Most Americans probably haven’t connected the dots yet, but you’re going to be signing an enormous check over to Greece over this weekend. That’s right, as the largest contributor to the IMF the United States taxpayer is on the hook for the Greek bailout. The numbers aren’t set in stone quite yet, but the latest rumors are for a $160B bailout over three years. Of course, the most despicable part of this whole thing is not just the fact that the U.S. is helping to bail out Greece, but that this bailout is actually another bank bailout! That’s right. This isn’t really about the people of Greece. They are going to be forced into years of austerity and painful economic times regardless of the situtation. What this is really about is the $189B in Greek debt that the European banks have on their books. No one wants them to take a 70% haircut on the debt. So, connecting the dots here for you – Americans are once again bailing out banks – this time via the IMF.
If this doesn’t outrage you then I don’t know what will. We all know how well the last bank bailout worked for all of us. With the banks reaping record profits and doling out record bonuses U.S. unemployment remains near its 25 year highs. The only true v-shaped recovery in this “recovery” has been the one in bank profits. The bailouts sure worked great for Wall Street, but didn’t work for Main Street. And make no mistake here – the people of Greece will be forced into years of painful austerity measures regardless of the outcome here. But who will be made whole? That’s right, those God damned bankers.
Bailouts for everyone! Oh, but not you Main Street. No soup for you.
Mr. Roche is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Discipline Funds.Discipline Funds is a low fee financial advisory firm with a focus on helping people be more disciplined with their finances.
He is also the author of Pragmatic Capitalism: What Every Investor Needs to Understand About Money and Finance, Understanding the Modern Monetary System and Understanding Modern Portfolio Construction.
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