Friday 20 May 2011

Strauss-Kahn, Greece and the US dollar

A major article came through the Guardian today, posing the question whether if Greece reneges on its debts as a result of a failure to give it further bailout money whether this could act in the same way as the collapse of Lehman Brothers did in 2008.


"It was less than three years ago that the failure of Lehman Brothers sent tremors through the global financial system, threatening the existence of every major bank and triggering the most severe economic crisis since the Great Depression. As Europe's policy elite met for fresh crisis talks today, the dark fear that haunted everyone around the table was this: if the bankruptcy of a middling-sized Wall Street investment bank with no retail customers could have such dire consequences, what would happen if the Greeks decide they have had enough and renege on their debts?
Could Greece, in other words, be the new Lehmans? Given the structure of modern financial markets, with their chains of derivative trades and their pyramids of debt, there is only one answer. Greece could certainly be the next Lehmans. The likelihood that a Greek default would pose a threat to the future of the eurozone as well as to the health of the world economy means it has the potential to be worse than Lehmans. Much worse."
Furthermore a report from Russian Today indicates that the charges against Strauss-Kahn, former head of the  IMF could have come as a result of pressure from the dollar lobby that need the dollar to remain as reserve currency and to prevent the sale-off of US treasuries to allow the printing press to keep running and prevent the financial collapse of the United States.


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