Hard to ratify as Im paying 10s of thousands of pounds tax in the uk happily but lots of our "partners" pay fook all - not bitter just paying a LOT of tax covering a lot of needs

the problem in Europe is the shit € - different economies can not have a common currency

It is false assumption. Different economies having same currency have huge advantages. Issue in EU areas is not in currency area. It is in energy and manufacturing areas.

the problem in Europe is the shit € - different economies can not have a common currency - the euro is Europe and shoot - stupid politicians have failed - as always - but elsewhere it's not better - the United States and other print money, print money, print money, and that's bullshit - of capitalism is going to the dogs - is being destroyed by greedy banks

Simple thing: bitcoin can't be controled, you don't pay taxes with it, it isn't something Governments would ever want. If it gets to be important, it will quickly be declared ilegal, with bitcoins there would be no social services. Which also makes me think about the ongoing privitization of those, and how private companies debt is becoming social debt. Oh well.

Back to Cyprus and the UE: Europe's playing a dangerous game, sometimes crossing the line, then going back. Don't know where the heck we are going towards to, but I can tell we're pretty much fucked up in Spain. Things should have been way easier: banks shouldn't have been rescued, there was plenty of money with investors to pay "ground people's" money (sorry but I don't know financial terms in English). But you know whose money can be taken away, and whose can't be. What's funny about what the UE chose to do with Cyprus is that the money they want to take, isn't even theirs, but russians.

Sometimes, I can't even believe why there hasn't been a revolution in Greece or Spain, where corruption is over the charts to add to unbelievable policies imposed from the Troika. We are way too polite today, too many pacifists shall I say, 'cause a few hundred heads should have already been cut off for playing with uneducated families money. Instead, 500.000 families have already lost their homes. Yei! Welcome to the New World - that's what I said to my recently born niece. It will be much worse for her, that at least we can anticipate.

Vitaliy, are you following Spain's politics and economical movements? It's real comedy, anybody would have a lot of fun reading Spains news. Such a fucking shame from such an amazing and beautiful country. Stupid too, I'm not a patriotic guy.

Cyprus just looks like the new guinea pig. Let's see what comes next. All I can see is a global financial war going through, it doesn't make noise or instant casualties, but it's much much more beneficial for the elites, and a lot worse for those who see themselves degraded, living in the street, headfucked. As for myself, I'd prefer a gun and "play" the game just like in the last century or any other before.

For real, if I have to think any time in history where there was so much shit going around, and so much headfucking done by elites and politicians, I have to go back to the Middle Age. At least then, it was straight forward, not bullshit lies over and over again. Once again, my spaniard (thus ignorant?) point of view.

The same confiscation has gone on in every other country; it just doesn't show up as a "tax". But it's the same loss of wealth, as assets are shifted from ordinary people to large financial institutions.

Consider bank deposits in "safe" countries. Sub-inflation CD rates, sustained only by government guarantees of the deposits, amount to a subsidy to banks, and a tax on savings accounts -- compared to what people would be earning, if the banks weren't "too big to fail" and interests rates weren't kept below market-value by sovereign banks. In four+ years, this loss of savers' income is much higher than the proposed Cypriot tax.

Or what about the zero interest loans offered by governments to investment banks? This is money lost to the general public, as public services are cut because of reduced income to the government.

By some measures, none of the big investment banks would be profitable today, if not for the market value of the "too big to fail" guarantee. And you're paying for it, in the form of increased poverty, reduced government services and lower wages.

At only 5%-10% confiscation, the Cypriots are getting off easy....

Vitaliy you seem to think Glass-Steagall is not an option (for reasons unspecified). Do you think that the whole situation is absolutely destined for hyper-inflation, riots and war?

Whole situation is limited from above. By energy and resources (and degraded elites consisting from criminals).

Or do you think there is scope for reasonably peaceful reorganisation?

Reasonable peaciful reorganisation is possible if you could find reasonably peaciful method of killing hundreds of millions. I don't know one.

As you are on the ground in Europe, what specific political/economic events do you think may unfold in coming weeks/months? Who will flex what muscle?

Chris, I am not Vanga and can not predict all future events :-) I can tell only elites will be fucking you, but at this stage they'll be doing it soft enough. I can't tell you exact pose it'll happen.

Vitaliy you seem to think Glass-Steagall is not an option (for reasons unspecified). Do you think that the whole situation is absolutely destined for hyper-inflation, riots and war? Or do you think there is scope for reasonably peaceful reorganisation? As you are on the ground in Europe, what specific political/economic events do you think may unfold in coming weeks/months? Who will flex what muscle?

Glass-Steagall worked so well that the Banksters hated it and finally got rid of it under Clinton.

This thing is pretty minor in present situation.

Things are getting even more interesting in Cyprus. Forgetting the fact that leaving the money under your mattress looks like the best investment at this time (even though that is eroded through both inflation and currency risk.)

And now they are planning to change the % for the deal. Latest rumors suggest:

• Under 100k: lose 5%

• Under 500k: lose 10%

• Over 500k: lose 13%

The Germans really want to start by taking $2bn.

More quote from BBC:

"This simply looks like confiscating money that doesn't belong to you," Mr Medvedev said on Monday.

"This practice was unfortunately quite well known and familiar from the Soviet period, when money was exchanged at certain ratios or not returned," Mr Medvedev said.

"But here we are talking about a country that's supposed to be a market economy and an EU member."

He added that Russia would have to "make some adjustments to [its] position" in Cyprus, without elaborating.

it's not too late ... the only proposal I have heard that might avert the total melt-down of the global banking system is for the US (and then Europe) to implement Glass-Steagall legislation which will split and quarantine the activities of banks -- quarantining the "real deposits and basic lending" activities of the banks from the speculative activities (e.g. derivatives exposure). Effectively this would be an "orderly bankruptcy re-organisation" rather than a chaotic melt-down.

It is good known old fuck and his proposals. That are absolutely useless now.

Sadly though, not all of the problems can be laid at the door of GLB. Instead, the real issue was the unrestricted investments in residential mortgages and residential mortgage-backed securities--which GLB never really affected.

This is not true. This question had been discussed here many times, so called "unrestricted investments" had been, in fact, solution, not problem. And no, chenging things in this department won't help.

If it's not too late ... the only proposal I have heard that might avert the total melt-down of the global banking system is for the US (and then Europe) to implement Glass-Steagall legislation which will split and quarantine the activities of banks -- quarantining the "real deposits and basic lending" activities of the banks from the speculative activities (e.g. derivatives exposure). Effectively this would be an "orderly bankruptcy re-organisation" rather than a chaotic melt-down.

Glass-Steagall is named after two US congressman from the 1930's and this banking legislation was implemented by Roosevelt to clean up the banks after the 1929 crash. It provided for relatively stable banking up to the 1990's when Wall Street managed to convince the US government to repeal the laws in order to keep the speculative bubbles going.

I am not sure who is pushing this reform in Europe, but the US push is lead by Lyndon Larouche. They have the legislation on the floor of the congress. Video background at:

I am curious if anyone on this forum has ever heard of this stuff and/or formed any opinions?? In terms of a political cause that could use some smart movie makers, social media and intelligent advancement, maybe this could be of relevance. I am not affilliated with any political party, but I like the sound of Glass-Steagall.

Maybe Italy will be next with the "wealth tax"...

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-03-17/german-commerzbank-suggests-wealth-tax-italy-next