Opinion seems to be that we are in a slow recovery.
There are a few who have noticed the large number of pending foreclosures.
There are a few who are thinking about contagion from Europe.
I find that most of the worried "voices" believe that money is or should be real.
Money is not real and has not been real for many years.
Taxes exist for only one reason. They take money out of the economy.
They also maintain the lender's faith that the bonds will be paid as promised.
If we did not take money out of the economy the value of money would collapse.
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2012/01/greek-debt-deal-update-talks-continue.html
"Greek Debt Deal Update: Talks Continue
by CalculatedRisk on 1/21/2012 08:37:00 PM
The talks are continuing, but it is unclear if a deal will be reached before the eurozone finance minister meeting on Monday.From the Athens News: Dallara leaves Athens, talks to continue: sources
The representatives of Greece's private creditors have left Athens and debt swap talks will continue over the phone during the weekend, sources close to the negotiations said, adding that it was unlikely that a deal would be clinched before next week.From the Financial Times: Bondholders face additional losses on Greek debt
...
Athens is anxious to strike a deal before a meeting on Monday of eurozone finance ministers, just in time to set in motion the paperwork and approvals necessary to receive a new injection of aid to avoid a messy bankruptcy in March.
"The elements of an unprecedented voluntary PSI are coming into place," the Institute of International Finance said in a statement after Friday's three-hour evening negotiation session, referring to the bond swap scheme.
The Institute of International Finance, representing holders of some €200bn of Greek debt, on Saturday denied rumours the talks had stalled, saying that experts from its steering committee “will be working with Greek government officials on many aspects of the PSI.""
The above does not seem good.
http://hat4uk.wordpress.com/2012/01/21/greek-debt-talks-legals-still-changing-stuff-every-ten-minutes/
The slog believes money is or should be real.
GREEK DEBT TALKS: LEGALS STILL ‘CHANGING STUFF EVERY TEN MINUTES’
How inflammable
is the Greek Debt negotiation?
is the Greek Debt negotiation?Marathon is a word derived from ancient Greek, so perhaps the Debtathon in Athens should not be unexpected. But it does nevertheless set potentially disturbing precedents for what The Slog predicts is merely the first of many such mysterious negotiations before some kind of sanity returns to the lender-sovereign relationship.
My own source is closest to he/she who is keeping Reuters informed, in that while there are still many balls in the air, the general consensus among those involved is that a deal will be done, and we are now down to the tweeks and clarifications that inevitably precede those 3.50 am closures which are standard procedure in any business deal.
“The lawyers are still shuttling in and out with small changes,” says my veteran source, “But I do not see any major hold-out issues now. There may be one or two mavericks trying for that, but the mood now is or doing this thing”.
However, the Wall Street Journal doesn’t agree…and I’m not one to question the paper’s credentials on this kind of stuff.
‘The two sides had appeared to be closing in on a deal that would give creditors new bonds paying a 3.5% coupon for shorter maturities and rising to a cap of 4.6% on longer-dated bonds. The average coupon would amount to around 4%,’ the WSJ reported, ‘But people familiar with the matter said that the IMF and Germany were pushing for a lower rate, concerned that Greece’s debt wouldn’t return to sustainable levels if the average coupon on the new bonds was around 4%’.The coupon range being quoted there is wider than The Slog’s information from last Thursday night. But given the Brussels-Berlin-Paris game is to stall on default for as long as possible, their search for such a deal makes sense: they are still pushing for an ultra-low start to keep the pot boiling. Once the key eurozone banks are suitably sandbagged, that particular Troika won’t give a crap what debt-mountain is then faced by the Greeks. There are times when the cynicism of this process beggars even my hard-bitten belief.
“We may not be able to reach a deal before Monday’s eurogroup. This is unfortunate because the finance ministers were supposed to have crucial talks on the [second] bailout loan provided there was a deal on the haircut,” a senior euro-zone government official said.
So maybe it really is going down to the wire – but I fancy this is brinkmanship. A deal will be done. There is too much for everyone to lose if it isn’t."
This feels like Bare Sterns all over again.
You Talkin' to Me?
Please do. Soon.Your turn.
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/01/spains-indignados-and-the-globalization-of-dissent.html
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Spain’s “Indignados” and the Globalization of Dissent
Real News Network highlighted a foreign broadcast on Spain’s “indignados,” and the way they have been providing advice to other anti-neoliberal movements around the world. I’m not sure it has gotten the attention it warrants, but the people that were involved in Occupy Wall Street early on conferred a good deal with seasoned protestors in Spain and Egypt.More at The Real News
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/
Financial crisis latest news
Jefferies to make move for RBS cash equities
21 Jan 2012
| Comment We shouldn’t try to outlaw bankers’ greed
21 Jan 2012
| 158 Comments Eurozone burns money while the banks fiddle their balance sheets
21 Jan 2012
| 40 Comments Debt crisis: Greek deal hits setback as 'haircut' talks suspended
21 Jan 2012
| 89 Comments The UK's economic highs and lows
21 Jan 2012
Economy predicted to shrink in Q4
The British economy contracted in the fourth quarter as the eurozone debt crisis took its toll, figures published next week are expected to show.21 Jan 2012
| 3 Comments Debt crisis: Greek talks continue despite creditors 'leaving Athens'
Crunch talks to thrash out how big a haircut Greece’s private bondholders can withstand are set to continue despite representatives of the creditors reportedly leaving Athens.21 Jan 2012
| 292 Comments What happens if Greece defaults?
Greece is expected to announce a bond swap deal with private sector creditors that will see at least half the value of their investments in its debt written off. We look at what this means for investors, the wider market, and Greece itself.21 Jan 2012
| 50 Comments FSA wants bonuses to reflect PPI losses
Banks are under pressure from their watchdog to shrink their bonuses to reflect their multi billion-pound bill for the payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling scandal.21 Jan 2012
| 3 Comments Debt crisis: as it happened January 20, 2012
Investors in Greek bonds are reportedly facing a haircut of up to 70pc as IIF talks continue over the weekend, while Germany would consider a bourse tax as a compromise if this could bring Britain in line with its EU partners.20 Jan 2012
| 613 Comments The rise of the overclass
A super-rich elite that is cut off from the rest of us is defining the political debate, says Peter Oborne.20 Jan 2012
| 846 Comments For Britain to flourish, so must capitalism
Telegraph View: David Cameron said Britain's salvation lay in enterprise, innovation and competition.20 Jan 2012
| 55 Comments | Votes | Percent | Delegates* | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Newt Gingrich | 243,153 | 40.4% | 23 | |
 | Mitt Romney | 167,279 | 27.8 | — | |
 | Rick Santorum | 102,055 | 17.0 | — | |
 | Ron Paul | 77,993 | 13.0 | — | |
 | Others Show all  | 10,686 | 1.8 | — | |
 | Herman Cain | 6,324 | 1.1 | — | |
 | Rick Perry | 2,494 | 0.4 | — | |
 | Jon Huntsman | 1,161 | 0.2 | — | |
 | Michele Bachmann | 494 | 0.1 | — | |
| | Gary Johnson | 213 | 0.0 | — |
* Delegate totals from the Associated Press. The Republican Party penalized South Carolina for holding its primary before February 2012 by taking away half of its delegates.
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