Debt Crisis Hits France And Belgium
A quote from Peter Zeihan on a Stratfor Video, 5 February 2010:
Our concern isn't so much for the PIIGS (Portugal, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Greece), ironically though. Ireland has taken some smart steps; Spain has a lot of room that they can raise taxes should they need to. Italy is probably too big to fail; Portugal simply too small. Our concern is actually for France and Belgium. These are countries that are core eurozone members, but their debt by almost every measure is just as bad as it is in Southern Europe.
To date, the Europeans have chosen to push all of the blame and all of the focus on the PIIGS. But if we get to the point that Greece actually fails, it's not just going to be Spain and Portugal and Italy that are going to be following. It's going to be some very big, very serious countries.
The Gleichschaltung of Global Taxes
1.World Economic Forum in Davos. Fortunately, the gathering that was rich in atmospherics and short on measurable results – at least for outsiders – is over. That means no more nostalgic fist waving demonstrators for peace and justice beyond the gates demanding the implementation of their favored dead systems. Equally nice is to be rid of TV reporters that have nothing to report and so resort to snow-flock counting. Sweetening the fare are cameras panning on mountains whose peak is hidden in a cloud. Presumably, the fog comes from the whipped up common places generated in luxury hotels. (These images the writer can beat without trying from his kitchen window.)
The discussion raging in Davos, regarding the wisdom of the bail out of undertakings that are “too big to fail” lacked a matching insight. This time firms tagged as “too big to fail” were saved from the consequences of their folly. In the next crisis, to which the rescue could contribute, we might encounter tottering businesses that are “too big to save”.
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