Obviously doing the bidding of the bankers is doing no one any good except the bankers and politicians. People world wide are struggling just to survive yet financiers that created the financial disaster in their ever reaching search for more profits are extracting more from economies already on the mat.
Protests are the inevitable result.
Yesterday Spain today Greece.
A general strike has started in Greece, with protests expected on the streets of Athens on Wednesday. They could help the Greek government make its case for less stringent bailout conditions to its international creditors.
Market focus has turned away from Greece towards larger Spain since Greece’s June elections. That does not mean the situation has improved. The newly installed Greek government is hammering out details of a new budget with officials from the troika of the European Central Bank (ECB), International Monetary Fund (IMF), and European Commission this week.
“If people did not protest, there would be something wrong with the measures,” Petros Christodoulou, deputy chief executive, National Bank of Greece, told CNBC Europe’s “Squawk Box” Wednesday. “People realize there’s no other way. They know the downside of exiting the euro very well.”
Some of what happened in Spain yesterday. Also video here.
The demonstrations on Tuesday evening against the government’s austerity drive at a time of mass unemployment put in sharp relief the scale of discontent that’s brewing in a country suffering its second recession in three years and an unemployment rate of nearly 25 percent.
In the wake of the clashes and a warning from the central bank’s that the country’s economy continues to shrink ‘‘significantly,’’ financial markets have grown increasingly nervous. The main IBEX index in Madrid was down a hefty 2.6 percent, while Spain’s 10-year bond yield edged back up toward 6 percent.
On Tuesday, several thousand people — 6,000 according to authorities — converged on the national Parliament building in central Madrid. More than 1,000 riot police blocked off access to the building, forcing protesters to crowd nearby avenues. Police baton-charged protesters at the front of the march and some demonstrators broke down barricades and threw rocks and bottles.
5:25 AM PT:
5:55 AM PT: Scene from Spain last night:
Despite being prohibited from doing so the Greek police have brought out tear gas.:
1.32pm:(Mobile link)
Greek newspaper Kathimerini points out that Greek police have broken a restriction blocking them from using teargas:
It writes
Tension rose outside Parliament on Wednesday afternoon as hooded demonstrators launched Molotov cocktails at riot police forces. The latter responded with tear gas, despite orders to refrain from using chemicals against protesters.
6:50 AM PT:
7:22 AM PT: This video from Spain has a man being arrested while claiming to be a companero of the police. Agent Provocateur is suspected: