Slow Sunday: Waiting for Clinton Economic Speech, Grexit News, Iran Deal
Well there could be a lot of news by evening tomorrow. But nothing today that I can see. Which gives Angry Bear readers a chance to talk about everything and nothing. Or maybe like the Kool Kidz blogs we could start a pet or recipe Sunday.
Naaah. Open Thread
For recipe Sunday, here’s a favorite in my household:
Provençal Marinade for grilling chicken
Makes about 1½ cups, enough for 1 medium-sized chicken or six pieces.
Marinade:
½ cup Dijon-style mustard
¼ cup balsamic vinegar or red-wine vinegar
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
6 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 T herbes de provence
1 cup olive oil
Combine mustard, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, herbs and olive oil. Pour over chicken in a glass or ceramic container and marinate at room temp for 2 hr or in the fridge for 4 hr. Return chicken to room temp before grilling.
I was kidding about recipes but DAMN that sounds good.
All my favorite flavors for grilled chicken in one bite. YUM.
______
Along those lines I always laugh when people say that some given exotic food tastes great. Especially if smothered in lemon garlic butter. Because as I tell them “Hell pea gravel tastes good if smothered with enough lemon garlic butter”.
Let me post a picture of my dog and I will vote for Pet Sunday.
Hey:
Yesterday was the Plymouth Art Fair, the Ann Arbor Art Fair, and Taste of Brighton. We chose Plymouth as it is our ritual. Bought some dip mixes (pepper Parmesan and some cucumber mixs) , some tasty balsamic vinegars (one 18 years old) , and some cast concrete Hobbit mushrooms to place under our huge River Birch out front. The fair is big and I had to stop and rest my legs once and a while. It aggravates me as I would roam upstate New York around the finger lakes for hours on end. Now I have to stop as they go numb after 15-20 minutes.
Did the olde Wisconsin Brats simmered in beer today and my wife of 44 years did Hank’s Potato salad which does not have Mayo . . . just olive oil and spices. That and beans and we were set for the day after cutting the grass, weed-whipping, and doing general maintenance and house cleaning. Our Elk Hound was staying out of the way.
Had some spaghetti sauce with pork simmering while working outside. Beautiful day in the low eighties. While my legs are killing me, I got a lot done even though I have been forcing myself to walk. The same legs that would help me do squats at 300lbs. Who would have thought? This will pass.
@Bruce: If you try it, let me know what you think. flylab1@yahoo.com
Well it looks like a deal has been made. I guess Germany felt that I had already made enough of an example out of Greece. This will surely put the rest of the PIIGS in line.
The WSJ summed up the Greek deal:
“The rescue deal—requires the Greek left-wing
government’s near-total surrender to its creditors’
demands.”
“The deal is hard,” Mr. Tsipras said after the summit, warning
that the measures required by creditors will send the
country’s economy further into recession.
The Greeks voted a week ago and agreed to say “No” to this outcome. I guess that in Greece “No” actually means “Yes.”
I don’t understand how this could happen. This story is not over yet.
The Devil is in the details.
A lot of the reporting both before and after the deal was struck has used qualifiers like ‘largely’ to modify ‘parallel’. But there are differences in magnitude, time and structure that matter.
As one example there was a German demand that Greece transfer $50 billion in State assets to a fund under control of the EU through an odd company in Luxembourg whose directorship includes Schnaueble (sp) the German minister who openly wanted to kick Greece out. Those assets were to be sold by this non-Greek entity (to whose profit?) with the proceeds used to pay off debts. Which is to say that the EU would have just stripped Greece of almost all State assets. As I read new reporting these assets will still be shited to a fund and sold off, but via an entity under Greek control and under an extended schedule.
So we will see. Plus this deal has not been ratified by either the Greek Parliament or the Parliaments of EU members. That is ‘final’ doesn’t mean ‘done’. Lots to watch between today and the deadline for Greece’s Parliament on Wednesday.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jul/13/greece-debt-agreement-eurozone-summit-statement
Eurozone Summit Statement
The Guardian link has the following on the assets to be privatized:
This fund would be established in Greece and be
managed by the Greek authorities under the
supervision of the relevant European Institutions.
So yes, this is different that creating a Luxemburg shell company. But the key words are that this will take place under the “supervision of the relevant EU institutions”.
In the end, Greece will have little control on how these assets are disposed of.
Face it, this is a compete fold by the left in Greece.
Face it this is a complete fold of democratic sovereignty within the eurozone.
One Bank One Vote! Especially if it’s a German bank.
Krasting one snippet from a newspaper in advance of the agreeement actually being finalized is not enough to force me to “face” anything. As I said “Devil” and “details”.
What exactly does “supervised” mean in the context of “managed”? For me the big question, and the possible big distinction, is the question of fiduciary responsibility. Is this fund a fiduciary for the Greek people? As opposed to a Luxembourg based fund that would be a fiduciary for the creditors? And would that make a big difference? Hard to say. Which is why I am framing all this in the form of questions rather than cock sure assertions that have you crowing that I need to submit to your pecking. Au contraire mon chapon.
Which is not to be in total denial on the issue of loss of sovereignty. Still there was some backdown on the part of Germany even as Greece capitulated. It seems there will be some restructuring of debt terms in ways that irk the Germans, many of whom seemed hell bent on just ejecting Greece from the Euro as a way of cowing the other PIIGS. In any case I still maintain this was a different deal than the one facing Greece before the referendum. I might be wrong, but it is too early to conclude that for sure.
(And hmm, cocks, capons, PIIGS and cowing – a veritable economic barnyard)
I heard they were selling he Parthenon to a firm who will move it to Branson, Missouri where Wayne Newton will do two shows, six days per week.
Braynt’s barbecue in the back.
Athens Georgia has a way cooler music scene than Branson.
If you are going to dig up golden oldies I would prefer to see something less moldy than Wayne. How about bringing back the B-52s and R.E.M. instead? They could rock that old joint. And hey! It would still be in Athens! Win win!!!
http://www.visitathensga.com/live-music/
Susan Webber at Naked Capitalism had these comments:
“The cost of Greece avoiding a Grexit is submitting
to becoming an economic serf of the Eurozone,
subject to even more draconian austerity than
was ever on the table before.”
She quotes:
Even one of Alexis Tsipras’ minor victories –
that a £50 billion privatisation fund would be
based in Athens, not Luxembourg – was entirely
superficial. As Angela Merkel insisted this morning,
it would not be under Greek control.
She goes on to say:
“Not only is there no debt relief, there is no
prospect of any debt relief unless Greece
meets targets. And forget about principal
reduction.”
So Webb, if you want to continue to believe in fairy tales I wish you luck!
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/07/tentative-deal-strips-greece-of-sovereignty-makes-debt-relief-dependent-on-compliance.html
Krasting are you telling me you are a big fan of Naked Capitalism?
Yves is a friend of this blog but she is significantly to the left of most of us, including me. And I have been self-identifying as a social democrat for years.
Naked Capitalism is a leader in the left purity movement. Defined as people who not only believe that firms like the ones you likely worked for should have been broken up but that some of their employees should have been hung from lampposts. I am a little surprised you were comfortable over there. Or maybe you think I am some NC acolyte. Well no.
Rather than quoting from NC maybe we could look at the actual official Statement of the Eurozone
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jul/13/greece-debt-agreement-eurozone-summit-statement
and see if this was a ‘minor victory’
That is in place of a German proposed plan to simply confiscate 50 bn Euros worth of hard assets and sell them on behalf of creditors we have a plan that will devote only 1/4th of that amount to actual payments to creditors , 1/4 to recapitalize Greek banks and fully half for “other investments” which is to say for expenditures within Greece. That is a difference in outcome of 37 1/2 billion Euros. Perhaps Ms. Webber at NC and you think that is insignificant but it represents northwards of 3500 Euros per Greek citizen.
Which is why I said “Devil” and “details”. Come back with actual side by side numbers and we can have a discussion. But for cripes sake man don’t try to Bigfoot me with some commenter from another blog. Did Susan get some Bates Medal while I wasn’t looking?
I am not saying that the Eurozone is not taking a hard line on principal. But there are nuances. For example:
Okay pretty tough language. But not quite the “Bitch better have my money” thrust that the Germans have been pushing.
In contrast is this from a rag called the New York Times. Which I have to say looks to be sugar-coating the bitter bill a bit
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/14/world/europe/greece-debt-plan.html
This almost makes it sound like a free lunch. Why is why we really need to limit ourselves to official communiques and comprehensive numbers to the degree possible. Because if you read this side by side with Susan Webber’s take from NC you would think you are talking two different deals.
I’ve been to the 40 Watt.
“On top of that, the Greek authorities shall take the following actions:
to develop a significantly scaled up privatisation programme with improved governance; valuable Greek assets will be transferred to an independent fund that will monetize the assets through privatisations and other means.”
That is what was once referred to as selling out cheap to the advantage of privileged buyers. And sometimes that privilege derives from being the only cash buyer in the room. There was very recently a post on one of the eco. blogs about monetization of assets as had been described by one of the more well known financiers of the late 19th Century. Can’t seem to find it, but it was an interesting read in regards to who is most likely to benefit from that monetization advice.
“This fund would be established in Greece and be managed by the Greek authorities under the supervision of the relevant European Institutions.”
Under the supervision of is one of the most dishonest phrases ever attached to any financial agreement. Guess who has the advantage when one can only do what the supervisor agrees to be done?
Merkel and her ilk have finally shown their true colors. Of course debt forgiveness is only appropriate for nations that have been soundly defeated in a war after murdering millions of people. If the Greeks don’t throw Tsipras out at this point then they deserve what dismal results they can expect from such an agreement. NATO needs Greece more than Greece needs the Euro.
Critter
stronerly good looking dog. i don’t see how you get any work done.
Work? I am retired. Every day is a Saturday or a Sunday. When someone asked me what day it is, I say I don’t care. I am living off the work of others (SS and investments).
Jerry
probably explains why she is looking at you like that.
Coberly,
You have a good eye. People usually refer to her as him.
that’s why i don’t get any work done.