Global Economic Crisis

According to the EU commissioner  from Germany, Gunther Oettinger , Greece will need another financial bailout form the Eurozone-which really means primarily German taxpayers. Not surpassingly, Greek politicians are denying the need for another bailout. This is an old game; the politicos  in the Eurozone, especially from the fiscally vulnerable PIIGS nations, always maintain they do not need a bailout just before they beg for one.

While the official word from Athens and the Eurozone is that things are getting better for the Greek economy and its fiscal balance, the truth is that the unemployment rate is at about 25 percent; the majority of the youth are unemployed, and  Greece still depends on massive loans to survive, rhetoric to the contrary not withstanding.

According to Oettinger, Greece will need in 2014 a bailout of at least 13 billion dollars. Bear in mind that Greece has already received two separate bailouts that exceed $200 billion, along with a write-off of more than $100 billion of its external debt, which is in fact another bailout. Chances are that the figure of $13 billion needed in extra support is a lowball figure. Despite the disappearance of the Eurozone crisis from the headlines in recent months, it remains an acute and dangerous reality, while Greece continues to be ground zero for the European debt crisis.

If Hillary Clinton runs for President of the United States  in 2016, see the video about the book that warned back in 2008 what a second Clinton presidency would mean for the USA:

YouTube

Hillary Clinton Nude

Hillary Clinton Nude

YouTube

HILLARY CLINTON NUDE

WALL STREET KILLS--A CHILLING NOVEL ABOUT WALL STREET GREED GONE MAD

To view the official trailer YouTube video for “Wall Street Kills,” click image below:

Wall Street Kills-Official Trailer

In a world dominated by high finance, how far would Wall Streetgo in search of profits? In Sheldon Filger’s terrifying novel about money, sex and murder, Wall Street has no limits. “Wall Street Kills” is the ultimate thriller about greed gone mad. Read “Wall Street Kills” and blow your mind.

As Syria continues its descent into a hellish self-destruction, its barbaric civil war is being frequently compared to the equally brutal Spanish Civil War of 1936-39, which served as a prologue to the Second World War. It is said that history may not repeat itself, but it often rhythms. If that is so, then rhythmic parallels must be drawn to the probable chemical warfare attack  within  the Damascus Governate of Syria on the outskirts of the capital city, targeting the Ghoutaregion, currently in the hands of anti-Assad rebels.

During the Spanish Civil War an episode occurred that seemed so barbaric, even by the already ruthless standards of that horrific internal conflict, that the conscience of the world was briefly (ever so briefly) aroused. On April 27, 1937 an air raid was conducted on the town of Guernica, located in the heart of the Basque countryside. The attack was unleashed by foreign military elements allied with General Francisco Franco, head of the Spanish fascist forces, seeking to overthrow the elected Republican government in Spain. Planes from the Condor Legion,  an air force contingent sent by Nazi Germany, assisted by bombers from the air force of Fascist Italy, leveled Guernica to the ground, in the process slaughtering hundreds of defenseless civilians. The dead men, women and children of Guernica inspired the great expressionist painter Pablo Picasso to immortalize the carnage within that broken Basque town in his iconic painting, “Guernica.”

The outrage did not last long. When the Spanish Civil War first erupted, the rationale exercised by the major democratic countries for non-intervention was that active assistance they might provide to the Spanish Republic would encourage  Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini to intervene in Spain on the side of Franco. When the two totalitarian nations did send massive military contingents to fight actively in Spain in support of Franco, in the absence of Western aid the Soviet Union and a force of largely communist volunteers known as the International Brigades entered the fray on the side of the elected government in Spain. That provided another excuse for non-intervention by the democratic countries; actively helping the democratic government in Spain, flawed as it was, would aid international communism, so argued the politicians and pundits of the day. We know what followed; Spain fell and the forces of totalitarianism, encouraged by the passivity of the democratic world, unleashed a world war of conquest.

In Syria, the absence of meaningful Western aid when the Free Syrian Army began its valiant struggle against the oppressive rule of the Basher Assad dictatorship led to a void which became increasingly filled by Jihadi radicals flowing into Syria from aboard. That in turn added further justification  for Western inaction. Meanwhile, the totalitarian regime in Iran began its direct intervention in the Syrian Civil War on the side of Assad, employing both its Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and Lebanese Shiite proxy, the Hezbollah militia.

The apparent chemical warfare attack on the environs of Damascus by Assad’s forced involving a form of nerve agent on August 21, 2013 may have killed more than a thousand non-combatants, including hundreds of children. The videos that have emerged from the hell that is now the Ghouta regionsear the conscience of humanity; who cannot be moved by the sight of small children convulsing in agony before their torment ends with a death that seems a merciful release?

If after a brief interlude of moral outrage and verbal condemnation the international community resumes its indifference towards the escalating atrocities in Syria, it may find itself confronting the same insidious evil, on a much large scale, as much of the world discovered after its silence over the horror that was Guernica.

Ghoutaon the outskirts of Damascus is the Guernica of 2013. We ignore its lessons-and its consequences-at our peril.

If Hillary Clinton runs for President of the United States  in 2016, see the video about the book that warned back in 2008 what a second Clinton presidency would mean for the USA:

YouTube

Hillary Clinton Nude

Hillary Clinton Nude

YouTube

HILLARY CLINTON NUDE

WALL STREET KILLS--A CHILLING NOVEL ABOUT WALL STREET GREED GONE MAD

To view the official trailer YouTube video for “Wall Street Kills,” click image below:

Wall Street Kills-Official Trailer

In a world dominated by high finance, how far would Wall Streetgo in search of profits? In Sheldon Filger’s terrifying novel about money, sex and murder, Wall Street has no limits. “Wall Street Kills” is the ultimate thriller about greed gone mad. Read “Wall Street Kills” and blow your mind.

Until recently, the Bank of Israel was judged by experts in the field of central banking as being the best managed and most effective central bank among advanced economies during a time of global financial and economic turmoil. In a few short weeks, Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his Finance Minster in his coalition government, Yair Lapid, have succeeded in doing what once seemed impossible; transforming his nation’s central bank’s once stellar reputation into a comedic farce.

The reason why until recently  the BOI was viewed globally as a conspicuous success was largely rooted in the stewardship of its Governor, Stanley Fischer, whose term began  in 2005 and ended recently. Fischer, who had previously served as the Chief Economist of the World Bank, provided agile and careful management of Israel’s central bank with the onset of the global financial and economic crisis in 2008. He was far more judicious when it came to cutting interests rates, in contrast with many of his peers, who pressed the pedal to the metal when it came to loose monetary policies.  His policies are considered by experts to have been crucial in keeping the Israeli economy out of recession, and boosting exports, leading to one of the best performance metrics of any advanced economy since the onset of the global crisis. The consensus among central bankers is that Stanley Fischer was the best central banker in the world. A manifestation of the esteem felt for him was the effort by the previous prime minster of the Palestinian Authority to have Fischer appointed to run the International Monetary Fund after its then head, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, was forced to resign in disgrace (Fischer was disqualified due to his advanced age).

When Fischer decided to resign from his post at the Bank of Israel, he gave Prime Minister Netanyahu five months notice, ample time one would think, to find a suitable replacement. It seems that the time offered was largely wasted.  The Israeli Prime Minster also ignored Fischer’s recommendation  on  his replacement, Dr. Karnit Flug, a distinguished economist who has worked for the BOI for the past 25 years, and has served as Stanley Fischer’s Deputy Governor since 2011. However, Netanyahu, according to the Israeli media, dislikes Dr. Flug’s philosophy, and therefore selected Jacob Frenkel, who had served as BOI governor previously. Then the news reports emerged about Frenkel being suspected of shoplifting from a duty free shop in Hong Kong. He denied the charges, but after three weeks he withdrew his candidacy. Clearly, Netanyahu and Lapid had done a terrible job of due diligence. With Fischer already gone, and Flug serving as acting governor, the speculation grew that Netanyahu and Lapid would forego “philosophical issues,” and appoint the person Stanley Fischer had recommended. To the surprise of many, the two politicians again  sidestepped Ms. Flug, and this time selected Leo Leiderman, an economics professor who has also worked in private banking. Dr. Flug took the hint, and announced her resignation from the Bank of Israel, while agreeing to stay on for thirty days to facilitate Leiderman’s transition into the role of BOI governor.

Netanyahu and Lapid assured the Israeli business community that this time, they had truly done their due diligence. The words had barely escaped their lips when reports began proliferating in the Israeli media about Professor Leiderman’s penchant for consulting an astrologer on important matters, and accusations of sexual harassment while serving in an senior role at a major European bank. Within three days of his being introduced by Netanyahu and Lapid as the future governor of the Bank of Israel, Leiderman unceremoniously withdrew his candidacy.

Frenkel’s candidacy lasted for three weeks and Leiderman’s for three days. The joke circulating in Israel is that the next candidate nominated by Netanyahu and Lapid will last for three hours. One would think that after two disastrous nominations, the decision makers would have learned their lesson, and beg Dr. Karnit Flug to take the job. Yet, stories are still circulating in the Israeli media that Netanyahu continues to have problems with Flug’s philosophy, and remains convinced that his judgment on selecting the future governor of the Bank of Israel is superior to that of Stanley Fischer.

Netanyahu and Lapid, by their stubborn refusal to select a highly qualified woman and obvious best choice for a critically important position for the future sustainability of the Israeli economy, have succeeded in turning what was until recently the most admired central bank in the world into a global laughing stock.

If Hillary Clinton runs for President of the United States  in 2016, see the video about the book that warned back in 2008 what a second Clinton presidency would mean for the USA:

YouTube

Hillary Clinton Nude

Hillary Clinton Nude

YouTube

HILLARY CLINTON NUDE

WALL STREET KILLS--A CHILLING NOVEL ABOUT WALL STREET GREED GONE MAD

To view the official trailer YouTube video for “Wall Street Kills,” click image below:

Wall Street Kills-Official Trailer

In a world dominated by high finance, how far would Wall Streetgo in search of profits? In Sheldon Filger’s terrifying novel about money, sex and murder, Wall Street has no limits. “Wall Street Kills” is the ultimate thriller about greed gone mad. Read “Wall Street Kills” and blow your mind.

The U.S. Commerce Department released Q2  results that indicate that, at an annualized rate, the American economy grew at 1.7 percent. And Wall Street and its coterie of experts are ecstatic. Why, I may ask? Because that number supposedly beat the predictions of those same experts, and exceeded that Q1 number, which reflected annual growth of the U.S. GDP at 1.1 percent.

Let’s hold our horses before uncorking the champagne bottles. By any standard, 1.7 percent annual GDP growth is tepid, and it is downright atrocious when one considered the massive fiscal and monetary stimulus being poured into the U.S. economy by the politicians and the Federal Reserve, care of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s quantitative easing and purchases of U.S. securities at the rate of 85 billion dollars per month, facilitated through the Federal Reserve’s printing press.

In addition to the above facts, the comparison with Q1 is misleading. Yes, 1.7 percent looks better than 1.1 percent. But let us recall that the 1.1 percent figure is a corrected number; the original Commerce Department report on Q1 was annual GDP growth of 1.8 percent.  Who can be certain that the Q2 number will not at some point be corrected downward, just as with the Q1 report?

All in all, despite the celebratory hype, I find nothing to cheer about in the report, and find the meager growth figure a pathetic end product derived from unprecedented fiscal deficits and Federal Reserve money printing.

If Hillary Clinton runs for President of the United States  in 2016, see the video about the book that warned back in 2008 what a second Clinton presidency would mean for the USA:

YouTube

Hillary Clinton Nude

Hillary Clinton Nude

YouTube

HILLARY CLINTON NUDE

WALL STREET KILLS--A CHILLING NOVEL ABOUT WALL STREET GREED GONE MAD

To view the official trailer YouTube video for “Wall Street Kills,” click image below:

Wall Street Kills-Official Trailer

In a world dominated by high finance, how far would Wall Streetgo in search of profits? In Sheldon Filger’s terrifying novel about money, sex and murder, Wall Street has no limits. “Wall Street Kills” is the ultimate thriller about greed gone mad. Read “Wall Street Kills” and blow your mind.