by Carrie
Sat Nov 27th, 2010 at 06:40:09 AM EST
Enough is enough.
FXStreet: EU denies pusing Portugal to seek for aid (Friday, Nov 26 2010)
On Friday, Europe woke up alarmed by the rumors that the Eurozone was pushing Portugal towards bailout. Portugal's bonds fell on concern they could follow Ireland and Greece and present a formal request for Europe's rescue fund.
Later the same day, European officers denied "absolutely false" reports Portugal was being demanded to ask for aid. The Financial Times Deutschland quoted unidentified sources as saying some Eurozone states are trying to force Portugal in order to save Spain of any such need to look for financial help.
Some other people are dumb enough, or feel impune enough, to not bother hiding "off the record".
The paper quoted Germany's finance ministry as saying: "If Portugal were to use the fund, it would be good for Spain, because the country is heavily exposed to Portugal."
Accrording to Spanish radio (see
this comment yesterday), the ECB itself was also one of the pressuring parties
The Financial Times, in its German edition, claims that a majority of Eurozone countries and the ECB are demanding that Portugal request a financial aid package
This is not the first time they do it, either. Last June, malicious rumours about Spain's insolvency were spread via the FT-Deutschland by unidentified German government officials. As I wrote then:
Reuters: German-Spanish whispering wars hit euro zone (June 18, 2010)The Germans seem to have fired the first shot, telling journalists in Berlin on condition of anonymity on June 7 -- the day the German coalition agreed on its own austerity package -- that Spain was on the brink of seeking a European Union bailout.
Two German officials told Reuters that the Spanish government would make an announcement concerning the European Financial Stability Facility that day, when European finance ministers were meeting in Luxembourg to finalise details of the 440 billion euro backstop arrangement for euro zone states.
...
After extensive checks, Reuters decided there were no facts to report. But the rumours were already affecting the markets.
It appears journalistic integrity is in short supply at Financial Times Deutschland and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
It does appear the journalistic integrity of the Financial Times Deutschland hasn't improved in the intervening 6 months. It also appears the integrity of the Frankfurt economic elite (ECB, Bundesbank, FT-D) hasn't improved.
But that would be okay if it weren't the second time in two weeks a country is forced to take a bailout of its banks by the ECB. See this comment of mine
WSJ.com: Europe Steps Up Pressure for an Irish Bailout (November 16, 2010)Wrangling over whether Ireland needs an international bailout escalated Monday, with European officials amping up pressure on the country to accept a rescue and Irish officials digging in hard to resist.
"Please take our free money!
No, thanks!
Hoping to prevent Ireland's woes from infecting other euro-zone countries such as Spain and Portugal, officials at the European Central Bank and elsewhere in Europe have been urging their Irish counterparts to seek financial aid from the International Monetary Fund and a European Union rescue fund.
Because the ECB cannot create Euros at will?An EU official said Ireland's problem isn't the government's own budget, which it is dealing with effectively, but banks that have grown huge compared with the size of the economy. But he said Ireland couldn't be pushed into calling for help if officials felt the country doesn't need it, and its banks could still turn for support to the ECB.
But the ECB would rather Ireland apply to the IMF to bail out the banks.
which prompted
calls of 'treason!' from myself and others here. Now, they're doing it again. And if they're not, they're feeding lies to the press to the effect that they are.
The conclusion is inescapable: the ECB must be burned to the ground and the fire stoked with FT-D paper.
Delendum est Vadum Francorum!
