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Crisis spreads to Eastern Europe as Ukraine, Hungary and Serbia call IMF

Ukraine, Hungary, and Serbia are all in emergency talks with the International Monetary Fund,
raising fears that an exodus of foreign investors will set off a systemic crisis across Eastern Europe.

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
Last Updated: 10:16PM BST 15 Oct 2008

A team of IMF trouble-shooters rushed to Kiev on Wednesay to draw up a possible standby loan to help
Ukraine stabilize its bank after a panic run on deposits this month.

The outlook has darkened since President Viktor Yushchenko dissolved parliament in a dispute that threatens
to anger the country’s Russian minority. Kiev and Moscow are at loggerheads over the Sevastopol base used
by Russia’s Black Sea fleet.

Foreign investment has largely dried up, leaving it unclear whether banks with large debts in dollars and euros
will be able to roll over short-term loans. The government has already seized Prominvestbank, suspending
payments to creditors. The authorities have frozen all time deposits.

The plunge in steel and grain prices over recent weeks has made matters worse, hitting two of the country’s
key exports. Zaporizhtal, MML Steel, and Donsetsk Steel are all slashing output.

"The global credit crisis is spreading to the most leveraged economies in the world," said Danske Bank.

"Iceland was the canary. It was the first to need a helping hand from the IMF, but all countries that have had
asset bubbles and rely on foreign funding are vulnerable," said Lars Christensen, the bank’s East Europe expert.

The credit default swaps (CDS) for Argentina, Pakistan, and Ecuador are flashing warnings of insolvency, while
the Baltic States, Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey are at risk as it becomes harder to finance current account deficits.

"This is turning serious," said Hans Redeker, currency chief at BNP Paribas.

"Countries in Eastern Europe have been living beyond means for years and now they face a full-blown credit crunch.
They are going to have to cut back on imports and that will push the eurozone deeper into recession," he said.

"We think the next phase will be an attack on the currency pegs in the Baltics and Bulgaria," he said.

Hungary may soon become the first EU state to need an IMF bail-out since Britain’s loan in 1976. Premier Ferenc
Gyurcsany said he was in close talks with the fund but viewed financial aid as a "last resort."

The forint plummeted 5pc yesterday as panic swept the Budapest markets, inflicting more pain on those with
large debts in Swiss francs and euros.

More than 80pc of mortgages issued over the last two years have been in foreign curencies. Borrowers have
been lured by low rates, ignoring the exchange risk.

Raiffeisen Bank, Volksbank, and Bayerische Landesbank, have all ordered their Hungarian subsidiaries to stop
lending in foreign currencies in recent days.

Ukraine’s currency fell to a record low last week, forcing the central bank to intervene. Fitch Ratings said
Ukraine’s red-hot credit growth of 74pc last year had led to overheating, leaving the banks vulnerable as the
boom deflates. The cuurent account deficit is expected to reach 7pc of GDP next year.

Commerzbank said the escalating political crisis in Ukraine was manageable in the boom years when foreign
funds were pouring in. "Those days are long gone," it said.

NWO na sceni, ja sto ce im IMF pomoci1?

Kapitalizam u Anglo-saksonskim zemljama

Wall Street banks in $70bn staff payout
Pay and bonus deals equivalent to 10% of US government bail-out package

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Simon Bowers
The Guardian,
Saturday October 18 2008


Demonstrators protesting in New York before the $700bn Wall Street bail-out earlier
this month.

Financial workers at Wall Street's top banks are to receive pay deals worth more than $70bn (£40bn),
a substantial proportion of which is expected to be paid in discretionary bonuses, for their work so far
this year - despite plunging the global financial system into its worst crisis since the 1929 stock market
crash, the Guardian has learned.

Staff at six banks including Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are in line to pick up the payouts despite being
the beneficiaries of a $700bn bail-out from the US government that has already prompted criticism. The
government's cash has been poured in on the condition that excessive executive pay would be curbed.

Pay plans for bankers have been disclosed in recent corporate statements. Pressure on the US firms to
review preparations for annual bonuses increased yesterday when Germany's Deutsche Bank said many
of its leading traders would join Josef Ackermann, its chief executive, in waiving millions of euros in
annual payouts.

The sums that continue to be spent by Wall Street firms on payroll, payoffs and, most controversially,
bonuses appear to bear no relation to the losses incurred by investors in the banks. Shares in Citigroup
and Goldman Sachs have declined by more than 45% since the start of the year. Merrill Lynch and Morgan
Stanley have fallen by more than 60%. JP MorganChase fell 6.4% and Lehman Brothers has collapsed.

At one point last week the Morgan Stanley $10.7bn pay pot for the year to date was greater than the entire
stock market value of the business. In effect, staff, on receiving their remuneration, could club together
and buy the bank.

In the first nine months of the year Citigroup, which employs thousands of staff in the UK, accrued $25.9bn
for salaries and bonuses, an increase on the previous year of 4%. Earlier this week the bank accepted a $25bn
investment by the US government as part of its bail-out plan.

At Goldman Sachs the figure was $11.4bn, Morgan Stanley $10.73bn, JP Morgan $6.53bn and Merrill Lynch
$11.7bn. At Merrill, which was on the point of going bust last month before being taken over by Bank of
America, the total accrued in the last quarter grew 76% to $3.49bn. At Morgan Stanley, the amount put
aside for staff compensation also grew in the last quarter to the end of August by 3% to $3.7bn.

Days before it collapsed into bankruptcy protection a month ago Lehman Brothers revealed $6.12bn of staff
pay plans in its corporate filings. These payouts, the bank insisted, were justified despite net revenue
collapsing from $14.9bn to a net outgoing of $64m.

None of the banks the Guardian contacted wished to comment on the record about their pay plans. But behind
the scenes, one source said: "For a normal person the salaries are very high and the bonuses seem even higher.
But in this world you get a top bonus for top performance, a medium bonus for mediocre performance and a
much smaller bonus if you don't do so well."

Many critics of investment banks have questioned why firms continue to siphon off billions of dollars of bank
earnings into bonus pools rather than using the funds to shore up the capital position of the crisis-stricken
institutions. One source said: "That's a fair question - and it may well be that by the end of the year the banks
start review the situation."

Much of the anger about investment banking bonuses has focused on boardroom executives such as former
Lehman boss Dick Fuld, who was paid $485m in salary, bonuses and options between 2000 and 2007.

Last year Merrill Lynch's chairman Stan O'Neal retired after announcing losses of $8bn, taking a final pay deal
worth $161m. Citigroup boss Chuck Prince left last year with a $38m in bonuses, shares and options after
multibillion-dollar write-downs. In Britain, Bob Diamond, Barclays president, is one of the few investment
bankers whose pay is public. Last year he received a salary of £250,000, but his total pay, including bonuses,
reached £36m.

Volim ovaj clanak! Na zalost ljudi koji su ovo stvorili svoje prljave pipke su protegli i do BiH, tako da danas
imamo ovo sto imamo. Ti ljudi su pronasli fasiste u BiH, fasiste u liku lidera nacionalnih stranaka koje danas
vladaju u BiH, i instalirali ih na vlast. Ti isti ljudi su FINANSIRALI raspad SFRJ. Kroz raznorazne NGO tipa:
Soros fondacije, OSCE, World Bank, IMF itd. stranke SDA,SDS/SNSD,HDZ i njihove klonove ove NGO,
instalirali su ove stranke. U sustini, fasisticke, i danas u BiH, imamo sve dole opisane karakteristike!

VIDITE LI SLICNOSTI IZ OVOG TEKSTA SA SITUACIJOM U BOSNI?

Vidjeo sam neki topic ovdje na forum kao, Velike promjene, nikakve velike promjene se nece desiti u BiH.
Ljudi koji su napravili BiH danas kakva jeste i dalje ce biti tu. Oni su stvorili i ovo dole opisano.

..............................................................................................................................

PAUL B. FARRELL
Wall Street's 'Disaster Capitalism for Dummies'
14 reasons Main Street loses big while Wall Street sabotages democracy

ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. (MarketWatch) -- Yes, we're dummies. You. Me. All 300 million of us. Clueless.
We should be ashamed. We're obsessed about the slogans and rituals of "democracy," distracted by the
campaign, polls, debates, rhetoric, half-truths and outright lies. McCain? Obama? Sorry to pop your
bubble folks, but it no longer matters who's president.

Why? The real "game changer" already happened. Democracy has been replaced by Wall Street's new "disaster
capitalism." That's the big game-changer historians will remember about 2008, masterminded by Wall Street's
ultimate "Trojan Horse," Hank Paulson. Imagine: Greed, arrogance and incompetence create a massive bubble,
cost trillions, and still Wall Street comes out smelling like roses, richer and more powerful!.

Yes, we're idiots: While distracted by the "illusion of democracy" in the endless campaign, Congress surrendered
the powers we entrusted to it with very little fight. Congress simply handed over voting power and the keys to
trillions in the Treasury to Wall Street's new "Disaster Capitalists" who now control "democracy."

Why did this happen? We're in denial, clueless wimps, that's why. We let it happen. In one generation America
has been transformed from a democracy into a strange new form of government, "Disaster Capitalism." Here's
how it happened:

• - Three decades of influence peddling in Washington has built an army of 42,000 special-interest lobbyists
  representing corporations and the wealthy. Today these lobbyists manipulate America's 537 elected officials
  with massive campaign contributions that fund candidates who vote their agenda.
  
  - This historic buildup accelerated under Reaganomics and went into hyperspeed under Bushonomics, both
  totally committed to a new disaster capitalism run privately by Wall Street and Corporate America. No-bid
  contracts in wars and hurricanes. A housing-credit bubble -- while secretly planning for a meltdown.
  
  - Finally, the coup de grace: Along came the housing-credit crisis, as planned. Press and public saw a negative,
  a crisis. Disaster capitalists saw a huge opportunity. Yes, opportunity for big bucks and control of America.
  Millions of homeowners and marginal banks suffered huge losses. Taxpayers stuck with trillions in debt. But
  giant banks emerge intact, stronger, with virtual control over government and the power to use taxpayers'
  funds. They're laughing at us idiots!

Amazing isn't it, Wall Street's Disaster Capitalists screwed up, likely planned or let happen this meltdown and
recession. Yet America's clueless taxpayers just reward them by giving the screw-ups massive bailouts, control
over more than $2 trillion of tax money, and the power to clean up the mess they made. Oh yes, we are dummies!
This end game was planned for years in secret war rooms on Wall Street, in Corporate America, in Washington
and the Forbes 400. Democracy is too cumbersome. It had to be marginalized for Disaster Capitalism to take
over. Reagan, Bush and Paulson were Wall Street's "Trojan Horses."

Naomi Klein summarizes the game in "Shock Doctrine: the Rise of Disaster Capitalism." This "new economy"
generates enormous profits feeding off other peoples' misery: Wars, terror attacks, natural catastrophes, poverty,
trade sanctions, subprime housing meltdowns and all kinds of economic, financial and political disasters. Natural
(Katrina) or manmade (Iraq), either way "disaster capitalism" creates fortunes.

So you, me and the other 300 million better get out of denial. America is no longer a democracy. Voting is irrelevant.
Best case scenario: We're a plutocracy, a government ruled by the wealthy, the richest 1%, the Forbes 400, the
influential wealthy elite, while the other 99% are their "servants." Meanwhile, the inflation-adjusted income of
wage-earners has declined for three decades.

Worst case scenario: America's no democracy and as a result of the meltdown and the surrender of our power to
Wall Street's new Disaster Capitalism we are morphing into what one WWII dictator called "corporatism," a "merger
of state and corporate power," kind of like what's going on now with Goldman Sachs' ex-boss as de facto president.

Wolves in sheep's clothing

Yes, a strong charge. But like a lot of our readers, I don't like what's happening to America. I'm a patriot. I
volunteered for the Marines. Served four years. Volunteered for Korea. I don't like how our freedoms, rights and
value system are being subverted in the name of greed, arrogance, self-righteous intolerance and other false gods.

We know for the last eight years disaster capitalists ignored obvious warnings of a coming meltdown. They apparently
planned it. They road the bull, got very rich. Now they have the ultimate disaster capitalist weapons, trillions in tax
money, virtual control of government.

That's why I fear we're on the edge of a dangerous line between Wall Street's version of disaster capitalism and a
toxic "merger of state and corporate power." The wolf is in sheep's clothing. Wall Street pretends we're a democracy.
Yet America more closely resembles the kind of "corporatism" that Laurence W. Britt wrote about five years ago in
Free Inquiry magazine.

We adapted his historical analysis of 14 key traits for today's discussion. Notice how they have a huge impact your
investments and retirement:

1. Wall Street rich get first priority
Think "bailout." Wall Street's greedy con game spins out of control globally. Millions of homeowners misled, lose.
Who gets hundreds of billions first? Wall Street's con men.

2. National security obsession
Think of the expansion of executive powers in the name of national security: Preemptive wars, wiretapping private
citizens, Gitmo, torture; driven by a dark wealthy neocon elite.

3. Superpower with massive military
Think of our $3 trillion Iraq/Afghan War. Disaster capitalists love the thrill of military power. We outspend all nations,
over half the federal budget to strut before the world.

4. Extreme nationalism
Signs are everywhere: Flags, lapel pins, "support the troops" slogans, all to get huge military budgets passed. Challenge
them and you're un-American and unpatriotic.

5. Rally the masses by scapegoating enemies
Think "axis of evil," mushroom clouds, "Islamofascists," more terrorist attacks on the homeland. Propaganda creates
"enemies" in the public's mind and distracts from real issues.

6. Corruption and cronyism
Think earmarks, no-bid defense contracts, paid mercenaries outnumbering military in Iraq, superlobbyist Jack Abramoff,
biofuels, bridge to nowhere, millions donated to campaigns.

7. Obsession with crime
Think of prison-building as just another investment opportunity, rather than focusing on reforming our criminal justice
system. Stoke irrational fear of criminals and extremists.

8. Labor and low wages
Think corporate earnings versus the wages paid to workers. No "trickling down," leaves more for tricklers: Rich insiders,
stockholders. Wages dropping as CEO salaries skyrocket.

9. Contempt for human rights
Think of abuses of habeas corpus, loss of right to trial, bogus charges, plus "demonizing" the victims, all in the name of
national defense and homeland security.

10. Mass media manipulation
Think of leaking false information, Joseph Wilson, Valerie Plame, Scooter Libby, Colin Powell's United Nation's testimony,
Condoleezza Rice's mushroom clouds, WMDs, all to suppress the truth.

11. Obsession with sexism
Think of paternalism, antigays, antiabortion, subordinate women -- then codify the system as the law of the land reinforcing a male-dominated society, punish violators.

12. Disdain for intellectuals
Think of conservative intellectuals Francis Fukuyama and Bill Buckley. Contrast them to Sarah Palin and Joe Sixpack conservatism,
Bush's funding cuts for arts and science education.

13. Religion in government
Think of all the faith-based programs versus antiscience in drug approvals, creationism vs. evolution, Ten Commandments
enshrined in public buildings, public money to churches.

14. Fraudulent elections
Think of police and prosecutorial intimidation and threats to voters, challenging minority voters, ballots disappearing, party
election officials committing outright fraud.

Yes, officially America is still a democracy. We have enough signs and rituals to support that illusion. But the truth is America
has become a plutocracy run by and for the wealthy. And since Wall Street's Disaster Capitalism coup de grace, we are rapidly
morphing into a dangerous new government.

....................................................................................................................................................



http://www.naomiklein.org/shock-doctrine

Knjiga koja se gore spominje je napisana od sada cuvene Naomi KLEIN, knjiga je odlicna. U cilju samo-edukacije i sa kojom
ideologijom/fasizmom imamo posla, toplo je preporucujem.

Citao, fenomenalna knjiga!
ko moze nek je se docepa
a uskoro izlazi i dobar prijevod u izdanju VBZ-a