Greek Debt and the Hubris of Goldman Sachs

 

cartoon source

As  the world watches Greece do a slow motion dance over the cliff, nobody seems to be paying attention to the villain of the piece. Is anybody noticing Goldman Sachs here, folks? Remember them?  They are the bank that sold Greece those credit default swaps and other untraceable, unfathomable, arcane financial instruments  in the first place?  Does anybody remember that Goldman Sachs is the bank  that allowed the Greeks to hide(even from themselves) the extent of the debt or the impossibility of paying it back.  Here's what Forbes magazine had to say back in 2010.

"Goldman Sachs arranged swaps that effectively allowed Greece to borrow 1 billion euros without adding to its official public debt. While it arranged the swaps, Goldman also sought to buy insurance on Greek debt and engage in other trades to protect itself against the risk of a default on those swaps. Eventually, Goldman sold the swaps to the national bank of Greece.

Despite its role in creating swaps that may have allowed the Greek government to mask its growing debts, Goldman has no net exposure to a default on Greek debt, a person familiar with the matter says. Goldman is “flat” when it comes to Greece, the person says. Which is to say, its long and short exposure to a potential Greek default are in balance."

How convenient-- Goldman Sachs sells them the junk and then shorts the sale, thus betting against its own client.  You can't even do that in Las Vegas.

Goldman Sachs has been doing the same sort of thing that payday loan companies or Mafia  loan sharks do.They just wear nicer suits and do things on a bigger scale.  They know that the mark, er I mean the client, can't pay back the debt, but they've got a special Wall Street ap for that-- they just short the Greek bonds and collect a fat commission coming and going.  Forget about ethics. It's caveat emptor all the way.

Too bad these guys learned their trade in the halls of Harvard rather than on the streets, because they really don't seem to get that they are actually criminals, and that they are not, definitely NOT, untouchable. They really think they are above the law and are not doing anything wrong.

The Greeks know all about it too-- Their word for it is hubris, which is basically a classical Greek term meaning getting too big for your britches. The concept is beautifully illustrated in the story of Daedalus and his son, Icarus.   Daedalus, imprisoned in a tower, decided to escape like a bird, by flying away.  He fabricated "wings" from light wooden frames to which feathers were secured with wax.  He strapped the wings onto his son, Icarus and off Icarus went-- but ( and here's the Hubris part) Icarus flew too close to the sun and the wax melted and the boy plunged to his death in what is now called the Icarian Sea.  

 The wheel of fate is turning on Goldman too.  It and the rest of the high flying investment banking crowd that created the crisis are still in are flying very close to the sun.    Pass the billion dollar bonuses please and don't worry about the little people.   

 I hope that there is still enough good sense, not to mention morality, left in the international community to reign these guys in before they plunge into the sea and take the rest of us with them. 

Au Revoir Austerity in France

 Over in Paris today they are swearing in a new President. The election of  Francois Hollande, the first socialist President of France in seventeen years, signals an end to Germanic austerity and the return of Gallic joie de vivre.... or at least that is what everybody is saying. Me? I don't have a crystal ball, but I'm not so sure.

Things are unsettled to say the least in the global economy.  Greece is teetering on the brink of social anarchy and financial collapse.  German voters are getting tired of carrying what they consider to be the profligate Latin economies of the Euro-zone, while France, as usual, can't decide what it wants to do.

If Greece falls, can Spain, Italy, and maybe even Ireland and Portugal be far behind?   In France they have the answer. For the moment, at least, austerity is a no no. With Greece unable to form a government and upcoming elections in Germany, it is anybody's guess where things will go next.

Whatever happens, it will be a shot heard round the world, with bigtime reverberations on this side of the Atlantic. In a worst case scenario, the Euro could fall apart in a matter of months, before the November Presidential elections here in the United States.

At that point, all bets are off and I don't just mean in terms of who will be the next American President.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed, and fastening my seat belt just in case the ride gets bumpy. Where did I put that crystal ball, anyway?  Oh heck-- maybe I should try the Tarot cards instead.

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Julia Ward Howe: The Founding Mother of Mother's Day

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I always knew that Julia Ward Howe wrote the words to The Battle Hymn of the Republic, the great Union Army Anthem of America's bloody Civil War.  I only recently discovered  that she was also the founding mother of Mother's Day. 

Howe's Mother's Day Proclamation, written in 1870, was  her  comment not only on the American Civil War, but on all war, in general.  It was a pacifist, feminist manifesto, dedicated to the notion that the mothers of the world deserve better than to raise sons as cannon fodder and  that mothers have a duty to shape the destinies not only their families, but also of the societies in which they live.
Howe's proclamation was the first call for a special day,  for mothers in America and far from being  sweet and sentimental, it was a clarion call.

This Mother's Day let's remember not only own mothers, but also the women  who, whether or not they gave birth to children of their own, have nurtured the world .

Happy Mothers Day world!

Melinda Gates Talks Sense About Birth Control

In America and the rest of the developed world, 98% of sexually active women use some sort of birth control, and whether or not it is talked about, family planning is the rule not the exception.  In sub-saharan Africa and parts of Asia, this is not the case.  Women in these parts of the world know about and want birth control,  but cannot access contraception. Many walk miles to clinics only to find that the supply has been snapped up.  They have no choice but to walk miles home and try again later.

 Un-spaced  multiple pregnancies mean more women die in childbirth and more children die before they have a chance to live. Lack of access to family planning casts a long shadow in a part of the world where more babies still die from diarrhea than from any other cause.  It has been proven, all over the world, that when you give women power over their own bodies, you empower their husbands and children too and everyone's standard of living rises.

In this TED talk, Melinda Gates shares some good reasons why we in the West need to get off our religious and political high horses and stop confusing the issue of birth control with abortion, population control, or other political issues having to do with Church and State.

 It makes for an interesting week-end reflection. You might want to give it some thought

What Would Jesus Think?

I was over at Mad Mike's America rooting around this morning and almost choked on my  coffee when I came across this  info-graphic. Nothing like simple, black and white, fear-based, authoritarian thinking to keep the peasants on the straight and narrow, is there?  Mad Mike made a few comments on it that are worth reading and  I'd like to make a few more.

 Listen up, Bible Thumpers. America was not founded by Bible Believing Christians no matter what you hear in church.  Jefferson, Washington, Adams, Frankllin and the rest of the boys wanted  total separation of church and state, and thank God we still have it (at least officially). They wanted it because they had seen the trouble religion had caused in Europe from the Crusades through the Reformation.   They set up America's government with separation of powers and separation of church and state in part so no one religion could ever become as powerful as the pre-reformation Catholic Church had been in Europe. They wanted no more Spanish Inquisition or burning books and people because of religion. They were not anti-religion. They just wanted all religions to be treated equally under the law.

You can believe what you want.  You can base your beliefs on your interpretation of the bible if you want. Just don't try to impose your narrow  views on the rest of your fellow citizens. Vote for whomever you wish-- just don't try to make your religious views the law of the land. - The rest of us, who live in the real world,  require more objective proof than your interpretation of a few bible verses.

In case you haven't noticed, the science is pretty much in on climate change, evolution and the notion that the world is round not flat.  You can ignore and deny that and call it religious faith. It's your right as an American-- but don't defend your beliefs on the basis of the bible.  Need I remind you that, that poor book has been twisted to justify such evils as slavery , racism, sexism, war, and xenophobia  for  hundreds, if not thousands of years, so most of us are not buying your claims.

Because you live in a free society, you are free to be as narrow-minded as you like. Just don't try to impose your  narrow-mindedness on your fellow citizens and call it Christianity.  I'm fairly sure your version is not what Jesus was thinking-- but never mind. He loves you anyway.

Mission Really Accomplished This Time

They say an elephant never forgets-- unless it is the GOP elephant criticizing  the President for talking about taking out Osama bin Laden  on the occasion of the first anniversary of bin Laden's death. That elephant has a very selective memory indeed.  That elephant trumpeted far and wide that Obama was using the occasion for cheap political gain.

Tell me, my pachyderm pals, do the words " Mission Accomplished" ring a bell?  Do any of  you recall little Georgie Bush, all dressed up like a real aviator, dropping onto the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln  amidst military bands and much fanfare?  Talk about politics!!!!

 Does anybody but me  remember George Bush proudly proclaiming " mission accomplished" while patting himself on the back and taking a victory lap long before there was a victory to celebrate?  In fact, May 1, 2003, when George Bush made that speech, was when things were just heating up in Iraq and Afghanistan. To use another well worn phrase,the chickens were only beginning to come home to roost.

Yes, indeed, the GOP elephant needs to remember that while George Bush was good at swaggering around the deck of an aircraft carrier in costume, and also not bad at " Dead or Alive" speeches, Obama is the guy who delivered the goods. Note, dear elephant, that for many of us, criticizing Obama and trying to paint him as a braggart, only underlines that reality.

  In Obama's case, a victory lap really IS in order.



cartoon source: Ed Steinink

Fish Stinks from the Head. Bye Bye Rupert Murdoch

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In Naples they say "fish stinks from the head". In the case of, Rupert Murdoch, the saying could not be more true.  This morning, a powerful, parliamentary committee in London announced  that Rupert Murdoch, was " unfit to run a major international company."  At last-- somebody has noticed that the Emperor is naked! It's about time.....

 The 85 page report went on to say, among other things,

"News International and its parent News Corporation exhibited willful blindness, for which the companies' directors -including Rupert Murdoch and James Murdoch - should ultimately take responsibility," 

and

"Their instinct throughout, until it was too late, was to cover up rather than seek out wrongdoing and discipline the perpetrators,"

 For all  the details and a complete rundown, Read the entire Reuters article here

 If you hate the fear-mongering of Fox News and the influence peddling and disinformation that epitomizes Murdoch's American holdings as much as I do, you will feel a sense of relief that finally the truth is on the table and justice will probably be done. Cliches are cliches because they contain a germ of truth. Fish stinks from the head.  It really does-- and that applies to media empires as well as individuals.

There's another old saw I'm rather fond of.  It's the one that goes " What goes around, comes around"
The Brits have a particular fetish about fair play,or at least the appearance of it (stiff upper lip and all that )   There will be no Latin shrug of the shoulders or pragmatic American handshake over this mess in London, and that is fine with me.  To quote another old saying: " The Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton." Not for nothing did the Brits rule an empire the sun never set on.

 In an oh-so-civilized ( oops I mean civilised) court system, Rupert Murdoch, and the horse he rode in on ,are gonna be toast.  I can hardly wait.

Pass the popcorn  folks, the show is about to begin and it is gonna be good.