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Euro Crisis; Outlook Set To Worsen As Dollar Soars

Euro Crisis; Outlook Set To Worsen As Dollar Soars

If the thunder is not loud, the peasant forgets to cross himself.
Russian proverb

Euro Crisis picking up steam; Greece set to default?

I think it is a given that Greece will have to default, everyone knows this, but they are just playing cat and mouse for now. Most Greeks are dead set against the new Austerity measures and they will likely throw this government out of power for the new changes they have instilled. The next government will cater to people’s needs for fear of receiving the same treatment. Change is not wanted in Greece. The only way to fix this problem is if the nation as a whole understands that they have to go through a painful period of cuts, but as evidenced from the past riots this is not the case. The story below further substantiates our claims.

Greek unions announced on Wednesday that they would stage a 24-hour nationwide strike on May 20, the second major protest against tough austerity measures pledged in exchange for billions of euros in aid. The main public and private sector-led a 50,000-strong march a week ago in which hundreds of angry Greeks fought pitched battles with police in the streets of central Athens and three people were killed in a petrol bomb attack on a local bank.

The austerity measures pledged in return for 110 billion euros ($139.7 billion) in emergency aid from the European Union and International Monetary Fund, are expected to keep the economy in recession through 2011.”The IMF will not stop thirsting for workers’ blood,” said Yannis Panagopoulos, chairman of Greece’s main private-sector labour union GSEE. “Its recipes are a disaster and the government must turn them down.”

Greek Economy Trending Downwards

The country’s socialist government on Monday unveiled a draft law to raise the average retirement age and cuts benefits, which further angered unions already opposed to previous steps including public wage cuts and tax hikes. Full story

Adding to the host of problems is the fact that Greece is now officially in a recession. Painful cuts have to be implemented and maintained or Greece will default. Sometimes markets should be allowed to settle matters, intervention only delays the inevitable. Our stance has been that the Euro is going to trade down to the 115 ranges and could possibly trade down to the 110 ranges. The massive 1 trillion Package had no lasting impact on the Euro, after mounting a brief rally, the Euro crumbled and is now on its way to putting in another series of new lows.

Spain’s new austerity measures, too little too late

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Madrid would slash civil service pay by 5 per cent this year, freeze it in 2011, cut investment spending and pensions and axe 13,000 public sector jobs to meet EU deficit targets. We have to make a singular, exceptional and extraordinary effort to reduce our public deficit, and we have to do it when the economy is recovering,” he told parliament. Full story

We think this action is a little late as Spain had ample time to address these problematic changes but instead decided to sit on its fat rear and do nothing. The current recommendations are just too little to produce any meaningful change. Unofficially the employment rate is well past 20%, the housing sector has crashed, fiscal debt is roughly 112% of GDP, and Rising estimates put private debt between 160-180% of GDP.

Thus unless they put forth some bone-crushing changes, the odds are that Spain will be joining the Greeks sooner than later. Furthermore, this 1 trillion euro aid package is more of a band-aid than a fix because the nations spending beyond their means are still doing so. Nothing has changed other than the day of reckoning.

To Much largesse in Greece

Much criticism has been lobbed at places such as Greece for high public sector wages, which the government will now bring down sharply as part of the agreement for its bailout package. That’s also been one of the critical reasons Greeks have taken to the streets over weeks that have turned violent at times. On Wednesday, Spain announced a plan to reduce public wages by 5% this year and freeze them in 2011 while suspending a pension hike. The moves come as the government fears being dragged into a situation similar to Greece’s.

“I’ve observed that if any country in the emerging markets had been offered a loan package like the Greeks were offered before they got the eventual loan package they got, people wouldn’t have been rioting on the streets; they would have been saying thank you,” said Lambert at a Morningstar Investment Conference in London.

The fact they’re rioting on the streets means ultimately there may not be the ability of the Greeks to see a 20% fall in real wages,” he said.Full Story

 Euro Crisis: From the frying pan to the fire

 We would like to see how long individuals are willing to keep quiet once the government cuts their salaries, increases taxes, and cuts benefits. People used to the good life do not take kindly to such measures; they will get rid of the existing government (Greece is the lead candidate for such a move) and replace it with one more sympathetic to their cause. The only way to solve this correctly (instead of the miserable program called shock and awe, more like shock and shake) is for the Eurozone to set an example. They need to let one country default; this will send a strong message to the others that if they don’t wake up, a sledgehammer will fall right on their heads and snap them out of their coma.

In the short term, this is a very painful strategy, but this would be very beneficial to the Euro, giving it credibility and making it a true front-runner as a challenger to the US dollar. The investor will have more faith in a nation willing to take strong measures to protect its currency.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Arabian Proverb

Other Articles of Interest

The divide between rich and poor grows (May 18)

High unemployment levels here to stay as some jobs are never coming back (May 14)

World’s 1st Gold ATM; is this a sign of Top? (May 13)

Euro; the worst is yet to come (May 12)

Strategic mortgage defaults the next time bomb (May 11)

Large insider transactions; a sign all was not well at Moody’s (May 10)

Health overhaul could cost 115 billion more (May 10)

Euro shock and awe package more like Shock and shake (May 10)

Beat inflation at its own game  (May 10)

The necessity of losing and why it makes sense and cents (May 7)

The dangers of Quant Trading models; Dow’s 1000 point drop a prime example (May 7)

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