EuroCracy with Apologies to Swift

Okay.  Now it is time to take the gloves off.  With apologies to Jonathan Swift.

When a nation truly appears to try to do better in this world, you may know it by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him. Jonathan Swift

Why all the vitriol for Greece?  And in this case, I mean sulfuric acid.

This is what we are hearing from the EuroWizards.

The analysts supported the  €110 Billion bailout payment. This, based on the assumption that the Greek economy would grow.  (Experience Growth--passive tense.)  When there was no growth, the analysts supported imposing sanctions on Greece to punish Greece.  For what?  For the fact that the analysts assumptions were wrong.

Analysts now tell us that they believe that the €400 Billion "emergency fund" is too small.  I may have been bewildered by the babble, however, what I heard is this.  "We are not putting more money into the fund.  We will, however, co-sign a loan so "The Fund" can borrow money to double in size. (No, we are not in Bernie Madoff territory.  Not yet.)

To further aggravate the situation:

ag·gra·vateVerb/ˈagrəˌvāt/
1. Make (a problem, injury, or offense) worse or more serious.
2. Annoy or exasperate (someone), esp. persistently. More »
Dictionary.com - Answers.com - Merriam-Webster - The Free Dictionary
 
To further aggravate the situation, the EuroCrats have been clutching retentively to the talisman of Austerity.  This, like the monkey's paw, grants three wishes.  (The downside?  The third wish is for death.)  The EuroCrats are killing Greece with kindness.  The EuroCratic posture toward Greece is: condescending, patronising, and rude.
 
The programmes are constructed to fail.
 
"Everybody knows what everybody knows." -- Slim Fairview
 
"Some people as questions seeking information. Other people as questions so they can interrupt, argue, and pretend they're right." -- Slim Fairivew
 
"Don't bother asking me. You don't want to hear my opinion. You want to hear your opinion." --Slim Fairview
 
Last night, as I pondered the situation, I had an epiphany. (Not Θεοφάνεια, Τheophaneia A vision of God; but rather ἐπιφάνεια, epiphaneia, "manifestation"  (Okay, enough Googling.)
 
The ἐπιφάνεια came about when I asked myself, "Why are the EuroCrats clutching retentively to to DEBT RELIEF. Schuldenerlass.  Übersetzung für Schuldenerlass?  Bernie Madoff.
 
Greece owes money. 
 
The EuroCrats want to get repaid.
 
(Giving Greece Money so they can pay back their loans may seem surficially bewildering, however, follow the "logic".)
 
Greece is in debt.  The only thing the Bonds Bear are Low Ratings.
 
The EuroCrats Create a bailout fund to help Greece with their debt.  They prop up Greek Bonds.
 
Investors Buy the Bonds.
 
Greece is able to repay the EuroCrats.
 
The EuroCrats get their money and leave Greece and Private investors holding the bag.
 
(Analogy:  You buy stock.  The stock price tumbles.  You lose money only if you sell the stock.)
 
What are the austerity measures being inflicted on Greece and upon the Greek people?
 
We cut your wages
We lose tax revenue
We fire people
We lose more tax revenue
 
We raise property taxes on people who make less money or no money at all.
 
We cowtow to the cows who tell us how wonderful we are to bear the burden to save our country.  We feel good about ourselves.  No we don't.  We feel as if we've been Berned. [sic]
and we are Madoff as hell about it.
 
With my sincere condolences.
 
Slim
 
slimfairview@yahoo.com
 
 
Copyright (c) 2011 Slim Fairview

EuroCrisis: Hocus Pocus--Focus!

Instead of relying on the unending stream of bad news to comment upon, I took some time to read some of the articles being written about the EuroCrisis.  I’m not sorry I did.

The EuroCrats are discussing solutions.  They are focusing on the unpopular solutions.  We used to believe that if medicine tasted bad, it was good for you.  Now we believe that the unpopular solution is always the best solution. 

The solution that no one likes is imposing sanctions on nations that do not improve their circumstances after receiving a bailout.

Your economy was in bad shape.  We gave you money to pay your national debts.  That was to help you while your economy improved.  Your economy did not improve.  Now we are going to punish you.  We are going to do this to help you. 

Some things require no additional comment.  The above paragraph is an example of that.

Another solution on the table is to create another layer of bureaucracy.  This is the toothless watchdog.  You feed the dog, walk the dog, listen to the dog bark, and blame the dog when your home is burgled.  My cat came up with that analogy.  Self-serving?  Yes.  Valid none-the-less.

The EuroNations currently staggering downhill economically do not need governance.  They need leadership.  Moreover, however, the leaders are in need of leadership.  All we have now is gratuitous management.

What has caused this flurry of activity?  I am embarrassed to say this.  Analysts.  Why am I embarrassed to say this?  I admittedly have only two skills.  An analytical mind and the ability to speak in metaphors.

Analysts are predicting the recession in Greece will continue.  They are basing their predictions on the fact that their assumptions failed to materialise.

Here is what happened.  The € 110 Billion Bailout to Greece was apparently predicated on the assumption that growth would return to Greece after some austere fiscal and economic changes.  When growth failed to arrive (Deus ex machina, I assume. Or Deus non machina for that matter.), the analysts predicted that the recession would continue.  Apparently, the Analysts never read Horace’s Ars Poetica.  Now, I never read it either. Still, here is the analogy.

Instead of putting 10% of your income into your retirement fund each year, I want you to put 5% of your income into your retirement fund each year.  This based on the assumption that your rate of return is going to double.

Instead of crunching the numbers, grasp the concept.

Thus far, there seems to be no solution.  There is no short-term solution to the problem.  There is no long-term solution to the problem.  What we do have, however, are steps being taken in the hopes that things will get better. 

This, we do, by calling the people trying to solve the problems, experts.

“Early to bed and early to rise, does not make you Ben Franklin.”—Slim Fairview

What is most startling about this situation is that there is little discussion about projects.  Cutting spending to the bone certainly gives the appearance of a better financial position.  It gives you the feeling of being in better financial shape.

You can also improve your circumstances by focusing on increasing the revenue.

Now, as I said elsewhere:

If you are unemployed, a government job is a job.

If you are an economist, a government job is a transfer payment.

However, we need a scapegoat.  There is, after all, a global economic crisis.  What happened?  Let’s blame it on John Maynard Keynes.  John Maynard Keynes may have as much to do with the problem as Maynard G. Krebs, but it will give us the opportunity to sell new ideas.

This in analogous to the decline in reading skills in the United States. 

With no evidence to suggest that Phonics caused the decline in reading scores, we began down the path of coming up with new and better ways to teach reading.  Each new way of teaching reading was embraced to solve the problem of declining test scores caused by the previous solution.  Ultimately, we blamed the test.  When that didn’t work, we began to demand testing the teacher.  The only ones who benefited were the ones who wrote and sold books explaining the new and better way of teaching youngsters to read.

The only people who got rich from Get Rich Quick books were the people who wrote them.  The only people who felt better from Self-Help Books were the people who made money writing them.

Thus it is with the EuroCrisis.  Everyone is in the same situation, it would seem.  Everyone has a solution.  The only people benefiting from the solutions, however, are the experts who make money selling their theories to the EuroCrats.

I once said in jest, “Put me in charge.  I can do just as bad a job, but I can come up with much better excuses.” Now I will say it not in jest.  "Put me in charge.  I can do just as bad a job, but I can come up with better excuses."

Let’s be honest, isn’t the feel-good course of action the one that helps us to show everyone that it was someone else’s fault.

Sincerest regards,

Slim

PS.  I am not Paul Harvey.  However, I am open to becoming a paid commentator, columnist, or blogger. If you’ve found anything I said to be helpful, please don’t hesitate to send me one of those tricked-out laptops and to tuck a few dollars into the envelope along with the thank you note.

Sincerely

Slim

RR #2

Route 390

Cresco, PA 18326

slimfairview@yahoo.com

Copyright © 2011 Slim Fairview