Friday, September 27, 2013

European Recovery? Greece Reservist Calls for Coup

Mainstream pundits keep saying that Europe has been on the mend mostly relying on surveys to backup such calls. They suggest that a European economic recovery will ripple and support economic conditions of Emerging markets amidst the Fed Taper-Untaper conundrum.

Yet recent real events such as industrial production and car sales have defied such promising outlook. 

In fact, just yesterday loans to the private sector in the EU reportedly contracted again in August led by Germany. German's private sector loans dropped nearly 4% (month-on-month) and 4.7% (year on year)

We have been told too that the crisis shattered Greece economy has shown signs of recovery. This has been supported by buoyant financial markets.

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The Greek equity bellwether the Athens index has been ascendant… 

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…as Greek government bonds have been rallying (falling yields), whose late rally has coincided by the Fed’s UN-taper

Since economics drives politics, a call for a putsch by reservists of the Greek army hardly evinces signs of ‘recovery’, despite the above.

From the Guardian
No country has displayed more of a "backslide in democracy" than Greece, the British thinktank Demos has said in a study highlighting the crisis-plagued country's slide into economic, social and political disarray.

Released on the same day that judicial authorities ordered an investigation into a blog posting by a group of reservists in the elite special forces calling for a coup d'etat, the study singled out Greece and Hungary for being "the most significant democratic backsliders" in the EU.

"Researchers found Greece overwhelmed by high unemployment, social unrest, endemic corruption and a severe disillusionment with the political establishment," it said. The report, commissioned by the European parliament, noted that Greece was the most corrupt state in the 28-nation bloc and voiced fears over the rise of far-right extremism in the country.

The report was released as the fragile two-party coalition of the prime minister, Antonis Samaras, admitted it was worried by a call for a military coup posted overnight on Wednesday on the website of the Special Forces Reserve Union. "It must worry us," said a government spokesman, Simos Kedikoglou. "The overwhelming majority in the armed forces are devoted to our democracy," he said. "The few who are not will face the consequences."
Today the yield chasing mania, where falsehoods have been interpreted as truths, has made the markets anesthetized to risk. In other words, central bank induced parallel universes or divergent real events vis-à-vis financial markets, have become ubiquitous.

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