ECB and Inflation

[The Minsky Moment]

Syriza's jumped the shark, I'm afraid.

Disagree. I think they're still the only reason to have any hope in Europe.

What is the vision for Europe that they represent?

When you are deep in the ditch, stop digging.

[The Brain]

Syriza's jumped the shark, I'm afraid.

Disagree. I think they're still the only reason to have any hope in Europe.

What is the vision for Europe that they represent?

When you are deep in the ditch, stop digging.

[citizen k]

Europe Has A Modest Proposal For Greece: "Don't Pay Wages For One Or Two Months"

The Greek liquidity, pardon "cash flow" problems are so bad, not only Zero Hedge, but also Bloomberg has launched a daily maturity tracker of how much money Greece has to pay either to the IMF or to prefund T-Bill rollovers. This is what Bloomberg blasted out earlier today:

    Greece is preparing for another week of hurdles that ends with a ~EU2b repayment on March 20. Most economists say that it will be difficult for Greece to get past end of March without fresh EU funds. Here's a timeline of the most important events scheduled this week:

        Monday, March 16: Greece to repay about EU577m in IMF loans
        Wednesday, March 18: Greece's debt agency PDMA to sell 13- week treasury bills

Which explains why as we reported yesterday, Greece passed a law to plunder pension funds, one which would allow the government to fully invest reserves of pension funds and other public entities kept in Bank of Greece deposit accounts in Greek sovereign notes.

None of this is news: that Greece will run out of cash absent another check from the Troika, pardon Instituions, pardon creditors, is clear. The only question is what happens after, if Europe indeed leaves Greece hanging.

Today, the Greek media is ablaze with just what Europe's proposed solution to this issue may be. As Protothema and Capital report, the Troika proposed that Athens halt the payment of salaries and pensions for one to two months. This, according to Europe, would promptly tackle the problem of liquidity and find a solution to Greek problem of how to pay back bailout loan tranches to creditors when suffering from liquidity problems.

    Via @capitalgr: Creditors suggested2 #Greece govt "if u face liquidity problems,dont pay wages for a couple of months http://t.co/HJMum0FINT

    — Efthimia Efthimiou (@EfiEfthimiou) March 13, 2015

As Keep Talking Greece reports, the creditors' proposal was revealed by Varoufakis' aide Elena Panarity at an event of the Deree College on Thursday and was confirmed by Finance Ministry officials on Friday.

"When we say that we have liquidity problems, they tells us to make no payment of salaries and pensions for one or two months," Panariti said as quoted by Greek media.

The creditors made this proposal at the side talks the Brussels Group meeting in Brussels on Tuesday.

    Panariti did not reveal which one of Greece's creditors ECB, IMF and EU made this proposal. She is part of the Greek team negotiating with creditors the reforms that Athens has to fulfill in the next months.   

    In seems that the proposal was made to Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis who rejected it right away, describing it as "shameful".

Shameful indeed, but the question remains: where does Greece, which tax revenues continue to suffer, find the cash it needs to fund upcoming payments not just to the IMF but all other creditors?

So to summarize, once again, the peculiar debt payment dynamics in Greece: first the "anti-austerity", "ultra-leftist" government is about to use what little Greek pensions are left, and now - if the Troika has its way - will stop paying government salaries for a month or so, so that Greece can find enough funds to pay the IMF, which then can promptly use the same funds to pay the US muppet government in Kiev which is just as broke as Greece, and needs to pay Gazprom yesterday to keep gas deliveries coming, with Gazprom promptly remitting the funds into Putin's personal money vault.

Rinse repeat.

Meanwhile, Greece, where apathy just hit unseen levels, will end up so poor it can't even afford to conduct the next elections in which, as many have warned, none other than the neo-nazi party may finally take power.

[Valmy]

US muppet government in Kiev

Here is a picture of their leader:

[celedhring]

Syriza's jumped the shark, I'm afraid.

Disagree. I think they're still the only reason to have any hope in Europe.

What is the vision for Europe that they represent?

When you are deep in the ditch, stop digging.

Oh, I very much dig that; it's the whole war reparations, we-will-set-the-muslims-loose-on-you stuff that's discrediting their political position, which is a shame and not conductive to see it implemented.

[The Larch]

Syriza's jumped the shark, I'm afraid.

Disagree. I think they're still the only reason to have any hope in Europe.

What is the vision for Europe that they represent?

When you are deep in the ditch, stop digging.

Oh, I very much dig that; it's the whole war reparations, we-will-set-the-muslims-loose-on-you stuff that's discrediting their political position, which is a shame and not conductive to see it implemented.

The "we will set the refugees loose on you if you don't agree" spiel was IIRC by the Defence minister, which does not belong to Syriza but to their right wing nationalist coalition partners.

[MadImmortalMan]

When you are deep in the ditch,

Push d + i then make a stairway in the side wall going to the surface.

[Sheilbh]

Oh, I very much dig that; it's the whole war reparations, we-will-set-the-muslims-loose-on-you stuff that's discrediting their political position, which is a shame and not conductive to see it implemented.

Okay I agree.

But the reparations thing is something every Greek government has done - my understanding is that its basis was a court case by individual civil claimants, not the Greek state and every Greek government keeps that judgement alive without ever signing the seizure orders.

And I think the Greeks have an arguable case over the forced loan. My understanding is that if the position is that that money was stolen by the German occupiers then it's covered by all the reparations treaties. If, however, it was a forced zero-interest loan, but a loan nonetheless then it isn't covered under any of the reparations treaties. On the one hand it was effectively stolen, on the other the Nazis had actually made repayments on it. Obviously the Greek government shouldn't bring it up, but it's an interesting point.

I also think part of this is that Greece seems to have a uniquely unresolved post-war. In that I think the outside world has given an anti-German spin on some symbolic gestures by Syriza - laying a rose at the Communist victims grave, or the way they sing Bella Ciao all the time. But I think a lot of that's similar to the Syriza ministers taking an atheist oath. It's a gesture that they see themselves as belonging to the defeated left-wing resistance and the left-wing side of the civil war and that's who they're claiming inheritance from. As well as his own moral standing, it's probably partly what gives Manolis Glezos such authority.

It seems to go to questions of who was resisting in the occupation and then who were beaten and how afterwards. I think, though I could be wrong, that there was a similar dynamic in Italy for a long time - maybe it hasn't lasted because the Italians managed to avoid an immediate post-occupation civil war.

The Islamic terrorist quote's also absurd, though I thought that was from the far-right coalition partner so it's to be expected. The migrant situation in Greece is incredibly difficult though. Not helped by a racist population and a history of racist governments

When you are deep in the ditch, stop digging.

Or as Wolfgang Munchau put it, the rational reason for leaving the Eurozone is the opportunity to be less stupid

I'd add that I think that Europe should think very carefully before saying the democratic left is incompatible with Europe.

Just learned a new word: "Grexident". Wouldn't be surprised to see that happen...

That word's a lie. It will always be a political choice and always be avoidable.

[Admiral Yi]

I'd add that I think that Europe should think very carefully before saying the democratic left is incompatible with Europe.

At least in the case of Greece, the democratic left is incompatible with reality.

[Sheilbh]

Seems to be the only people trying to grapple with it. They're the empiricists to Europe's idealists.

[Admiral Yi]

Trying to grapple with it?  I don't see any grappling going on.  I see the desire to eat cake combined with the desire to have cake.

[Sheilbh]

That's because you rate political parties on style Shelf.

Bit like my interest in some Republicans is motivated by drama

Neither's true

Trying to grapple with it?  I don't see any grappling going on.  I see the desire to eat cake combined with the desire to have cake.

I see someone who's not actually read any of this thread. Do you not remember all the shouting that they'd surrendered?

[Admiral Yi]

I'm pretty sure I've read every post in this thread.

[The Larch]

But the reparations thing is something every Greek government has done - my understanding is that its basis was a court case by individual civil claimants, not the Greek state and every Greek government keeps that judgement alive without ever signing the seizure orders.

That's the Distomo massacre case, brought by survivors of an SS massacre in 1944 against Germany in the 90s in which the Greek court awarded them 28 million € in damages that have not been paid by Germany, arguing that the 1961 agreement freed them from any responsability.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distomo_massacre

Btw, I think this would go better in the "European populist left" thread, as this discussion has very little to do with the ECB. 

[The Minsky Moment]

Oh, I very much dig that; it's the whole war reparations, we-will-set-the-muslims-loose-on-you stuff that's discrediting their political position, which is a shame and not conductive to see it implemented.

Their pre-election manifestos were filled with incomprehensible pseudo-Marxist gibberish, so it's not surprising to see them go off the deep end.  But the core problem here is a dysfunctional continental wide policy that was allowed to run for years without any real peep out of any of the mainstream parties; a feverish breakout like Syriza is just a symptom of the disease.