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We are the 99 percent

Cacerolada en toda Europa! / Protest Against Spanish Bank Bailout

Posted 11 years ago on June 10, 2012, 10:48 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt

large banner draped over building: we will not pay for their crisis

via 15-M Brussels

WE WILL NOT PAY PRIVATE DEBTS WITH PUBLIC MONEY!!

Pl. Schuman at 18h - Brussels

Once more, the EU has decided to use public funds to cover the losses of private institutions. This time, Spain is asking for a bail out in order to recapitalize it's banking system. We know for certain that the banks are not going to pay back this capital injection and in the end it will be the taxpayers (it doesn't matter whether European or Spanish) that pay for the financial system's greed. Politicians are playing with the future of fellow European citizens in order to increase their popularity at home, entering in a loss-loss game. Under the false allegation that governments are defending their national interests they are pointing fingers at other countries. In reality, Merkel&Co are not defending the German people, Merkel is defending the interest of German investors even if German taxpayers are forced to pay the bill.

Spain's public debt is lower than the average public debt of European countries. However, the private banks owe 300% of the Spanish GDP to private foreign investors. It's important to recall that this private debt is held by financial institutions an not by citizens. Most of the creditor financial institutions were banks that used financial engineering (like subprime and dodgy derivates products) to increase their lending capacity. The real state bubble was possible thanks to abundant credit and the passivity of regulators (such as the BCE, the Bank of Spain, etc), regulators that are not democraticly accountable. If Spain was organizing a house party, foreign investors would be paying the alcohol tab. Now, imagine that you get a mortage 3 times the value of your house, who carries the risk of nonpayment? A question that should have been answered before the mortgage was sold.

Due to the irresponsability of the Spanish banks, the European banks, their accomplices the European Central Bank as well as European and national supervisors and regulators this crisis has unfolded. Meanwhile European governments aren't attending to the real needs of their people and are dictating a shift in the social model without the citizens have not been able to express about. When governments defend the interests of private institutions against the wellbeing of it's people, it is time for us, the citizens, to rise up and defend ourselves!

Four years after the beginning of the crisis, it is clear that this is not an economic crisis, this is a political crisis. And this is not a Spanish crisis, its a European crisis. We need to say Basta! and demand that our governments do their job and defend our interests. There are alternatives. Iceland used public money only to warranty deposit and let all irresponsible banks fall. The government, the central bank and the national regulator are being tried by the justice. Icelandic people decided not to pay private debt with public money and created a new constitution to prevent this happening again. Currently their economy is growing at three times the rate the EU is.

Join us on Monday at 18h and call for a demonstration in your city. We will be protesting in Brussels in front of the European Commission. Bring your pots, pans, and spoons, we are going to be loud!!!

15 Comments

15 Comments


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[-] 2 points by OccNoVi (415) 11 years ago

Bribery ==> Bailouts.

Simple fact is that there is no economic reason to bail out these banks.

It's political bribery all the way.

[-] 2 points by aaronparr (597) 11 years ago

what do you mean?

Wouldn't it be political bribery if the money was going from banks to the politicians?

Unnecessary and counter-productive bailouts are indicative of political corruption.

[-] 1 points by OccNoVi (415) 11 years ago

Banks get billions. Politicians get millions.

Cheap tricks.....

[-] 1 points by DanK (44) 11 years ago

The bailouts won't be paid with tax money. One way or another these debts are going to be monetized by the ECB, which is the sole institution in Europe authorized to create Euros from scratch.

I don't understand why you Occupy folks fall for Tea Party foolishness from the Ron Paul "sound money" camp. Don't you understand that the best solution for people in your generation is to inflate away the debt?

It is the creditor class that is biting its nails about the value of its assets being inflated away.

[-] 1 points by jrhirsch (4714) from Sun City, CA 11 years ago

When the money supply is inflated, the value of the currency falls, so everyone holding that currency in effect pays a tax that pays the debt off. People who can least afford it pay without understanding the reason why their checks don't buy as much as they used to.

Nothing in life is free. Somewhere, somehow, someone pays, and in our financial system, it is the uninformed who pay.

[-] 1 points by MattLHolck (16833) from San Diego, CA 11 years ago

tax away the debt

[-] 1 points by Misaki (893) 11 years ago

WE WILL NOT PAY PRIVATE DEBTS WITH PUBLIC MONEY!!

"Private debts" includes mortgages.

Fixing unemployment and inequality without government spending: http://jobcreationplan.blogspot.com/

[-] 1 points by MattLHolck (16833) from San Diego, CA 11 years ago

well everyone hung onto their property collected rent and mortgages

to keep enough money in the economy to keep it moving

and now everyone owes the banks for making loans

because they have the authority

to create the money needed to keep the economy moving

[-] 2 points by Misaki (893) 11 years ago

well everyone hung onto their property collected rent and mortgages

to keep enough money in the economy to keep it moving

They bought into a rising (inflated) housing market and took out home equity loans for the portions of their mortgage they'd paid off, and then spent that money... as you say, partly to "keep the economy moving". But they still spent it on something that benefitted them, like cars or flatscreen TVs and so on. Maybe even someone's college education at the high rates tuition costs now in the US.

Amounts of debt, income, etc. http://www.epi.org/page/-/BriefingPaper292.pdf

As I have mentioned before, the US government could have prevented the bubble probably. But they somehow agreed that it wasn't a bubble, just like with most other property bubbles in history, and it was the only thing they could think of to keep employment high.

Because no one had yet thought of the accelerated work week.~

[-] 1 points by MattLHolck (16833) from San Diego, CA 11 years ago

thanks

that's a lot to read

what's an accelerated work week ?

[-] 1 points by Misaki (893) 11 years ago

A sexier name for "work conservation", remember the car discussion?

Also, yes it is. I used a few statistics from the beginning but when I finally decided to read it, it took me probably half a day... boring! But informative on facts like 1) most people are pretty well-off, as you might expect 2) poor people have absurdly high levels of interest payments on debt. It's like they don't understand math for credit cards OR they expect to just go bankrupt (which it talks about).

But rankings for wealth are different from income... the bottom 20% of wealth may have negative net worth but it doesn't mean the bottom 20% of income do.

[-] 1 points by MattLHolck (16833) from San Diego, CA 11 years ago

they talk about houses being "underwater" meaning people owe more on it than the the house is worth

but bank interest means everyone already pays more for their house than it's value

[-] 1 points by Misaki (893) 11 years ago

People accept mortgages/interest rates because it's tax deductible in the US or something.

Same reason why corporations, even very profitable ones, take on debt.

[-] 1 points by MattLHolck (16833) from San Diego, CA 11 years ago

debt is in tax code

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