@23:00, 8/12/12 2

Things are mobile again.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19098724

"In the end, perhaps, it was inevitable that Mario Draghi would disappoint. It was never clear, when he said that he would do "whatever it takes to preserve the euro", that he had a plan in place.
What we got were hopes and promises. The euro was "irreversible", he insisted. That, in the world where economics meets politics, can only be a wish. At one point the head of the European Central Bank (ECB) said "it [the euro] stays. It stays. It stays." The markets wanted much more than "don't bet against the euro".
So no immediate action. More a strong hint that, once the right mechanism is in place, the bank will buy the bonds of Spain and Italy in the "coming weeks", but not just yet.
That fell short of a commitment to intervene immediately and any action appears dependent on European governments drawing on their bailout fund as well, but Spain and Italy have shown no inclination to call on the current bailout fund, the EFSF, to buy their bonds.
The hope seemed to be that the promise of future action would deter investors from shunning Italian and Spanish debt. Mr Draghi said the ECB would consider other emergency measures in the weeks to come. But nothing is a done deal.
Disappointment

Mr Draghi gave hints rather than announcing specific action

The Bundesbank was opposed to the ECB once again buying government bonds. Perhaps the most important message from today's meeting was that German objections have clearly not been overcome.
Tom Rogers from Ernst and Young said that "the setting up of committees to examine how the ECB could bring down borrowing costs, while remaining in the ECB remit, is probably the best that could be achieved".
The markets were disappointed. The borrowing costs for Spain and Italy went up. Spain's borrowing costs were back above 7%. Others, however, believed a marker had been put down that signalled a change of policy down the road.
The interest rate was left unchanged.
Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti had this week been on a kind of momentum tour, trying to stoke up pressure on the Germans to fall in behind Mario Draghi's promise to act. He spied light at the end of the tunnel for the eurozone. His optimism was misplaced.
And even if Mario Draghi had intervened in the markets immediately it would only have bought time. For Spain and Greece, and probably Italy, can only be saved if their debt is lowered and growth returns. For the moment these countries are in recession, with the problems deepening.
The challenge is not just about keeping down borrowing costs but how to revive economies that increasingly look locked into a cycle of decline."

AIG latest to make capital flight from eurozone

 

AIG, the insurance giant, is pulling some of its cash out of the eurozone in the latest sign of corporate capital flight from the debt stricken continent.

12 Aug 2012

| 6 Comments

Britain's official forecasters must be open, even if they get things wrong

 

In its latest inflation report the Bank of England has downgraded its growth forecasts yet again – its forecasts of inflation have been even less accurate.

12 Aug 2012

| 1 Comment

Five years on, the Great Recession is turning into a life sentence

 

Five years into the Long Slump it almost seems as if we are back to square one.

12 Aug 2012

| 283 Comments

Travelodge owners consider CVA to reduce £500m debt

 

Travelodge's new owners are considering putting the budget hotel company into a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) to deal with its crippling debt pile.

Zero Hedge,  the kiddy table.

Merkel Is Baaaaaaack

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/12/2012 - 20:01 Bond Creditors European Central Bank fixed Global Economy Greece International Monetary Fund Italy Newspaper Hold on tight boys and girls, cause Merkel is back from vacation, and she is not happy despite that healthy Santorini due diligence-inspired tan (as deputy-Chancellor Fuchs telegraphed earlier today, when he made it quite clear what his boss thinks about Greece, and about more printing). Per Bloomberg: "German Chancellor Angela Merkel returns to the front line of the European debt crisis this week as the bloc’s leaders squabble over measures including bond purchases to relieve concerns the single currency may fragment. Merkel ends her summer vacation and travels to Canada Aug. 15-16 for talks with Prime Minister Stephen Harper as a spiraling euro crisis threatens to constrain the global economy. With the region’s leaders awaiting a German high court decision on bailout funding next month, they’re struggling to smooth divisions over a European Central Bank plan to buy the bonds of indebted nations."

If you want to try child rearing we need to begin talking. 
Our time and other resources may be limited.
Apprentices may be a way.

Real developments in Europe are a week or more away.
Obama is leading Romney by almost 7%.
There is only doubt in the orient.

The news does not understand sailing.

Olympic reporting is not sports reporting.
The coverage is degenerating.
The reporters have learned the wrong things from Riefenstahl.


I thought the mustache was a sly reference to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.H.O.O.Q.   



 Post production is not new.       Marcel Duchamp.

	Government says plenty of "fat" in tax evasion
	Published 11 Aug 2012
	The government is once more focusing on tax evasion, a topic that has proved almost impossible to handle for many years.

	Govt to auction more T-bills
	Published 10 Aug 2012
	The government will auction 3.125 billion euros of T-bills on August 14 to pay down euro bond.

	Outlook for eurozone strugglers darkens
	Published 9 Aug 2012
	The crisis hanging over Europe shows no sign of slowing its progress, something which has reflected badly on countries already in a vulnerable position.

	Construction industry suffers
	Published 9 Aug 2012
	The construction industry is down due to citizens' lack of disposable income and increased property taxes. Thirty-one percent fewer building permits were issued this May as compared to May 2011.

The proposed cut in the civil service will cut the employed number almost in half.  Such a cut will not be real.

Devout tax dodgers will have to be caught. 
The funds will also have to be caught.
I am glad to be on the outside looking on.
.