Portugal goes bust.

[Legbiter]

Portugal has thrown in the towel and requested a formal bailout.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/8433352/Portugal-We-need-European-aid.html]

"I want to inform the Portuguese that the government decided today to ask...for financial help, to ensure financing for our country, for our financial system and for our economy,"

So, how long until Spain folds?

[CountDeMoney]

lol, port and cork.

[Legbiter]

lol, port and cork.

Aye.

[Admiral Yi]

So, how long until Spain folds?

I don't think Spain is going to croak.

[jimmy olsen]

Flow with the sick lyrical upper cut punch.

[Monoriu]

Portugal should be made, at gun point, to auction off its assets to repay the debt.  Land, stakes in national companies, museum collections, military assets etc 

[Camerus]

They need a patch to fix that auto loan problem.

[Martim Silva]

Two words: THE PITS!

Our PM is a total retard, and has been stalling this for political gain, almost to the last cent in the state's coffers. The Banks had been cut off by the ECB and were about to die. The bailout request only came because the bankers got furious at the prospect of going bankrupt because of some stupid political ego and cut off all financing to the State.

Note that our politicians are so greedy that the PM will run for reelection in June. And he rose dramatically in the polls in the last week, so don't be surprised if we end up with a situation where nobody can get a majority government, not even with a coalition.

So, how long until Spain folds?

Long before Spain, we have to look at Belgium - 375 billion euro in debt and NO government to control its debt, even after 280 days after the election. If the local politicians don't get their act together, that country will collapse before the end of the year.

Portugal should be made, at gun point, to auction off its assets to repay the debt.  Land, stakes in national companies, museum collections, military assets etc

Not enough to pay off the debt, sorry. We don't really have military assets and our museum collections are mostly crap. The State has no idea what land it owns, and while national companies WILL have to be privatized, the total income is just a fraction of what we will need (some 75-90 billion euro).

That is why Germany has the common european governance standards, to ensure we won't go amok with our finances again. But first the living standards need to be dramatically cut.

(Today we had another strike in the Subway, whose drivers want huge raises. After all, they only make five times the national average)

[KRonn]

Sad to see this happen.  I wonder what the financial or other impacts will be on the average person?


Maybe the US can bail out Portugal. We seem to have plenty of (other people's borrowed) money.   

[Caliga]

Martim, do you think Brazil should buy Portugal?  Will you bow to: Imperatriz Dilma?

[Liep]

(Today we had another strike in the Subway, whose drivers want huge raises. After all, they only make five times the national average)

I support this, but I can understand why some people would question their timing.

[Martim Silva]

Sad to see this happen.  I wonder what the financial or other impacts will be on the average person?

They will be brutal. After the 1975 Revolution, the new regime decided to create a whole new class to support it, and it chose the Civil Servants to do so.

As a result, their numbers boomed. To give you an example, with a population of 10 million, Portugal has 700,000 Civil Servants (small military included). In comparision, the US has a population of 308 million and 4.4 million Civil Servants (large military included).

Most of our civil servants don't really work, so it is clear that they'll either get massive paycuts or be laid off in gigantic droves.

Martim, do you think Brazil should buy Portugal?  Will you bow to: Imperatriz Dilma

Germany has already set foot here and said: "Mine!". The French timidly are kinda trying to do the same (For historical reasons, Germany is much more popular here than France is).

While Dilma simply scurried off (literally; she cancelled every appointment and went straight back to her plane) when the issue of buying our debt came up. Brazil simply cannot afford it - for all it's talk, it is a developing nation, and this is Europe we are talking about.

So, we'll be bowing to Kaiserin Merkel (might as well, as most of Merkel's cabinet doesn't. They obey mostly out of duty. Truth be said, to make German cabinet ministers/secretaries comply immediately and without complaints nothing beats a solid male voice).

I support this, but I can understand why some people would question their timing.

Actually, they've been striking from 6h30 to 11h30 AM every Tuesday and Thursday for about a month now. Ditto for the Trains. Sometimes, the Buses also join. The administrations put out huge boards saying that the workers are "irresponsible", especially because those companies only have funds to keep working until June (more now, due to IMF/EU funding).

On a sidenote, people here are saying that, besides the IMF (which we say FMI), we also need the FBI to come, in order to jail all the corrupt people in the country.

[Caliga]

eh, it's a Catholic country... it'd probably be easier to jail the non-corrupt people.

[jimmy olsen]

They will be brutal. After the 1975 Revolution, the new regime decided to create a whole new class to support it, and it chose the Civil Servants to do so.

As a result, their numbers boomed. To give you an example, with a population of 10 million, Portugal has 700,000 Civil Servants (small military included). In comparision, the US has a population of 308 million and 4.4 million Civil Servants (large military included).

Did anyone actually think that would work long term or were they all just "screw the next generation" while uttering an evil laugh?

[Malthus]

Great. First the 'no dicks' thing, and now this.