Bob Chapman : Dysfunctional Markets That Change Every Hour

Bob Chapman on the Sovereign Economist 19 May 2010

extracts from the latest issue of the International forecaster :"
markets too hard to follow, Euro bailout continues to fail, Fed the source of liquidity for ECB, Bank failures and home losses continue, layoffs rise, Goldman Sachs likely to payout for SEC suit, California pension pressures, deflation fears,

Keeping up with today’s dysfunctional markets is very difficult because they change hour by hour. The problems of Europe have stolen center stage from US problems. The focus is on Europe, but we all should remember trillions of dollars have been injected into the US financial system since mid-2007. All are attempting to maintain the façade that all is well, when in fact all is not well. Underlying assets are worth far less than their stated value. As a symptom of this corporate bank lending has fallen off a cliff and in Europe it doesn’t exist. Without such lending there can be no recovery. The American implosion will now be repeated in Europe. The green shoots of recovery have now turned into poison ivy. The abyss has again been filled with more debt and more fiat currency. In the process the Fed and now the ECB have lost all credibility.

The $1 trillion initial package to save the euro thus far has been a failure as the euro continues its decent. This bailout plan has US fingerprints all over it. The elitists figured they could take down the entire system in 1-1/2 to 2 years, but the poster child Greece didn’t cooperate, so all their plans have been split asunder. As far as the bailout is concerned will the effort be stopped in German courts and will the austerity programs in the weak countries work? Greek citizens say no. We will just have to see if they are serious. Do not forget that the bogus books in Greece are nothing different than almost all nations have been engaged in. Greece is no better or worse than the rest. Again, like the US, Europe is only trying to buy time. In fact, Mr. Trichet and Mrs. Merkel tell us officially that is what they are up too, buying time. This is not a situation where Greece acted alone; every nation has been doing something very similar. What is different this time is that the Greeks have responded with rage over the past month. As a result of that, the falling euro and skepticism as to whether the stimulus will work has pushed acceptance in the wrong direction.

Needless to say, all these machinations have led to deep disappointment in the wealthier EU member countries. At this point we don’t see cooperation between Greeks and their government and the bureaucrats led by a Bilderberger. On the other side the other members of the EU and the IMF refuse to conduct a bailout, which is supposed to protect the members. The Greek government may have signed the treaty, but the Greek populace hasn’t. Stringent austerity measures are not something they’ll stand still for encompassing the next ten years."