Metaneos

It's chaotic, confusing, frustrating, fascinating. It's superlative after superlative. How long will it be before it settles itself? Not soon, I suppose. Some want it settled, now. Like just a moment ago, before I even wrote this sentence. But it's complicated. It needs to be hammered out. And while all that's happening, the hammer's dropping down hard on ordinary people. They're reaching out, trying to blame others for this, when it fact, it's simply the fault of history. No one told them the European Union would hammer them hard with austerity. It's basically killing the UK, dead. Its industry, six feet under. Its trade, mainly imports. Finances, in the red. Not much hope there, for them. And there's the nostalgia, remembering the time after World War II, after their economy had recovered, and they were second in the world, just after the United States for progress. Some where along the way, it was lost. They became purposeless, rudderless. ...

 Glenn Greenwald - The Intercept Corrupt elites always try to persuade people to continue to submit to their dominance in exchange for protection from forces that are even worse. That’s their game. But at some point, they themselves, and their prevailing order, become so destructive, so deceitful, so toxic, that their victims are willing to gamble that the alternatives will not be worse, or at least, they decide to embrace the satisfaction of spitting in the faces of those who have displayed nothing but contempt and condescension for them. Just another way of saying, "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." The dream of the EU was beautiful, but the way it was implemented has become a nightmare for millions of people.

CTV News The Bank of England said it had made contingency plans for a "leave" vote and promised to take action to maintain stability. It noted that it has 250 billion pounds ($342 billion) in liquidity available for banks. "We are well prepared for this," the bank's governor, Mark Carney, said in a televised statement. When people state, no one could have foreseen this, remind them Mark Carney did. And not only that, had prepared in advance. It won't stop the worst from happening, but it should mitigate it. It should give the UK government time to plan, which apparently it didn't. Sink or swim time, now. Those who find the surface when you're twenty feet under water and disorientated, survive.

Decided to sleep on the results. Woke up, and Britain voted to leave the EU. Wow, sometimes the world changes without you knowing. Admittedly, it's probably not that easy to leave the EU. There's much to worry about, and plan over. One can't simply just stop following signed agreements without consequence. And the consequences will probably be severe for the British people. Granted, if they follow through on this vote, then they could become much better off, in the long run, but there'll be suffering in the short term. But the British people are already suffering from austerity, so what's the difference, in the end?

The Sorcerer's Apprentice A collection of pictures of the aftermath of an anti-austerity protest. Well, I dunno if it's the aftermath, or if it's still ongoing.

naked capitalism Germany has folded Greece up like a lawn chair, and is now ready to shunt it aside, preferably under some stairway, far out of sight, where it won't have to take it out until the weather's clear, again. Greece's exit from the EU seems to be inching closer, inevitably. And Greece has not prepared. There were no contingency plans for this (more than likely) possibility, which almost seems criminally negligent . What will happen in Greece in the coming days?

Cyprus Mail I'm not sure what the demands were, but I think some of the EU demands might've included the rights to works of Homer, the title of the birthplace of democracy, and all profits from the value of π. Syriza is considering it, I believe. But seriously, Greek has absolutely no money, right now. This is simply the EU twisting a knife in Syriza's gut, and telling Syriza to straighten out their body so it's not so uncomfortable for the EU to continue holding the knife. Can Syriza continue like this? There's gotta be a whole lot of anger in the Greek nation. Can they hold out?

CBC News Oh, wow. Complete capitulation by Syriza to German demands. I can't say this wasn't unforeseen, however. This might spell the end of Syriza in governance, though. Who knows if they keep their tenuous hold on power, after this: "The choices we have are tough ... but the worst, the most humiliating and unbearable choice is an agreement that will surrender, loot and subjugate our people and this country," he (Panagiotis Lafazanis) told a business conference.

CTV News Er, no. I fail to see what worms have to do with economics, myself. I suppose it has to do with this line of thought: Ceding too much ground to Athens could ignite a broader political crisis by infuriating people in other bailed-out countries in the currency bloc which, unlike Greece, have obediently complied with the demands of creditors and largely restored their financial health through painful -- and politically costly -- austerity measures. Although I'm gonna have to take issue with the claim 'largely restored their financial health' in 'Spain, Portugal, and Ireland'. All the EU did for these countries was kick this solvency crisis further down the road for those three countries. Greece's solvency crisis is right before us, however. It's staring us all right in the face. Honestly, Greece defaulting probably won't affect us Canadians too much, as we're not too exposed to the EU, but what with globalization all the rage nowa...

Two major world events are now happening. China's stock market is crashing, and Greece is heading toward exit from the EU. Both have a been long time coming, and both were clearly inevitable from an observer's viewpoint a long way back. Both contrast each other rather nicely. China's crashing down from an unsustainable high, whereas Greece has been bottomed out for so long, it's a wonder the peninsula hasn't yet sunk into the Mediterranean. China's a superpower, and Greece is the black-sheep relative the EU doesn't want to acknowledge but loves to kick (and then blames for dirtying the EU's shoes with blood). And yet, both these events each separately have the potential to send the world into another major recession. That they're both happening right now is some crazy mixed up coincidence that only Murphy could have predicted with his usual non-specific understating self. It'll be bumpy road ahead for the next little while. Make sure to buck...

naked capitalism This is a bombshell. Syriza had better plan for Greece's exit, and fast. They'll need to hit the ground running, like jumping off a freight train. Events can happen whether you want them to or not. That they never planned for this is shocking, though. Isn't planning for the worst that could happen fundamental in governance?

What is happening in Greece? For now, it's the centre of the world, with all attention on every move it makes. It is volatile, there. Will Greece exit the EU? Probably not on its own. But the hardliners in the EU will probably force Greece out if its demands are not met. And every hour since the No vote has passed has illustrated how unlikely it is Greece has any intention of meeting those demands. A Greek exit would be disastrous, although not for Greece, itself. It's already waded through the aftermath of a disaster forced upon it by the EU. Things can't much worse for Greece, at all. All that would happen to it would be prolonged suffering. The disaster will happen to the EU, and the USA. Neither of those two powers seem to be aligned, here. The USA does not want a Greek exit. The EU seems willing to force Greece out if Greece doesn't comply. Greece doesn't seem to want to exit the EU, but its only sane options now to save itself would enrage the EU if  Greec...