Category Archives: Foreign
Greek Austerity
Last week Greece defaulted on its debt to the IMF. On Sunday Greek voters said “no” to more austerity from the IMF.
Surging socialist candidate Bernie Sanders applauds the Greeks for rejecting austerity from the Euro ruling class. Economics writer Stephen Moore says Greece needs less socialism and more privitization. The banks are shutting down and withdrawals are restricted. He says what’s happening in Greece is the usual outcome of socialism – economic collapse.
Roger Cohen in the NYT says the euro zone isn’t all that much into democracy anyway: “A vote cannot undo a debt or obscure colossal Greek irresponsibility.”
The IMF had demanded more taxes on Greek businesses. Moore says the country is already overtaxed. His solution is a Detroit style bankruptcy where pensioners and Wall Street investors all take a “haircut”.
Robert Samuelson says the Greek economy accounts for only 1.8% of the euro zone and its collapse might not have much effect on the rest of us. Greece only has a population of 11 million. Hell, we have 94 million out of work.
But this WSJ analysis says if Greece does leave the Eurozone the risk of contagion to more important economies is high.
Greek Credit Swagger
Greece is in default. On Tuesday the government missed a payment deadline on its IMF debt. On Sunday Greeks will vote in a referendum to accept terms from the IMF for more loans. The terms include tax increases and pension cuts.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says he’ll step down if the referendum passes. Holman Jenkins in the WSJ says Greece has put a gun to its head saying, “Pay us ransom or the idiot gets it.”
The Greek economy is only 1.8 percent of the Eurozone. At 18 trillion in the hole, nobody has a credit swagger like Uncle Sam.
Obama Trade Secret
Nancy Pelosi led the president’s own party in defeating a key part of his free trade legislation on Friday. The deal would have provided money and training for workers displaced by the Trans Pacific Partnership – Obama Trade.
Republicans Boehner and Ryan are switch hitting for the president on Obama Trade. They want “fast track” authority which would allow him to negotiate in secret with Asian governments. The House would then vote up or down on the final trade deal with no amendments.
The bill itself is so secret congressmen are only allowed to see it in a basement reading room. One page at a time. With no notes leaving the room. Some notes must have left the room because details of the bill are being made public by Wikileaks.
ISIS Strategy Session
President Obama still isn’t impressed by the JV team. Ten months into the contest he doesn’t yet have a strategy for ISIS. He’s reaching out to Sunni tribes in Iraq to scout more fighters. Thomas Sowell says the president blew a big lead and now the game is his to lose.
Cyber War
NSA may have cut back on stealing your data but China hasn’t. Chinese government operatives continue to hack U.S. government, university, and corporate networks. A WSJ editorial titled The Chinese Have Your Numbers claims they made off with the personnel files of 2.1 million fed employees. Could be you’ve earned a purple heart in a cyber war and don’t know it.
