Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Quote of the Day: David Stockman: Good on you, Alexis Tsipras

Needless to say, repeated and predictable bailouts create enormous moral hazard and extirpate all remnants of financial discipline in financial markets and legislative chambers alike. Since 2010, the Greeks have done little more than pretend to restructure their state finances and private economy, and the Italians, Portuguese, Spanish and Irish have done virtually nothing at all. The modest uptick in the reported GDP of the latter two hopeless debt serfs are just unsustainable rounding errors—–flattered by the phony speculative boom in their debt securities that was temporarily fueled by Draghi’s money printing ukase that is presently in drastic retreat.

So this Monday morning push has come to shove; Angela Merkel and her posse of politicians and policy apparatchiks were not able to kick the can one more time after all.

Instead, the troika’s authoritarian bailout regime has stimulated political revolt throughout the continent. Tsipras’ defiance is only the leading indicator and initial actualization–the match that is lighting the fire of revolt..

But what it means is that there is now doubt, confusion and fear in the gambling halls. The punters who have grown rich on the one-way trades enabled by the money printing central banks and their fiscal bailout adjutants are being suddenly struck by the realization that the game might not be rigged after all.

So let the price discovery begin. In the days ahead, we will catalogue the desperate efforts of the regime to reassert its authority and control and to stabilize the suddenly turbulent casino.

In riding the central bank bubbles to unconscionable riches the big axes in the casino have falsely claimed to be doing “gods work”.

As they are now being forced to liquidate these inflated assets, they actually are.

Last fall one of the most detestable members of the regime, Jean-Claude Juncker, arrogantly issued the following boast.

“I say to all those who bet against Greece and against Europe: You lost and Greece won. You lost and Europe won.”

This morning that smug proclamation is in complete tatters. Good on you, Alexis Tsipras.
This is from financial analyst and U.S. politician who served as a Republican U.S. Representative from the state of Michigan and as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Ronald Reagan David Stockman on the the heightened risks of Grexit, published at this website: the Contra Corner

It's interesting to see what seems as the unfolding cocktail of significant risks factors: the GREXIT and China's crashing stock markets. 

China's stocks as of yesterday confirmed its entry to the bear zone.  Also yesterday's slump makes it appear that Chinese central bank's recent rate cuts failed to do its supposed wonders. 

Of course, add to this the demand by local authorities of US commonwealth Puerto Rico to restructure public debts because of 'insolvency' (Reuters).

And as for latest call for FINANCIAL INCLUSION, Greece capital controls exposes (for instance bank holiday, limit on ATM withdrawals and the prospective deposit haircuts) why this looks great in theory (used as selling point to the public) but hardly what it seems in practice (because of the real intents of governments--which is to capture the public's resources via government controlled banks).

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