generates nominal revenue off of phantom loans, and a fixed margin of appreciation (how much the dollar-euro exchange rate varies) keeps the borrowers from speculating over-much against the lenders. If the euro value tumbles, the dollars become the functional currency, but if the euro gains in value against the dollar (as it should do because the European market are inherently stronger and more stable), such debt becomes cheap to pay off. The euro is not in distress and it does not need this kind of American chivalry and chauvinism (and maybe the munificence of others too), and it looks as if the creditors' champions have succeeded in expanding (diluting) their money supply without immediately and clearly sacrificing the security of their players for their very next round.

rettungsschirm or golden parachute

As the banking principalities and condominiums across Europe scramble to prevent a broad loss of faith and strengthen a united front when it comes to the membership or rich and poor participants, the Swiss have quietly made a significant change to their monetary policy and a concession of a measure of their independence.

Because of the relative weakness of the US dollar and uncertainty surrounding the euro, the Franc has become very attractive to investors, who are hording Franc and as a result pricing out of range for their competitors. For Switzerland, however, the Franc has become a victim of its own success and reputation, since this over-valuation is hurting exports, tourism and the day-to-day activities of residents. With the exchange rate obscenely favourable, the Swiss are crossing borders to do their grocery shopping and are reluctant to forego its worth at home. In order to dampen the rush to collect Francs, the Swiss have decided to peg the Franc to the euro, setting an upwards threshold for its price. This move might put the breaks on the stockpiling, and might also preserve some of its reputation as a safe and protected harbour amid all this turmoil. On the other front, complying with the demands of foreign tax authorities, though I suspect that this will be just temporary, has already besmirched Switzerland somewhat. Yoking one's success to the euro seems like a pretty smart and subtle move, with the recognition that no market is insular, but I do think it is significant that the Swiss would be willing to sacrifice a small part of their national aloofness--for the right cause.  To stop exclusively playing the host and become a player, a partisan in order to make economic conditions better for ordinary people shows that priorities are not muddled.

Meanwhile, both H and I, have been continuing to save our pennies, although I have ritualized the long-standing process with a monthly trip to the bank with my Sparschwein and savings' book. Piggy banks are dogged and always solvent, and I like to think that these small contributions of money-at-rest can help shore up the union. As for Switzerland and the EU, I am sure that there are enough talent and resources and treasure discovered and undiscovered to withstand a crisis of confidence.

9/11^10

This is morning in America. Ten years on as the anniversary of the attacks approaches, and I have to wonder if all the devotion to security theatre, terrorism has become a rather specious subject, methods and efforts vilified by a marked absence.

Marshalling armies for such a pageant has not left an abundance of resources for calling together militias for other causes that have been eroding during the past decade. What happens in the within the American sphere of influence is far from all gloom and grime and there are still much charity and vision coming from there, but from the periscope of living abroad and what pushes the news, it seems like a national will has been lost and edited away like it was never there to begin with. Potential for earning a livelihood is anemic, the disparity of wealth has spread, citizens in terms of values and priorities have never been more polarized and desperate for demagoguery, communities are at odds with one another, infrastructure is crumbling and little has been invested for the future. Maybe the legacy of 11. September is not in heightened security, mistrust, loss of privacy but rather in the demotivation of reactionaries, always struggling to respond--irrespective of scope or scale, instead of building that is enduring and comprehensive. Very serious people in very serious forums, not lampoons or satires, are spouting off all sorts of causes to rally around that really defy belief: security theatre has expanded to all sorts of absurdities that Americans can be bothered to heed. That's another morning in America.

cloverfield 8

FACT: The nebulous and unseen primordial force of nature that destroys New York City (Cloverfield) in the film is actually a rampaging giant Liz Taylor.

Slate magazine has an absolutely brilliant and thorough literary analysis of John O’Hara’s classic novel, BUtterfield 8 (like the old telephone exchanges--PEnnsylvania 6-5000) which is set during the torrents of the Great Depression and Prohibition instead of the post World War II period of the screen-adaptation with a timeless Elizabeth Taylor, that uses the novel as a lens to gain an understanding of the current economic mood and reality. This state of unbalance, this limbo that policy-makers have suspended all hopes and fears over is an uneasy one. Ron Rosenbaum superbly explains how this novel explains the turning point and associated queasiness and questioning. A lot of academic energy has gone into trying to explain the causes of the last Great Depression and reasons why we are in the present Great Recession, rife with technicalities, parallels and the shifting of blame. History usually cannot be relied upon to repeat itself in a manner that presents simple and human solutions, but being able to access the environment and the struggles of select players, as well as the economic maneuvers, can be insightful.

gold doubloons and pieces-of-eight

The other day the bank gave me a large denomination, virtually unspendable euro bill. I couldn't do much with this banknote, except carry it around like a mortgaged Monopoly property or a certificate of stock, since stores shun accepting it. It's strange that one of the most valuable pieces of currency is a bit reviled--gas stations and small shops with signs in their windows announcing their refusal before one even asks, and has garnered a bad reputation, along with the €500, as a facilitator of underworld, under-the-table and off-the-books transactions. Apparently, the largest concentration of these bills is in areas where the financial crisis has been perpetuated because, in part, inability to collect on tariffs and taxes and blackmarket trades.  I wonder what the career is like for money out of circulation: is it like that of the monolithic stone wheels of the Island of Yap?  I felt a little like a gangster myself, when in the end I had to take the Euro-Schein back to the bank in exchange for less ostentatious amounts.

manifest destiny

 In an unrequited display of nostalgia for fading imperial muscle, the US Internal Revenue Service is poised to unleash a slew of regulations and reporting requirements that will make foreign banks and businesses unwilling agents of tax-collection. This cannot end well--given that--following the example in the article, a foreign bank with American holdings, investments, bonds, treasuries, has to expend caution, time and resources on the citizenship of each and every depositor-- and the money-lenders and underwriters may well avoid doing business with Americans altogether. Bankers and economists all over are deriding this parasitic hubris, not wanting to take the responsibility for doing a job that the US government cannot manage itself. America's tax regime, for individuals at least, is overly-ambitious and unique in that in seeks its share of earnings, regardless of where they were earned and where one lives--and this they demand outside of the arrangement of any standing tax treaty.

Shirking one's obligations harms others, especially when one expects to be afforded the protections and support of one's country--however, I think this whole proposal is vindictive and misguided and won't repatriate revenue, the IRS already cannot handle its regular caseload though it expects to shift through the wisps of international banking, and also given that the US government might try to shake down, strong-arm and intimidate individuals for loose-change yet demand no taxes from its huge corporations, whose continued profits through tax-payer funded bailouts (Rettungspakets) have neither translated to creation of new jobs nor market stability.

minced oath or london bridge

Although maybe the Cycle of Democracy is not genuinely attributable to Alexander Fraser Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee--Scottish writer, historian, lawyer, and educator of the late 18th century, and rather to an editor from the Daily Oklahoman newspaper, Elmer T. Peterson in 1951--the statement still contains some truth: "Two centuries ago, a somewhat obscure Scotsman named Tytler made this profound observation: 'A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury. After that, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits with the result the democracy collapses because of the loose fiscal policy ensuing, always to be followed by a dictatorship, then a monarchy.'"

Or rather, from bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependence; from dependence back into bondage. Alexis de Toqueville, who planted the seeds of the idea of American exception, even echoed himself that America's growing population would be better managed by a monarch and that democracy could only be so elastic. I wonder where the world might be in this cycle, with hysterics over the market and unrest and estrangement in the streets--on the rise or fall? Hysteria, detached and writhing like a Water-Wiggle, could be used to justify cuts to social services, just as pointing to rioters, destroying what infrastructure and opportunities for employment might remain in their neighbourhoods, might either be an expression of frustration or more justification to dismantle social-safety nets. Greed is nothing to aspire to, but neither is playing into the characterization of an angry and an idle mob nor the complacency of leaders and role-models. What's the face of it elsewhere, and might this happen anywhere?

dereliction

The US reached and surpassed its legal debt ceiling, before it was raised by Congress just before all money was obligated, back in mid-May, and extraordinary bookkeeping measures, creative accounting not far removed from the kind of shenanigans that led to the collapse of Enron and WorldCom and more recently, averted or deferred--Merrill-Lynch and Italy, were implanted to buy the government a little more time. Those extra weeks certainly were not devoted to serious contemplation and meditation. This paying Peter to rob Paul, was in part, financed by floating funds from the Thrift-Savings Plan (TSP) accounts of soldiers and government employees. Who's to say whether or not those retirement-nest-eggs were the first things made whole again, once the borrowing-limit was raised? That was no different than any other pension-raiding scheme. More so than any precedent that has coloured economics for good or bad through war, plague or invention, what I think we are seeing is not a failure in business but a crisis in governments. Avarice always dampens business-ventures, but globally governments have also been negligent in safeguarding treasure and creating, enforcing the regulatory framework that makes growth and meaningful employment sustainable. The job of governments is to protect its citizens from threats and promote equality of opportunity. Too much effort, however, is squandered in the name of safety from imagined but serviceable dangers and into cultivating the ideal consumer culture, instead of concentrating on ways, creative, dogged or just brute that makes people independent, self-sufficient and self-determined.

sisyphus or the united states of austerity

The American economy, industry and stability has ventured into very uncertain territory. After the enduring the battle of the wills that nearly resulting in a suspension of government services and furlough, I kind of lost interest in the posturing and mime that pushes the crisis but affect no real positive good. Some have described the atmosphere in Washington as bellicose, and though the work of exercizing democracy is not meant to be neat and courtly and hard decisions face America, it seems that the will and welfare of the people is not what's being won by all these histrionics and summoned rage.

No long-term solution has been found, and while debt and spending are unsustainably high, erosion of employment opportunities and physical and social infrastructure impose a bigger threat. The notion of American identity is challenged by the loss of that fleeting American dream, American exceptionalism and also the loss of military supremacy. Public health is not being championed, but rather only the rolling, regimented faith and confidence of the broader markets, not allowing the fear and frustration other outlets of expression. Debt is fleet-foot, threatening to obligate everyone futures with the toil of money already spent. Rather than fostering ways for the country to grow itself out this tangle together, secretive panels have been deputized with the task of chipping away at a mountain of outlays. People won't so be able to look beyond the childish antics that staved off any real debate and transparency and won't ignore what's been eschewed, and the cycle has only been primed to continue. Insular or expansive, this drama will be carried out over a succession in a long run of bank holidays, beginning when America faces up to the task of drafting a budget for the next fiscal year, and then when austerity panels fail to meet the quotas, and the build up to the 2012 presidential elections, and then when the credit rating agencies--to maintain any semblance of credibility--downgrade the US, and so on.

evasive maneuvers

First seeing the headline that US pensioners might be affected by the looming national borrowing frontier, I scoffed a little, wondering why anyone would proffer such a new worry, reviving the fears and panicky behaviour of a few months ago of a government-services collapse. That was a battle-of-the-wills too, to see who would risk compromise or be obstinate on blame. I thought the pronouncement was only some reporter glomming on to one phrase and appeal that was not meant to be showcased--that is, until I heard the same scary news picked up by German broadcasters. Maybe it is still just a threatening projection, because I think too the rest of the world is prone to gawk at a country that would just shut-down or threaten to do so. I don't think there have been accords by the polarized political parties and talks have not progressed, but there have certain been some exercises in creative and critical think. Apparently, mostly without such theomachy, the US president has asked and been granted lifting the debt ceiling about one hundred times in the past, having exceeded what the US Congress had appropriated in the fiscal budget. Some are proposing a bit of theatre, legal fiction, to give the office of the president autonomous authority and responsibility to raise the legal borrowing limit, independent of congress. This does not create extra money or save social programs, but it allows for no deflection of responsibility (de facto but not in fact since all agencies are responsible for their own fund management). Further, this shifting of blame may prevent delay of the US government defaulting on its obligations (to creditors, and to its people) but taking on more debt, regardless--for example, in August, the government is scheduled to make $23 billion in Social Security payments but only expects to generate $12 billion in taxes on the day outlays come due, and unable to pawn more debt, the government can only spend what it takes in--only restores allocations' and appropriations' role, again threatening a government closure. I don't know what can be done but there is no choice between supporting corporate or public welfare and the two should not be stood up as warring standard-bearers.

odious debt

As the economic sleight of hand for the US became only a delaying tactic and the States are galloping towards the legal debt ceiling (Schuldenobergrenze), debate over how to interpret the sibylline leaves of their constitution (which is not a technicality given its well-trod appeals and reductio) and ideological anchors that cannot be finessed or maneuvered around is just making the situation appear more and more dire. On a sub-national level, governments have been shutdown and there does not seem much urgency to restore it, nor an institutional life-line to reach resolution.

Meanwhile, back at the Ranch, German and EU officials are holding emergency meetings to in part address the framework and mechanisms that do not cause debt and deficit but rather the language and esteem used to talk about it. German finance ministers, among others, do not want the European Union threatened with dissolution over the opinions of the three dominant and American-based credit-rating agencies (Ratingagenturen). This cartel has been ceded too much power, Germany, argues and although these firms failed to avert disasters in the past, like internet and housing bubbles, can spook the markets and scandalize countries with a cross word, like with Greece and Portugal.

I think further that this exclusive group of Stygian oracles, beholden to the will of banks, certainly nudges a controlled-crash, an emergency-landing of debtor nations right into receivership. German is entertaining either promoting more competition and diversity of opinion by splitting up the big agencies, or establishing separate, regional entities to cover European and Asian sovereigns separately. The debt and credit-worthiness of individuals and countries are not measured in the same way--though perhaps they should be, either both strictly by the numbers or both on hope and promise and being a good neighbor--and maybe muting down doom among the general din might yield a credit score that's more meaningful, limned with those same dimensions of long-term aspiration, inheritance and legacy. One can still manage, however, to make any pronouncement portentous or pessimistic, depending on what one wants to hear.

greece is the word or meanwhile back at the academy

I think maybe the coverage--what there is of the protests and plight compared to the media attention for protests in the Middle East and North Africa but it is different kind of challenge to voice dissent and risk portraying the banking Pantheon in a negative light, especially when the media has already confirmed its allegiance to state and business--emerging on the Greeks is too biased and made too complex to allow it to be judged by mortals. Abstracted commitments are not realities and neither are they commitments to pensioners, the poor and the aspiring. Shirking ones negotiated rules of conduct leads to chaos and Greece, as an organization and national, sovereign body, should not be excused or rewarded for failing to manage their money, but the populace should not be made to pay for untold avarice, less than transparent salesmanship and unrelenting coercion to play by the rules on the part of politicians and lobbyists. Like with other enterprises adjudged too big to fail, maybe the way of the Greeks is also a game of kicking the can--down the road and only a calculated, delaying tactic—-poised to price Greek real assets, dignity and even cultural heritage at bargain rates. Spooked, by Greece’s fall into receivership, the markets and mechanism will be aligned for another cycle of bailouts.

Es sieht so aus, als weicht Griechenland in Medienunternehmen den Ermessen vom Normalsterblichen aus. Zuallererst, gibt nur sehr wenig Informationen über die Misere und Protestaktion im Vergleich zu Ägypten oder Tunesien aus Angst vor den schrecklichen Konsequenzen erzürnend den Bankinggötter. Finanziellen Aufwanden sind anders als realen Notwendigkeiten; sie sind weder nicht gleich Verpflichtungen gegenüber ihr Rentner, die Armen und der aufstrebenden Personen. Verantwortungslosigkeit darf nicht belohnt werden, aber dann müssen der Bevölkerung also alle für die politischen Fehler büßen. Gier, falsche Darstellung und Gruppenzwang machen den Preis zu wissen unmöglich. Was ist zu bedeutsam, um zu scheitern--wie Greichenland--vielleich ist ein Ballspiel, nur Verzögerungstaktik--ein Schachzug, um der Erlösrückgang bei Liegenschaften, Würde und sogar Kulturschätzen Greichenlands zu bringen. Diese Zwangsverwaltung sorgte für Panik unter den Schuldverschreibungen, und das Ergebnis dieser Kalkül ist nur mehr Runden von Beihilfsaktions.

artful dodger

There has been a rash of headlines from all over the United States, disturbing yet fascinating, about metal thieves poaching copper and other scrap from all sources, without discrimination or regard for safety or cost to the public. There have been multiple reports of gangs dismantling rail road tracks causing trains to derail, stripping utility poles, antique fittings and fixtures or unthreading the copper condensing tubing from air-conditioning units. To replace this old infrastructure will certainly be expensive, not even beginning to consider the hardships individuals and municipalities are facing to find support systems taken for granted have been pulled out from underneath them. These crimes are desperate, with gold and silver already priced out of the market for most--and melting pennies is not a productive activity since the copper content of cents has been replaced with zinc, and the US Secret Service, as part of its original task to prevent counterfeiting and protect the money supply's integrity, have made it illegal to deface bills and coins. I wonder what the composition of these gangs are: a pick-pocket band of Dickensian street urchins, a swarm of nano-sized robots picking things clean like termites or a plague of locusts, copper hungry Vogons, or a mad-scientist trying to build a Voltron. I wonder what this junkyard trend forebodes for the economy.

Amerikanischen Metalldiebe sind in jüngster Zeit in die Schlagzeilen geraten. Ohne Rücksicht auf die Gefahr oder öffentlichen Preis, abwerben die Bande aus allen Quellen: Bahngleise, Leitungsmasten, antik Einbau, oder Rohre vom Klimaanlagen. Das Ersetzen dieser Infrastruktur wird teuer sein, und Gemeinschaften leiden den Verlust des Unterstützungs-systemen. Diese Verbrechen sind verzweifelt versuchte. Gold und Silber halten für die meisten Leute zu kostspielig, und das Schmelzen von Pennies für Kupfer geht auch nicht--denn das Hauptmetall Zink ist. In der ursprünglichen Tagesordnung sollten die US Geheimdienst der Geldmenge wahrnehmen. Es ist strafbar, Geld zu ändern oder zerstören. Wer sind die Mitglieder dieser Rotten? Taschendiebe aus der Zeit von Charles Dickens, schwärmenden Nanotechnologie, Metall-hungrig außerirdischen Leben, oder ein verrückte Wissenschaftler mit einem grossen Projekt? Ich muss mich fragen, was genau diese Schrottplatz Entwicklung für die Wirtschaft bedeutet.

zeugma

As the spectre of default and more financial straits loom for Greece, Germany has undertaken some demanding roles (EN/DE), though commensurate with their overall economic influence, to rescue Greece and the European common currency.  

Of course, it is the Greeks who too have a vested interest in getting their portfolio in order and ensuring future livelihoods, and this begs the question whether they really want to be yoked with the liabilities (zeugma = yoke) of being a dues-paying member of the European Union. Argentina defaulted a decade ago and recovered quickly and now thrive: Argentina uncoupled their currency from the US dollar but maybe that is not quite the same as a country quitting the euro. Greek bureaucracy was probably no more bloated or corrupt than anyone else's, but they did a poor job of collecting taxes. It does not seem things ought to be this gloomy, making hoi polloi take to the streets in protest--although what deal the government accepts should be closely watched and the people make sure it is in their favour. Germany is also relying on the kindness of angel investors (Privatgläubiger, private believers) to buy and hold Greek bonds on a voluntary basis, knowing the risk but potentially realizing big profits once stability has returned. Individual pensioners can apparently also take a gamble with their retirement funds, if they choose.

Involving private investment is necessary and smart move on the part of Germany--however, the tables could still turn on everyone. Another avenue to pursue, I think, might lie in rallying and educating the general public. A lot of solidarity emerged for Egypt and the Arab Spring, and although the Greeks are not suffering like their compatriots in the Middle East and North Africa, there is potential for injustice and for the crisis to spread. Surely there could be an educational campaign on the part of EU governments to show consumers what choices they can make to help Greece--or Ireland or Portugal or Spain or Italy. I don't know if one can buy a Greek-made automobile as easily as going to a Greek restaurant, but there's surely something useful that could be done and presented as an option--even berthing ones money in a Greek credit harbor overnight might make a difference. Whether skeptical of the euro and the EU or not, everyone too has a vested interest in helping keep one's neighbours and partners afloat and thriving.