We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.
Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]
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Samizdata quote of the day The principal argument I used to put which the pro Euro Labour, Liberal Democrat, CBI and TUC forces found difficult to counter was the simple proposition that joining the Euro was like taking out a joint bank account with the neighbours. You were likely to ruin a good friendship with them, when you fell to arguing over the size and use of the overdraft. This unfortunately sums up the Euro crisis. Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal want to use the common overdraft or borrowing ability to excess. The Germans do not want to help pay the interest and sustain the joint credit rating, but they are being drawn more and more into doing just that.
– John Redwood.
I like the joint bank account analogy.
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I see that Greece is starting to move toward a barter economy. (Notice how the government is nosing into it?) Things are getting interesting.
A great analogy, I’m going to use it.
An interesting article, Laird – although I’m not sure that ‘starting to move’ describes the phenomenon correctly: FWIW, Greece, like many other Mediterranean countries, is famous for its tax-evasion culture.
Two points here.
Nations that joined the Euro virtually had loans thrown at them by bankers and other such – who were convinced (because they were told by the political institutions) that government debt IN EUROS was totally “safe”.
That is why nations like Greece (which joined the Euro) were LESS fortunate (in the long term) than (much poorer) nations like Bulgaria that did not.
Nations like Bulgaria were still offered the temptation of loans – but the money was not thrown at them (as it was with Greece).
But there is a second point.
Banks were compelled to have more goverment debt on their books – by new regulations (brought in after the crises of 2008).
The authorities told them to take on more govenrment debt, because such debt was “safe” and, therefore, would count as part of their “reserves”.
Before Americans start laughing…..
Government debt is considered part of bank “reserves” in the United States also.
Debt paper as part of the “reserves”.
There is no limit to the insanity of the financial system.
True enough, Alisa, but what I got from that article is not run-of-the-mill tax evasion but simple survival.
In the aforementioned geographical area, run-of-the-mill tax evasion is simple survival:-)
it is a good and interesting article.