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Aftermath Of A Bubble And What Rises From The Ashes
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Aftermath Of A Bubble And What Rises From The Ashes
Bubbles are a funny thing. Participants don’t see them. Outsiders shake their heads, then get sucked in themselves. Central banks create them but deny their existence. Money piles in on top of money. Risks no longer exist. Result: mayhem, capital destruction, devastation of the industry…. and a new beginning for the lucky ones. Take natural gas.
Cyprus Today: A Personal Account
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Cyprus Today: A Personal Account
Quiet … EMPTY … If you want to make a deal opening a shop of some sort, you can pick and choose amongst prime locations. The time is now, if that is your inclination, and if you have the financial staying power, or a concept for selling things people can’t do without, something cheap! Every second shop, ah OK, maybe every third or fourth, is closing down.
The New “Nazis” of Spain
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The New “Nazis” of Spain
Secretary-General María Dolores de Cospedal, number two of the governing party in Spain, said that she knew she’d get criticized, “but this is pure Nazism.” The next day, she repeated it and added that going to someone’s house to “harass” him was “comparable to what occurred in the 30s in a European country.” A reference to Nazis marking the homes of Jews. But these “Nazis” are folks who are standing up to the banks and draconian mortgage laws that the government is hell-bent on protecting.
Google Spy Drones For Street View?
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Google Spy Drones For Street View?
In 2009, Google CEO Eric Schmidt, under fire for his company’s strategy to collect, store, and mine personal data, said on CNBC, “If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.” Privacy just makes you appear guilty. It’s the philosophy under which police states operate. But why a sudden about-face?
Europe’s Stark Choice: Resignation or Revolution
by Don Quijones • • Comments Off on Europe’s Stark Choice: Resignation or Revolution
Contributed by Don Quijones: Catalonia’s riot police unleashed the untamed fury of the state upon the protestors and cleared Barcelona’s Plaza Catalunya of all occupants. A dense ring of shell-shocked people gathered around the square. I was one of them. A child riding on his father’s shoulders held up a sign: “No soy anti sistema, el sistema es anti yo,” it said (I’m not anti-system; the system is anti-me).
Austria’s Last Stand Against EU Assault On Bank Secrecy
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Austria’s Last Stand Against EU Assault On Bank Secrecy
The Gloriously Ballooning Bailout Bedlam Of Cyprus
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Gloriously Ballooning Bailout Bedlam Of Cyprus
The average Cypriot household had a phenomenal net worth of €670,900 in 2010 – over three times that of German households. That wealth had been sucked out of the cesspool of corruption that the banks and the government were, until neither had a drop of lifeblood left. Now the party is over. And you can almost hear the snickering among European politicians.
“During The Last Crisis, We Had China,” Now We Have No One
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on “During The Last Crisis, We Had China,” Now We Have No One
There could not possibly be any clouds on the horizon with the Dow and the S&P 500 setting all-time highs, while the German DAX is marching relentlessly towards 8,000 and the Japanese Nikkei is soaring. But just then, a deeply connected representative of the world’s real economy spoils the rosy scenario.
From Tax Hell to Tax Haven
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on From Tax Hell to Tax Haven
Eurozone countries are falling like dominos. Next: Slovenia. But bailouts – by taxpayers in other countries – keep banks from collapsing, governments from defaulting, and investors from incurring well-deserved losses. In the US, President Obama’s budget, with its new taxes, is causing heart palpitations left and right. But how do countries really stack up?