Potemkin villages or Potyomkin villages (Russian: Потёмкинские деревни) is an idiom based on a historical myth. According to the myth, there were fake settlements purportedly erected at the direction of Russian minister Grigory Potemkin to fool Empress Catherine II during her visit to Crimea in 1787. According to this story, Potemkin, who led the Crimean […]
Cannes, the Modern Day Potemkin Village Read More »
Despite the efforts of the greatest economic minds available to the European ministers the very best the forecasters, quants, policy ‘makers and shakers’ could devise during the tortured weeks of ‘Merkozy’ meetings was leveraging the initial bailout fund by five times its value to then (fingers crossed) sell the Eurobond paper to Japan, Asia and
Beware Geeks Bearing Gifts Read More »
Assumption, can make an ASS out of U and ME… It would appear that the solution for the Eurozone crisis, released to the markets which the mainstream media lapped up like a child whose Christmas list had been ticked to the letter, has been juiced. Underpinning the detail and process was an assumption and expectation
The European Rag and Bone SPIVS do the Asian Tour whilst collecting Air Miles Read More »
Ultimately the EU ministerial roadshow had to release a plan, even if many commentators believed it to be woefully inadequate they had to be seen to be doing something. The €1 trillion combined rescue package will create the right kind of headlines through the mass media channels to ensure that Joe Public and the rest
Taking a Knife to a Gunfight, the Trillion Euro Sticking Plaster Read More »
One issue Tim Geithner nailed on Tuesday was to suggest that the posturing and prevarication of the EU has to stop. He stated that the predicament was; “the biggest challenge to growth worldwide, we want to see details, not just the objectives, and the primary burden falls on the Europeans.” The time for talk is
EU Officials Move Past Perception Management Into Damage Limitation Read More »
The story of Rip Van Winkle is set in the years before and after the American Revolutionary War. In a pleasant village, at the foot of New York’s “Kaatskill” Mountains, lives the kindly Rip Van Winkle, a colonial British-American villager of Dutch descent. Rip is an amiable though somewhat hermitic man who enjoys solitary activities
How Sarkozy Must Wish He Could Be Rip Van Winkle Read More »
You have to wonder if all the spin and posturing has been worth it given that sixteen year olds in the UK with a C grade in GSCE maths could have told the great and the good at the countless; troika, EU and IMF meetings held over the past few months that the €440 billion
Greece’s government voting in the austerity bill came as no surprise. The government is now a safe bet to get their next tranche of pocket money (circa €8 billion) courtesy of the troika which should ensure they can firstly fill up the cash machines this weekend, not that anyone has any wages or savings to
Debts By A Thousand Cuts Read More »
The latest incumbent in charge of the UK government’s spin and posturing is, as we say in the UK, playing a blinder. Mired in accusations of sleaze with regards to the former News Of The World Sunday newspaper, a former defence Minister, involved in defence ‘matters’, such as who gets what political help and reconstruction
As Europe Burns the UK Plays Second Fiddle Read More »
No sooner had the grand plan to rescue the Eurozone been touted it was summarily squashed and just when you think the French and German leaders couldn’t possibly fit in another meeting Sarkozy thanks his wife for giving birth and hops onto a plane to Berlin. Quite why he and Merkel can’t use Skype remains
Eurozone Crisis, It's As Clear As Mud Read More »
