Originally Posted by sniper_bob

Who's ya guru ;)

PS don't forget to buy seeds, lots of seeds. I'm planting garlic between my carrots and gold sovereigns - keeps the carrot-fly off the carrots and wards the thieving witch away from the gold trees.

I'm planting using the three sisters method - if it was good enough for the Incas...

One has to admire Alsacien's optimism if nothing else.

Originally Posted by FORMER_FYRDMAN

I'm planting using the three sisters method - if it was good enough for the Incas...

One has to admire Alsacien's optimism if nothing else.

No optimism here mate, just a bunch of dull numbers and lines on charts....

Originally Posted by bokkatankie

I recommend you read Boomerang (also good to start with Liars Poker, followed by The Big Short, and then Boomerang, good overall insight as to how the mess was started, sadly he does not give a way to finish it; I am not convinced anyone can) by Micheal Lewis, far more entertaining and slightly more truthful.

Thanks Bokka - will do.

An Irish friend of mine just sent me this:

Investors gain from bet on Irish recovery - FT.com

He bought a large amount of IE bonds in September last year based on not much more than national pride TBH.

Originally Posted by Alsacien

An Irish friend of mine just sent me this:

Investors gain from bet on Irish recovery - FT.com

He bought a large amount of IE bonds in September last year based on not much more than national pride TBH.

Or a keen eye for speculation (in the knowledge that Eire will keep on bailing itself out as long as Europe keeps on giving them the money), no one buys junk bonds out of national pride, not even the Irish!

No doubt he will be one of the next round of millionaires that Eire appears to make and break every 10 years or so. Look on the bright side if he is rich enough he may even go into politics.

Om Naked Capitalism Philip Pilkington: Ireland – The Problem Isn’t Ignorance
[QUOTE]Speaking with a senior figure in Fianna Fail (the party that were kicked out of government last year by the Irish people) earlier this week something dawned on me for perhaps the first time. Namely, that the leaders in Ireland might know exactly what the issues and the problems are in Europe but they remain completely powerless to solve them.

“We’re probably the most pro-European party in Ireland,” said a senior figure within Fianna Fail. “But there are major problems with the way European leaders are handling this crisis.”

Fianna Fail seem to broadly recognise that the cause of the current crisis is that the European Union does not have a properly functioning banking system. Specifically that the European Central Bank does not function in a capacity of being a so-called ‘lender of last resort’.

From what I could tell in saying this the senior figure meant that the ECB is not backstopping the sovereign debt of Eurozone governments. So, even though his terminology is off (as is most of the commentariat today) he is essentially correct.

The senior Fianna Failer also noted that the current attempts to write austerity into the constitution is “madness” and that any serious changes that take place in Europe need to be subject to referendum, otherwise the European leaders seriously risk alienating voters and turning them toward more Eurosceptic parties.

This all sounds very oppositional, but you can’t help but thinking that the rhetoric sounds almost identical to the sort of empowered self-delusions that those who are now in government nursed prior to their being elected. Would Fianna Fail really be able to make good on their sensible analysis if they were in the position that they had to walk into a room full of Eurocrats and expound on their ideas? My guess is: no.

The source took issue with Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s tendency to only meet with French and German officials, saying that we need to reach out to other European countries in order to build a base of solidarity. The source also took issue with the present government using Greece as a scapegoat to avoid dealing with more serious underlying issues.

“When the Taoiseach says “we’re not Greece” its not very helpful,” said the source. “The way the rest of Europe are treating Greece is wrong. What’s essentially happening is that cash transfers are being taken from the periphery (in the form of interest payments etc.) and being moved to the core — that is not what Europe is supposed to be about.”

Again, all this sounds good — when you’re talking off-record and not in power. But it doesn’t really mean much when the real world is considered.

One point that the source constantly danced around was that this might be a power-grab by the Germans pure and simple. He simply wouldn’t listen to that harrowing idea — because it might burst the bubble. You can be as reasonable and well-informed as you like, when you come up against raw force such virtues fly right out the window.

Ireland is in a truly hopeless position. Our leaders know what’s going on… to a point. But, having entered into political maturity with their European compatriots by their sides, they simply cannot see what many see so clearly: namely, that the political and institutional structures are currently breaking down in Europe due to a thirst that certain leaders within the union have for power./QUOTE]My bold, I was nodding along with this until this bit. I think what we have is not a power grab by the Krauts but rather the reverse they are running away from their responsibilities as an emerging hegemonic power. Instead of setting about serious reform, the Krauts try to write austerity policies into EU law, closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. There is plenty of precedents to suggest that law will probably be flouted by even the Germans at some point especially if it destroys the economies of their main export market.

I see the German government is going to pass a law blocking any further extension to the bail out funds. So they're happy to impose austerity on other countries, but not put their hands in their pockets to pay for a mess that they're partially responsible for creating. (my bold)

German showdown with IMF looms as Bundestag blocks rescue funds - Telegraph

Germany's ruling parties are to introduce a resolution in parliament blocking any further boost to the EU’s bail-out machinery, vastly complicating Greece’s rescue package and risking a major clash with the International Monetary Fund. “European solidarity is not an end in itself and should not be a one-way street. Germany’s engagement has reached it limits,” said the text, drafted by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats and Free Democrat (FDP) allies.

“Germany itself faces strict austerity to comply with the national debt brake,” said the declaration, which will go to the Bundestag next week. Lawmakers said there is no scope to boost the EU’s “firewall” to €750bn, either by increasing the new European Stability Mechanism (ESM) or by running it together with the old bail-out fund (EFSF). The tough stance reflects popular disgust in Germany at escalating demands. Bowing to pressure, Chancellor Merkel’s office said an increase in the ESM was “not necessary” since Italian and Spanish bond markets have recovered.

Germany is now on a collision course with world powers, the IMF and even key allies in Europe’s AAA-core. The Netherlands and Finland are willing to boost the EU firewall to €750bn. The IMF has hinted it may cut its share of Greece’s €130bn (£110bn) package and warned that its members will not commit $500bn (£318bn) more in funds to ringfence Italy and Spain unless Europe beefs up its rescue scheme.

The US, Asia and Latin America are irked at the reluctance of Europe’s rich creditor states to put out the raging fires on their own doorstep. “The Europeans need to do more. That would unlock more support for the IMF from the other G20 countries,” said Augustin Carstens, Mexico’s central bank governor.

As I keep saying, the bill for sorting out the euro zone mess is going to be eye-wateringly large. And now the bill is being presented Germany is baulking at paying it. This in turn may deter the IMF and other G20 countries from contributing to the rescue.

The euro zone has been kicking the tin can down the road for a couple of years. One by one, the funding avenues to keep doing that are being closed off...

Wordsmith

Wordsmith as so often has been pointed out.. 'it's in the papers' and as your not really 'in the loop'...so can't be true

A look at the numbers confirms the German position - that no further funds are needed - is the correct one.
But the gullible believe what they want to hear......
The more objective may wish to look at the operations on the EFSF website, rather small in reality.....

Sent from my Blackberry 9860 using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by Alsacien

A look at the numbers confirms the German position - that no further funds are needed - is the correct one. But the gullible believe what they want to hear......The more objective may wish to look at the operations on the EFSF website, rather small in reality.....

You do realise that as and when Greece goes tits up, the piss taking is going to be on an epic scale?

(And I look at Eurostat, which shows the PIIGS tipping back into recession - not a good omen).

Wordsmith