http://www.leap2020.eu/GEAB-N-33-is...-illustration-of-Wall-Street-s-and_a2940.html
An illustration of Wall Streetâs and the Cityâs attempt to destabilize the EU banking system and the Euro
- Public announcement (March 16, 2009) -
According to LEAP/E2020, there are only two options left for the G20 leaders who gather next April 2nd in London: either they rebuild a new international monetary system, creating the conditions for a new global system that involves all the main global players, and reducing the crisis to a maximum of 3 to 5 years; or they strive to prolong the current system, thrusting the world into a decade long tragic crisis starting at the end of 2009.
In this 33rd edition of the GEAB, we wish to describe the two ways forward that remain open until summer 2009. Beyond that, our team estimates that the âshort-term crisisâ option will be obsolete and that the world will be on the path towards global geopolitical dislocation (1), and a deep and decade-long crisis.
For this reason, due to the urgency, LEAP/E2020 has decided to publish next March 24th on a global scale an open letter to all the leaders of the G20. This will be our teamâs attempt to divert the system from the long and tragic crisis option.
The situation appears all the more worrying in that tensions are growing on the eve of the April 2nd summit. Indeed a number of thinly disguised threats on the part of some G20 leaders, as well as various attempts to manipulate public opinion on the part of others are to be observed.
We shall come back in detail on these aspects in this GEAB N°33 where the LEAP/E2020 team has also decided to engage in an exercise intended for all those (including the US where 20 percent of LEAP/E2020âs readers come from) who are exasperated by the illusion fed by Western media about the state of the US as a cornerstone of our current system: anticipating the social and economic state of the United States in one year from now, in Spring 2010. Strong trends are already visible enough to enable this kind of forecast. Of course, a similar exercise will be conducted about the European Union, Russia and China in the following editions of the GEAB.
In line with their concern for reliable information, the LEAP/E2020 team (which warned about housing risks in Central and eastern Europe as early as December 2007 in GEAB N°20 decided to study carefully in the present public announcement the reality of this so-called âEastern European banking bombâ which has invaded the media in the last month.
If we found this a relevant theme, it is because it represents in our opinion a deliberate attempt on the part of Wall Street and the City (2) to make the world believe in some rupture within the EU and to instil the idea that some « deadly » risk is weighing on the Eurozone, by endlessly conveying phony news on a âbanking risk coming from Eastern Europeâ and by stigmatizing a âcold-feetedâ Eurozone as opposed to the âvoluntaristâ actions initiated by the Americans and the Bristish. One aim is also to divert the attention from the increasing financial problems encountered in New York and London, and to weaken the Europe position on the eve of the G20 summit.
The idea is brilliant: pick up a current and âin the newsâ theme to ensure interest, add one or two striking analogies to guarantee that the media and internet are eager to circulate the information; then call on a few devoted men and organisations, always available to tell one more lie. With this kind of a cocktail, you can even make people believe for a while that the war in Iraq is a great success, that the subprime crisis will not affect the financial sector, that the financial crisis will not affect real economy, that the crisis is not really severe, and that, if it is, everything is under control!
In the present case, the theme is a classic; it is about the separation between the « Old Europe » and the « New Europe », between a rich and selfish Europe and a poor and hopeful Europe. From Rumsfeld on Iraq to the United Kingdom on EU enlargement, this is a common theme repeated endlessly over the past ten years by the Anglo-Saxon and related media, and on which some British media in particular have become specialists (3).
As to the analogies, there are two: Eastern Europe is the âsubprime crisisâ of the EU (understand: of course, everyone has its own subprime crisis (4)); and, a crisis in Eastern Europe will have the same terrible effect as the 1997 Asia crisis (probably because both are Eastward (5)).
Suspects are not missing. In the first place, a rating agency - in this case Moodys (6), which, like the rest of them, first of all, is completely devoted to Wall Street, and then is incapable of seeing âan elephant in a corridorâ (they missed the subprimes, the CDS, Bear Stearn, Lehman Brothers, AIG, â¦.). But, for some mysterious reason, the financial media keeps on repeating their opinions, probably generously applying the principle that they could be right some day purely out of statistical chance. In this case, Moodyâs prediction has been largely echoed: they saw a major « bomb » in the backyard of the Eurozone (as of course, it is the Euro we are talking about here)⦠about to devastate the European financial system.
Then, to make the idea more credible, you select some virulently anti-Euro media (such as the UKâs Telegraph, for instance, which, despite the fact that they also produce some very accurate analyses of the crisis, are currently blinded as regards the Eurozone by the collapse of the British economy and Pound Sterling) and you circulate a news item that you soon retract (because it is inaccurate) so that it gains credibility by virtue of its retraction, of the secret (7) revealing some unfolding âfinancial tsunamiâ due to Old European banksâ liabilities within the New European financial sector (8). Continue the story each day in the main US and UK financial media, knowing the others will follow out of habit (it is so easy as regards the EU, slow as it is to understand and even slower to react, with the inevitable dissent that makes it possible for the manipulation to gain momentum). This time, Hungarian Prime Minister, Ferenc Gyurcsany, is the one playing the role of the « poor little new European martyr ». For the record, the Hungarians have vainly been trying to get rid of him ever since he involuntarily admitted two years ago that he lied to his citizens in order to be reelected, and confirmed in the same breath that he indebted his country beyond any reasonable limit. Now, he is the one announcing crazy figures for a bailout plan of the Eastern European financial system, giving the Old Europeans the role of the « bad » or « cold » guys. The latterâs refusal is pinpointed by the entire US and UK press, coming to the natural conclusion that European solidarity has failed,⦠and understating (or completely forgetting) the fact that the Polish and the Czechs were the most virulent against the absurd claims of Hungarian Prime Minister (9). The attempt to weaken the EU and Eurozone from the East could have gone on further until the Eurozone leaders decided to make a number of strong statements and announced a substantial financial support plan (compared to the real risk), and political leaders and central bankers of the regions resorted to publishing tough press releases so that finally the manipulation began to lose momentum. But it has not disappeared yet, and the analogy between the subprime crisis and the housing crisis in Eastern Europe remains vivid in the mind of the media; as if Hungary was equivalent to California, or Latvia to Florida.
Ths is indeed the core of the problem: in economy and finance, size matters⦠and the tail never wags the dog, contrary to what some people would like us to believe.
As early as December 2007, at a time when our « current experts of the Eastern European crisis » showed no awareness whatsoever of the problem, LEAP/E2020 highlighted the fact that a considerable housing risk weighed on these European countries (Latvia, Hungary, Romania,â¦) and on their creditors (Austria and Switzerland in particular). However they always found obvious that these problems were limited to the concerned countries. There are indeed problems ahead for these countries and those commercially and financially involved with them, but these problems are no more serious than the average problems encountered by the global financial system; and they certainly do not compare with the problems faced by the financial markets of New York, London or Switzerland. Let us remind ourselves that the bank most often cited as being the âdetonatorâ of this âEastern-European bombâ, i.e. the Austrian bank Raiffeisen, increased its profits 17 percent in 2008; a result beyond the wildest dreams of most US and UK banks today, as William Gamble noted, one of the rare analysts who studied what the story was really about (10).
An illustration of Wall Streetâs and the Cityâs attempt to destabilize the EU banking system and the Euro
- Public announcement (March 16, 2009) -
According to LEAP/E2020, there are only two options left for the G20 leaders who gather next April 2nd in London: either they rebuild a new international monetary system, creating the conditions for a new global system that involves all the main global players, and reducing the crisis to a maximum of 3 to 5 years; or they strive to prolong the current system, thrusting the world into a decade long tragic crisis starting at the end of 2009.
In this 33rd edition of the GEAB, we wish to describe the two ways forward that remain open until summer 2009. Beyond that, our team estimates that the âshort-term crisisâ option will be obsolete and that the world will be on the path towards global geopolitical dislocation (1), and a deep and decade-long crisis.
For this reason, due to the urgency, LEAP/E2020 has decided to publish next March 24th on a global scale an open letter to all the leaders of the G20. This will be our teamâs attempt to divert the system from the long and tragic crisis option.
The situation appears all the more worrying in that tensions are growing on the eve of the April 2nd summit. Indeed a number of thinly disguised threats on the part of some G20 leaders, as well as various attempts to manipulate public opinion on the part of others are to be observed.
We shall come back in detail on these aspects in this GEAB N°33 where the LEAP/E2020 team has also decided to engage in an exercise intended for all those (including the US where 20 percent of LEAP/E2020âs readers come from) who are exasperated by the illusion fed by Western media about the state of the US as a cornerstone of our current system: anticipating the social and economic state of the United States in one year from now, in Spring 2010. Strong trends are already visible enough to enable this kind of forecast. Of course, a similar exercise will be conducted about the European Union, Russia and China in the following editions of the GEAB.
In line with their concern for reliable information, the LEAP/E2020 team (which warned about housing risks in Central and eastern Europe as early as December 2007 in GEAB N°20 decided to study carefully in the present public announcement the reality of this so-called âEastern European banking bombâ which has invaded the media in the last month.
If we found this a relevant theme, it is because it represents in our opinion a deliberate attempt on the part of Wall Street and the City (2) to make the world believe in some rupture within the EU and to instil the idea that some « deadly » risk is weighing on the Eurozone, by endlessly conveying phony news on a âbanking risk coming from Eastern Europeâ and by stigmatizing a âcold-feetedâ Eurozone as opposed to the âvoluntaristâ actions initiated by the Americans and the Bristish. One aim is also to divert the attention from the increasing financial problems encountered in New York and London, and to weaken the Europe position on the eve of the G20 summit.
The idea is brilliant: pick up a current and âin the newsâ theme to ensure interest, add one or two striking analogies to guarantee that the media and internet are eager to circulate the information; then call on a few devoted men and organisations, always available to tell one more lie. With this kind of a cocktail, you can even make people believe for a while that the war in Iraq is a great success, that the subprime crisis will not affect the financial sector, that the financial crisis will not affect real economy, that the crisis is not really severe, and that, if it is, everything is under control!
In the present case, the theme is a classic; it is about the separation between the « Old Europe » and the « New Europe », between a rich and selfish Europe and a poor and hopeful Europe. From Rumsfeld on Iraq to the United Kingdom on EU enlargement, this is a common theme repeated endlessly over the past ten years by the Anglo-Saxon and related media, and on which some British media in particular have become specialists (3).
As to the analogies, there are two: Eastern Europe is the âsubprime crisisâ of the EU (understand: of course, everyone has its own subprime crisis (4)); and, a crisis in Eastern Europe will have the same terrible effect as the 1997 Asia crisis (probably because both are Eastward (5)).
Suspects are not missing. In the first place, a rating agency - in this case Moodys (6), which, like the rest of them, first of all, is completely devoted to Wall Street, and then is incapable of seeing âan elephant in a corridorâ (they missed the subprimes, the CDS, Bear Stearn, Lehman Brothers, AIG, â¦.). But, for some mysterious reason, the financial media keeps on repeating their opinions, probably generously applying the principle that they could be right some day purely out of statistical chance. In this case, Moodyâs prediction has been largely echoed: they saw a major « bomb » in the backyard of the Eurozone (as of course, it is the Euro we are talking about here)⦠about to devastate the European financial system.
Then, to make the idea more credible, you select some virulently anti-Euro media (such as the UKâs Telegraph, for instance, which, despite the fact that they also produce some very accurate analyses of the crisis, are currently blinded as regards the Eurozone by the collapse of the British economy and Pound Sterling) and you circulate a news item that you soon retract (because it is inaccurate) so that it gains credibility by virtue of its retraction, of the secret (7) revealing some unfolding âfinancial tsunamiâ due to Old European banksâ liabilities within the New European financial sector (8). Continue the story each day in the main US and UK financial media, knowing the others will follow out of habit (it is so easy as regards the EU, slow as it is to understand and even slower to react, with the inevitable dissent that makes it possible for the manipulation to gain momentum). This time, Hungarian Prime Minister, Ferenc Gyurcsany, is the one playing the role of the « poor little new European martyr ». For the record, the Hungarians have vainly been trying to get rid of him ever since he involuntarily admitted two years ago that he lied to his citizens in order to be reelected, and confirmed in the same breath that he indebted his country beyond any reasonable limit. Now, he is the one announcing crazy figures for a bailout plan of the Eastern European financial system, giving the Old Europeans the role of the « bad » or « cold » guys. The latterâs refusal is pinpointed by the entire US and UK press, coming to the natural conclusion that European solidarity has failed,⦠and understating (or completely forgetting) the fact that the Polish and the Czechs were the most virulent against the absurd claims of Hungarian Prime Minister (9). The attempt to weaken the EU and Eurozone from the East could have gone on further until the Eurozone leaders decided to make a number of strong statements and announced a substantial financial support plan (compared to the real risk), and political leaders and central bankers of the regions resorted to publishing tough press releases so that finally the manipulation began to lose momentum. But it has not disappeared yet, and the analogy between the subprime crisis and the housing crisis in Eastern Europe remains vivid in the mind of the media; as if Hungary was equivalent to California, or Latvia to Florida.
Ths is indeed the core of the problem: in economy and finance, size matters⦠and the tail never wags the dog, contrary to what some people would like us to believe.
As early as December 2007, at a time when our « current experts of the Eastern European crisis » showed no awareness whatsoever of the problem, LEAP/E2020 highlighted the fact that a considerable housing risk weighed on these European countries (Latvia, Hungary, Romania,â¦) and on their creditors (Austria and Switzerland in particular). However they always found obvious that these problems were limited to the concerned countries. There are indeed problems ahead for these countries and those commercially and financially involved with them, but these problems are no more serious than the average problems encountered by the global financial system; and they certainly do not compare with the problems faced by the financial markets of New York, London or Switzerland. Let us remind ourselves that the bank most often cited as being the âdetonatorâ of this âEastern-European bombâ, i.e. the Austrian bank Raiffeisen, increased its profits 17 percent in 2008; a result beyond the wildest dreams of most US and UK banks today, as William Gamble noted, one of the rare analysts who studied what the story was really about (10).