Bernard Hickey details the key news over the weekend in 90 seconds at 9 am in association with Bank of New Zealand, including news that Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has offered to step down so a national government of unity can be formed to respond to Greece's financial crisis.
Global markets are focused on Greece's political machinations, given the risk Greece may default and exit from the Eurozone in a disorderly fashion within weeks unless a government can enforce austerity measures demanded by France and Germany.
Reuters reported the various political parties had agreed Papandreou won't lead the government and that the new government would agree on bailout measures before new elections.
Meanwhile, the focus is shifting to Italy, which has debts of over 1.8 trillion euros and is considered too big to fail and too big to bailout. Italian government bond yields rose over 6.4% last week, which is considered unsustainable. When yields rose over similar levels last year, Portugal, Ireland and Greece were forced to ask for bailouts.
There were fresh calls over the weekend for Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to resign and he faces a crucial vote in the Italian parliament on Tuesday night that could bring down his government. Financial markets and the European banking system are very nervous about the Eurozone crisis spreading from Greece to Italy. See more here at The Telegraph.
Meanwhile, a summit of leaders of the world's twenty largest economies over the weekend failed to solve the Eurozone crisis, opening the prospect of a global downturn. See more here at The Guardian.
Elsewhere, there are concerns that Iran's nuclear ambitions could trigger a first strike by Israeli military forces in coming months. An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report due this week is expected to say Iran wants to build a nuclear bomb. Israel launched military strikes against Iraq to stop such a thing well before the Iraq wars. See more here at Reuters.
Meanwhile, closer to home, the Green Party has proposed the NZ Superannuation Fund be used to manage KiwiSaver funds, dragging down fees and delivering savings of tens of thousands of dollars per saver over the life of the fund. See more here on our site.
The New Zealand dollar was steady in early trade. See BNZ's currencies report on our site.
(Updated with Greek deal)
No chart with that title exists.
14 Comments
Ta A.J. a good chortle was had.
Earlier that week two of those Nuns were set upon when setting off from the Monastery for a bingo evening.
Oh Dear me..! exciamed one of the Nuns...How will will ever explain to the Mother Superior we have been raped twice...!
Twice ..! said the other Nun inquisitively.
Well we are going back that way , are we not...?
Interesting breakdown on 'Australia’s state and local governments on property taxes' - and the dependence.
Europe's rescue fiasco leaves Italy defenceless The sixty days allotted to save monetary union have expired. The G20 has come and gone, yet no workable firewall is in place as the drama engulfs Italy and threatens to light the fuse on the world’s third largest edifice of debt. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/88730… comments on above article It's interesting to raise one's sights in all of this carry-on and look at what I call 'the big screen scene'. If you're anything like me when you read yet another one of AEP's reports, you find yourself asking, "What is really going on here?".
Bear in mind that politicians don't usually ask this question: they're interested primarily in staying in power and, therefore, in a job for the immediate future (let's say 4 or 5 years or so).
No, what's really going on is happening on a truly grand scale, affecting our lives for decades if not a hundred years into the future. We are witnessing and experiencing the 'catabolic collapse' of western developed societies. It sounds dramatic, I know, but there is no other way of accounting for what's going on at the moment.
Catabolic collapse is, in essence, the self-reinforcing cycle of socio-economic decline driven by interactions between resources, capital, production and waste. Not my analysis, of course, but that of John Michael Greer in his book 'The Long Descent'. In essence, our productive capabilties are failing to match our societies' insatiable demand for capital. The resultant crisis of capital (ie where we are now) is exacerbated by the underlying resourcing crisis that now exists (primarily energy scarcity; oil is still trading at over $100 per barrel), which in turn means that most capital is now being converted to waste.
We're in a self-reinforcing cycle of decline that no amount of money printing, bail-out funding and the madness of increasing-debt-to-get-out-of-debt is ever going to put right.
Unless and until our political elites comprehend what's really going on here, the situation will go from bad to worse to catastrophic.
Place your bets on how long it will take for, say, the British political elite to figure this one out. I guess my point is that, for me, our political class is currently performing like a bunch of mediocre corporals, when what we need is a first-rate, visionary general (a political Lord Slim, for example) and his highly qualified staff to see the wood for the trees and lead us out of this unprecedented predicament.
Meantime, for as long as our intellectual pygmies are in control, the prospects of us all being in for a very rough ride indeed grow by the day. Make sure that you and your family are well prepared for the next 10 - 20 years: they'll be like nothing gone before in peacetime (assuming peace prevails, and that's a tall order too).
Read more about catabolic collapse here: http://tinyurl.com/dxp3cbx
Otsuka Duojinshi
What seems to be missing in the discussions?It seems to me that there are a number of subjects that each respective government refuses to acknowledge. Every argument made by the G20 advocates MORE - more of the same; as though if there is a massage here or a tweak there, so life can continue with profligate unions, socialism 'lite' (or heavy) depending upon the PIIGS under discussion.
In the US, California, Wisconsin, New Jersey are the beginnings of the real structural reforms that will be necessary to see our way through to a day where the parasitical are no longer the drain upon the productive that they are today.
Our collective futures (in every country) will include the raising of retirement ages, indexing benefits for wealth and actuarial realities. It will also include a smaller public employee 'footprint' - that's not a right wing conservative desire - its simply a sensible calculation and acknowledgement of economic reality. There is no money.
California has a few bankrupt municipal governments hostage to pension inanities. Governor Moonbeam Brown version 2.0 has begun the dismantling of the public employee monstrosity, whose inception he presided over in 1973 as Moonbean version 1.0. These unions will not go quietly into the night without a terrifying fight. As will their PIIGS counterparts.
Note that the mere mention of any form of reform from Greece to France to fill in the blank ______ is accorded a blank stare of incredulity by any and all G20 leader. This is what is at the root of the 'markets' collective disdain and will continue until some effort of real reform occurs. It will be socialism's last gasp and last grasp. There is no more of other people's money to steal.
We live in interesting times.
I read this article over the weekend, Bazza from the AEP article above is onto it. A warning to us or perhaps a timely reminder.
BazzaMcKenzie
The core problem, and the reason China will not tip money into the EFSF was stated by Jin Liqun (http://english.aljazeera.net/p..., who chairs China's sovereign wealth fund:"If you look at the troubles which
happened in European countries, this is purely because of the
accumulated troubles of the worn out welfare society. I think the labour
laws are outdated. The labour laws induce sloth, indolence, rather than
hardworking. The incentive system, is totally out of whack."
In other words, all the European countries, like the UK and US, have lived beyond their means for so long they have grossly damaged their economies, and their societies, and have incurred a level of unrepayable debt.
Because this threatens the fantasies of the Eurocrats, they are now attempting to force the PIIGS to live within their means (but not yet France and Germany) BUT within a monetary framework that guarantees economic shrinkage rather than economic growth, so living within their means requires a perpetual decline in living standards -- until there is a civic explosion that junks the policy and junks the euro.
Its the belief that billions of people could enjoy the privilge of the few at the top. Im not trying to justify the greed of the banking system, I think the major banks should all be broken up and locally owned. The reality is that if we all expect to live ,a high enegy consumption lifestyle then we will run into resource problems. Then should we reward hard work and effort or try some communist experiment again, welfare and the size of the state will have to be addressed some time in the future, it would be nice to debate the issues but we will no doubt wait for a full on crisis, then it will be too late.
This debate has been going on for ever;
Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?""I know not," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?"
Witness what is happening in parts of asia at the moment regarding monsoonal flooding and retreating glaciers.........The current circus being played out in the media re debt and the future of western industrialised society is but a mere sideshow.....the real rhino in the pantry is wheather mother nature will allow human existance on this planet we all call home......the latest readings from Mauna Loa http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/ suggest we can expect more extremes and more often.............here in NZ our minister for the environment (excuse me while i puke ) foisted apon us an emission trading scheme spawned by the same malignancy that brought the world derivatives......that same minister (puke) then gives the green light to start digging and processing our lignite so we can export it all to india and china and have them hang it in our upper atmosphere .....im thankful we dont have tar sands .....it is this kind of duplicity by governments everywhere that will defeat the likes of 350.org and their ilk and keep CO2 , methane and nitrous oxide levels on an ever increasing trajectory.....does anyone think like i do that we should not be sending Pike river and the denniston plateau to the asian continent...besides future generations of new zealanders may require that high quality coking coal to smelt infrastructure .......??
"It is essentially a moral and ethical issue," said Deputy leader Annette King. herald
What about the parents who are unable to have children. Is it ethical that they should pay money over to those who pop them out like hot buns...because the money would come from taxes
Is there no limit to Labours willingness to use other peoples money to buy votes?
How many babies would be the limit...oh no limit....as many as you want under Labour...6 months parental leave paid for by whom...taxpayers of course...then three months later ..."POP" out comes another...6 months leave paid for by!....3 months later another sprog and another 6 months of money....."It is essentially a moral and ethical issue".....doh
Hey Annette, how about promising a payment to all the parents who cannot have children....buy their votes too
..on many fronts !
In connection with messages that Israel/ USA are preparing a military strike on Iran, I recommend to regularly read: http://www.haaretz.com/
About latest developments in Fukushima and it’s consequences, I recommend:
http://fukushima-diary.com/2011/11/there-is-on-going-fission-occurring-…
Silent wars costing billions:
…on many fronts !
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned Tuesday that Israeli threats to attack Iran over its nuclear programme were "extremely dangerous rhetoric" that could result in a "catastrophe".
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2011/Nov-08/153372-medvedev-warns-against-dangerous-rhetoric-over-iran.ashx#axzz1dCTstVhR
End of next week a $ 100.- ?
Oil Price shocks come in waves, but increasingly. Political instability in the Middle East can trigger another big oil shock for the world with the potential to paralyze nation’s economies.
Considering worldwide problems on many fronts – I think it is time to rethink and reform our economy and our life- style. Government stop spending megalomaniacal for “things”, which are useless and we cannot afford.
"Spectacularly dreadful"
"Labour is promising to extend a $60-a-week payment( set up to help working parents) so social welfare beneficiaries with children will also get it.
But it would take seven years to phase in the change.
The poverty alleviation plan highlights the difference between Labour's bid to make life easier for sole parents and National's cracking the whip to get them into work." herald
"Highlights the difference"......sure does.....Labour want to make life on a social welfare benefit better....Annette King simply fails to understand....or does she understand only too well....is this Labour exposing its dirty tricks...its intention to beef up the size of the social welfare love labour voting block...
We welcome your comments below. If you are not already registered, please register to comment.
Remember we welcome robust, respectful and insightful debate. We don't welcome abusive or defamatory comments and will de-register those repeatedly making such comments. Our current comment policy is here.