Sunday, December 2, 2012

Europe as a whole...Before seeking or accepting help from the rest of Europe, countries should employ all available domestic resources. Debtor governments should call upon their own taxpayers to fund some of the national debt in order to avoid higher interest rates in credit markets. They could, for example, offer an incentive in the form of a 3-4% interest rate on bonds, and even make them tax-free eventually. This would allow Italy, Spain, and even Greece to finance their national debts at a more reasonable, sustainable cost....Citizens' voluntary financing of their countries' national debt would be the most effective means of reducing strain on Europe's financial resources, while simultaneously serving as a powerful symbol of solidarity.... The Portuguese government created a scheme in 2010 for its citizens to purchase 10-year Treasury Certificates, with interest paid annually - a lower rate for the first five years after which a bonus became payable and a higher rate paid until year 10, which triggered another bonus. The 10 year rate was around 7.75% for much of the time the certificates were available and they could be redeemed at any time. Tax applied at normal savings rates.
The scheme ended in August 2012 and doesn't seem to have done much to alleviate the need for external support.Finland is deeper in trouble than is widely known.
UP NORTH - Contrary to other euro nations Finnish government is padding its economic status by including the funds held in pension funds. If these funds would be removed from the accounts, Finland would lose its triple-A rating quite quickly.  Finland would probably still be welcome to non-euro NER. But not for long as if the Finnish economy as a whole takes a nosedive, Finland could become a burden to other NER countries. Currently also the expensive euro helps exports from other NER countries to compete successfully against Finnish exports. This has also been observed by businesses that are increasingly moving their production away from Finland.... WELL IN CONCLUSION : ...In the past few years the PRESS has predicted the "exit" (from the Eurozone) of Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Germany. Now it is Finland. What's next after  if  "Fexit" doesn't happen? Luxembourg ("the Luxit")?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hedge fund managers, at least, are pleased. The deal struck late on Monday night between euro-zone finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund to reduce Greece's overall debt load includes a measure stipulating an Athens buyback of its own debt. Investors that bought Greek bonds for as low as 17 cents on the euro can now expect to sell them back to Athens for around 35 cents on the euro -- a tidy little profit.







ANZEIGE



Elsewhere, however, investors would appear to be unimpressed by the deal. Markets across the world were down on Wednesday and the euro lost value early against the dollar, with Greece cited -- along with US debt troubles -- as one of the reasons for the uncertainty. Investors, it would seem, see the Greece deal as yet another attempt by European leaders to muddle through the crisis rather than take steps toward a lasting solution.