[Mel Rice]

IF there is a referendum and the resident brits vote to leave it will be a disater for us ex-pats....

[SallyintNorth]

IF there is a referendum and the resident brits vote to leave it will be a disater for us ex-pats....

Well you'll just have to make sure we all know the consequences of leaving .... you guys will all be coming back!   

[RUSTYME]

Some very sinister things happening , with virtually no comments ! 
 The greek pm offers the people a referendum , and he gets a visit from the ruling franco german union , and not only changes his mind , but then stands down . Then the italian pm says he is going as well . Both replaced by unelected technocrat, banker/corporate money manipulaters , very suspect at the very least !
  Still it seems people are willing to accept this continued plunge into dictatorship in silence .
 It gets worse , there is now yet another body been formed , the frankfurt group . An elite inner group of eu leaders , headed by  mmmm ?   
   Where does it go from here ?
Today of all days take a couple of minutes to think of the people that gave their lives to keep us free , and what we are just allowing tptb do to us .

[Anke]

Today of all days take a couple of minutes to think of the people that gave their lives to keep us free , and what we are just allowing tptb do to us .

What does "tptb" stand for?

[RUSTYME]

Sorry anke , tptb = the powers that be .

Cheers russ

[robert waddell]

aye the germans got whipped in 44 now they have achieved what they set out to do way back then

[deepinthewoods]

i think thats stretching it a bit.  the war ended 67 years ago, i doubt many on here remember it. i always remember the fallen but i get a bit fed up of the germans still getting  accused of attempting world domination just because theyre economically stronger than us.
 if there is a new world order being formed through economic collapse, its not being done by the germans, imho.

[robert waddell]

as they were the defeated nation money was pumped into there country to rebuild it and there economy
that certainly worked don't you think

[deepinthewoods]

absolutely, they were rebuilt economically, lucky that, cos theyre bailing us all out now.
the germans also produce high end quality products, work hard and save a much higher proportion of their income. the general populations economic model is very different to ours, its not so dependent on borrowing.
 

[MikeM]

mind you, 98 odd yrs ago they were punished (financially) for losing a war and that didn't work out to well. Germany being the dominant financial force in europe is a releltively small price to pay for 50+ yrs of peace and prosperity.

[RUSTYME]

Hang on to your hats , it may have begun !
With an uncontested coup in greece and now another in italy , one putting a banker at the helm , the other a former eu commissioner,an economist . It looks like they are making their bid for control .
 Unelected ' technocrats' that will do the corporate/bankers bidding , the very people who have caused the economic mayhem   !
   
 

[MikeM]

I don't know the constitutions in those respective countries, but my understanding is that both appoitments were ratified by their respective parliaments. Which is how we technically also chose a PM, after all no one voted for brown or major (before '92 in his case).

[deepinthewoods]

its no coincidence that both new leaders are 'technocrats'. they are both different from the norm, tho there is precedent. brown and major were political appointments.

[waterhouse]

With respect m'lud the Greeks are in an impossible economic position, but don't matter, while the Italians are worse off and it does matter.

As the BBC Now Show entertainingly pointed out last week the tabloids first complain (accurately) that most people don't understand percentages then complain that those same innumerate people should be able to vote on the economy they've helped stuff up.  Let's not forget the Greek Railways with revenues of 100m and costs of 700m.  Venal politicians bought the votes of a greedy people.

The fact that Berlusconi has been the most successful prime minister since WW2 by far in terms of popular support shows that democracy has its blackspots.  I love my Italian colleagues dearly but Berlusconi makes Robert Maxwell look like Mother Theresa.  The Economist had a cover story in June titled "The man who screwed an entire country" which described him as a disaster as a national leader not for the dodgy sex or the dubious financial shenanigans but his total disregard for Italy's economic weakness.

What mystifies me is how the UK with an pretty nasty economic profile and being run by a bunch of upper class wealthy and arrogant twits now has historically low borrowing costs in the same financial markets that charge Italy 5% more.  Not that Ed Balls is even vaguely credible and as for Milliband Minor, words fail me.

[yankieGirl]

Nothing to say...just wanted to follow the discussion by pressing the "new replies" tab.

I like to read what you folks think about the goings on over there.