GREEK BAILOUT DETAILS PORED OVER ACROSS EUROPE

Associated Press
August 13, 2015

Details of Greece’s latest bailout package were being pored over across Europe on Wednesday as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras insisted the agreement with creditors would put “a definitive end” to the country’s economic uncertainty.

Tsipras has called an emergency session of parliament to discuss and vote on the bill, which includes painful tax hikes and spending cuts, in time for a possible meeting of the eurozone’s 19 finance ministers Friday.

The agreement must be finalized so funds on offer can be released in time for Greece to avoid defaulting on a big debt repayment to the European Central Bank on Aug. 20.

Read more

21 Signs That The Global Economic Crisis Is About To Go To A Whole New Level

Michael Snyder
Economic Collapse

Oct 15, 2012

The global debt crisis has reached a dangerous new phase.  Unfortunately, most Americans are not taking notice of it yet because most of the action is taking place overseas, and because U.S. financial markets are riding high.  But just because the global economic crisis is unfolding at the pace of a “slow-motion train wreck” right now does not mean that it isn’t incredibly dangerous. 

As I have written about previously, the economic collapse is not going to be a single event.  Yes, there will be days when the Dow drops by more than 500 points.  Yes, there will be days when the reporters on CNBC appear to be hyperventilating.  But mostly there will be days of quiet despair as the global economic system slides even further toward oblivion.  And right now things are clearly getting worse.  Things in Greece are much worse than they were six months ago.  Things in Spain are much worse than they were six months ago.  The same thing could be said for Italy, France, Japan, Argentina and a whole bunch of other nations.  The entire global economy is slowing down, and we are entering a time period that is going to be incredibly painful for everyone.  At the moment, the U.S. is still experiencing a “sugar high” from unprecedented fiscal and monetary stimulus, but when that “sugar high” wears off the hangover will be excruciating.  Reckless borrowing, spending and money printing has bought us a brief period of “economic stability”, but our foolish financial decisions will also make our eventual collapse far worse than it might have been.  So don’t think for a second that the U.S. will somehow escape the coming global economic crisis.  The truth is that before this is all over we will be seen as one of the primary causes of the crisis.

The following are 21 signs that the global economic crisis is about to go to a whole new level….

#1 Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer says that the global economy is “awfully close” to recession.

#2 It was announced last week that the unemployment rate in Greece has reached an all-time high of 25.1 percent.  Unemployment among those 24 years old or younger is now more than 54 percent.  Back in April 2010, the unemployment rate in Greece was only sitting at 11.8 percent.

#3 The IMF is warning that Greek debt may have to be “restructured” yet again.

#4 Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg says that it is “probable” that Greece will leave the euro, and that it might happen within the next six months.

#5 An angry crowd of approximately 40,000 angry Greeks recently descended on Athens to protest a visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel…

From high-school students to pensioners, tens of thousands of Greek demonstrators swarmed into Athens yesterday to show the visiting German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, their indignation at their country’s continued austerity measures.

Flouting the government’s ban on protests, an estimated 40,000 people – many carrying posters depicting Ms Merkel as a Nazi – descended on Syntagma Square near the parliament building. Masked youths pelted riot police with rocks as the officers responded with tear gas.

The authorities had deployed 7,000 police, water cannon and a helicopter. Snipers were placed on rooftops to ensure the German leader’s safety.

#6 The debt crisis is Argentina is becoming increasingly troublesome.

#7 The government debt to GDP ratio in Italy is expected to hit 126 percent this year.  In Greece, it is expected to hit198 percent.  In Japan, it is expected to hit a whopping 237 percent.

#8 Standard & Poor’s has slashed the credit rating on Spanish government debt to BBB-, which is just one level above junk status.

#9 Back in the year 2000, the ratio of total debt to GDP in Spain was 192 percent.  By 2011, it had reached 363 percent.

#10 Record amounts of money are being pulled out of Spanish banks, and many large Spanish banks are rapidly heading toward insolvency.

#11 Manufacturing activity in Spain has contracted for 17 months in a row.

#12 It is being projected that home prices in Spain will fall by another 15 percent by the end of 2013.

Read the entire article

German minister rejects more time for Greece

Boston.com

August 27, 2012

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s economy minister has rejected calls for Greece to get more time to implement economic reforms, saying in an interview Sunday that Athens needs to respect the bailout deal reached with its international creditors.

Philipp Roesler’s comments to ZDF public television come after a visit by Greece’s prime minister to Berlin on Friday, during which Antonis Samaras told German Chancellor Angela Merkel that his country needs ‘‘time to breathe’’ before it can make all the budget cuts and reforms demanded as part of its €240 billion ($300 billion) bailout packages.

‘‘What the Greeks have asked for, half a year or two years, that’s not doable,’’ said Roesler, who is also the vice chancellor in Angela Merkel’s coalition government. He added that ‘‘time is always money’’ and all parties had agreed that additional funds for Greece weren’t up for debate.

Roesler, the leader of Germany’s pro-business Free Democratic Party, has long taken a hard line on Greece. Last month, he caused an outcry in Greece by suggesting the idea of the country leaving the 17-nation eurozone had ‘‘lost its horror.’’

Those comments appeared to put him at odds with Merkel, who has always insisted that Greece should remain in the euro.

But his latest views on the need for Greece to stick to the agreed time plan for reforms were echoed by German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, who told a newspaper in comments published Sunday that ‘‘more time generally means more money and that quickly means a new (bailout) program.’’

Merkel has so far shied away from making new promises to Greece. On Sunday, she dodged questions on the subject during an interview with German public TV station ARD. Instead, she insisted that ‘‘we are at a crucial moment in the fight against the debt crisis and that’s why I think we should all weigh our words carefully.’’

The question of how to avert a Greek debt default, which could spark a chain reaction among other ailing European economies, has preoccupied EU leaders as they return from their traditional summer break.

French President Francois Hollande urged Greece on Saturday to do more to show its commitment to reforms, and offered the country no immediate hope for relief from its current regime of painful austerity measures. Like Merkel, Hollande said further decisions on Greece need to wait for a report next month by the country’s debt inspectors.

Meanwhile, the respected German weekly Der Spiegel reported in its latest edition that Merkel wants EU leaders to forge ahead with deeper political integration within the unwieldy 27-nation bloc.

Merkel has long advocated closer political integration as a means of preventing the European project from unraveling under the strain caused by the eurozone crisis.

Asked about her plans, the chancellor told ARD television Sunday: ‘‘Our task now is to remove the founding mistakes of the currency union, namely the lack of political cooperation, and that’s what we are going to discuss in the coming months.’’

She suggested that EU member state could be subject to closer budget scrutiny, and that measures such as tax harmonization could be up for discussion.

WORLD VIEW: IMF WILL END BAILOUT FOR GREECE

Breitbart
July 23, 2012

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com 

• Food price surge expected after worst U.S. drought in 50 years
• Food price surge may lead to global riots, as in 2008
• IMF will end bailout for Greece, possibly forcing exit from euro currency
• Analysis: Euro crisis is saving Germany tens of billions
• Iran announces multiple currency exchange rates
• Catholic Priests protest Church attacks in Vietnam

Food price surge expected after worst U.S. drought in 50 years

FAO Food Price Index through June, 2012

The FAO Food Price Index has been declining since a major spike up in 2010, but that's about to change. This summer's drought, now covering more than half of the United States, is the most widespread since 1956, and is likely to get worse. Record-setting triple-digit temperatures have already occurred across the country. The National Weather Service counted 86 records last month, including 118 degrees in Norton, Kan., on June 28. Other record highs included 111 degrees in Yuma, Colo., 106 degrees in St. Louis, and 105 in Logan, W. Va. Between the extreme heat and the lack of rain, corn yield projections have been slashed, and will be slashed again in August. Corn prices have risen to historic highs, and beef prices have been surging as well, as corn makes up about 95% of cattle feed grains. Toledo (OH) Blade 

Food price surge may lead to global riots, as in 2008

Damaged corn crop in Woodville, Ohio

The world price of food has been growing steadily since 2002, as the effects of the 1960s "Green Revolution" have petered out, and population growth has been exceeding growth in food production. Food price shocks in 2008 sparked a wave of riots in 30 countries around the world, from Haiti to Bangladesh, and rising food prices helped trigger the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011. The American drought is now expected to trigger a new world food price shock. According to one analyst: 

"Food riots are a real risk at this point. Wheat prices aren't up at the level they got to in 2008 but they are still very high and that will have an effect on those who are least able to pay higher prices for food."

Global corn prices have already shot up 40% since June to hit all-time highs, soy bean prices have jumped 30% to record levels, and wheat has surged 50%. Guardian and UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) 

IMF will end bailout for Greece, possibly forcing exit from euro currency

According to reports from Germany's Der Spiegel, officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are signaling that they will stop paying bailout money to Greece, because Greece has failed to meet its austerity commitments. Readers may recall that one of the conditions of the 130 billion euro bailout is that Greece must reduce its annual budget deficit from its current 160% of GDP to 120% of GDP by 2020. As I wrote in a lengthy analysis at the time ( "28-Oct-11 News -- Markets explode on crazy Rube Goldberg eurozone deal"), this demand was based on ridiculously impossible future economic assumptions that overlook the generational changes that are taking place. And now it's "already clear" that the "Troika" -- consisting of the European Commission (EC), European Central Bank (ECB), and the IMF -- will reach the conclusion, when it meets this week, that Greece's 120% commitment will not be met. It's already clear, for example, that the 3 billion euros that Greece was supposed to earn from asset sales this year will turn out to be only 300 million euros. 

Greece has been begging EU officials to get it more time to implement its austerity commitments, and this was a big discussion in Greece's recent election that brought Antonis Samaras to office. But the Troika has decided that giving Greece more time would mean that it would be necessary to increase Greece's bailout package by an additional 10-50 billion euros. German officials this weekend torpedoed any possibility of renegotiating Greece's austerity agreement. "That won’t work -- that’s a Rubicon we can’t cross," said German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle. 

The result is that Greece will go bankrupt next month, when it's due to make a 3.8 billion euro bond payment, and will be forced to leave the euro currency. 

This discussion comes at a time when the euro crisis is rapidly building in Spain and Italy, with 10-year bond yields (interest rates) well above 7% and 6%, respectively, after officials in those countries announced that they won't be able to meet their own deficit commitments. 

Last year I proposed the "Kick the Can Theory" for the European financial crisis. It says that if you want to know what's going to happen, just assume that European leaders will look for a way to "kick the can down the road," meaning that they'll do the minimum possible to postpone the crisis a little longer, to prevent a current disaster without fixing the problem, so that the crisis will recur in worse form weeks or months later. 

There's already a can-kicking solution being proposed for Greece next month. The Greek government will sell 3.8 billion euros in short-term government bonds known as T-bills, and sell them to Greek banks. The Greek banks would then deposit them with the ECB to be used as collateral for 3.8 billion euros of new ECB bailout money. Voilà! 3.8 billion euros created out of thin air! Problem solved! Der Spiegel -- Translation and Bloomberg 

Analysis: Euro crisis is saving Germany tens of billions

We've been reporting how yields (interest rates) for some bonds issued by Denmark and Germany have been falling and have actually gone negative, meaning that investors have to pay these countries to keep their money safe. This is a result of the euro crisis, and an analysis indicates that the euro crisis has thus earned Germany a windfall of about 100 billion euros, in all, with 10 billion euros saved in 2012 alone in reduced interest payments.Kathimerini 

Iran announces multiple currency exchange rates

With Western sanctions on Iran causing rapid domestic inflation, Iran's parliamentary economic commission announced on Saturday that there will now be three official exchange rates of exchange for the U.S. dollar: 12,260 rials per dollar for "the import of basic goods," 15,000 rials per dollar for import of "capital and brokered goods," and the open market rate, currently 19,100 rials per dollar, for luxury goods, like toys and foreign cars. The new plan is drawing severe criticism from the Ahmadinejad administration. Radio Zamaneh 

Catholic Priests protest Church attacks in Vietnam

Vietnamese Catholic priests have sent a letter to President Nguyen Tan Dung protesting against what they said were violent local government backed attacks on a church in a northern Vietnam province which have angered Christians in the communist state. A non-Catholic mob, paid by government officials to participate, occupied the church on July 1 and smashed property, before church members called for help from fellow Catholics in nearby parishes, who came in groups and overwhelmed the attackers. Radio Free Asia 

The Catholic Church has played a major role in Vietnam society for over two centuries, since the the Tay-Son rebellion, the most celebrated military event in Vietnamese history, united the north and south in 1789. The generational Awakening era that followed the Tay-Son rebellion changed Vietnam enormously, and became the high point of Vietnam's literary culture, thanks to the French, who also introduced the Catholic religion, converting hundreds of thousands from Confucianism and Buddhism. The Catholic religion was an important symbol in the 1950s, when Ho Chi Minh's violence forced over half a million Catholics to migrate from North to South. Vietnam's crisis civil war in the 1970s united the North and South again, but now the new attacks on the Catholic Church indicate that new, younger post-war generations are renewing the hostilities that occurred in the under Ho Chi Minh. 

Starving Greeks Line up for food in their thousands as debt-wracked country finally forms a coalition government... but how long will it last?

Daily Mail
June 22, 2012

Starving Greeks queued around the block for free food handouts yesterday as the country's politicians managed to end a crippling stalemate to form a coalition government.

Young children as well as the elderly waited in line in Athens to collect the parcels of fruit and vegetables donated by farmers from Crete to help ease the devastating austerity faced by many Greeks.  

But as hungry people collected food, a few miles away a new conservative-led alliance was formed, vowing to renegotiate the country's strict European bailout in a bid to breath economic life back into the debt-stricken country.

Lifeline: Hundreds of poverty-stricken Greeks are queuing for free vegetable handouts as politicians finally agree to form a coalition government

Desperate: An elderly lady, left, and a woman, accompanied by her son, carries a box of vegetables as thousands of Greeks and foreign immigrants line up during a free vegetables

Despair: Pensioners joined the lengthy queues behind barriers in Athens where people were waiting for a free food handout

Hungry: Greeks line up for the food handouts, donated by Crete's farmers

Conservative Antonis Samaras was sworn in as prime minister and head of a three-party coalition that will uphold the country's international bailout commitments. 

In the hot seat: New Prime Minister Antonis Samaras vowed to rescue Greece's economy as he spoke for the first time after being sworn in to office at the presidental palace

The move ends a protracted political crisis that had cast grave doubt over the country's future in Europe's joint currency and threatened to plunge Europe deeper into a financial crisis with global repercussions. 

Samaras, an American-educated 61-year-old economist, was sworn in three days after his party won the second national elections in six weeks but without enough votes to form a government on its own. 

His New Democracy party will join forces with the socialist PASOK party, which came in third place, and the smaller Democratic Left led by Fotis Kouvelis. 

Discussions on the lineup of ministers were expected to be completed by Wednesday night. 

‘I will ask the new government that will be formed tomorrow to work hard so that we can offer tangible hope to our people,’ Samaras told reporters as he left the presidential mansion. 

Greek stocks rose marginally in response to the news, with Athens shares closing up 0.5 percent, limiting earlier gains. 

The new prime minister was to meet with outgoing Finance Minister Giorgos Zanias, PASOK head Evangelos Venizelos and Kouvelis on Wednesday evening. 

All three parties broadly back Greece's pledges to bailout creditors for further austerity and reforms, although they have pledged to renegotiate some of the terms for the rescue loans.

Vow: Antonis Samaras, right, crosses himself during a swearing-in ceremony at the Presidential Palace as at the background Greek president Karolos Papoulias looks on

Deal: Greek conservative leader Antonis Samaras, left, shakes hands with Greek President Karolos Papoulias, center, as Greece's Orthodox Archbishop Ieronimos looks on after a swearing in ceremony at the Presidential palace in Athens

Ceremony: Newly elected Prime Minister, Antonis Samaras, right, bows in front of Ieronimos, Archbishop of Athens and all Greece, during a swearing in ceremony

New Democracy and PASOK are also looking for an extension of at least two years in the deadlines for implementing fresh cutbacks worth a total 14.5billion euro ($18.42 billion). 

Democratic Left leader Fotis Kouvelis went a bit further today, saying that Greece should eventually ‘disengage’ from the austerity commitments and ‘lift those measures that have literally bled society.’

Greece has been dependent on the loans from other Eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund since May 2010. In return, it has imposed deep spending cuts, slashed salaries and pensions, and repeatedly hiked taxes. 

The measures have left the country struggling through a fifth year of recession, with unemployment spiraling to above 22 percent and tens of thousands of businesses shutting down. 

The face of the crippling poverty gripping the country was plane to see as hundreds of poverty-stricken Greeks queued in a central Athens park for free vegetables.

Misery: A young mother with her two daughters carries away a box full of vegetables to help feed her family in the debt-stricken country

Read the entire article

Greece election vote leaves Euro in balance

Editor's Note: I said this would happen in a video update recently. I stated Greece would remain in the EU at the 16:40 mark of the video.


The Telegraph
June 18. 2012


The fate of the euro was hanging in the balance after a rerun of the Greek elections failed to produce a strong government with a mandate to deliver the country’s austerity programme.

UK over the barrel with Greece bailout

Editor's Note: I believe Greece will remain in the EU. The leaders in Athens will more than likely come up with an agreement with their creditors, as is suggested in the article below.


Mail&Guardian
June 5, 2012


Britain could be asked to underwrite up to 4.8-billion towards a bailout of Greece if the country exits the euro.

David Cameron may also face calls for concessions including a referendum on EU membership if a Greek exit prompts a full treaty change, a report by Open Europe said on Monday.

There are growing concerns about the consequences should Athens leave the euro in a so-called “Grexit”, which have escalated in the run-up to the Greek general election on June 17.

Raoul Ruparel, head of economic research at Open Europe, has predicted that the new government in Athens is likely to reach a deal with creditors, allowing the country to remain in the euro temporarily. “As Greece approaches a balanced budget and a more stable banking sector, though still messy, an exit will look increasingly attractive,” he said.

The total cost of supporting Greece if it left the currency could be anything between £55-billion and £211-billion in external and immediate short-term support – in addition to longer-term costs or contagion affecting markets – according to Open Europe.

“This support could potentially be split between the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the eurozone and non-euro countries, with the UK possibly underwriting between £3-billion and £5-billion of the entire rescue package,” the think-thank said.

British taxpayers have so far avoided any direct contribution to the temporary bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility and its imminent successor, the European Stability Mechanism.

Cameron has said that he has won assurances from the EU that Britain would not have to contribute to any fresh rescue for Greece.

But Open Europe argues the UK would be likely to take part through the IMF.

Read the entire article

Burning Banks: Greece On The Brink Of Collapse As Bank Runs Hit Athens

London Telegraph
May 16, 2012

Europe’s financial crisis lurched into a perilous new phase as dire predictions emerged of a collapse in Greece’s economy, with a run on its banks bringing an inevitable end to its membership of the euro.

As leaders in Athens accepted the need for a new general election to end a national stalemate, the International Monetary Fund said Europe’s leaders should prepare for the possibility of a Greek departure from the single currency.

Christine Lagarde, head of the IMF, warned she was “technically prepared for anything” and said the utmost effort must be made to ensure any Greek exit was orderly. The effect was likely to be “quite messy” with risks to growth, trade and financial markets. “It is something that would be extremely expensive and would pose great risks but it is part of options that we must technically consider,” she said.

Read the entire article

How IMF-ECB Austerity is Destroying Greece, and the Need for a Debt Freeze Inside the Euro-Zone

Webster G. Tarpley Ph.D.
TARPLEY.net – World Crisis Radio
March 17, 2012

[download audio]

Guest: Michael Chiotinis, blogger, Athens, Greece

A first-person look at how IMF austerity is wrecking the Greek economy with a leading Greek blogger.

Other topics include Hillary Clinton’s war ultimatum given to Sergei Lavrov for Iran, and Rand Paul’s support of the draconian Iran sanctions. From Syria: more splits in the “Syrian National Council,” while pro-Assad forces finish mopping up the armed resistance and huge pro-Assad demonstrations penetrate even the controlled western media. Has the US undergone a self-inflicted, slow motion Tet debacle in Afghanistan leading to the iplementation of the CIA’s Devine Plan? The BRICS summit to meet in India, March 29: ways to finance international trade outside of the dollar. The Carterization of Obama as he wallows in malaise and calls on Americans to “use less.” Obama’s bind: he fears alienating radical environmentalists by increasing oil production, and refuses to attack Wall Street speculators who are driving up the oil price for us “muppets.” A catalogue of the measures a real President would to cut the price of oil. Ron Paul teams up with Romney to prevent a GOP debate in Oregon.

Peter Schiff Bitter pill, no Greek bailout for US.

RT News
February 29, 2012

S&P officially downgrades Greece credit rating to ‘selective default’

Alexander Higgins 
February 28, 2012

Just hours ahead of the European market opens, S&P has become the first major ratings agency to declare Greece to be in the dreaded state of default.

For months now politicians and bankers have been screwing over the public by jamming spending cuts and massive tax increases up the ass of the people of Greece to avoid a default which analysts have repeatedly warned could lead to widespread debt contagion throughout the world culminating it what has been labeled as nothing short of financial Armageddon.

Despite widespread civil unrest in the form of protests and rioting, in Greece and throughout the entire Eurozone, over the austerity measures being forced into place to prevent sovereign debt default, Greece has entered the much dreaded state of default.

Read more

Fitch Says Greece to Default, Believes Will Be Orderly

CNBC
January 18, 2012

Rating agency Fitch said on Tuesday that Greece would default on its debt, although it said that such a default was likely to take place in an orderly manner.

Scott E. Barbour | Getty Images

"It is going to happen. Greece is insolvent so it will default," Edward Parker, Managing Director for Fitch's Sovereign and Supranational Group in Europe, the Middle East and Africa told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in the Swedish capital. "So in that sense it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone."

The Fitch comments come after Moritz Kraemer, head of Standard & Poor's rating agency's European sovereign ratings unit, said on Monday Greece would default shortly on its debt obligations.

Parker said that Fitch believed that even a voluntary agreement by private investors to take a haircut on Greek debt would constitute a default.

"We have said for a long time that we don't think this PSI is the way to go and we would treat it as a default. It clearly is a default, however they try to spin it," he said.

Parker said the worst result would would be a disorderly default.

Read the entire article

Europe debt crisis: Greece teeters on brink of bankruptcy

Greece revealed today that it is in more dire economic straits than envisioned when a €110 billion bailout deal was agreed to this summer, sparking concern that Europe’s debt crisis could deepen.

The Christian Science Monitor

By Michael Steininger, Correspondent / October 3, 2011

• 

High school students play cards as they block a main avenue outside the Greek parliament in Athens, on Monday. Unions and other protest groups are escalating demonstrations against the government, and deepening austerity measures. Greece admitted it will not meet closely-watched budget targets in 2011, according to figures in the draft budget for 2012 revealed Monday, spurring renewed turmoil in world markets and pressure on the struggling eurozone member by rescue creditors.

Thanassis Stavrakis/AP

Enlarge

BERLIN

Greece is closer to default than previously thought, calling into question whether a second planned bailout will be enough to contain the European debt crisis – and thus avoid plunging the world into another global recession.

As finance ministers from the eurozone meet today inLuxembourg to address the debt crisis, Greece revealed that it is in even more dire straits than envisioned when international powers agreed to a €110 billion ($146 billion) bailout deal this summer.

Based on a draft budget sent to parliament today, Greece's deficit this year will be 8.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), well above the 7.6 percent outlined in the bailout deal. The higher deficit was chalked up to a deeper recession than forecast, which is projected to bring public debt to a whopping 172.7 percent of GDP by next year – the worst ratio in the eurozone.

Read the entire article

IMF -"International Mafia Federation" Loan Sharks of Last Resort

SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS!!!
Mark Matheny
July 3, 2011

In spite of the massive protesting by the tax paying protestors in Greece ( those who are tired and fed up with the looting of their hard earned savings), Greek lawmakers have once again bowed to the IMF and the EU, in passing a second Austerity Bill in order to keep Greece from defaulting by mid- July.

Gerald Celente has referred to the IMF as the "International Mafia Federation", and has said so with good reason. Gerald says they are nothing more than international "loan sharks" of last resort. This can be backed up by a Fox News report that stated:

The European Union and International Monetary Fund had demanded Parliament pass two bills — an austerity law and a second bill detailing how it will be implemented — by June 30 before they approve a $17.3 billion installment from the country's $159 billion package.

You may notice the word "demanded " in the condition of Greece's $159 billion package.

If you would like to hear a simplified but true explanation of the IMF's role, then Gerald Celente has just the perception to see how they work:

"Here's what they do - They go into a country that's really desparate, they can't borrow a dime anywhere, and the IMF comes in, and they say - Ay, I'll loan you the money!  But how are you going to pay me back?"

Then with that rhetorical question, Gerald shows how the IMF already has the answer for the country:

"You tax the people, you put more taxes on 'em. And so you (the country in desparate need) tax the people, you don't get enough and they (the IMF) say, Listen - I'm not getting enough money, I want the bridge! ... I want the bridge! I want the highway! I want the water supply! Capish?"

Of course in this Austerity Bill passed by the Greek Parliment, equal opportunity is a must in that they have placed taxe increases even on the lowest-income families.

Although this move by the Greek Parliment has been a "decisive step Greece needed to take in order to return to a sustainable path." and that "In very difficult circumstances, it was another act of national responsibility,” this measure will only help Greece to hold out until around September!

And since the last bailout from the IMF to Greece hasn't helped, it is more than probable that this bailout will likely end in the same way... more debt on Greece with no answers.

The International Mafia Federation is nothing more than an instrument of globalists to take over countries' wealth and resources, and unfortunately they are doing a pretty good job!

Many of the people in Greece see this plan as a direct threat to their wealth and general well-being as a nation, and are highly opposed to the measure, resorting to protests and violence in defense of what liberties and material possessions they still have.

Here in the U.S., the people are now starting to feel the effects of the failed bailouts, and entitlements that have pushed our country to the brink of economic collapse as well. There are still those who believe  Obama's worn out speeches of recovery, who refuse to "see the forest in spite of the trees" as they say.

The same problems that are hitting Greece will inevitably come to America. As the industrialized nations collapse, international organizations such as the IMF, World Bank, BIS (Bank of International Settlements) and The United Nations will take over.

The IMF is also leaning on lawmakers here in the U.S. to raise the debt ceiling.  John Lipsky, Managing Director of the IMF stated:

We’re confident that the participants are well aware of the potential risks of a debt default in the U.S. and will avoid those dangers. It should be self-evident [that] a debt default by the U. S. government debt market would have very serious, far-reaching, dramatic repercussions and that’s why we’re confident that it will be avoided.

It looks as though our representatives in Washington will raise the debt ceiling, and pass some cuts to the budget that will not amount to a hill of beans. Peter Schiff has predicted that Greece would indeed accept more loans from the IMF, that the Fed will continue with more quantitative easing, and that the U.S. government will raise the debt ceiling.

In an interview on Fox News June 22, 2011 Peter stated Bernanke's assessment of the current economic situation in the U.S. is inaccurate, and that the economy will continue to worsen with unemployment escalating, and the inflation will be much higher than what the Fed Chairman is reporting. Peter also stated that Greece is just a small picture of what is coming to America.