Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis |
- "Papandreou has Serious Doubts Greek Parliament Will Take Necessary Steps"
- Republicans and Democrats Splinter Into Bewildering Array of Factions on Debt Ceiling Limit Demands
- Oil Plunges $6 Following International Energy Agency Pledge to Release 60 Million Barrels from Strategic Stockpile
- Trichet Admits the Obvious "Risk Signals Are Flashing Red"; Ireland Snubs ECB With Renewed Threat to Bank Bondholders
"Papandreou has Serious Doubts Greek Parliament Will Take Necessary Steps" Posted: 23 Jun 2011 12:09 PM PDT Greek finance minister Evangelos Venizelos (the former defense minister appointed to a new post in a cabinet shakeup, and who knows little about finance) is under pressure from labor unions to get a change in austerity measures and under pressure by the EU to not change a thing. Reuters reports EU tightens squeeze on Greece; banks discuss rollover Greece's new finance minister grappled with EU and IMF officials over gaps in his austerity plans on Thursday, with European leaders insisting on deep spending cuts and more tax hikes if Athens wants to secure funds and avoid potential default.Once again it's important to remember this pissing in the wind cannot accomplish a thing, but make the size of the default bigger later. Of course, the rating agencies are likely to rule the rollover by banks constitutes a default anyway. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List |
Republicans and Democrats Splinter Into Bewildering Array of Factions on Debt Ceiling Limit Demands Posted: 23 Jun 2011 11:14 AM PDT Tick Tock. Each passing day sends the budget impasse closer to the August 2 deadline. Yet with each passing day, conflicting demands make a compromise even more unlikely. Please consider Congressional leaders increase pressure on group discussing debt-reduction deal Congressional leaders from both parties made new and competing demands Wednesday in exchange for their votes to raise the nation's debt limit, increasing pressure on a bipartisan group attempting to negotiate a debt-reduction deal with the White House.Irreconcilable Differences Some Democrats want more spending in return for budget cuts. My math says that makes no sense. Meanwhile, Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) wants more budget cutting, clearly in conflict with most Democrats. Count Rand Paul as a "no" vote in any case. I would love to see a balanced budget amendment but that is unlikely to be part of any compromise. Democrats are willing to accept a payroll tax cut as part of the package, but how would that be paid for? Regardless, the idea is a dumb one. It will not do a damn thing to get businesses to hire anyone. Nor would another repatriation holiday. Indeed, the latter would probably hurt small businesses because none of them have tax shelters like GE and Google. Financial Chicken Armageddon will not happen if the debt ceiling is not raised. Unfortunately, in spite of what appears to be irreconcilable differences, some sort of sorry compromise will be worked out. Expect Republicans to cave-in with counterproductive tax cut sweeteners in this game of Financial Chicken. I hope I am wrong. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List |
Posted: 23 Jun 2011 07:32 AM PDT A triple whammy hit commodities today and sent the US dollar up sharply against the Euro and other currencies.
Please consider Oil tumbles as U.S., IEA release oil stocks Oil fell sharply on Thursday, with North Sea Brent down more than $6 per barrel, after the International Energy Agency said 60 million barrels of oil would be released from strategic stockpiles to help the global economy.Energy Futures as of 2011-06-23 9:30 US Central Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List |
Posted: 23 Jun 2011 06:54 AM PDT On rare occasions ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet will admit the obvious. In contrast, you will seldom hear something like this from the Fed: Trichet Says Risk Signals Are Flashing Red as Debt Crisis Threatens Banks European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said risk signals for financial stability in the euro area are flashing "red" as the debt crisis threatens to infect banks. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke downplayed the risk of a Greek default on U.S. banks, telling reporters yesterday that the impact would be "very small." With "very few exceptions, the money-market mutual funds don't have much direct exposure to the three peripheral countries which are currently dealing with debt problems," he said.Trichet's Game While honesty is appreciated for honesty's sake, I rather suspect this is simply Trichet's way of warning the Greek parliament to "play ball" exactly as he wants and pass the austerity measures the ECB, IMF, and EU demand. Thus, Trichet deserves zero credit for his apparent honesty. Ireland Snubs ECB Bloomberg reports Ireland Snubs ECB Effort to Avoid Meltdown With Threat to Bank Bondholders Ireland opened a new front in the drive to restructure debt on the euro area's periphery, adding to the European Central Bank's concerns as it tries to head off another wave of financial turmoil.Let's Hope Noonan Not Kidding We should all hope that Noonan is not kidding. Indeed, Noonan should take advantage of the situation now and ask for 60% haircuts on all senior bonds not just a pissy 3 billion Euros. Iceland told the EU and IMF where to go. Ireland should do the same. What will Trichet do? The answer is throw another hissy fit. The correct response to Trichet's hissy fit is to threaten default and threaten to leave the Euro. Who really has the upper hand here? The answer is Ireland, and Ireland should use it, starting with a nice slap in the face to Trichet, the ECB, the EU, and the IMF. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List |
You are subscribed to email updates from Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 |