gov't to withdraw 10% from everyone's bank accounts

[saxitoxin]

Governments will always work to take money away from the people in order to line their own pockets.

They aren't even lining their own pockets! They're lining the pockets of the IMF (read: western nations in general) and the ECB (read: Germany).

Germany is singlehandedly destroying the Eurozone with its insatiable hunger for the periphery's money.

+75 SxBx

[2dimes]

Which is only a net of 67.5.

[nagerous]

Governments will always work to take money away from the people in order to line their own pockets.

Gahhh

[Night Strike]

Governments will always work to take money away from the people in order to line their own pockets.

Unlike Individuals, churches and corporations.

Indeed. Isn't taking 10% of your income a core tenet of the theology that the Christian churches preach? I suppose God needs to line his pockets just as much as the next guy.

If those people were faithful tithers, then they had already given 10% of their income to their church. Furthermore, the government would have already taxed the money in those bank accounts, so now they're the ones being greedy and taking even more of it. And ultimately, it would be GREAT if the government could be controlled enough to operate on a 10% income tax rate.

[smegal69]

Since there seems to be some confusion about the topic of this thread, this is a thread about Cyprus, a British retirement home in the Mediterranean.

oh oh!!! grab the popcorn this is going to be a hell of a riot when the open the banks on Tuesday....... you will need to be a brave man to park your car within a mile of a bank...... i wounder how many dead bankers they going to pull out off the Mediterranean Sea next week?

What i hear is there a hell of lot of Russian mob money there, and i hate to be the one to tell em it's 10% less

[chang50]

Since there seems to be some confusion about the topic of this thread, this is a thread about Cyprus, a British retirement home in the Mediterranean.

Not so much confusion as a total inability of some citizens of the US to relate to that strange (to them) entity known as the rest of the world.This is typified by referring to 'here',meaning the US in a topic about Cyprus on an international forum.Thing is I don't even think this breathtaking arrogance is intentional,just part of a reflexive collective consciousness.

[rishaed]

Since there seems to be some confusion about the topic of this thread, this is a thread about Cyprus, a British retirement home in the Mediterranean.

oh oh!!! grab the popcorn this is going to be a hell of a riot when the open the banks on Tuesday....... you will need to be a brave man to park your car within a mile of a bank...... i wounder how many dead bankers they going to pull out off the Mediterranean Sea next week?

What i hear is there a hell of lot of Russian mob money there, and i hate to be the one to tell em it's 10% less

That or Dead government officials.

[Fruitcake]

Back on topic, I believe the genie has just been let out of the lamp.

I cannot think of a previous example where a so called developed nation has plundered the assets of the people in such a way. This is not about trying to resolve a difficult situation. This is banditry on a nation scale and now the precedent has been set in the EU, which sovereign state will be next? (yes I know there aren't any in the Euro zone, they are all little more than vassal states to the greater German empire, but try to stay with me).

It is important to note that the Bondholders have not been dealt the same treatment, purely the deposit holders. Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades has warned of a total financial collapse and euro exit if there's no deal. You can read the statement here:
http://www.moi.gov.cy/moi/pio/pio.nsf/A ... endocument

What I love is the 'gun to the head' threats mentioned such as a weakening of Cyprus (surely 'es avin a larf). The final statement about "It's a decision that leads to the historic and permanent rescue our economy." really had me in stitches.

oh and by the way. The verminous way in which this has been conducted is to switch off all atm machines so nobody can withdraw any money before Tuesday.

Moving back to the core issue. It is well to be aware that in relative terms, the Banks represent some 6 times the Cypriot economy in terms of size. So any decision or circumstance within that sector will have huge repercussions.

At the end of the day, those who are interested or have an interest in this will have an opinion. For what it's worth, here's mine.

Let's assume for this that the Government approves this deal as is. Then it is a fact that depositors will have some of their money seized on Tuesday morning.

You may not care much whether these depositors (including those Russian oligarchs and other non-residents that I mentioned some time back in another thread) have this money seized. After all, that was the risk they ran for putting their hard earned into bankrupt banks!....wasn't it?.......hmmmm....best we review that......

Ever since 1929 when a large percentage of world banks ceased to exist (overnight in some cases) and depositors lost their money, regulators the world over have tried to do anything and everything they can to protect the depositor and quite rightly. Not because the depositor needs protecting is uppermost in the regulators minds, heaven forbid. What is important is that the moment depositors think there is a risk to their savings, they rush to get their cash. Now since no bank anywhere has enough cash on hand to pay everyone a run on a bank can easily cause that bank to go bust....which brings me neatly back to 1929....or should I say 2008. For in 2008 this run on a bank is what happened to Bear sterns, Lehman and other huge banks. however, with Sterns and Lehman the yanking was not conducted by you and me but by other financial institutions. This almost brought the US financial system to its knees. Which is why the Govts of the US and elsewhere have been shoring up banks ever since.

Now we have Cyprus. thanks to this bizarre decision the illusion that depositors don't need to pull their cash out because they are protected has been shattered. People's deposits are no longer safe. Sovereign Governments can now, and will, move to take that money without asking whenever they feel. Any one reading this should take particular note of that last statement.

Furthermore, the Cypriot people must be furious over this move. They have a right to ask...why did this not happen in Greece, or Ireland? The depositors in those countries didn't lose their money.

The more important point (when viewing this in a continental or monetary zone scale) is this. Other depositors at weak banks all over Europe, in places like Spain, Italy, and Greece, will rightly wonder whether this is the beginning of a new era of bank bailouts, an era in which bank depositors are going lose some of their money. I imagine there are many, even now, nervously wondering where a safe haven for their hard earned is. Because, if their banks need further bail outs (which they will) does the deposit holder in those banks then have to suffer the same. Indeed, I imagine many will be taking their cash out over the next week or two anyway just to be safe, and if enough decide this is what they are going to do, this will cause the very run on those banks the EU et al are so desperately trying to avoid. Which kind of leaves the EU twixt rock and a hard place. They cannot do this again, for if they do, then there really will be a run and this would be a total unmitigated disaster and if they don't then the good people of Cyprus will have even more reason to feel aggrieved.

If there is a run on European banks, the EU does not have the moolah to shore them up. The US would need to get involved. And whether the US got involved or not, the shock to the system could be likened to the patient on life support suffering a massive heart attack. This would not be good for the US, China or anywhere else.

So before we all crow, or ignore, or enjoy at the expense of, or even chastise, we should all think very carefully about the blue touch paper this decision may just have lit.

[2dimes]

Not to suggest they're being honest or have the correct information but.. the artical in the OP said it was 10% of new deposits.

[Fruitcake]

Not to suggest they're being honest or have the correct information but.. the artical in the OP said it was 10% of new deposits.

Accounts under €100,000 will have 6.75% of the funds seized. Accounts over €100,000 will have 9.9% seized

[2dimes]

Just went back, it said, "9.9% of bank deposits. So I don't even know what that means for certain. I'll trust you to have much better information.

[saxitoxin]

Back on topic, I believe the genie has just been let out of the lamp.

I cannot think of a previous example where a so called developed nation has plundered the assets of the people in such a way. This is not about trying to resolve a difficult situation. This is banditry on a nation scale and now the precedent has been set in the EU, which sovereign state will be next? (yes I know there aren't any in the Euro zone, they are all little more than vassal states to the greater German empire, but try to stay with me).

It is important to note that the Bondholders have not been dealt the same treatment, purely the deposit holders. Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades has warned of a total financial collapse and euro exit if there's no deal. You can read the statement here:
http://www.moi.gov.cy/moi/pio/pio.nsf/A ... endocument

What I love is the 'gun to the head' threats mentioned such as a weakening of Cyprus (surely 'es avin a larf). The final statement about "It's a decision that leads to the historic and permanent rescue our economy." really had me in stitches.

oh and by the way. The verminous way in which this has been conducted is to switch off all atm machines so nobody can withdraw any money before Tuesday.

Moving back to the core issue. It is well to be aware that in relative terms, the Banks represent some 6 times the Cypriot economy in terms of size. So any decision or circumstance within that sector will have huge repercussions.

At the end of the day, those who are interested or have an interest in this will have an opinion. For what it's worth, here's mine.

Let's assume for this that the Government approves this deal as is. Then it is a fact that depositors will have some of their money seized on Tuesday morning.

You may not care much whether these depositors (including those Russian oligarchs and other non-residents that I mentioned some time back in another thread) have this money seized. After all, that was the risk they ran for putting their hard earned into bankrupt banks!....wasn't it?.......hmmmm....best we review that......

Ever since 1929 when a large percentage of world banks ceased to exist (overnight in some cases) and depositors lost their money, regulators the world over have tried to do anything and everything they can to protect the depositor and quite rightly. Not because the depositor needs protecting is uppermost in the regulators minds, heaven forbid. What is important is that the moment depositors think there is a risk to their savings, they rush to get their cash. Now since no bank anywhere has enough cash on hand to pay everyone a run on a bank can easily cause that bank to go bust....which brings me neatly back to 1929....or should I say 2008. For in 2008 this run on a bank is what happened to Bear sterns, Lehman and other huge banks. however, with Sterns and Lehman the yanking was not conducted by you and me but by other financial institutions. This almost brought the US financial system to its knees. Which is why the Govts of the US and elsewhere have been shoring up banks ever since.

Now we have Cyprus. thanks to this bizarre decision the illusion that depositors don't need to pull their cash out because they are protected has been shattered. People's deposits are no longer safe. Sovereign Governments can now, and will, move to take that money without asking whenever they feel. Any one reading this should take particular note of that last statement.

Furthermore, the Cypriot people must be furious over this move. They have a right to ask...why did this not happen in Greece, or Ireland? The depositors in those countries didn't lose their money.

The more important point (when viewing this in a continental or monetary zone scale) is this. Other depositors at weak banks all over Europe, in places like Spain, Italy, and Greece, will rightly wonder whether this is the beginning of a new era of bank bailouts, an era in which bank depositors are going lose some of their money. I imagine there are many, even now, nervously wondering where a safe haven for their hard earned is. Because, if their banks need further bail outs (which they will) does the deposit holder in those banks then have to suffer the same. Indeed, I imagine many will be taking their cash out over the next week or two anyway just to be safe, and if enough decide this is what they are going to do, this will cause the very run on those banks the EU et al are so desperately trying to avoid. Which kind of leaves the EU twixt rock and a hard place. They cannot do this again, for if they do, then there really will be a run and this would be a total unmitigated disaster and if they don't then the good people of Cyprus will have even more reason to feel aggrieved.

If there is a run on European banks, the EU does not have the moolah to shore them up. The US would need to get involved. And whether the US got involved or not, the shock to the system could be likened to the patient on life support suffering a massive heart attack. This would not be good for the US, China or anywhere else.

So before we all crow, or ignore, or enjoy at the expense of, or even chastise, we should all think very carefully about the blue touch paper this decision may just have lit.

Now the Cypriot parliament has postponed the vote to Monday ... the last possible moment before the banks open. If it doesn't pass it seems like every bank in the country will collapse as people rush to pull everything before a new vote can be scheduled. As you note, only the 20% of Cypriots who are strong and aggressive enough to make it to the front of the queues will get their money, everyone else will be wiped out.

This could be the first combat test of the EU Gendarmerie Force as the nation of Cyprus evaporates.

[Night Strike]

Just went back, it said, "9.9% of bank deposits. So I don't even know what that means for certain. I'll trust you to have much better information.

"Bank deposits" is the term used for funds in a bank account. It doesn't specifically indicate new deposits.

[GreecePwns]

Now the Cypriot parliament has postponed the vote to Monday ... the last possible moment before the banks open. If it doesn't pass it seems like every bank in the country will collapse as people rush to pull everything before a new vote can be scheduled. As you note, only the 20% of Cypriots who are strong and aggressive enough to make it to the front of the queues will get their money, everyone else will be wiped out.

This could be the first combat test of the EU Gendarmerie Force as the nation of Cyprus evaporates.

I would not expect a majority vote in Parliament if they plan on even taking one. Cyprus has a minority government, and I'm sure mafia bosses are meeting with MPs in private to "ensure" that their money is not confiscated (as well as getting special permission to withdraw their money instantly before the banks inevitably collapse, of course). It seems likely that Tuesday will be declared a bank holiday.

Meanwhile in Greece, the PM promised, George Bush style, "no new austerity measures." This pissed off his handlers at the IMF, and negotiations for a new bailout have since died down.

[saxitoxin]

The last head of the pre-Euro Cypriot Central Bank has told parliament if they don't vote for the levy, Cyprus will "turn into Libya."

http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2013-0 ... -risk.html

[BigBallinStalin]

Governments will always work to take money away from the people in order to line their own pockets.

They aren't even lining their own pockets! They're lining the pockets of the IMF (read: western nations in general) and the ECB (read: Germany).

Germany is singlehandedly destroying the Eurozone with its insatiable hunger for the periphery's money.

Really? So, I always thought it was Greece, Italy, and Spain getting the bailouts...


The commercial banks, mainly from Germany, UK, and France were heavily invested in the now-failing economies. This was about two years ago. In order to save their asses, the IMF and ECB magically coordinate with those banks. The IMF and ECB bought up the less profitable/costly bonds, and the commercial banks were generally on the safe side.

Through this time, Greece, Spain, and Italy are realizing that (1) deficit spending isn't sustainable, (2) having more exemptions than government revenue will exacerbate the problem, and (3) making half-assed attempts to cut budgets, and (4) increasing taxes does not resolve the structural problems with their economies. As far as "insatiable hunger for money" goes, Greece, Spain, and Italy are great examples of that.

[BigBallinStalin]

Now the Cypriot parliament has postponed the vote to Monday ... the last possible moment before the banks open. If it doesn't pass it seems like every bank in the country will collapse as people rush to pull everything before a new vote can be scheduled. As you note, only the 20% of Cypriots who are strong and aggressive enough to make it to the front of the queues will get their money, everyone else will be wiped out.

This could be the first combat test of the EU Gendarmerie Force as the nation of Cyprus evaporates.

I would not expect a majority vote in Parliament if they plan on even taking one. Cyprus has a minority government, and I'm sure mafia bosses are meeting with MPs in private to "ensure" that their money is not confiscated (as well as getting special permission to withdraw their money instantly before the banks inevitably collapse, of course). It seems likely that Tuesday will be declared a bank holiday.

Meanwhile in Greece, the PM promised, George Bush style, "no new austerity measures." This pissed off his handlers at the IMF, and negotiations for a new bailout have since died down.

Of course their PM would do this, and the IMF and ECB will have to take it. Having one's costs of borrowing reduced by external bailouts is not going to incentivize the Greek government into making the necessary changes on their budget and laws.

[patches70]

Oh it gets worse. Monday is a holiday, so the banks are close in Cyprus. Tuesday has already been declared a bank holiday as well and are considering extending the bank holiday to Wednesday.
http://www.bankofcyprus.com.cy/en-GB/Cy ... -Holidays/

The Cypriot cabinet has declared Tuesday a bank holiday, for fear of capital flight, and this may even be stretched to Wednesday, as depositors are certain to withdraw huge sums from the Cypriot banks after the haircut imposed.

Even if Cyprus refuses to go along with the deal the damage is done. While there will be bank holidays in Cyprus, that won't be the case in the other EU member states. It really was about the stupidest thing the ECB could have done and to add insult to injury, bankers in Germany are talking.

The chief economist of Commerzbank, Joerg Kraemer said the following-

"So it would make sense, in Italy a one-time property tax levy," suggested the Bank economist. "A tax rate of 15 percent on financial assets would probably be enough to push the Italian government debt to below the critical level of 100 percent of gross domestic product."

emphasis mine
Full article-
http://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/int ... 8-all.html

Apparently, when the German economists look at all the assets in Italy, there is no real debt crisis there. There is enough wealth (if it's plundered) to get Italy's debt problems under control. Hence Herr Kraemer's comments.



It is going to be an interesting week.....

[patches70]

And of course, everyone knew this was coming.....

[GreecePwns]

Governments will always work to take money away from the people in order to line their own pockets.

They aren't even lining their own pockets! They're lining the pockets of the IMF (read: western nations in general) and the ECB (read: Germany).

Germany is singlehandedly destroying the Eurozone with its insatiable hunger for the periphery's money.

Really? So, I always thought it was Greece, Italy, and Spain getting the bailouts...

The commercial banks, mainly from Germany, UK, and France were heavily invested in the now-failing economies. This was about two years ago. In order to save their asses, the IMF and ECB magically coordinate with those banks. The IMF and ECB bought up the less profitable/costly bonds, and the commercial banks were generally on the safe side.

Through this time, Greece, Spain, and Italy are realizing that (1) deficit spending isn't sustainable, (2) having more exemptions than government revenue will exacerbate the problem, and (3) making half-assed attempts to cut budgets, and (4) increasing taxes does not resolve the structural problems with their economies. As far as "insatiable hunger for money" goes, Greece, Spain, and Italy are great examples of that.

But we didn't have deficits as a result of overspending, we had 5-10% of GDP worth of tax evasion every year and would have had a balanced budget without it. Our government (which still gives immunity to MPs, including ones that slap elderly debate opponents on live television) has done nothing about it for decades, and Greek economists have attributed the recent decrease in taxman bribery not to the government cracking down on it but to more Greeks not having an income and therefore not having to pay income taxes in the first place!

As for "making half-assed attempts to cut budgets and increasing taxes," what exactly are the austerity measures that were enforced as part of the bailout? Privatization for privatization's sake for the most part (including money-makers like the lottery), a slash in the minimum wage to under $5/hr. All for "competitiveness," as Frau Merkel puts it. It's an attempt to force labor to be more flexible and put everyone unemployed on part-time jobs that they don't want.

What empirical benefits have been realized in Greece? None whatsoever, the deficit and debt-to-GDP ratios have actually risen, GDP growth targets are constantly revised downward, unemployment is up to almost 27 percent (58 for youths), need I say more?

It's not the Greek/Italian/Spanish/Cypriot people who are asking for bailout money, its the European Central Bank enforcing it with their ability to replace democratically elected Prime Ministers with their own economists and threats to kick nations out of the Eurozone (threats which actually can't be carried out, because as of now no one has pointed out a mechanism by which a country can be kicked out). In none of these countries has the last election produced a majority of votes for pro-bailout parties (in all of those cases it is only because the opposition is not unified that the pro-bailout party wins, since the opposition ranges from fascist to communists to whatever the hell Beppe Grillo is).

Meanwhile, who is benefiting from austerity measures? The exact same people who are pushing hardest for them.

[GreecePwns]

Now the Cypriot parliament has postponed the vote to Monday ... the last possible moment before the banks open. If it doesn't pass it seems like every bank in the country will collapse as people rush to pull everything before a new vote can be scheduled. As you note, only the 20% of Cypriots who are strong and aggressive enough to make it to the front of the queues will get their money, everyone else will be wiped out.

This could be the first combat test of the EU Gendarmerie Force as the nation of Cyprus evaporates.

I would not expect a majority vote in Parliament if they plan on even taking one. Cyprus has a minority government, and I'm sure mafia bosses are meeting with MPs in private to "ensure" that their money is not confiscated (as well as getting special permission to withdraw their money instantly before the banks inevitably collapse, of course). It seems likely that Tuesday will be declared a bank holiday.

Meanwhile in Greece, the PM promised, George Bush style, "no new austerity measures." This pissed off his handlers at the IMF, and negotiations for a new bailout have since died down.

Of course their PM would do this, and the IMF and ECB will have to take it. Having one's costs of borrowing reduced by external bailouts is not going to incentivize the Greek government into making the necessary changes on their budget and laws.

I think I detailed well enough in my Greek politics thread that this is just flat out lying.

This is the same guy who broke away from the New Democracy party and formed his own party, vowing to never be a part of New Democracy again. Here he is today not only leading the party but governing from it!

He will reverse his stance once the appropriate deadlines get close enough.

[AAFitz]

Governments will always work to take money away from the people in order to line their own pockets.

Unlike Individuals, churches and corporations.

Indeed. Isn't taking 10% of your income a core tenet of the theology that the Christian churches preach? I suppose God needs to line his pockets just as much as the next guy.

I think this is more the idea that this is not a tax but a levy. There has always been a perception banks are a safe place to store the fruits of your labor, ergo the home economics courses in government owned schools that tell you not to bury your money in the backyard but to store it in a bank. In this case, everyone woke up one morning to find their accounts withdrawn by 10% with no notice and no discussion, while people who kept their money under their mattresses did fine (until house to house searches begin anyway).

Regardless of the ethics of the situation, it's difficult to imagine how this will not lead to the immediate collapse of all the banks in Cyprus. Who would store their money in a bank when it could be withdrawn by a third party in any amount at any moment? With no banks there are no mortgages. With no mortgages there is no home ownership. Home ownership is one of the definitive elements that separates a developed country from a developing country. The standard of living in Cyprus is on the verge of a collapse. People who becam accustomed to living with the comforts of a first world society are about to find out what life in the third world is like. Though, as 2dimes noted, this was probably going to happen anyway.

And ironically, people still seem to think its the people without money that caused it.

[BigBallinStalin]

Governments will always work to take money away from the people in order to line their own pockets.

They aren't even lining their own pockets! They're lining the pockets of the IMF (read: western nations in general) and the ECB (read: Germany).

Germany is singlehandedly destroying the Eurozone with its insatiable hunger for the periphery's money.

Really? So, I always thought it was Greece, Italy, and Spain getting the bailouts...

The commercial banks, mainly from Germany, UK, and France were heavily invested in the now-failing economies. This was about two years ago. In order to save their asses, the IMF and ECB magically coordinate with those banks. The IMF and ECB bought up the less profitable/costly bonds, and the commercial banks were generally on the safe side.

Through this time, Greece, Spain, and Italy are realizing that (1) deficit spending isn't sustainable, (2) having more exemptions than government revenue will exacerbate the problem, and (3) making half-assed attempts to cut budgets, and (4) increasing taxes does not resolve the structural problems with their economies. As far as "insatiable hunger for money" goes, Greece, Spain, and Italy are great examples of that.

But we didn't have deficits as a result of overspending, we had 5-10% of GDP worth of tax evasion every year and would have had a balanced budget without it. Our government (which still gives immunity to MPs, including ones that slap elderly debate opponents on live television) has done nothing about it for decades, and Greek economists have attributed the recent decrease in taxman bribery not to the government cracking down on it but to more Greeks not having an income and therefore not having to pay income taxes in the first place!

If you earn 100 in revenue and spend 120, then you make a loss. If you borrow 20 without reducing expenditures, then that's called deficit spending. Greece did have deficits as a result of overspending.

Why do you think tax evasion was so rampant?
Why was it allowed to happen to such a large degree?

As for "making half-assed attempts to cut budgets and increasing taxes," what exactly are the austerity measures that were enforced as part of the bailout? Privatization for privatization's sake for the most part (including money-makers like the lottery), a slash in the minimum wage to under $5/hr. All for "competitiveness," as Frau Merkel puts it. It's an attempt to force labor to be more flexible and put everyone unemployed on part-time jobs that they don't want.

What empirical benefits have been realized in Greece? None whatsoever, the deficit and debt-to-GDP ratios have actually risen, GDP growth targets are constantly revised downward, unemployment is up to almost 27 percent (58 for youths), need I say more?

It's not the Greek/Italian/Spanish/Cypriot people who are asking for bailout money, its the European Central Bank enforcing it with their ability to replace democratically elected Prime Ministers with their own economists and threats to kick nations out of the Eurozone (threats which actually can't be carried out, because as of now no one has pointed out a mechanism by which a country can be kicked out). In none of these countries has the last election produced a majority of votes for pro-bailout parties (in all of those cases it is only because the opposition is not unified that the pro-bailout party wins, since the opposition ranges from fascist to communists to whatever the hell Beppe Grillo is).

Meanwhile, who is benefiting from austerity measures? The exact same people who are pushing hardest for them.

Still are half-assed attempts to cut budgets and resolve the situation. You can't resolve the problem by running a deficit and by borrowing constantly, but Greece will continue doing that. And, they need to implement structural reforms--especially in the labor markets. They need to have their people become more productive and useful to each other and to foreigners. No one really cares about expensive, crappy Greek products.

The problem is that people who were used to a higher standard of living must now accept a lower standard--because much of that previous growth was not real. The government checks are diminishing, and the distortions in their markets from government intervention is now paying its toll. Greece lied on its books, got into the EU, spent money like crazy, but didn't generate enough for it to be sustainable.

I somewhat agree that the Greek/Italian/Spanish/Cypriot people are not asking for bailout money, but their governments definitely have been. They want those lower interest rates, so they can keep kicking the can down the road. And people generally do not like their governments doing nothing in such situations, so even in this sense, the people generally want state intervention to resolve the problem (which won't do them any favors).

[GreecePwns]

Why do you think tax evasion was so rampant? Why was it allowed to happen to such a large degree?

If you're trying to argue that people avoided taxes because they were too high, then you'd have to prove a correlation between tax rates and tax evasion in the European Union and prove that Greek tax evasion is solely explained by this factor. Considering Greek income tax rates were not far off the EU average pre-crisis, you won't be able to do that.

It was so rampant because it was allowed to happen to such a large degree. As I've previously explained, tax evasion that goes unenforced is like finding money on the floor. If you know you can save money without punishment, you will do it. The real fault goes on the corrupt taxmen and the political parties that allowed it to happen while in power (namely ND and PASOK, which from 1974-2012 held a monopoly on government).

And, they need to implement structural reforms--especially in the labor markets. They need to have their people become more productive and useful to each other and to foreigners. No one really cares about expensive, crappy Greek products.

An alternative to simply taking it up the ass from TPTB was proposed by the workers of the Bio.Me factory. They had gone over a year without being paid, and attempted traditional collective bargaining methods. The management was intransigent and the owners were absent from discussions, so the workers simply locked the front doors to management and are running the factory themselves as a cooperative (and producing more efficiently at that). In fact, they've added clients in the Balkans, something the previous management had not even considered an option.

Such an arrangement, when widespread, could not only serve as a solution to rampant unemployment but requires no bailouts, no austerity and no "accepting of a lower standard" for things the average Greek worker had very little fault in.

[saxitoxin]

The UK will reimburse British Forces in Cyprus for the portion of their bank accounts seized by the Cyprus government, but not British retirees.

"I'm furious," said Chris Drake, a former Middle East correspondent for the BBC who lives in Cyprus. "There were plenty of opportunities to take our money out; we didn't because we were promised it was a red line which would not be crossed."

"I've lost several thousand," he told Reuters.

British finance minister George Osborne told the BBC on Sunday that Britain would compensate its 3,500 military personnel based in Cyprus.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/ ... 3I20130317