Stocks tumble as congressman predicts economic riots in America

 

Louisiana Republican Rep. John Fleming

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/272079.html

Stocks tumbled again on fears of the rapidly approaching fiscal cliff in the United States and a failure by eurozone finance ministers and the IMF to decide how Greece will resolve its sovereign debt and payoff the banksters at Société Générale, Deutsche Bank, Eurobank, and other loan sharking institutions.

"This morning the reasons du jour started out with Europe and the kerfuffle over Greece and then you have the fiscal cliff," Michael Holland, chairman of New York-based Holland & Co., told Bloomberg News.

"We're not out of the woods yet," said Guillaume Duchesne, an equity strategist at BGL BNP Paribas SA in Luxembourg. He added that a resolution of the financial crisis threatening to extend the recession for the foreseeable future depends on the leadershipof Obama.

According to Rep. John Fleming, we won't be getting out of the woods anytime soon, especially with Obama at the helm. "It looks like we're going to have to go through the same or similar pain [as Greece] to get real reforms," the Louisiana Republican told the Daily Caller on Sunday.

He said that if the current economic trend is not reversed, "what's going to happen is there's going to be a day of reckoning that gets into a serious situation where we have to make tough choices." Prison Planet

HIGHLIGHTS

Fleming told The Daily Caller that, ever since President Barack Obama's re-election last Tuesday, he has been advising Americans to play it safe financially because he believes the economy - and the state of the country - may soon get much worse. The Daily Caller

Fleming said he's telling concerned constituents and business owners to "not extend yourselves in debt, make sure that you pay off things, don't get into debt with credit cards, stay as liquid as possible. Don't take risks, and don't get into debt. You need to stay less vulnerable economically over the next two to four years, in hopes that the economy will sort itself out, and that Washington will get its act together." The Daily Caller

"What I fear is we're going to be too late, and we're going to run into a Greece-like situation, where we have riots and unemployment levels are up around 11 percent. That's what we've been trying to avoid," Fleming said. The Daily Caller

The so-called "cliff" comes on Jan. 1, when several tax cuts expire, and severe cuts to government spending are triggered. It's also been called "taxmageddon," because an average American family will see their tax bill increase $3,700 next year. ABC News

In total, the measures are set to automatically slash the federal budget deficit by $607 billion or approximately 4 percent of GDP between FY 2012 and FY 2013, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). CFR

Any deal, all agree, would have to include revenue increases as well as budget cuts. A key question is whether any new revenue includes changes in tax rates - specifically, an end to the Bush-era tax cuts for those earning more than $250,000, which is what President Obama has been pushing and Rep. Boehner says "no" to. Christian Science Monitor

The IMF says the U.S. economy could fall back into recession if Congress fails to avert the package of tax hikes and spending cuts. Reuters

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China and Russia are Acquiring Gold Dumping US Dollars

 

By: Prof. Michel Chossudovsky

Source: Global Research

http://www.globalresearch.ca/central-banks-are-acquiring-gold-dumping-us-dollars/22672

There is evidence that central banks in several regions of the World are building up their gold reserves. What is published are the official purchases.

A large part of these Central Bank purchases of gold bullion are not disclosed. They are undertaken through third party contracting companies, with utmost discretion.

US dollar holdings and US dollar denominated debt instruments are in effect being traded in for gold, which in turn puts pressure on the US dollar.

In turn, both China and Russia have boosted domestic production of gold, a large share of which is being purchased by their central banks:

It has long been assumed that China is surreptitiously building up its gold reserves through buying local production. Russia is another major gold miner where the Central bank has been purchasing gold from another state entity, Gokhran, which is the marketing arm and central repository for the country’s mined gold production. Now it has been reported by Bloomberg that the Venezuelan Central Bank director, Jose Khan, has said that country will boost its gold reserves through purchasing more than half the gold produced from its rapidly growing domestic gold mining industry.

In Russia, for example, Gokhran sold some 30 tonnes of gold to the Central Bank in an internal accounting exercise late last year. In part, so it was said at the time, the direct sale was made rather than placing the metal on the open market and perhaps adversely affecting the gold price.

China is currently the world’s largest gold producer and last year it confirmed it had raised its own Central Bank gold holdings by more than 450 tones over the previous six years. Mineweb.com – The world’s premier mining and mining investment website Venezuela taking own gold production into Central Bank reserves – GOLD NEWS | Mineweb

The 450 tons figure corresponds to an increase in the gold reserves of the central bank from 600 tons in 2003 to 1054 tons in 2009. If we go by official statements, China’s gold reserves are increasing by approximately 10 percent per annum.

China has risen to now be the largest gold producing nation in the world at around 270 tonnes. The amount bought in by the government initially looks like 90 tonnes per annum or just under, 2 tonnes a week. Before 2003 the announcement by the Chinese central bank that gold reserves had been doubled to 600 tonnes, accounted for similar purchases before that date. Why so small an amount you may well ask? We think local and national issues clouded the central bank’s view as it was the government that bought the gold since 2003 and have now placed it on the central bank’s Balance Sheet. So we would conclude that the government has ensured central bank gold purchasing must continue. “How will Chinese Central Bank Gold Buying affect the Gold Price short & Long-Term?” by Julian Phillips. FSO Editorial 05/07/2009

Russia

Russia’s Central bank holdings are in excess of 20 million troy ounces (January 2010)

 

Russia’s Central Bank reserves have increased markedly in recent years. The RCB reported in May 2010 purchasing 34.2 tons of gold in a single month. Russian Central Bank Gold Purchases Soar In May – China Too? | The Daily Gold

The diagram below shows a significant increase in monthly purchases by the the RCB since June 2009.

 

Central Banks in the Middle East are also building up their gold reserves, while reducing their dollar forex holding.

Gold reserves of GCC states is less than 5 percent:

Dubai International Financial Centre Authority economists released a report yesterday calling for local countries to build gold reserves, according to The National.

Despite a high interest in gold, GCC states maintain less than 5 percent of their total reserves in gold. Compared to the ECB, which holds 25 percent of reserves in gold, that leaves a lot of room for growth. http://www.businessinsider.com/gcc-boost-gold-holdings-2010-12#ixzz18FEqpTy3

GCC states should boost their foreign reserve holdings of gold to help shield their billions of dollars of assets from turbulence in global currency markets, say economists at the Dubai International Financial Centre Authority (DIFCA).

Diversifying more of their reserves from US dollars to the yellow metal would help to offer central banks in the region higher investment returns, said Dr Nasser Saidi, the chief economist of DIFCA, and Dr Fabio Scacciavillani, the director of macroeconomics and statistics at the authority.

“When you have a great deal of economic uncertainty, going into paper assets, whatever they may be – stocks, bonds, other types of equity – is not attractive,” said Dr Saidi. “That makes gold more attractive.”

Declines in the dollar during recent months have dented the value of GCC oil revenues, which are predominantly weighted in the greenback. GCC urged to boost gold reserves

According to a report in People`s Daily;

The latest rankings of gold reserves show that, as of mid-December, the United States remains the top country and the Chinese mainland is ranked sixth with 1,054 tons of reserves, the World Gold Council announced recently.

Russia climbed to eighth place because its gold reserves increased by 167.5 tons since December 2009. The top ten in 2010 remains the same compared to the rankings of the same period of last year. And Saudi Arabia squeezed to the top 20.

Developing countries and regions, including Saudi Arabia and South Africa, have become the main force driving the gold reserve increase. … .

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European central bank are the major gold sellers, and the IMF’s gold reserves decreased by 158.6 tons. (China’s gold reserves rank 6th worldwide – People’s Daily Online

It should be understood that actual purchases of physical gold are not the only factor in explaining the movement of gold prices. The gold market is marked by organized speculation by large scale financial institutions.

The gold market is characterised by numerous paper instruments, gold index funds, gold certificates, OTC gold derivatives (including options, swaps and forwards), which play a strong role, particularly in short-term movement of gold prices. The recent increase and subsequent decline of gold prices are the result of manipulation by powerful financial actors.

 

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Ron Paul: America has already gone over the fiscal cliff

 

Former Republican presidential candidate, Representative Ron Paul (T.J. Kirkpatrick/Getty Images/AFP)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/usa/news/paul-fiscal-cliff-obama-364/

US President Barack Obama demanded from Congress immediate action to prevent America from falling of a so-called fiscal cliff, but Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) says it might be too late to keep the country afloat.

Speaking with Bloomberg Television on Thursday, the lawmaker who ran against Pres. Obama during the last two elections said he expects that America’s financial woes are beyond repair.

“We’re so far gone,” said the congressman, who will retire from the Hill this year after serving 12 terms in the House. “We’re over the cliff. We cannot get enough people in Congress in the next 5 to 10 years who will do the wise things. We have to prepare for having already fallen off the fiscal cliff.”

On the campaign trail leading up to the Nov. 6, 2012 election, Rep. Paul proposed an array of ideas he said would save the country from economic disaster, including returning to a gold standard and abolishing the Federal Reserve, America’s central bank. On his part, Pres. Obama vowed to keep the company in tact if elected to a second term, and Friday told reporters at the White House that he expects Congress to come to his side and do what’s right to prevent what Rep. Paul says is inevitable now.

“I’ve invited leaders from both parties to the White House next so we can start to build consensus around the challenges that we can only solve together,” said the president in reference to worries over America’s fiscal standing next year. “At a time when our economy is still recovering from the great recession, our top priority has to be jobs and growth.”

“We can’t just cut out way to prosperity,” said Obama. “If we’re serious about reducing the deficit, we have to combine spending cuts with revenue. That means asking the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more in taxes.”

“I’m not wedded to every detail of my plan,” he said. “I’m open to compromise; I’m open to new ideas.”

According to Rep. Paul, that’s just more pandering from the president.

“They’re just looking for the truth,” said the congressman. “They say, ‘Well, all we need is a little compromise.’ Well nobody expects that because they do not admit the truth, and the truth is that we are broke.”

“How do you compromise? The only way you can compromise is if you agree on what to cut.”

From the White House on Friday, the president said, “The American people voted for action, not politics as usual,” and insisted that “What the American people are looking for is cooperation,”consensus and common sense from the government. “Most of all they want action,” he added, insisting, “I intend on delivering for them during my second term.”

Rep. Paul tells Bloomberg it’s a “bad sign” that the public, not the president, is on the receiving end of however the White House tries to fix the country’s financial woes. “People do not want anything cut,” he said. “They want all the bailouts to come. They want the Fed to keep printing money. They do not believe we have gone off the cliff or are close to going off the cliff.”

 

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Greece will have to wait for next round of cash - German minister

 

Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble. (AFP Photo / Johannes Eisele)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/greece-bailout-german-minister-294/

Germany, the pillar of European economic stability, is skeptical that Athens will receive the next tranche of aid “in the coming weeks,” despite painful new austerity measures adopted this week in Greek Parliament.

­German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, one of the main architects of the Greek response team, warned Thursday that it is unlikely that Greece will reach a quick deal with its international creditors on the next credit line.

“At the moment I do not see the decisions being made” that are required for a definitive agreement between the Troika of international auditors examining Greece's finances and the Greek government, he told a conference in Hamburg.

Despite the poor assessment, the minister welcomed Athens' new measures, which were approved on Wednesday, by saying that Greece has “a pro-European majority and it held last night despite demonstrations and a general strike. All is not lost – all is not won either, but we have no use for cynicism… the Greeks want to remain in the euro.”

This is a conclusion with which many Greeks seem to disagree, as massive demonstrations ahead of Wednesday's vote erupted in the capital. At least 100 people were detained as police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse a crowd that voiced anger against a rise in the retirement age to 67, cuts to minimum wage and benefit reductions.

While the rallies pushed forth with their demands, Greek Parliament agreed by a narrow margin to €18.5 billion in budget cuts demanded by creditors.

Now Greece awaits the €31.5-billion tranche of aid from the Troika – the European Central Bank, European Union and the International Monetary Fund, its fourth emergency loan package in three years.

Economics analyst Antonis Vradis says the massive new loan will simply create more debt for the country.

“These packages are moving in the entirely wrong direction. There is a definition of insanity, and according to it, insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. This is what is happening right now. You have a package after which the country's national debt is going to go up from 175% to 190%. The only way to stop this policy of austerity is if people actually stop them,” Vradis, a member of the Occupy London movement, told RT.

 

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Thousands take to streets in Argentina to protest economic woes (PHOTOS)

 

Aerial view of people gathering during a "cacerolazo" (a form of civilian protest where pots are used to make noise) against Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's government in Cordoba, Argentina on November 8, 2012 (AFP Photo)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/argentina-protest-march-government-304/

Thousands of Argentineans gathered in the streets of capital Buenos Aires to voice anger against the government of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. The rally, reportedly the biggest in a decade, was organized on social networks.

­The protesters banged pots and pans as they rallied against soaring inflation and sky-high levels of crime and corruption. Many demonstrators also said that they were driven to protest by the prospect of President Fernandez seeking a third term in office.

The president’s supporters in Congress have lobbied for a constitutional amendment allowing Fernandez to run for a third consecutive term in 2015. President Fernandez was reelected to a second term in 2011, but her popularity has plummeted since she assumed office.

Protesters also spoke out against restrictions on the purchase of dollars that were introduced last year and ramped up this year. The new law has made it harder for Argentineans worried about inflation to trade in their currency.

Official data on inflation in the country puts the current rate at 12%, though some economists predict the actual figure is much higher.

The International Monetary Fund warned Argentina in September that the country could face sanctions if it fails to produce reliable growth and bring down inflation by December.

The Argentinean leadership has claimed that the economic crisis gripping the country is the result of a global recession, not government policy.

 

 

Image from instagram.com @sofidangavs

 

 

Image from twitter.com @AntonellaMarty

 

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US austerity? US 'fiscal cliff' would trigger cuts of up to 5.1% GDP

 

US debt clock (Alex Wong/Getty Images/AFP)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/business/news/usa-debt-ceiling-opinion-798/

As US public debt is about to rise over the limit of $16.39 trillion, analysts warn of the drastic damage it could create. Should the debt limit remain unchanged, the US economy will have to suffer austerity measures worth around $804.5 billion.

The debt held by the public skyrocketed to about 102% of the US GDP in 3Q 2012. The ratio was higher only once in the US economic history – in 1945 when it reached 113% of GDP.Meanwhile, a new so-called “debt ceiling”, that was last raised by Congress in January 2012 to $16.394trln, seems to be not high enough, as the figures show that the room for further borrowing is becoming increasingly narrower.

Earlier this week the US Treasury said the country was set to hit the debt limit by the end of the year. Meanwhile the Treasury has continued to unveil borrowing plans that include massive bond issues, which will inevitably drive the US economy deeper into debt.

If the US Congress does not raise the debt ceiling in the next few months, it would result in an “onset of austerity measures worth 5.1% of American GDP,” or $804.5bn, Margaret Bogenrief from ACM Partners told Business RT.

“The world currently sits on the precipice of a debt cliff – the rate of debt growth for the United States is, economically, unsustainable and must be curbed within the next 5 years,” added Bogenrief. A combination of increased taxes and limited spending would pave the way out of the debt hole for the US, the ACM Partners expert added.

While the need to curb the extravagance of the US – a nation of debt lovers – is clear, a collision of the economic and political reasoning is now one of the main stumbling blocks, according to Bogenrief. Economically, continued growth of US debt will keep on weighing down and destabilizing the American economy. But politically, lower Government spending and higher taxes would not be popular among US citizens.

Also, there’s “a collision between what Americans say they want versus what they prefer in reality – it’s easy to say we need to cut spending and raise taxes – as long as we cut spending allocated to other people while raising other people’s taxes,” Bogenrief concluded.

While allowing a broader opportunity for increased consumption, excessive borrowing can pose a real economic threat long term, Max Wolff, a NYC-based economist, added to Business RT.

“Consistent US debt growth is a short term boom to the US and global economies. It allows greater growth and demand now in exchange for increased financial fragility and lowered growth and demand in the future. This is the essenece of debt. Debt moves purchasing power through time. It is sustainable when it pays for greater growth in incomes in the future. If this fails, it is very dangerous,” the economist explained.

“Some amount of borrowing is necessary for any industrialized economy. For the past four years, however, the United States has averaged $1trln +in annual deficits – the growth in debt is unprecedented in American history, unsustainable, and has no easy answer in sight,” Bogenrief concluded.

 

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Spain jobless rate climbs by 2.73% in October

 

This file photo shows people standing in line outside a government employment office in Madrid, Spain, October 26, 2012.

Source; Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/11/05/270533/spain-jobless-rate-climbs-by-273/

Official data show that Spain’s unemployment rate climbed by 2.73% in October, bringing the number of the unemployed people in the European country to 4.83 million.

According to the data released on Monday by Spain’s Labor Ministry, October was the third straight month that the jobless rate climbed after a break during the summer tourism season.

Battered by the global financial downturn, Spain’s economy collapsed into recession in the second half of 2008, taking with it millions of jobs.

Protests have been growing against the Spanish government’s austerity measures and labor reforms, which are hitting the middle and working classes the hardest, amid the deepening economic crisis.

The government has remained adamant saying the austerity measures are needed to bring it through the crisis.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s proposed 2013 draft budget is expected to slash the overall spending by 40 billion euros ($51.7 billion), freeze the salaries of public workers, and reduce spending for unemployment benefits.

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Greek police, firefighters, coast guards, medics protest against cuts

 

Greek police officers, firefighters, and coast guards protest outside parliament during an anti-austerity demonstration in central Athens on November 1, 2012.

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/11/01/269989/1000s-of-greeks-hold-demo-against-cuts/

Thousands of Greek police officers, coast guards, firefighters, and medical professionals have held demonstrations to protest against the government’s austerity measures.

The protesters took to the streets in the capital Athens on Thursday, Reuters reported.

Thousands of police officers and coast guards from various Greek regions marched to parliament to protest against salary cuts expected to be included in a new austerity bill.

Next week, Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras is likely to send the parliament a bill of labor reforms, which includes the officers' salary cuts.

In protest to the cuts, the police officers and the coast guards also handed out bowls of bean soup to the needy.

"[We say] 'No' to modern slavery. Our rage is overflowing. They lied to us again; those pre-election promises became dust after the elections, and will lead us to new medieval times," said Dimitris Sarantakis, the president of the Panhellenic Coast Guard Officers' Federation.

"Even if these measures pass the way they have arranged them, we will overturn them because we have not only reached our limits, we have now surpassed our limits," said Dimitris Vogiatzis, the president of the Police Officers' Federation.

A large number of Greek firefighters chanting anti-austerity slogans also marched on the parliament.

Earlier in the day, public hospital staff including doctors, nurses and ambulance drivers, walked off the job and staged a demonstration outside Greek Health Ministry headquarters. They said austerity cuts have weakened citizens' health and made their jobs more difficult.

They carried banners reading, "Austerity measures are bad for your health" and "Free public health care for all".

Greece has been at the epicenter of the eurozone debt crisis and is experiencing its fifth year of recession, while harsh austerity measures have left about half a million people without jobs.

One in every five Greek workers is currently unemployed, banks are in a shaky position, and pensions and salaries have been slashed by up to 40 percent.

Greek youths have also been badly affected, and more than half of them are unemployed.

The long-drawn-out eurozone debt crisis, which began in Greece in late 2009 and reached Italy, Spain, and France in 2011, is viewed as a threat not only to Europe but also to many of the world’s other developed economies.

Also on Thursday, a Greek court ruled that some of the spending cuts needed to secure more bailout funds for the near-bankrupt country are unconstitutional.

The Court of Auditors, which examines Greek laws before they are presented to parliament, said planned austerity measures such as raising the age of retirement to 67 and reducing pensions by 5 to 10 percent, could be against the constitution.

The court said the pension cuts for a fifth time since May 2010 violated many constitutional provisions, including the principles of individual dignity and equality before the law.

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Swiss banking giant UBS AG to cut about 10,000 jobs worldwide

 

Swiss banking giant UBS has announced plans to slash some 10,000 jobs worldwide

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/10/30/269503/swiss-banking-giant-to-cut-10000-jobs/

The largest bank in Switzerland, UBS AG, has announced plans to cut about 10,000 jobs worldwide, as the economic crisis in the European country continues to worsen.

"This decision has been a difficult one, particularly in a business such as ours that is all about its people. Some reductions will result from natural attrition and we will take whatever measures we can to mitigate the overall effect,” UBS chief executive Sergio Ermotti said in a statement released on Tuesday.

According to the statement, the decision is part of a restructuring plan devised in response to the global economic downturn and the European financial crisis.

Reports say that the Zurich-based bank aims to save over three billion dollars until the end of 2015.

The bank has also posted a net loss of 2.3 billion dollars in the third quarter of 2012.

Since the beginning of the financial crisis in Europe, UBS which employs more than 63,000 people, has been hit by billions of dollars in trading losses, management mishaps and scandals.

Last year, the Swiss bank said it would cut only 5 percent of its workforce, or about 3,500 jobs. It also appointed new executives that have promised to emphasize the bank’s wealth management business and decrease its capital markets activities.

Europe plunged into the financial crisis in early 2008. Insolvency now threatens heavily debt-ridden countries such as Greece, Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Spain.

The worsening debt crisis has forced the EU governments to adopt harsh austerity measures and tough economic reforms, which have triggered incidents of social unrest and massive protests in many European countries.

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Troika proposes 150 new reforms for devastated Greece - report

 

Demonstrators shout slogans during a demonstration against the government’s austerity measures in central Athens. (AFP Photo / Aris Messinis)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/troika-greece-new-reforms-435/

While Greece claims the deal on its new rescue package is nearly final, the troika will reportedly require the country to implement 150 new reforms within two years.

­The reform proposals by the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund – which comprise the so-called “troika” – include loosening of hiring-and-firing laws, changing minimum wage rules and abolishing professional privileges, Germany’s Spiegel reports.

To control the implementation of the reforms, the troika proposes keeping bailout tranches in a special frozen account, releasing them only after the reforms are introduced.

The report also suggested that the troika proposed a debt restructuring, meaning that creditors would write off some of their Greek debt holdings, along with a two-year delay for budgetary consolidation.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble sharply criticized the idea, saying "that is a discussion which has little to do with the reality in the member states of the eurozone.”

He suggested, however, that Greece buy back some of its debt at discounted prices, Spiegel reported.

Private investors agreed to write off almost all of their Greek debt as part of a second bailout package, put together earlier this year.

Meanwhile, so-called "official sector" bondholders, including other eurozone countries, are still clinging to their share of Greek bonds.

The European Central Bank made it clear it would not write off its share of Greek debt, as this would mean financing Greece – which is forbidden, the report says.

Athens is looking forward to a €31.2 billion tranche from its current bailout package. Otherwise, the country may go bust as early as the end of November, according to Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.

Last week Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras asserted that almost all the conditions of the new deal had been agreed upon, saying the parties were still to discuss labor reforms and measures to reform products and services markets.

Earlier he had agreed to cut €6.5 billion in wages, pensions and benefits and to save €1.5 billion from reforms to the public sector. Some reports also said the pension age would be raised by two years, bringing it to 67, a move that would save Greece another $1 billion.

 

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One year after IMF bailout, Greece still big on military spending

(AFP Photo / Louisa Gouliamaki)

Exactly one year ago, the EU agreed to several extreme measures to combat the ongoing economic crisis, to mixed results. But despite its unique economic distress, Greece shows no sign of cutting back its considerable military budget.

­A year ago to the day, EU leaders met to tackle debt troubles that German Chancellor Angela Merkel described as Europe’s worst economic crisis since the end of WWII. The EU spent a month negotiating the deal, which was proclaimed to have saved Greece by writing off half the country’s debt, which at the time amounted to 160 percent of its GDP.

The second aim of the package was to protect other European countries from financial instability. The EU decided to more than double the eurozone bailout fund, also known as the European Financial Stability Facility.

A handful of nations expressed skepticism of the deal at the outset. Now, a year later, consensus has emerged that the eurozone crisis shows no sign of abating, and the financial and business climate across Europe has significantly worsened.

But as the crisis worsens, some nations, like Greece, have chosen to spend more money on the military while simultaneously slashing social programs.

A man holds a placard in front of riot police forces during a protest march marking a 24-hour general strike on October 18, 2012 near the parliament in Athens. (AFP Photo / Louisa Gouliamaki)

The Greek arms anomaly

­Greece continues to be one of the world’s biggest arms importers, despite having little chance of meeting the deficit reduction targets pegged to its International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout loan, according to a preliminary report by the organization’s debt inspectors.

The IMF report will likely recommend more austerity in Greece, in addition to 89 other stalled reforms Athens has failed to enact.

Despite the push for cuts in other spheres, the Greek government continues to spend a considerable portion of its budget on arms, amounting to 7 billion euros in 2011. From 2002 through 2006, Greece was the world's fourth-largest importer of weapons. Despite the country’s ongoing debt crisis, it remains the tenth-largest military importer.

As a proportion of its GDP, Greek defense spending is nearly double that of any other EU member. The country also has a less-than-transparent procurement process and a reputation for budgetary corruption, RT's Peter Oliver reports.

Long-running tensions between Greece and Turkey are believed to be the main reason behind Athens’ high levels of military spending. Following Turkey’s 1974 invasion of Cyprus, Greece has spent an estimated 216 billion euros on arms.

“Greece still considers that it is facing a threat from Turkey. And that we need to maintain credible military forces to deter that threat,” Thanos Dokos, the Director-General of the Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy told RT.

Germany, one of Greece’s main creditors in the IMF bailout and a leading voice for eurozone austerity, is also one of Athens’ biggest arms suppliers. Greek military imports account for some 15 percent of Berlin's arms exports.

Vladimir Kremlev for RT

“In my point of view there's no justification that Greece continues to spend so heavily on military equipment. But of course it is export earnings for Germany, there are NATO interests there, so it's just being done and it's not being talked about too much,” political and economic analyst Maz Otte explained to RT.

“Once in a while it pops up, but German politicians aren't really questioning it,” he added.

With Greece plunging further into dire economic conditions, some have leveled charges of hypocrisy at Germany’s dual role as arms supplier and austerity advocate for Athens.

“For [Berlin], social spending cutting is the first thing that comes to their minds. Whereas to me as a Green, the first priority would be making cuts to the defense sector,”Franziska Brantner, German MEP from the Green Party said.

“I think there is elite in Greece both with in the political sphere, as well as the arms lobby that does keep specific percentages from every sale of arms,” journalist Loukas Germanos told RT. “These are the people who are sending that money abroad to Swiss bank accounts.”

With former Greek defense minister Apostolos Tsochatzopoulos in custody for charges of fraud and embezzlement, the country’s high military budget will likely remain a contentious issue. Economists estimate that if Greece had cut defense spending over the past decade to levels comparable to other EU nations, it would have saved some 150 billion euros – more than its last IMF bailout.

 

Health employees protest outside the Health Ministry in Athens against pay and budget cuts planned in the latest round of austerity measures. (AFP Photo / Aris Messinis)

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Thousands in Madrid protest 2013 budget cuts (PHOTOS)

 

Demonstrators raise their arms during an assembly outside Madrid's Parliament October 23, 2012, as the debate for the 2013 budget goes on inside.(Reuters/Susana Vera)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/spain-protests-parliament-budget-madrid-091/

Thousands have taken to the streets of the Spanish capital, just outside the Parliament building, to protest their government’s latest bid to further cut spending in 2013.

­Cordoned off by police riot vans, the crowd outside the government headquarters in Madrid yelled slogans lambasting further austerity measures and political corruption, demanding the resignations of the deputies of both the ruling conservative Popular Party and the opposition Socialists.

"People in the street feel like [lawmakers] don't respect us," Noelia Urdialesa, a care assistant, told the AFP. "They are making cuts in health and education, affecting the most vulnerable."

Earlier in the day, students also staged an anti-austerity protest against new cuts to education that are expected in the 2013 budget, which will lead to larger class sizes and higher tuition fees.

Approximately $6.5 billion has been cut from education funding in Spain since 2010.

Politicians, meanwhile, are debating a new budget plan that would add an additional €39 billion in savings, as part of the plan to reduce spending by €150 billion between 2012 and 2014 with pay cuts and tax rises.

Speaking at the start of the debate, Finance Minister Cristobal Montoro said the draft budget "aimed to combat the crisis," adding that it was a budget that would make "2013 the last year of recession for Spain."

But people outside do not believe that reaching such targets is even a remote possibility.

“Those deficit targets are impossible to meet. Everybody knows that, so the government is counting on the EU to ease those targets. But the problem is that easing the targets does not mean that the government will ease their austerity policies,” journalist Miguel-Anxo Murado told RT.

This is very difficult, as Spain’s economy continued to shrink in the third quarter, according to central bank estimates Tuesday. This is the fifth quarter in a row that Spain's economic output has shrunk.

In late September during similar protests, 38 people were arrested and 64 injured when officers clashed with protesters demonstrating against austerity cutbacks and tax hikes.

This time, no casualties have been reported.

More protests outside Parliament are planned for Thursday and Saturday.

 

Demonstrators gather outside Parliament as the debate for the 2013 budget goes on inside Parliament in Madrid October 23, 2012. (Reuters/Susana Vera)

 

A demonstrator (C) wearing a Guy Fawkes mask does the Nazi salute as he holds a placard depicting a EU flag with a swatiska in his centre as he takes part in a protest against government's austerity reforms and the public payment of bank's debts on October 23, 2012 in Madrid. (AFP Photo/Dominique Faget

 

Reuters/Susana Vera

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EU citizens and private banks in a power struggle for survival

Source: Press TV

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATi0OEptaFk

There is a power struggle between the EU citizens and the private banks. The EU is also struggling to use the crisis to destroy the sovereignty of individual member states. There is also a struggle between Germany and the EU member states.

The European Union needs to do something more dramatic than just saying that they'll have one super-bank which will regulate all the banks. This is not looking at the problem fundamentally. The UK has one of the worst banking systems.

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The real jobs numbers 41 percent of America unemployed one third doesn't want work at all

 

33% percent of Americans don't have a job and don't want one

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/usa/news/jobs-us-employment-welfare-749/

Even if the US Labor Department has determined that the unemployment level has finally plateaued after months of staggering jobs statistics, the truth behind the numbers isn’t all that nice. Only four out of every ten adults in the US is employed.

While the percentage of Americans filing jobless benefit claims isn’t what it was during an unemployment epidemic that ravaged the country throughout the majority of US President Barack Obama’s administration, the Labor Department’s numbers are largely inflated on account of how they determine what actually constitutes looking for work.

Officially, the unemployment rate in America for the month of September was only 7.8 percent, but that statistic stems from only the number of citizens who have been actively searching for a paycheck. In actuality, only around 5 percent of the adult population in the US is unemployed in the eyes of the government because they have been handing in applications during the four weeks before the Labor Department conducted their research. Additionally, another 3 percent are interested in work but haven’t actively engaged in a job hunting during that span, roughly creating an unemployment figure of just under 8 percent.

The real figures, however, reveal a much scarier statistic.

"The employment-to-population ratio is the best measure of labor market conditions and it currently shows that there has been almost no improvement whatsoever over the past three years," Paul Ashworth, chief North American economist for Capital Economics, writes in a note to clients obtained by CNN. That figure, which accounts for the proportion of working Americans compared with the number of adults in the country, is a lot higher than 8 percent.

For now, 58.7 percent of American adults are working if the actual employment-population ratio is taken into consideration, leaving about 82 million, or almost 41 percent of people unemployed. Only 8 percent, however, are even interested in work, leaving 33 percent of Americans not only jobless — but in no desire for work.

"The ratio expresses more clearly how many people find working to be a 'good or attractive deal,'" Tyler Cowen, economist and director of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, adds to CNN.

If the numbers seem drastic, it’s because they are. So rampant in fact is the country’s seeming disregard for work that other just released statistics show that funding welfare programs for the American population was the most expensive endeavor undertaken in all of Fiscal Year 2011.

Republicans on the Senate Budget Committee released findings this week showing that the government spent roughly $1.03 trillion on welfare programs last year, funding 83 separate efforts to provide assistance to Americans. Days earlier, a separate study out of Capitol Hill revealed that the number of people enrolled to receive federal assistance by way of food stamps has hit a new record high with roughly 47 million US residents.

“These astounding figures demonstrate that the United States spends more on federal welfare than any other program in the federal budget,” Alabama Sen. Jeff Session writes in a letter provided to The Daily Caller this week. “It is time to restore — not retreat from — the moral principles of the 1996 welfare reform. Such reforms, combined with measures to promote growth, will help both the recipient and the Treasury.”

“No longer should we measure compassion by how much money the government spends, but by how many people we help to rise out of poverty,” Sessions adds. “Welfare assistance should be seen as temporary whenever possible, and the goal must be to help more of our fellow citizens attain gainful employment and financial independence. This is about more than rescuing our finances. It’s about creating a more optimistic future for millions of struggling Americans.”

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One million more Americans sign up for food stamps in only a year

 

A homeless man named Bob waits for donations from passing motorists.(AFP Photo / Spencer Platt)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/usa/news/million-food-stamps-record-665/

The number of Americans going to the government for assistance has once again hit a new high. More than 46 million Americans are now enrolled in the federal welfare food stamps system, more than double the amount from only a decade earlier.

The latest statistics made available by the United States Department of Agriculture reveal that more Americans than ever before are enrolled in the social welfare program, with numbers from the month of July 2012 indicating that the current roster of recipients amounts to 46,681,833 persons.

The newest figures indicate that enrollment continues to surge, with around one million more people receiving benefits now than just a year earlier. Last year, RT reported that the number of persons enrolled in the food stamps system consisted of roughly 45 million, or 15 percent of the country’s population.

By comparison, only 31.98 million people were receiving assistance in January 2009 when US President Barack Obama took office, indicating an increase of roughly 15 million in less than four years. Halfway through George W Bush’s first term, that statistic was only 19.1 million.

Republican lawmakers have pounced on the latest news and say that the Agriculture Department is openly advertising the program to non-citizens, making federally funded assistance appealing to those who do little to contribute to the country’s resources.

"USDA has engaged in an aggressive outreach and promotional campaign to boost food stamp enrollment. Among these efforts are an ongoing partnership with the Mexican government to advertise food stamps to Mexican nationals, migrant workers, and non-citizen immigrants. Partly as a result of these efforts, the number of non-citizens on food stamps has quadrupled since 2001," representatives from the Republican side of the Senate Budget Committee fire back.

"Total spending on food stamps is projected to reach nearly $800 billion over the next 10 years, with no fewer than 1 in 9 people on the program at any given time. Neither food stamp participation nor spending on the program are ever projected to return to pre-recession levels at any point in the next 10 years,” the lawmakers add according to a report published in The Weekly Standard.

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney also blamed the left for the skyrocketing numbers, attacking Pres. Obama during this week’s televised debate over his food stamps record.

Tackling a question about the American economy during Tuesday night’s arguments, Gov. Romney remarked, “How about food stamps? When [Obama] took office, 32 million people were on food stamps. Today, 47 million people are on food stamps.”

 

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Moody’s lowers credit rating of major Italian bank to Junk Status

 

Moody’s Investors Service has slashed the credit rating of Italy’s Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena.

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/10/18/267361/moodys-cuts-italy-bank-credit-rating/

Moody’s Investors Service has slashed the credit rating of Italy’s third biggest bank Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS) to ‘junk’ status, saying Rome’s recapitalization program is feared to prove inadequate.

The rating agency said on Thursday that the lowering of the bank’s rating by two notches to ‘Baaa3’ (a non-investment grade) reflects Moody’s view that there “remains a material probability that the bank will need to seek further external support.”

Earlier in June, BMPS, the world’s oldest bank, said it was set to borrow around 1.5 billion euros ( about 1.87 billion dollars) from the Italian government to pay off its debt and beef up its capital.

The ailing bank has also said it would downsize its workforce by 4,600 employees by 2015.

In July, Moody’s also lowered the debt ratings of 13 Italian banks, including Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo, by one to two notches, citing the Italian government’s weakened creditworthiness.

Several eurozone member states, including Greece, Spain and Italy, have been struggling with deep economic woes since the financial crisis began about five years ago.

Over the past decade, Italy has been the slowest growing economy in the euro area.

The continued recession in the eurozone’s third-largest economy is gloomy news for Italians, who have seen a series of austerity packages, tax hikes and pension charges.

The worsening debt crisis has forced the EU governments to adopt harsh austerity measures and tough economic reforms, which have triggered incidents of social unrest and massive protests in many European countries.

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Backlash – Greece – The Re-emergence of National Socialism?

Source Video: Journey Man Pictures

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dmPFz5WOWQ

For downloads and more information visit: http://www.journeyman.tv/?lid=64469

As the crisis deepens in Greece immigrants have been facing a harsh crackdown by the government. And with chaos across the country, the far right party Golden Dawn are implementing their own violent backlash.

"Get out! This is my country!", one angry local shouts. For immigrants, Greece is no longer the land of hope and opportunity it once was. In Athens they're being rounded up by police and thrown into overcrowded detention centres. The system is chaotic and the European Court of Human Rights has recently condemned the centres for their appalling conditions. Meanwhile, the far right group Golden Dawn has sought to capitalise on Greeks' growing discontent with violent attacks, which many Greek police seemingly turn a blind eye to. "They will kill me. I've become afraid for myself", says a terrified business owner from Cameroon. In the push to round up illegal immigrants genuine asylum seekers are also suffering. One such group of refugees fled the fighting in Syria only to be firebombed by local thugs. "If we knew we would have stayed in Syria", they say from the flat they don't dare to leave. With Greece in the grip of increasingly violent conflicts, is the country on the brink of disaster?

Inigo Gilmore

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