Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Wednesday February 25 Housing and Economic stories


Hans-Werner Sinn: "Impose Capital Controls In Greece Now To Avoid Another Cyprus" - (www.zerohedge.com) There is a saying: "strike while the rehypothecated iron is hot", and nobody is better at it than Germany, which hours after the latest disappointing Eurogroup summit failed - again - to reach a solution on the third iteration of the Grexit dilemma, has decided to pour even more gas on the fire in the form of infamous Euroskeptic, the president of the Ifo Institute for Economic Research, Hans-Werner Sinn who in an FT op-ed beckons someone, supposedly Europe's federalist, if non-existant, powers which in the mind of the German have control over Greek sovereignty, to immediately 'impose capital controls in Greece or repeat the mistake of Cyprus." And while the key letter excerpts can be found below, the most notable section is the following: The ECB is underwriting a temporary reprieve for Greek banks that would otherwise be bankrupt, and doing so at the risk of eurozone taxpayers. It is ultimately the citizens of other eurozone countries who, without having been consulted, are providing credit at their own risk to enable wealthy Greeks to whisk their money to safety. The Greek central bank should not be allowed to live beyond its means. Assistance for the country’s commercial banks should be capped at €42bn.The Greek government should then set up capital controls to stop money from leaving the country and keep its banks solvent. The Cypriot example should not be repeated.

Greece defies creditors, seeking credit but no bailout - (www.reuters.com) Talks between Greece and euro zone finance ministers over the country's debt crisis broke down on Monday when Athens rejected a proposal to request a six-month extension of its international bailout package as "unacceptable". The unexpectedly rapid collapse raised doubts about Greece's future in the single currency area after a new leftist-led government vowed to scrap the 240 billion euro ($272.4 billion) bailout, reverse austerity policies and end cooperation with EU/IMF inspectors. Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chaired the meeting, said Athens had until Friday to request an extension, otherwise the bailout would expire at the end of the month. The Greek state and its banks would then face a looming cash crunch.

How a Liquidity Squeeze Could Push Greece Out of the Euro - (www.bloomberg.com) The standoff between Greece and its creditors on how to proceed on its bailout program risks triggering a simultaneous cash and credit crunch, which could drive the country out of the euro area. Here’s how a worst-case scenario could unfold: The Greek government, companies and lenders have all effectively lost access to international markets, due to the uncertainty over the country’s future. The current sources of liquidity are bailout funds from the euro-area nations, the currency bloc’s crisis fund, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank’s Emergency Liquidity Assistance. Failure to strike a compromise means that these payments would cease. This means that the state would be unable to service its debt obligations, which stand at 22 billion euros ($25 billion) this year, excluding treasury bills, according to the 2015 budget. Greek aid talks in Brussels ended abruptly Monday.

West Coast ports dispute drags on; labor secretary to intervene - (www.reuters.com) A partial shutdown of 29 U.S. West Coast ports stretched into a third day on Monday ahead of the U.S. labor secretary's scheduled arrival in San Francisco to try to broker a settlement ending months of disruptions on the cargo-clogged docks. President Barack Obama, under pressure to weigh in on a labor dispute that has rippled through the U.S. commercial supply chain and beyond, said on Saturday he would dispatch Labor Secretary Tom Perez to meet with the two sides in the conflict. But there was no word on timing of the trip until Monday, when a spokeswoman for the labor secretary said Perez was due to arrive in San Francisco on Tuesday to join in talks between the shipping companies and the union representing 20,000 dockworkers. Neither the International Longshore and Warehouse Union nor the shipping companies' bargaining agent, the Pacific Maritime Association, have spoken about the negotiations since agreeing on Friday to honor a news blackout requested by a federal mediator. And no face-to-face talks between the parties are believed to have occurred since then.

Judge: Police takeover of Henderson homes not covered by Third Amendment - (www.reviewjournal.com)  According to the Mitchells’ lawsuit, a Henderson police officer asked Anthony Mitchell to allow police to use his house to gain a “tactical advantage” over the neighbor, but Anthony Mitchell rejected the request. The lawsuit claims police later knocked down Anthony Mitchell’s door with a metal ram and entered his house without either a warrant or his permission. A Henderson police officer then arrested Anthony Mitchell, according to the lawsuit, and multiple officers searched his home. Meanwhile, the lawsuit alleges, police entered his parents’ home across the street without either a warrant or permission and searched it. Michael Mitchell also was arrested, according to the lawsuit, which claims both he and his son spent at least nine hours at the Henderson Detention Center on charges of obstructing an officer before they were released on bond




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