The United Kingdom, and its free-born citizens are NOT JUST ECONOMIC UNITS. We are a history, a culture, a democracy, a monarchist, christian country - whose citizens should HAVE THE RIGHT TO DETERMINE THEIR FUTURE - AND THAT OF THEIR COUNTRY.  It is NOT for those companies with vested interests in the eu (NOTE the eu) to have ANY voice whatsoever about the Future FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY of citizens of the United Kingdom.  We were NEVER EVER consulted about the federal monster that the common market has become. We were LIED TO by a Traitor - Heath, and by useless subsequent useful idiots in the civil service and government.  The FREE citizens of the United Kingdom will vote on whether we wish to be an independent, democratic country or whether to join the increasingly undemocratic, statist, federalist, socialist slave republic of the Coudenhove-Kalergi plan.  But it is WE who will decide - WE - who are MORE than economic units - WE - with our history and culture AT RISK - will make the choice. Not any b---y investment bankers who caused the financial crash.  NOT those b---y companies who make a fortune out of paying cheap labour with no moral responsibility to the ethnic people of the UK - who don't care that the ordinary people are being increasingly made poor, with more stress on our housing, energy, food and water supplies simply because it suits THEM to treat US as 'economic units'.  THE PEOPLE OF THE UK ARE MORE THAN ECONOMIC UNITS...First, this is the very opposite of the message that was being sent to business across the UK before the Scottish referendum when enormous pressure was being put on UK business to champion the Unionist cause. To argue that UK business should keep quiet now is totally inconsistent with that. Second, not a word is mentioned in this article about those businesses that have argued against EU membership like the hypocritical Lord Bamford who does not mind the UK leaving the EU (but his company, JCB,is building a brand new HQ and massive factory in Germany, inside the EU and the single market just in case). Perhaps the reason for this is that Allister Heath knows that his views are at odds with those of most of UK business. Third, any listed company is obliged to publish to shareholders any foreseeable risks to the success of the business. Even the uncertainty surrounding the referendum is enough to cause an element of risk, let alone departure from the EU. Since no one really knows what departure from the EU would look like (and no one has put forward any kind of blue print whatsoever), the uncertainty faced by business would be massive.

OK, there would probably be a free trade agreement (but even this is not guaranteed), but free trade is a very pale imitation of membership of a true single market and customs union with common technical standards across an entire Continent and a home market of 500 million people as currently enjoyed. That risk in itself should be enough to trigger every PLC and AIM listed company to publish details of the threats that an EU exit could cause to their business.  Fourth, membership of the EU is not party political so it is not like a company supporting a given political party at all. it goes to the heart of how this country will structure its development, not for 5 short years but for the foreseeable future. Fifth, EU membership is a bit of a package, and some to the right of the Tory party and in the Telegraph may campaign for example for an end to "social Europe" but that is not a universally held belief across all business. My firm offers all staff a minimum of four weeks paid holiday every year. Because of EU laws, so must our competitors. If that power were to be repatriated, and the UK Parliament with a majority Government elected by just 33% of the voting public were to repeal that, competitors may cut costs not be raising their efficiency (which would be legitimate) but by slashing social standards and maybe cutting holidays. If my firm does the right thing and maintains 4 weeks paid holiday, we are put at an unfair competitive disadvantage, not due to greater efficiency elsewhere, but by companies cutting costs by reducing social protection. In a race to the bottom of that kind, UK productivity will never rise, and of course we will always lose against cheap labour in Asia and Latin America.  Finally, the opinions offered are often those of the CEO or senior management. They are entitled to express their personal views just as much as any journalist or member of the public and frankly will know more about the real consequences of leaving the EU than most of us, including most journalists. And if they perceive a threat to jobs and investment in the UK they not only have the right to express it but a duty to do so.

Denmark, Norway and Finland tell citizens not to travel to Sharm el-Sheikh

Note that all the "disadvantages" of Brexit are expressed in terms of financial or trading loss. Remember also that the EU itself funds many of the "independent" think tanks and lobby groups that promote continued EU membership.  Never forget that all the financial figures are deliberately skewed to support the EU. Never forget either that, for people like Osborne and Cameron, any financial or trading benefit is irrelevant to the decision they want YOU to make: for them, and many of the others with the same Common Purpose, a United Europe is a political and philosophical dream that will not be deflected or defeated by anything approaching financial or political reality.  If economic advantage or disadvantage had had anything to do with it, Britain would NEVER have declared war on Germany, NEVER have attempted to defend the Falkland Islanders. At the end of the day, it's NOT about any short or medium-term financial benefit. It's about Britain's right to choose its own lawmakers – those who govern our lives and control our borders. It boils down to a parliament in London that we can kick out if we think they are getting it wrong – or a European consortium stretching from Turkey to Portugal, whose own interests, and whose views of our own relevance to them will result in laws that govern us. Permanently.  For me, it's clear: I'm not British but I want British people to decide who runs Britain, whether I personally like the result or not...Could? Might? May? They tried this when UK refused to join the Euro. Now America too, is threatening not to negotiate a single trade deal with the UK. The EU have not secured a trade deal with the USA in the forty years we have been an EU member. Now the EU are bending every rule in the book at the expense of  EU citizens, because it is being blackmailed to ignore existing food standards, by the USA in order to get a deal. We are the 5th largest economy in the world. According to the World bank Britain has jumped ahead of the USA, Germany, France and Italy to be the no.1 country of G7 members, which the world want to do business with. It's all a bluff, by vested interests. If it's so good in the EU why did Norway refuse to join twice, and they are 23rd (nominal) and 45th (PPP).

This summer’s change in outlook means there is now at least a one-in-three chance of a downgrade over the next two years. Britain’s credit rating could be slashed below Austria and Finland's if it leaves the European Union, Standard & Poor’s has warned. Moritz Kraemer, the agency’s chief sovereign rating officer, said Britain would be stripped of its top AAA rating with a one-notch downgrade if it voted to leave the bloc, and possibly double that if relations between Britain and Brussels soured. “Should we conclude that departure from the EU is likely over the medium term, we could lower the rating by potentially more than one notch, depending on the circumstances, such as the expected future relations with the EU,” Mr Kraemer told Reuters. The UK has maintained its AAA rating with S&P since 1978, but Mr Kraemer warned that, if Britain voted to leave the EU and this triggered a Scottish secession, it would also prompt a two-notch downgrade.  While any reduction in Britain’s credit rating would still rank the UK at investment grade, it would mean just a handful of countries are rated AAA by S&P, including Germany and Luxembourg. A two-notch downgrade would also mean Britain would be deemed less credit worthy than the EU, which is currently rated AA+.  Paul Stephenson, a Vote Leave spokesman, said: "Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland all have AAA ratings from Standard & Poor's and are outside of the EU.  "We will negotiate a UK-EU relationship based on free trade and friendly cooperation so there will not be disruption to the UK economy that would warrant a downgrade."   Moody’s and Fitch, the other main rating agencies, stripped the UK of its top rating in 2013.  Moody’s warned in June that it could cut Britain’s credit rating if it left the EU. It said a British exit was likely to have “negative implications for the UK’s growth prospects".

This is hilarious on various levels. Firstly, leaving the EU cannot possibly have a negative impact on credit rating. We heard all of this crap about not joining the Euro. It didn't work then, and it won't work now.  Secondly - there is going to be a popular vote on this. S&P will not get a vote. And the likes of S&P are the most despised people in the world today. So by backing the Remain campaign, they can only help Leave.  But the real fact is this. There has been no substantive discussion of Cameron's "renegotiation". And there never will be because the EU has already made clear, that "renegotiation" is NOT on the table, and it won't be.  Cameron is a liar. The EU is a fascist dictatorship. UK does not have to put up with this. Love Europe. Hate the EU.  Get us out of this sickness...Here come the scare tactics and it will get worst. Look, Cameron has lost the argument with respects to discussions with Brussels as he's not going to get a thing. He will now fire every shot possible about the business and that we will be hit substantially. I tell you what - let's look at the population reaching 75 million in ten years. Let's talk about our standard of living dropping due to wage compression. Let's talk about importing terrorists as the EU can't and won't vet immigrants (oops, sorry refugees. Don't make me laugh). Let's talk about our NHS being overwhelmed. Let's talk about bumper to bumper traffic in our major cities. Let's talk about lack of housing. Let's talk about TB at its highest since Victorian times. Let's talk about the EU 2016 budget increase of £10billion. AND MANY MANY MORE! Get me the hell out of the EU and do so now!

The European Union is a submarxist/corporatist construct  based on failed 19th cent mechanistic social engineering theory  and controlled by an unelected 'elite'.  It is anti-democratic, which it disparages it as 'populism'  and regards both individual personal sovereignty and the national expressed sovereign democratic choice of the population as 'egotism'.

The question is - why would anyone in their right mind in the 21st cent want to be a part of such an outdated social relic construct?  ''The most puzzling development in politics during the last decade is the apparent determination of Western European leaders to re-create the Soviet Union in Western Europe.”― Mikhail Gorbachev... So yet another truth about the whole EU emerges, It reveals how any democracy is made useless, and deflected from its purpose by EU undemocratic one size inflexible impositions for dominating social and economic policies. It is indeed a very real fascism, no matter what the EU or its cogs and gears affiliations and hierarchy declare.  The light is dawning upon more and more people so as to reject this EU totally, and not just parts of it as Cameron claims to do.  This Greek scenario seems to remind and indicate a WW 2 position for conquered lands. If the Nazis rolled in and dominated and pillaged all, their installed government could say this is why we shoot and enslave you, because you are of no other purpose if you are not obedient to our dictatorship. They could do this with a friendly smile and their unique socialist realist advertisements are just a part of their doctrine, declaring they are saving your nation from itself. The EU is of such a corporate board room mentality straight out of New York with Wall Street and a UN made into puppets by its human rights that are part of the setup and fail, yet override democracy everywhere.  But then in reality they created the EU; its master is the federal USA corporatocracy.  Greece as all European countries, are entitled to freely find their own level of enrichment's or austerity according to the talents and efforts of the culture and people.  It concludes that the EU is a giant fascist bulldozer for any self determination. The push for integration will come regardless of this kind of view, however sensible it may be. Brussels has boundless ambition and no brakes. The point is to participate in the backlash of which he speaks, and to use it to to damage to the monster. The Treaty of Rome was not, as it were, built in a day - and the walls of the prison it creates will likewise need to be gradually undermined. The Greek crisis has brought worthwhile progress in that endeavor.

David Cameron has been accused by former Tory cabinet ministers of "rigging" the EU referendum over plans to spend taxpayers' money keeping Britain in Europe.  Owen Paterson and Dominic Grieve, who both served under Mr Cameron, warned him against “loading the dice" by spending public money campaigning for a Yes vote.  The Prime Minister was told that the referendum result could be deemed "illegitimate" if the public felt it was not run fairly.  The criticism came as Philip Hammond confirmed there would be no 'purdah' period limiting government spending in the final weeks before the EU referendum.  It means taxpayers' money could be spent explaining to voters why they should back staying in the EU, if the government takes that position as widely expected.

The announcement came as the Foreign Secretary introduced the EU Referendum Bill for its second reading in the House of Commons. Mr. Hammond justified the lack of restraints on government involvement by saying it would be “unworkable and inappropriate” to block ministers from commenting on European issues.  He promised the government would show “proper restraint” over the issue and would not be delivering leaflets to voters just before the referendum.

However the move triggered claims the government was undermining democracy and attempting to use the mechanics of Whitehall to rig the vote. Mr. Paterson, who served as environment secretary under Mr. Cameron, called the Foreign Secretary’s argument on purdah “nonsense” and urged him to backtrack. "This is an absolutely fundamental issue. If the public have a sense ... that this was rigged, the result will not be legitimate,” he warned. Mr. Grieve, the former attorney general, said it was essential the referendum was held on a “level playing field” and not “abused” by ministers.

He said the lack of purdah could “convey an impression that the Government will come in and try to load the dice, and that must be avoided”.

 

 

European leaders should "not discuss" treaty change, the European Parliament president has warned in a clear block on David Cameron's renegotiation aims.

Martin Schultz, a leading social democrat, said there were "a lot of obstacles" to making changes to the laws binding the Union together in the short space of time before a referendum on Britain's EU membership.  It marks the biggest warning today as Europe's big players have been filling into the summit in Riga. The Prime Minister has repeatedly said he wants treaty change.

Mr Schultz's full remarks...   I don't know what he is asking for. I had a phone call with him two days ago, he spoke about migration, he spoke about the ever closer union. He won the election, he wants to anticipate the referendum. We know in which direction the UK wants to go that's better for both sides.  Both sides are stronger together. David Cameron and the government should take into account that we are stronger together. If this is to make the EU more efficient, democratic and transparent I support that.  Not everything has to be done in Brussels. I agree entirely. This is feasible without a treaty change. I think the overwhelming majority of the member states of the EU know there will be a lot of obstacles for treaty change.  Therefore we should not discuss about treaty change. Treaty change lasts a long time. You need a ratification in 28 countries. It will take a lot of time. I prefer to discuss about reform steps now. The EU has the four freedoms - of movement, persons, goods capital and services. We will not change that basis of the European Union.

The International Monetary Fund has ruled out striking a “quick and dirty” deal with Greece, after European leaders failed to reach an agreement over the country's future at a summit in Riga on Friday.  As Greece’s senior creditor, there have been fears the IMF is ready to pull the plug on another financial aid package unless a “comprehensive” agreement is reached with Athens soon.

Fund chief Christine Lagarde dismissed the prospect of a partial release of bail-out cash that would keep Greece solvent up until the autumn.   “It has to be a comprehensive approach, not a quick and dirty job,” Ms Lagarde told an audience in Rio. “I know there is a lot of work to be done. Parties are now working, receiving proposals, working in cooperation and we will continue to do so as fast as we can.”  Her comments came after Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras met with his French and German counterparts on the sidelines of a European leaders summit in Riga.  EU did do a lot of work and meetings to keep greece in but giving money to a hole to fill it is a big mistake. Greece take money to pay for the debt which is own to the same bank and EU did play enough this bank role...Greece did a lot of work to survive but its state and government has no money but most of the Greeks have their own money taken from their banks which also must be filled by the EU.. If this game play longer than greece will eat the EU states too and still will need more money because euro it is still to strong and it did eat both greece and EU and maybe the rest of the world. Euro was built to destroy not build and unite and improve the EU life and structure. Euro must be half of the dollar to start changing things for good and that may happen after ECB print 10 trillions more....so ECB must continue printing,use Siberia forest,wood...In Riga today the EU gave the Ukraine a loan of 1.5 Billion Euros. The Ukraine wants to know a timeline of when It can expect to join the EU.  There were also draft discussions on the widening of the " Union " to include the other remaining entry candidates of eastern Europe to the EU including Georgia and Moldova.

Rising Stock prices refelect the true inflation

Responding to a reporter asking about when interest rates might rise in March last year, Ms Yellen suggested that the Fed would start to increase these “probably something in the order of six months” after it ceased buying up bonds.  Financial markets reacted instantaneously. Ms Yellen’s offhand comment was interpreted as a clear sign that the bank would tighten policy much faster than expected, causing US stocks to tumble. In a now-infamous research note, James Lord, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, singled out five economies as particularly weak. Brazil, Indonesia, India, Turkey and South Africa became known as the “Fragile Five”, picked for their large current account deficits, high inflation, and weak growth potential – all factors that made them vulnerable to the Fed.  Morgan Stanley last week revisited the group, as the Fed’s most recent dovish tilt “allowed emerging markets some breathing space again”. Manoj Pradhan, an economist at the US bank, said vulnerable economies had failed to take advantage of the reprieve offered by the central bank. Rates are rising already in anticipation of the Fed, the bond markets are petrified of the fallout due to absence of liquidity...this tougher rates outlook makes it even more inconceivable that greece, hamstrung by the euro as its currency, can generate any kind of meaningful economic activity.  Greece needs to devalue, to gain economic momentum, to gain the massive boon in tourism that would surely be theirs; But. For this, it needs its own currency. Let grexit become a reality as soon as possible, to save the unproductive, lethargic greeks from themselves, and, to save the Eurocrats from squandering countless more billions trying to catch the falling knife.  EU and its leaders need to shore up credibility for themselves, and for the credibility of Europe in the eyes of investors and traders. UK must be given assurance that spendthrift nations will be fully confronted, and blocked, where necessary, so as to remove another possible excuse for another disastrous possibility: Brexit.

Now wait for what is to come, 12 billion pounds of welfare cuts, 70 billion pounds of cuts, more foodbanks, more zero hour contracts, more inequality, a lot more failed austerity and a very very brutal time for huge sections of society. The NHS will look very different in 5 years time and the privatisation project will see huge amounts of public money transferred in private hands. England hold your head in shame you have damned us all.

 

• David Cameron is back in No 10, expects 329 seats• Forecast: Tory +22, Labour - 25, SNP +50, LD -49

• Pound in biggest jump in six years on euro
• Cable, Laws, Alexander, Hughes out as Lib Dems capitulate

• SNP take 56/59, Jim Murphy and Douglas Alexander out

• Labour on course for worst result since 1987, Kinnock defeat
• Balls on brink as Miliband says he is “deeply sorry” for result
• Boris Johnson proposes ‘federal offer’ to Scotland
• Ukip surge in northern England but Farage unlikely to win

 

I wouldn't be so quick to feel too disheartened right now.

This is day one of the next 5 years. The Conservative Party are now governing fully on their own and sat on 5 years in power.

By far, their most difficult challenge next time around will be finding someone to blame for the state of the economy when they won't be able to do that. They'll need all the help and more some from their mates in the press and in other media to help them next time, in particualar BBC Tory zealot Laura Kuenssberg.

Even so, there are several things I take with me this morning:

1: Not so much the scale of Labour's defeat but the scale of the Conservative share of the seats won. What does this say about the people of Britain today; their values and their perceptions and particularly since the now ended coalition has been the most pernicious in living memory? This is a stark and uncomfortable feeling, that few people seem to give a damn about anything these days.

2: There will be a lot of pain for a lot of vulnerable people in the next 5 years and today we should perhaps be mourning their loss of social justice and social democracy last night.

3: We can only hope the principles of the SNP will bring the British people around to social democracy again because frankly Labour appear a wholly impotent force right now.

The EU and the Euro is a joke. All this bickering and name calling I am sure is making international investors very nervous. Plus they look like a joke.  When will the ruling elite in Europe realize it is over. Its like a falling out amongst thieves. When the economy turns down at the end of this year you will see the Euro collapse. Capital flight soon.    Still pretending the 'troika' plan does not work. The plan is fine, Greece simply never implemented it.

Example: There are six times more civil servants per habitant 'working' in Greece than in Germany. That means 5 out of six civil servants could be fired. That cannot be done quickly, so the savings target set by the Troika was just 50%.  The Greek government was unable to fire any significant amount so they cut wages by 50% instead to obtain the same number of savings. Obviously that does not have the same effect, that demotivated all civil servants.  They should have fired at least 50% and give a pay rise to the remaining bunch to motivate them to keep up the level of service....Greece - None of the Troika have simply implemented anything here, least of all Draghi, with his selective Greece to be excluded, QE program. The problems with Varoufakis and Tsipras are: One, Syriza is not prepared to take Greece out of the EZ, and two, they were naive to think that they could exact change by simply stating their grievances. As things stand now, Tsipras will be forced to sell the worst of defeats as victory, and believe me, the Greek people will figure it out quickly. He can only win by doing something monumental here, and he's not prepared to do it. Tsipras appears to be playing at revolutionary. "No, Greece can't leave, it would mean the end of the world..." How nice of Varoufakis to be concerned about the well being of those who chose to destroy Greece. What a guy! "We're all Euro peons", now is it it? No, actually, just the Greeks are being treated like peons. ... If it is your intent to milk a cow, you work the teats gently, lest she kick your head off. This tact works across the political spectrum... cows as you know, don't discriminate...laughs

Europe will remain dependent on Russian gas for years to come, energy giant Centrica has warned, dismissing suggestions the EU can replace it with other sources as "unrealistic". European leaders have scrambled to try to cut reliance on imports from Vladimir Putin's Russia since the Ukraine crisis escalated last year, with Ed Davey, the energy secretary, suggesting loft insulation and wind farms were needed to "take on the Kremlin".  But Rick Haythornthwaite, Centrica chairman, told shareholders on Monday: "Whatever we might want as Europe, we need to be very careful about being pragmatic about the realities of it... I think it's unrealistic to think that Russian gas is going to be replaced in the near-term."  Iain Conn, Centrica chief executive, added: "Russia supplies... about a third of Europe's gas. You can't switch that off easily without huge consequence. There is no way the United States can supply that volume of LNG to replace it."  If sanctions were imposed on Russian gas companies would have to comply, he said, but it would have "a very significant impact on Europe's ability to balance its natural gas sources and uses", particularly in Eastern Europe which was "not plumbed in to many alternatives".   But he added that Russia had been a "a reliable supplier of gas all the way through the Cold War" and that it needed European demand. "Russia realises that plays a very important part in Russia's own future and there's as much value in this co-dependency as there is potential threat," he said...He's got balls - the last European energy guy to suggest Russian sanctions were unwise ended up smeared across the landscape after Langley flew his plane into a snow plough.

Greece requires to be bailed out...Just like the banks were a few years back...Hundreds of £Billions were dished out and also Q.E. was introduced and indeed will continue, just so the financials continue to operate...Kicking that can down the road. Now ask yourself what's the difference between banks and Greece...Both were broken by miss management and greed. Today however the banks and financials continue on their merry way...richer than ever, whilst the people of Greece (and others) must suffer austerity and unemployment...The divide between the rich in the centers of finance and politics, getting wealthier as their assets and investments go up in value maintained all the while by Q.E. and bail outs, and the rest of societies, grows wider by the day.  Greece meantime...There is an argument here, for Greece just throwing in the towel and defaulting on their debt, returning to the Drachma and say stuff it, we've had enough of this, Let the financials suffer for a change...Once this course of action happens, as sure it will, others will follow and the Euro will then be no more...First to leave will benefit the most...When?, that is the question...One is a loan and the other one is a "Donation" (well supposed to be a loan). Notice under TARP, the US government made profits - from the interest charged and the capital gains when the securities were sold. In contrast to Greece, so far 53.5% of the original loans were written off. Yet, Greece wants more debt write-off.And the same time, it wants Europe to lend it more money, which no doubt a portion will be written off in the future.  If you were the lender, would you lend your OWN MONEY to Greece?!?  As to the issue of reforms - every single country, when bloated must reform - whether the country is the US, Russia or Greece. Remember that unemployment in the US nearly reached 10M at one stage.  The extra-ordinary loans were made, so that companies and countries could carry out the necessary reforms and transition into a new viable and competitive entity (for example GM or Ireland).  Europe and IMF have offered Greece the loans, so it could carry out reforms.  But Greece only wants the money, but "does not" want to carry out reforms.  Which in the end results in Greece and companies within Greece, to remain un-competitive, which results in Greece asking for more "Loans" from Europe and IMF and more "write-offs".

A vicious cycle - no?!?

This crisis has shown clearly that EU government is corrupt to the core being run by Merkel/Germany by diktat and appointing tax cheating Junker to high office. The EU is clearly nothing more than a service agency there to help the oligarchs and the corporations they own accumulate more wealth and power.  It's apt that The Little Boy Who Cried Wolf is thought to have its origins in Greece - as the present lot there seem to be quite adept at doing the same thing.  In a few days' time the Greeks are due to refund more than a billion Euros' worth of short-term bonds and then, very soon afterwards, give 80 million Euros to the ECB for an interest payment. Now seems a very good time to, once again, throw up the hands and wail, "Oh you nasty, nasty people! How dare you expect us to pay back the money we agreed to borrow."  Of course it's all theatre - Kabuki, really. The Great Fraud of Europe will no more kick Greece out of the club than Greece will volunteer to go. The first one daren't acknowledge that it's possible to leave and the second one couldn't find a more willing bunch of suckers anywhere else...IMF chief Christine Lagarde is being influenced/controlled by her French financial connects. (France and Germany are the key players of the EU.)  The IMF has formed a pact with the EU and ECB instead if being the independent organisation that it was meant to be. The IMF is not making independent rational decisions.  The IMF/Greek fiasco has destroyed the credibility of the IMF as a responsible lender of finances to nations having financial problems.The IMF must be disbanded. It no longer is a responsible organization. YESSS...April 17th could have been a good bet for a selective default (leave it till about 4pm for maximum damage) on the 194 euros owed to the ECB for interest payment. Friday evening.... close down the Bank of Greece. EU cannot enforce a payment against a bank that does not exist. Target2 goes pear-shaped. Without Target2 EZ would be finished as a union. The hedgies attack the following Monday.

The choice for Greece is simple. Either (a) leave EMU, or (b) Syriza falls on its own sword.  If Syriza falls on its own sword, then Greece becomes ungovernable and either the EU sends in its own administrators plus never ending German money, together with its own security force (front line EU occupation) or Greece exits EMU by default.  Thus the options boil down to how Greece exits EMU. Either Syriza takes Greece out of EMU in an orderly a fashion as it can or Greece exits EMU chaotically, through resistance to EU occupation or through a lack of a functioning government. Either way Greece is heading for the EMU exit. The only question is the manner of its going and who will get the blame for what follows. No matter how much the EU apparatchiks try to avoid this outcome and the threat it poses to its pretensions of European wide dictatorial power, it is now certain.  "Bridging finance from the Kremlin would transform the situation, allowing Greece to avert a disastrous clash with the IMF. Syriza could then confine its dispute to EMU creditors and particularly to the ECB, the body deemed enemy number one by embittered Syriza ministers.  The drama has escalated into a bizarre form of brinkmanship for the highest stakes, with Greece effectively playing off Moscow, Brussels, and Washington, against each other in three-way geo-strategic poker.  Mr Varoufakis won words of sympathy from President Barack Obama at a meeting in the White House but it is not yet clear whether Syriza can expect much more than a comfort blanket from the US."  This is pretty much nonsense. Obama offered Greece nothing, and told them to compromise to get an agreement in time.  Bridging finance from the Kremlin, or any other form of Greece effectively getting major export deals, is absolutely in the interest of Greece's creditors, as Schaeuble made clear. The problem is that Russia has nowhere near the economic strength to bail Greece out, or even just provide Greeks with the standard of living they feel entitled to after a default.

Clearly there are some who have not realized the new economic tectonic shift in power towards the East.  The U.S. has an unpayable debt of nearly 200 TRILLION dollars, when you include unfunded liabilities.  The western shadow banking system is hiding over a 1000 TRILLION in derivatives, that have zero backing.  The plain truth is that Russia is dependent on sales of a product that will NEVER recover to its old price level.   $60 a barrel is the new norm.  This is a disaster for the Russian economy.  The prosperity it enjoyed in the days of $100+ a barrel are gone forever.
And worse times are coming for Russia as the Little Russian Psychopath persists with his grossly transparent plan to get a secure land route from Russia to Crimea through puppet "republics" in Soutern Ukraine... RBS, which maintains an office in Russia, said in its full-year results that it had “reduced limits to customers affected by [sanctions], including tightening transactional controls to mitigate credit risk while ensuring sanctions compliance”, and that it had placed restrictions on new business in the country. Its net exposure fell by £120m last year to £1.8bn, around half of which is fully hedged. While half of RBS’s loans to the country are to corporates, most of Barclays’ exposure is to the financial sector. The retreats represent a major pull-back for Britain’s banks in Russia, after a pre-crisis investment splurge. In 2008, at the height of the banking boom, Barclays paid £373m for Expobank, before selling it for an undisclosed sum in 2011. In the same year, HSBC closed its retail banking operations in the country, having opened them just two years earlier. Other banks cut funding last year, including the French bank Société Générale, which is one of the largest foreign lenders in the country.

Greece and its European creditors reached Friday a deal over the country's request to extend its bailout that would keep the country from falling out of the euro bloc.  An official close to discussions, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to comment publicly, says a deal was reached between the two sides at a meeting of finance ministers in Brussels.  The official said that, as part of the agreement, Greece could "present a first list of reform measures by Monday" for the country's debt inspectors to assess. 
European creditors have insisted that any extension to loans should be accompanied by a commitment to some budget measures and reforms.  If the officials from the European Central Bank, International Monetary Fund and European Commission, say the list of measures presented Monday by Greece is acceptable, then eurozone finance meeting could discuss the issue by conference call on Tuesday.  The breakthrough in the standoff between Greece and its creditors helped global markets, with the euro and stock markets in the U.S. rising.  Friday's meeting was delayed by 4 hours as the finance ministers worked in clusters, where details of the statement were discussed.  The developments come a day after Athens requested a six-month loan extension, which would allow Greece to pay its bills and avoid an eventual bankruptcy...
A bad day for Greece from the looks of it, another 4 months of pain in a fiscal straightjacket that they have no hope of ever escaping from.  They are a long way off the levels of competitiveness required to stay in the EU and they are also now saddled with huge debt.  Logic says exit but logic doesn't include the stubborn heads of the politicians.  An exit is coming, it's just a case of when.
A total defeat for Greece actually:
1) The accord requires Greece to submit by Monday a letter to the Eurogroup listing all the policy measures it plans to take during the remainder of the bailout period, to ensure they comply with the conditions.
2) That drove ministers to make Greece hand over custody of nearly 11 billion euros in aid earmarked for stabilising its banks to the euro zone's rescue fund. "We wanted to make sure that the money for Greek bank recapitalisation is for that purpose, not for recapitalisation of the government," Dijsselbloem said.
3) "The Greeks certainly will have a difficult time to explain the deal to their voters," Schauble said.
But I cannot think why Germany has bothered. No way Greece can deliver any primary surplus, so all the next four months will do is prove that.
 

Commenting on the UK's future in the EU, Mrs Merkel said: "We would very much like to have the UK in a strong and successful Europe."   On migrants' abuse of benefits, she said: "Abuse needs to be fought against so freedom of movement can prevail."   The German chancellor declined to comment about whether she would support or oppose any of the changes being sought by Mr Cameron.  The prime minister earlier accompanied Mrs Merkel to an exhibition on the history of Germany at the British Museum.  The five-hour visit, one of a number Mrs Merkel is making to world leaders as part of Germany's year-long presidency of the G7 group of nations, is likely to be her last to the UK before May's general election.   Mr Cameron has called for a far-reaching shake-up of welfare and employment rules across the EU, including requiring migrants to have a job offer before coming to the UK, making them wait four years before they can receive certain benefits and ending the payment of child benefit to dependents of EU migrants overseas.  He has said the proposals will, in some cases, require changes to existing treaties and therefore require the support of all 28 members - most of whom have said they are fundamentally opposed to anything will infringing the principle of the freedom of movement across the EU.  In a joint statement earlier, the two leaders said their talks would focus on tackling instability in the global economy and securing long-term growth, including the prospect of a trade deal between the EU and US.

Now that the Bank of England has openly admitted that Commercial Banks create money out of thin air when they make loans - they lend money that they don't have - I thought it would be worth pointing out clearly what this means in the case of soveriegn debt. You have probably heard the story that Commercial Banks are supposed to have a certain amount of capital to back up their loans. You often hear that Banks can only generate about 10 times as much in loans as they have deposits....Well, this is quite clearly wrong.  Take a look at the 192 page document published by the Bank for International Settlements on "Minimum Capital Requirements".  Starting on page 19  you can find the details of how credit risk is calculated. First we learn that there are two different systems in use. "The Committee permits banks a choice between two broad methodologies for calculating their capital requirements for credit risk. One alternative, the Standardized   Approach, will be to measure credit risk in a standardised manner, supported by external credit assessments. The other alternative, the Internal Ratings-based Approach, which is subject to the explicit approval of the bank’s supervisor, would allow banks to use their internal rating  systems for credit risk." Then we get to hear how how the standardised approach works. Here's a table showing how the risk weighting works for lending to governments.

Yes, you have read that correctly. When a Government has a rating between AAA and AA-, the risk weighting is 0%. Here is a map of Standard & Poors credit ratings for European Countries (you can find similar graphs for Fitch's and Moody's.

So, if you are in countries like the UK, France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark, commercial banks can create unlimited amounts of "money" to make their loans - WITH NO CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS AT ALL.
And then, those Banks can sit back and collect the interest on that loan made with non existent money. Those interest payments have cost a fortune - as you can see in the table I compiled last year.
Even when the Banks create money to lend to countries that are rock-solid like Germany, they still get to rake in a fortune in interest. German taxpayers have handed over €1,174 billion since 1995. Italian taxpayers have handed over €1,433 billion. French taxpayers have handed over €835 billion. And so on.  Isn't this the most incredible racket you have ever heard of? By comparison, Mafia mobsters going round local shops and demanding money for "protection" is nothing.
Here we have the Banks lending unlimited amounts of inexistant money to governments with ZERO risk, and "earning" interest. And of course, if any government was to complain, they would soon pay for it by discovering that all of a sudden, their interest payments went up from a couple of percent, to 27% (like it did for Greece in 2012). As I say, the Mafia are small fry compared with this.
This has to stop. It cannot be justified.