Europeans on left and right ridicule U.S. money meltdown

[spindrifter]

By Sebastian Rotella and Janet Stobart, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
September 20, 2008

LONDON -- It's a rare day when finance officials, leftist intellectuals and ordinary salespeople can agree on something. But the economic meltdown that wrought its wrath from Rome to Madrid to Berlin this week brought Europeans together in a harsh chorus of condemnation of the excess and disarray on Wall Street.

The finance minister of Italy's conservative and pro-U.S. government warned of nothing less than a systemic breakdown. Giulio Tremonti excoriated the "voracious selfishness" of speculators and "stupid sluggishness" of regulators. And he singled out Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, with startling scorn.

"Greenspan was considered a master," Tremonti declared. "Now we must ask ourselves whether he is not, after bin Laden, the man who hurt America the most. . . . It is clear that what is happening is a disease. It is not the failure of a bank, but the failure of a system. Until a few days ago, very few were willing to realize the intensity and the dramatic nature of the crisis."

<snip>

"The system is collapsing, exactly like the Albanian pyramids collapsed," Tremonti said. "The idea is gaining ground that the way out of the crisis is mainly with large public investments. . . . The return of rules is accompanied by a return of the public sector."

<more>

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-euromood20-2008sep20,0,7535469.story

[melody]

1. How nice of them to spit on us during our suffering

And of course the ones who will suffer worst are the poor.

[geckosfeet]

3. They are only telling it like it is. Wall street has been ponzi scheme based for years.

[melody]

7. I'm not talking about their analysis -- I mean their smirking glee

:(

[CountAllVotes]

10. they have plenty of problems too

many homes have been foreclosed upon and are standing vacant.

They have gotten themselves into the same greed traps that the USA has fallen into.

They are only fooling themselves by spitting on America as it is happening over there as well.

They are laughing now perhaps.

We'll see how funny they think this is in another 6 months or so when their own reality sinks in.

:kick:

[JackRiddler]

12. I assure you this "smirking glee" is a product of the US propaganda template

for viewing Europeans.

No one is happy about the suffering this is causing.

When the utterly predictable happens and the same bastards who caused it provide the "solution" of making it worse, what can you do except say, "what the fuck!"

[melody]

14. That's the reaction of European people

The power bases, that's another matter.

[JackRiddler]

16. No, it's not. That's the reaction...

that the LA Times attributes to European people in this article.

More likely is that they're justifiably angry at the way they, too, were suckered.

[melody]

17. I'm not basing my opinion on the article

Just this particular expression.

Everyone is going to look for a scapegoat but the reality is this situation is out of the hands of all people
and very much in the hands of oligarchs. All this IMHO, of course.

[arthritisR_US]

19. American hubris was bound to come back and bite you all in the ass eventually. n/t

[melody]

21. Unfortunately, that's the bias I was discussing

The ones with hubris are globalists. The vast majority of Americans have done no one any harm ... but, as with all victims of prejudice, our downfall will be celebrated by people who hate.

[arthritisR_US]

22. I don't celebrate this at all, I just recognize the why of it. n/t

[melody]

26. All you are recognizing is your own prejudice

And you're absolutely celebrating it -- it's obvious ... it has always been obvious among many people in the European community.
Bigots are people who hate. I don't waste my time with people who hate. Welcome to my ignore list.

[geckosfeet]

31. I feel the same way about wAll street investement bankers - can't blame 'em.

[melody]

32. They are powerful and directly involved

The American people were merely victims -- victims of two stolen elections -- and this time these people managed to make the world hate their first line victims. Clever.

[Union Thug]

9. This country should be spat upon. It's become a disgrace and an embarrassment..

We invade other countries without provocation, we economically hold hostage countries that we don't agree with, we allow a few corporate/wall street pricks to hijack our government and run it into the ground and essentially bring us to the brink of depression.

And what did this country do? Went shopping and let it happen with hardly a whimper. Yes, DU is an exception, but in the vast mindless zombie population of the US, no one seemed to care.

So spit away, Europe. The US deserves it.

[melody]

15. You and your friends and family may deserve it ... I and mine do not

They've done nothing but try to keep the country on an even course for many, many years. They've been positive contributors to the US society and the global society. You enjoy being spat upon -- I'll fight back.

[depakid]

2. Europeans bought into the system too

If there hadn't been a market for that paper- if the European and Asian banks had balked on "exotic products," then the various scams wouldn't have gotten very far....

[Greyhound]

4. Europeans invented the system.

They just have enough sense to make sure they don't steal so much that they kill their victims.

[spindrifter]

5. And they admit they messed up.

[Union Thug]

6. Greenspan a master? of what? Schemes for destabilizing the working people of this country?

After all, he infamously admitted that they would keep unemployment just high enough to keep workers destabilised, and therefore less likely to attempt to organize.

Greenspan and his minions should be in jail.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. This is CRITICAL

"The system is collapsing, exactly like the Albanian pyramids collapsed," Tremonti said. "The idea is gaining ground that the way out of the crisis is mainly with large public investments. . . . The return of rules is accompanied by a return of the public sector."

THis is NOT disaster capitalism

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. One way of looking at how bad it is..

According to Kevin Phillips:

"In 2007, total credit-market debt in the U.S. reached almost 340 percent of gross domestic product, far above the previous high-water mark of 287 percent a few years after 1929. "

For every dollar I have make,, I owe 340.00, if I read this right.

And yeah, Phillips puts Greenspan squarely in the middle of the cause of this, since 1987.

[JVS]

13. No. For every dollar made in the US 3.4 dollars are owed, not 340

[jpgray]

18. You and your math

[JVS]

20. Math has become a controversial topic in GD:P over the last year

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5865984&mesg_id=5865984

[muriel_volestrangler]

23. I thought you might be calling someone out, but (a) they've been tombstoned

and (b) that thread is hilarious. I don't know why I missed it at the time. Thank you.

[JVS]

24. yeah, I'd have merely PMed it if that poster were not TSed.

[dixiegrrrrl]

27. ty for correction.

[JVS]

28. you're welcome

[Karenina]

25. "Exactly like the Albanian pyramids collapsed" says it all.

[JVS]

29. Seeing how the Asian and Russian exchanges shat their pants last week, I doubt europe will escape

[arthritisR_US]

30. the housing market bottomed out some months back in England and the word I get

from other friends over there is that their financials are just as precarious. I really think this is going to be a global event...just look at Japan. I think this is only the tip of the iceberg. Here in Canada the housing market as been steadily going down and I think they are keeping mum on the exact financials, jmo.