The Greek Tragedy That Changed Europe - WSJ.com

The Greek Tragedy That Changed Europe - WSJ.com:

Question: "If the market implodes, then given the level of manipulation in 2009, one can only conclude that it is planned. The problem with manipulating the market upward is that everyone will blame you when it goes down too. I believe the cliche is "You (the central banks) made a deal with the devil (the large financial institutions)"

Answer: "If there was a deal, it was a deal to look the other way as governments' fiscal policies continued social transfer spending that was beyond the taxing capabilities of the various countries.

As such, the governments - faced with an inability to tell their citizens they had to cut back their social spending - borrowed even more. The Greek example is one; but, the US and Obama are clearly another - as is California, New York, etc.

We try to ignore the fact that tax rates both discourage and encourage economic activity (read: jobs).

California has high taxes and business moves elsewhere. This is typical; not atypical.

So, try and look to the underlying causes - which isn't the banks helping people feel good with lending; it's government taking too much from society to let it adjust and change (i.e. not enough jobs created); and, government promising entitlements that the country can't afford (i.e. read the articles on the real US deficit)."