Quote of the day

Serge Halami of Le Monde Diplomatique uses sarcasm to depict the vicious hypocrisy of the bankster elite:

A sign of the times

Everything was becoming impossible. It was impossible to increase taxes because that would discourage “entrepreneurs”. It was impossible to protect a country against commercial dumping by low wage countries, as that would contravene free trade agreements. It was impossible to impose even the tiniest tax on financial transactions; most states would need to support it in advance. It was impossible to reduce VAT, as Brussels would have to agree to that.

On 16 March, everything changed. Those orthodox institutions, the European Central Bank (ECB), the International Monetary Fund, the Eurogroup and the German government led by Angela Merkel forced the reluctant Cyprus authorities to take a step which, had it been taken by Hugo Chávez, would have been deemed dictatorial, tyrannical, a blow to liberty, and would have prompted angry editorials. The step? Automatic withdrawals from bank deposits. The rate of confiscation, initially set at 6.75% to 9.90%, was almost a thousand times as much as the Tobin tax that has been a hot topic for 15 years.

So in Europe, where there’s a will there’s a way. Provided of course that the right target is chosen: not shareholders, not creditors, but the holders of deposit accounts in debt-ridden banks. It is so much easier to rob a pensioner in Cyprus (on the pretext that the real target is a Russian mobster hiding in a tax haven) than it is to extract money from a German banker or a Greek armaments manufacturer or a multinational with dividends tucked away in Ireland, Switzerland or Luxembourg.

The best way to rob a bank is to own it, as William Black pointed out years back. And the best way to get away with robbing a bank is to limit the theft to those individuals and groups that lack the power to defend their interests.

Related articles

• So Much for the Sanctity of Bank Deposits (counterpunch.org)
• Could Cyprus Be The Defining Event Of This Century? (jsmineset.com)
• all your savings is belong to us (niqnaq.wordpress.com)
• EU’s Rehn says big depositors could suffer in future bank bailouts (forexlive.com)
• Laiki customers escape Cyprus levy (bbc.co.uk)
• Are All G20 Bank Depositors Exposed to a Cyprus Style Seizure of Deposits for a ‘Bail-in?’ (jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com)
• Big depositors could suffer in future bank bailouts under new law, says Rehn (ekathimerini.com)
• Schaeuble says decision to tax small deposits was taken by Cyprus, European Commission and ECB (ekathimerini.com)
• Co-op rumour spreads panic (cyprus-mail.com)