Is Greece a crystal ball view into our future?
"The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth." (Psalm 37:21).
Greek unions call strikes for May 4-5
Three dead as Greek strike grows violent
Athens, Greece (CNN) -- Police sirens and the smell of tear gas filled the streets around Greece's parliament building Wednesday after protests against government spending cuts turned violent, then deadly.
Three people died and at least four others were missing after a fire bomb hit a bank in central Athens, the Greek fire brigade told CNN. The victims, two women and a man, were bank employees, they said.
Protesters were throwing bottles at police guarding the burned-out bank, shouting "torturers" and "liars" because they don't believe people were killed inside. Riot police were moving in to push the crowd away, CNN's Diana Magnay reported from the scene.
Bins and cars were set on fire around the city. Two public buildings were on fire and a fire truck was ablaze near the Temple of Zeus, the fire brigade said.
Riot police in helmets and shields ket back protesters who threw bottles, sticks, and rocks. Booms pierced the air every time the police fired canisters of tear gas at the crowds.
The protests happened amid a general strike by thousands of public sector workers unhappy with the austerity measures, which largely target them. Private sector workers joined them on the picket lines Wednesday, along with thousands of transport workers -- which brought transportation services to a halt.
The workers are protesting cuts in spending that the government says are needed to pull the country out of debt.
Photo source: Nationwide Strike Paralyzes Greece - A small group of youths threw Molotov cocktails at police, who responded with tear gas. However, the 20,000 people who filed through downtown Athens—a relatively large crowd for a Greek strike—mostly limited themselves to chanting anti-government slogans.
German official warns of 'grave contagion effects' as Merkel boosts Greece aid
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- Three people were reported dead in Athens after protests against the government's austerity measures turned violent Wednesday, as millions of Greeks walked off the job in a nationwide strike.
Germany's chancellor, meanwhile, said that Europe's future depended on helping Greece emerge from its debt crisis, with the Bundesbank president warning of "grave contagion effects."
Thousands of people attended a rally in the center of the capital. Some demonstrators clashed with police who used tear gas and stun grenades, reports said.
No planes, trains or ferries operated in Greece, as hospitals, schools and public offices were also shut, according to media reports. The nation's two leading unions, representing the public and the private sectors, have called the strike to protest what they see as unfair and harsh measures aimed at lowering the soaring Greek deficit.
Wednesday's strike is the latest in a series to hit Greece in recent weeks.
Prime Minister George Papandreou's government agreed over the weekend to implement even more severe austerity measures, totalling 11% of gross domestic product, in exchange for a 110 billion-euro aid package from other euro-zone members and the International Monetary Fund.
This year's measures include cutting public-sector wages and pension outlays, which according to the IMF account together for 75% of total public spending. The public sector in Greece is very large compared to that of its peers in the euro zone.
"Striking Greek public workers and now private-sector unions are making investors nervous about the prospects for the bailout-for-austerity package," said Sal Guatieri of BMO Capital Markets in a note.
European markets in trouble.
No Relief for the Euro or European Markets
The euro fell further through the critical €1.30 to the dollar mark, to trade as low as €1.2881 — off more than 1 per cent — as investors focused on developing tensions in Athens.
Other notable datapoints on the day:
Athens General Index – down 4.44 per cent.
Ibex 35 – down 2.4 per cent.
PSI 20 – down 2.42 per cent.
FTSE 100 – down 1.17 per cent.
Santander – down 3.18 per cent.
BBVA – down 4.32 per cent.Deutsche Bank – down 2.5 per cent.
This is all about the bailouts!
Like the Federal Reserve and the IMF, the European Central Bank printed and borrowed it's way into a massive inverted pyramid of debt.
Because of the fractional-reserve banking systems, the dominoes were ready to topple at any moment. In response, they doubled-down ... subsidizing high-risk loans, printing more money, dropping interest rates and gorging themselves with IOU's to "save" the global economy.
Now what? The inverted debt pyramid is bigger than ever. If it topples, as it appears to be doing, the devastation around the globe will be horrific.
Deadly Greek strike puts pressure on bailout plan
"They're taking everything from me, I don't know how I'm going to get by," said 61-year-old Anargyros Bizianis, a municipal worker in the Athens suburb of Piraeus who earns 900 euros (1,160 dollars) a month.
As the protestors tried to break through a police line in front of the parliament ... Full-scale clashes soon erupted outside the building, with riot police trying to disperse the crowds with baton-charges.
Pushed to the brink of default, the Greek government agreed at the weekend to slash spending and hike taxes in return for 110 billion euros (143 billion dollars) in loans over three years from eurozone countries and the IMF.
But fears have spread from Europe and Wall Street to Asia that the bailout will not be enough to stop its debt crisis spreading to heavily indebted Spain and Portugal, sparking heavy losses on world financial markets.
International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn admitted Wednesday there was a risk "contagion" could engulf other weakened European economies.
"There are always risks," Strauss-Kahn said. "We must avoid contagion, and that is also what the Greek plan was tailored to do," he said. "We must nevertheless all remain extremely vigilant."
The entire global mess from Greece to the USA was not only predictable, but avoidable.
The experts did not predict it though, because they were too busy concocting Keynesian formulae to justify their money printing machines, unsustainable debt levels, and constantly increasing government spending and power.
