Harris&Ewing Red Cross Motor Corps, Washington, DC 1917 Just another normal morning at the Automatic Earth. Shaking off the local drink – when in Rome.. – and perusing a thousand views and pieces, many on the inevitable topic of ‘Da Referendum’. And I got to say, I can’t even tell whether it’s just me, but there is this huge divide between what a simple vote can and should be, and how it is perceived and presented. And no, it’s not
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Lewis Wickes Hine Workshop of Sanitary Ice Cream Cone Co., OK City 1917 • A Gay-Rights Decision for the Ages (Bloomberg) • An End to the Blackmail (Alexis Tsipras) • Tsipras Calls Referendum on Greek Debt Deal for July 5 (Bloomberg) • An Alternative Version Of How The Greek Crisis Could Have Played Out (Whelan) • “With The Euro, We’ll Forever Have A Noose Around Our Necks” (WSJ) • Creditors To Ringfence Greek Economy If Tsipras Refuses To Give In
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Harris&Ewing Woodward & Lothrop dept. store trucks, Washington DC 1912 While many voices will be seeking to define the precise terms of the referendum announced last night by Alexis Tsipras for July 5, I think perhaps the general gist is more important. It’ll be a vote between being governed by Tsipras, and Greeks in general, on the one hand, and being governed by Germany, the ECB and IMF on the other. “Who do you want to decide your future?” And
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NPC Dr. H.W. Evans, Imperial Wizard 1925 • Yield-Starved Investors Drive Asset Prices To Dangerous Levels: OECD (Reuters) • What’s Gone Wrong For Germany Inc.? (Bloomberg) • Europe: Writing Off Democracy As Merely Decorative (Habermas) • The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves (Irish Independent) • Bureaucrazies Versus Democracy (Steve Keen) • The Courage Of Achilles, The Cunning Of Odysseus (Jacques Sapir) • Cash-Starved Greek State Posts Surplus (Kathimerini) • IMF Would Be Other Casualty of Greek Default (El-Erian) •
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NPC O Street Market, Washington DC 1925 Perhaps I should apologize for writing about Greece all the time. Thing is, not only have I just arrived in Athens last night (and been duly showered in ouzo), but Greece is the proverbial early harbinger of everything that’s wrong with the world (not to worry, I know that’s a hyperbole), and of everything that could be done about it. That places a responsibility on the shoulders of Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras and
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Lewis Wickes Hine ‘Hot dogs’ for fans waiting for gates to open at Ebbets Field 1920 • Americans Throw Out $165 Billion Worth Of Food Every Year (MarketWatch) • Europe, A Big Phony (Costas Iordanidis) • Greek Problems Mask The Rising Risks In Italy And France (Satyajit Das) • Britain Would Not Survive A Vote For Brexit (FT) • Greece: A Deal Nobody Believes In (Paul Mason) • Troika’s Red Ink Tells Its Own Story (Guardian) • Greek Syriza Official
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NPC KKK parade on Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC 1925 Today I fly to Athens, and boy, does time seem to fly along with me. I’ll be arriving in Athens apparently just in time for a big demo in Syntagma square (got a mail minutes ago saying people are on their way there as early as 9 AM local time). Something tells me there’ll be quite a few more of those during my stay. And I don’t think there’s any guarantee
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NPC KKK services, Capital Horse Show grounds, Arlington 1938 • 70 Million Americans Are Teetering On The Edge Of Financial Ruin (MarketWatch) • Marine Le Pen: Just Call Me Madame Frexit (Bloomberg) • The Delphi Declaration On Greece And Europe (Paul Craig Roberts) • Berlin Insists Greek Parliament Approves All Reforms By Monday (FT) • Europe Is Destroying Greece’s Economy For No Reason At All (WaPo) • Greek Public Stops Paying Off Personal Debts As Uncertainty Grows (FT) • A
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Ben Shahn Sideshow, county fair, central Ohio 1938 The only thing that would really go towards beginning to solve the problems with Greece is for Athens to NOT sign a deal. The short version of why that is so: it would leave the EU intact for longer. And the ECB. Neither have any viable future, but as they go down, they can cause a lot of damage and pain. It’s mitigating that pain which should now be our priority no.
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Wyland Stanley Marmon touring car at Yosemite 1919 • Greece: “It’s Like We Bought A Bad Franchise” (SMH) • Greece Is A Sideshow. The Eurozone Has Failed (Aditya Chakrabortty) • Crisis Is The New Normal For Weary Greeks (Guardian) • Greece’s Red Lines Start To Blur And Bend (Guardian) • Greek Offer To Creditors Runs Into Angry Backlash At Home (Reuters) • Syriza Members Warn Tsipras Against Betrayal With Bailout Compromise (Dow Jones) • On Those Creditor ‘Red Lines’ For
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