Greece's cabinet has given unanimous backing to a controversial plan by PM George Papandreou to hold a referendum on a EU debt rescue package. He told an emergency cabinet meeting that a referendum would offer "a clear mandate" for austerity measures demanded by other eurozone members.
Stock markets recorded big drops amid shocked reactions in eurozone capitals to the referendum announcement.
Mr Papandreou is due to meet European leaders in France on Wednesday. In a cabinet meeting lasting late into Tuesday night, Mr Papandreou told ministers the government needed the consent of the Greek people. BBC full story
And Who's Freaking Out Now That Greece Will Hard Default
A disorderly default in Greece just became a much bigger possibility, after PM George Papandreou announced a referendum on austerity yesterday. Freak Out Reminder: If the Greeks vote no, this could be the end of Greece's participation in the euro, and spark contagion that could spread across Europe. The Bank for International Settlements keeps a running tally of who has the biggest sovereign exposure to Greece. Although Japan, France, and Germany have all cut their debt exposure to Greece since earlier this year, they still stand to lose big if Greece decides austerity isn't worth it.
See who else has massive public debt exposure to Greece reports business insider. Click here to see who's freaking out that Greece will default and the sad story of why everyone's angry with Italy.
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Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: why this means an unraveling of last weeks deal. GREECE'S astonishing decision to call a referendum – "a supreme act of democracy and of patriotism", in the words of premier George Papandreou – has more or less killed last week’s EU summit deal.
The markets cannot wait three months to find out the result, and nor is China going to lend much money to the EFSF bail-out fund until this is cleared up. The whole edifice is already at risk of crumbling. Société Générale is down 15pc this morning. The FTSE MIB index in Milan has crashed 7pc. Italian bond spreads have jumped to 450 basis points. Source/full story
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Nonetheless, mainstream media is going all-out with eugenic slurs to taint Greeks as being inefficient at best, lazy and corrupt at worst. Although the debt is of the banksters’ making, it is the ordinary Greek citizen who is to be blamed and punished – especially if they vote to follow Iceland’s example. Source
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Greek gold and Goldman Sucks
So by now we know that the Greek cabinet is backing the country’s Prime Minister’s decision to ask citizens in a referendum whether they want to be stripped and gang-raped slowly or to have a painful but quicker rebirth into the new economic landscape that inevitably awaits us all after imminent financial collapse.
Iceland has already told the bankers to **** off – refusing to accept “austerity measures” similar to those now hanging over Greece (and indeed the rest of the EU). Furthermore, Iceland even jailed banksters for bringing their corrupt crises to the country’s 320,000 people. Iceland’s economy is faring better now than its EU neighbours’, having done the right thing by making creditors, rather than citizens, take responsibility for bank debts.
Nonetheless, mainstream media is going all-out with eugenic slurs to taint Greeks as being inefficient at best, lazy and corrupt at worst. Although the debt is of the banksters’ making, it is the ordinary Greek citizen who is to be blamed and punished – especially if they vote to follow Iceland’s example. Source