Schäuble to Greeks: Raise €50 billion in privatization campaign. Deposit funds in bank I direct.

[pa28]

?

Couldn't even make this up. German finance minister Schäuble wants the Greeks to raise 50 billion euros as collateral on debt. Rather than making direct and desperately needed re-investment in the Greek economy he wants them to deposit the money with the Luxembourg based Institute for Growth.

From the latest eurogroup proposal:

Moreover, valuable Greek assets of (EUR 50 bn) shall be transferred to an
existing external and independent fund like the Institution for Growth in
Luxembourg, to be privatized over time and decrease debt. Such fund
would be managed by the Greek authorities under the supervision of the
relevant European institutions;

http://blogs.ft.com/brusselsblog/files/2015/07/draft-eurogroup-4pm-Copy.pdf

This is an organization controlled by German investment bank KFW. Here's the best part, KFW's chairman of the board is one Wolfgang Schäuble! How about that for a coincidence?

It seems to me that Schäuble and the Germans are making demands so deliberately egregious the Greeks couldn't possibly agree to them. They want the Greeks out of the EU and the Greek Prime Minister just isn't getting the message.

[LittleBlue]

1. They want to make an example out of Greece

Germany is deliberately poisoning negotiations. The troika will inflict so much misery on Greece that no other state will dare defy them again.

[villager]

2. It will convey the message to other states that it's best to leave the EU while you still can...

Most interesting times indeed lay ahead...

[pa28]

4. Tsipras went against the will of his people.

They knew what they were getting into by voting "no" and they did it overwhelmingly. They must be very disappointed in their leadership.

[ruffburr]

3. If I was the-

Greek president or whatever his title is ,I would follow the will of the people and tell the eurozone to ,Pound Sand, bring back the national currency hunker down for the long haul while developing plans to bring in funds through Greek goods and tourism to begin with. But that is just me and I'm no expert, But letting the Germans who already owe repayment from WW2 run roughshod over the Greek people is really not an acceptable action. To my way of thinking.

[Nye Bevan]

5. The "will of the people" is to stay in the Euro.

75% of Greeks want to keep the Euro. So saying "follow the will of the people and bring back the national currency" makes no sense.

[ruffburr]

7. I guess I somehow misinterpreted the Greek vote then

[former9thward]

18. Germans paid back WW II debt.

Unless you think refighting WW II is a great idea.

[closeupready]

6. The Germans never really endorsed the Euro as a concept

devised as a means of bringing an end to the endless warring that went on in Europe for centuries - ironically, much of that precipitated by German hostilities towards its neighbors.

They will ultimately rue the day Greece leaves, if that happens, and Schauble, in part, will be to blame.

[Demeter]

8. He makes Mr. Potter of "It's a Wonderful Life" look saintly

The man is the embodiment of banksters and crooked evil political hacks.

[Recursion]

9. That's roughly a Brady bond

If I'm reading that right, Schäuble thinks a Grexit is about to happen and wants to set up something like a Brady bond: hard currency is held in escrow to be used as collateral to secure drachma-denominated loans.

[aggiesal]

10. Saw this on the HSBC thread ...

Thought it was more appropriate here.

Too funny!

[DFW]

11. "Schäuble and the Germans" must be some new rock band

There certainly isn't any such massive consensus in Germany or even within the CDU. Merkel is a solid Unionist, and is having trouble keeping Schäuble's hard line at bay. And leaving the Euro does NOT mean leaving the EU. Why so many Americans think the two are linked like Siamese twins is beyond me. The Greeks were in the EU before they joined the Euro. They can be in it if they leave the Euro.

And Germany does have this crazy law where politicians can be on the oversight boards of corporations while actively serving in Parliament. It boggles the mind for those of us who think conflict of interest is more than a theoretical nuisance. But then Germany does not have universal health care, either. There are a lot of myths being spread about Germany, it seems, and it appears it is a paradise due to free college tuition, except not automatically for non-residents, or hell on earth, if you believe those who sport posters of Merkel with a Hitler mustache. Just like the Teabagger idiot who did it with Obama's photo at a town hall meeting with Barney Frank.

People who parade around with photos of Obama in a Hitler mustache are to be taken as seriously, as Barney Frank put it, as a dining room table. People who agree with those who do the same with Merkel's photo belong in the same category, thinks this German resident. It's a country with its internal disagreements and differing points of view, just like any other. They don't go around shooting each other at family planning clinics, permitting every maniac that wants one to have a firearm, or trying to remove voting privileges for their own citizens--and no German citizen needs to starve. So, while all is not perfect there, we are hardly the ones to be pointing fingers. As Germany has no territorial claims whatsoever on Greece, and knows full well that the money they have "lent" the Greeks will never be seen again, the Greeks hardly have reason to hope for a lot of sympathy from the German taxpayers who are footing their bill.

[closeupready]

16. Merkel: 'If the euro falls, Europe falls' - THAT's why

many people believe leaving the Euro means leaving Europe.

http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/84574/merkel-if-the-euro-falls-europe-falls

[Igel]

12. "Like."

People read over this as though it had no meaning.

[pa28]

13. Just a polite suggestion I'm sure.

[hobbit709]

14. I would raise the money and put it in a bank he can't get at.

[randome]

15. If the fund is managed by Greek authorities (under supervision, of course)...

...then won't Greece benefit in some way?
[hr][font color="blue"][center]“If you're not committed to anything, you're just taking up space.”
Gregory Peck, Mirage (1965)[/center][/font][hr]

[hifiguy]

17. That man looks as if he were weaned on a pickle.

[FLPanhandle]

19. This is the same 50 billion euros Greece promised to sell off in the first bailout.

The Greeks got the money and didn't sell anything.

Greece then promised to do sell of 50 Billion in assets in the second bailout, then sold all of 3 billion.

Now, Greece anties up the same promise for the third bailout.

When the EU talks about "lack of trust", this is a key example. Greece hasn't followed through on many of it's promises from the prior bailouts.

If I was lending money to Greece, I'd want some control so that this time they had to follow through with their promises.

[meow2u3]

20. Translation: steal from the poor and give to the banks--or else!