Nice - Bastille Day 2016

Brazilian political cartoonist Carlos Latuff 

Hollande vs. Barroso: The Pot Calling the Kettle Black

RexxS WikiMedia Commons

French President, Francois Hollande, has attacked Jose Manuel Barroso's decision to join Goldman Sachs "claiming that the former EU commission president’s “morally unacceptable” move demonstrated the need to rein in finance." according to The Financial Times

".....Mr Hollande highlighted Goldman’s role in arranging contentious derivatives trades for Greece, which helped Athens massage its public finances at a time when Mr Barroso led the commission. He also noted the bank’s involvement in the US subprime mortgage crisis almost a decade ago. “And we learn a few years later that Mr Barroso is joining Goldman Sachs? Legally, it’s possible,” the French president said. “But morally, and this is about the person, it’s unacceptable.”

As explained in my previous post, "Former EU President Barroso joins Goldman Sachs - Another Nail in the EU Coffin" I do agree with President Hollande. However, it's not very smart to let him be the spokesperson for these views. This same week it had been reported that Hollande's hairdresser is paid almost 10,000 euros a month, which is 166 times the price of an average luxury haircut in Paris and almost five times the average French monthly salary. Hollande accusing Barroso is a bit like the pot calling the kettle black. While European political elites keep showing this kind of behavior, populist forces will gain steam.  One almost has to wonder whether these European leaders are willfully self-destructive or have no moral backbone?

Voormalig EU Commissaris Barroso naar Goldman Sachs - een nieuwe nagel aan de EU doodskist

The Subsidized Mineowner, 1925
Wikimedia Commons

Vorige week kondigde de voormalige voorzitter van de Europese Commissie, Jose Manuel Barroso, aan dat hij zal toetreden tot de Amerikaanse zakenbank Goldman Sachs als voorzitter van hun internationale divisie .....

Ga uw gang en laat dit bericht even goed op u inwerken: dit is dezelfde Barroso, die gedurende de jaren 2004-2014 voorzitter van de Europese Commissie was, toen Europa de ergste financiële crisis sinds de Grote Depressie doorstond, veroorzaakt door onzorgvuldig en frauduleus gedrag van met name Amerikaanse investeringsbanken, en ook toen Europa te maken kreeg met de Griekse schuldencrisis. Griekenland, dat lid werd van de eurozone dankzij het verhullen van de Griekse overheidsschuld door Goldman Sachs

Dit is ook dezelfde Barroso, die in 2005 een week op het jacht van de Griekse scheepvaartmiljardair Spiro Latsis doorbracht, een maand voordat de Commissie Griekse staatssteun van 10 miljoen  euro voor de Latsis rederij goedkeurde. Het was toen dat de inmiddels welbekende Nigel Farrage, lid van het Europees Parlement voor de Britse UK Independence Party, tevergeefs een motie van wantrouwen tegen Barroso indiende.

Het is ook dezelfde Barroso, die als minister-president van Portugal, en lid van de rechtse Sociaal-Democratische partij, gastheer was van een bijeenkomst op de Azoren in 2003 met de Amerikaanse president George W. Bush en de Spaanse en Britse premiers José María Aznar en Tony Blair, waarbij deze vier leiders gezamenlijk tot de beruchte invasie van Irak besloten, een besluit waarvan we inmiddels weten hoe verwoestend en misplaatst die was. En had ik al verteld dat Barroso ooit

Former EU President Barroso joins Goldman Sachs - Another Nail in the EU Coffin

The Subsidised Mineowner, 1925
Wikimedia Commons

Last week, the former President of the European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, Jose Manuel Barroso, announced that he will be joining US investment bank Goldman Sachs as a non-executive chairman of its international operations.....

You may want to ponder over this announcement for a few moments: yes, this is the same Barroso who was President of the European Commission from 2004 to 2014, during which Europe experienced the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression largely caused by careless and fraudulent behavior by US investment banks, and Europe also faced the Greek debt crisis - Greece that became member of the Eurozone by masking its government debt thanks to Goldman Sachs.

This is also the same Barroso who in 2005  had spent a week on the yacht of the Greek shipping billionaire Spiro Latsis, a month before the Commission approved Greek state aid of ten million euros for Latsis's shipping company. It was then that Nigel Farrage, Member of the European Parliament for the British UK Independence Party, filed a motion of no confidence in Barroso, which in the end did not receive majority support.

And this is also the same Barroso, who as Prime Minister of Portugal, and member of the Portuguese right-wing Social Democratic Party, hosted a meeting in the Azores in 2003 with US President George W. Bush,  and the Spanish and British Prime Ministers José María Aznar  and Tony Blair, where these four leaders agreed to the infamous US-led invasion of Iraq, a decision which turned out to be one of the most devastating and misguided wars in modern history.

Oh, and did I mention that Barroso as a student was one of the leaders of

European Football Championship Finally Over

Dutch Team at 1974 World Cup

Last Sunday night, Portugal beat host nation France 1-0 in the European Football Championship finals. A dramatic game, as Portuguese star striker, Christiano Ronaldo, had to leave the game injured after just 20 
minutes. The match then seemed France's to lose. They deserved to win this championship as they had played reasonably well (but not much better than that) during this tournament and had a golden striker in Antoine Griezmann. 

Also, the French deserved a shot in the arm after last year's terrorist strikes and an economic malaise in the country. It didn't happen: the tough defending Portuguese surprisingly managed to score in overtime and that was that. This was Portugal's first European championship, a great achievement for them and for Ronaldo, their leader on the sideline. 

However, there is not much more good news to report after 51 games in this tournament which for the first time had 24 countries participating instead of the usual 16. Iceland was refreshing and surprising in reaching the quarter finals. Wales was even more surprising in reaching the semi-finals. But most games were

Big Banks Loose Nearly Half a Trillion Dollars in Equity - (The Wall Street Journal)

TaxCredit/Flickr

Storm clouds are forming over Western economies: not only Brexit is causing upheaval, also the world's biggest banks are showing major warning signs, that something is really not well.

As The Wall Street Journal reports:

"....Since the start of 2016, 20 of the world’s bigger banks have lost a quarter of their combined market value. Added up, it equals about $465 billion, according to FactSet data...."

Just have a look at this picture, which speaks for itself:

Why Did the UK Enter the EU in the First Place?

Mish Shedlock. investment advisor and blogger,  questions on his blog Mish Talk why the UK entered the EU in the first place (with thanks, Mish.) He makes some interesting points, but really hilarious is his reference to a clip from the 1980s BBC TV series,  “Yes Minister”.*

                                            Yes Minister: Why Britain Joined the European Union

(* 16 episodes were re-recorded for BBC 4 radio and available online. Strongly recommended for those who like politics and British comedy.)