How Goldman Sacked Greece

[Lars77]

http://www.gregpalast.com/lazy-ouzo-swilling-olive-pit-spitting-greeksor-how-goldman-sacked-greece/

Sunday, November 6, 2011

by Greg Palast for In These Times

Here's what we're told:

Greece's economy blew apart because a bunch of olive-spitting, ouzo-guzzling, lazy-ass Greeks refuse to put in a full day's work, retire while they're still teenagers, pocket pensions fit for a pasha; and they've gone on a social-services spending spree using borrowed money. Now that the bill has come due and the Greeks have to pay with higher taxes and cuts in their big fat welfare state, they run riot, screaming in the streets, busting windows and burning banks.

I don't buy it. I don't buy it because of the document in my hand marked, "RESTRICTED DISTRIBUTION."

I'll cut to the indictment: Greece is a crime scene. The people are victims of a fraud, a scam, a hustle and a flim-flam. And––cover the children's ears when I say this––a bank named Goldman Sachs is holding the smoking gun.

[tblue]

1. I love Greg Palast.

He always gets to the story behind the story. I haven't been able to figure out exactly what was going on in Greece. I just knew it was not unrelated to the economic mess we have here. Not surprised at all that our good friend Goldman Sachs is at the core of it. Is the ICC not applicable here? Do these con artists get away with everything ?

[flamingdem]

2. Verrry interesting..

When the new Socialist government of George Papandreou came into office, they opened up the books and Goldman's bats flew out. Investors' went berserk, demanding monster interest rates to lend more money to roll over this debt.

Greece's panicked bondholders rushed to buy insurance against the nation going bankrupt. The price of the bond-bust insurance, called a credit default swap (or CDS), also shot through the roof. Who made a big pile selling the CDS insurance? Goldman.

And those rotting bags of CDS's sold by Goldman and others? Didn't they know they were handing their customers gold-painted turds?

That's Goldman's specialty. In 2007, at the same time banks were selling suspect CDS's and CDOs (packaged sub-prime mortgage securities), Goldman held a “net short” position against these securities. That is, Goldman was betting their financial "products" would end up in the toilet. Goldman picked up another half a billion dollars on their "net short" scam.

* and nice writing too!

[Harmony Blue]

3. Nail. Meets. Head.

This is a must read post for those that don't know the background details.

[TreasonousBastard]

4. What about the part about how a prior Greek government paid Goldman to help...

lie its ass off and buy time so its already huge debt problem could be papered over while it conned the EU?

Goldman's hands are far from clean, but the WHOLE story shows lots of unclean hands.

(Kinda like that old saw about cheating an honest man...)

[blkmusclmachine]

5. Goldman Sucks to blame. Wha? Just doin' "the Lord's work," I heard the CEO mutter.

'though "Lord" can be defined many ways!

When does the "Change" begin?

[PoliticAverse]

6. Nice straw man argument... Goldman aided and abetted but the Greek problem...

predates their involvement.

The Greek problem is simple: The county is unwilling to pay sufficient taxes to pay for
the services the people want. Even if they defaulted on the entire external debt this
problem would remain.

[Lars77]

8. "The county is unwilling to pay sufficient taxes to pay for the services the people want."

"Even if they defaulted on the entire external debt this
problem would remain."


Hmm which other country does that remind me of....

[midnight]

7. K&R