Today's Eurogeddon must read.
Showing posts with label Christine Lagarde. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christine Lagarde. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 29
Monday, May 28
Lagarde Sacrifices Herself to Help Greece's Pro-Bailout New Democracy Party?
The Eurogeddon chess game is getting desperate so don't be surprised to see a few political/PR curveballs over the next few weeks in front of the 17 June Greek election runoff.
Case in point is this weekend's snarky comment from the typically ladylike Madame Lagarde. But before we get to that, some background:
The single worst thing than can happen from the perspective of the Troika (the IMF, EU, and ECB) and Greek elites right now is for Syriza and its 37-year old leader, 'Sexy Alexis', as he's now being called, to do well in the 17 June Greek election runoff.
In the most recent May elections Greek voters turned away from the two pro-bailout/austerity parties, PASOK and New Democracy, as they were seen as tools of the Troika. This rejection by voters sent a shiver up the Troika's spine as they know that should Syriza and Alexis Tsipras prevail he will likely walk away from the terms of the bailout and thereby call the Troika's bluff to either a) cut off Greece's banking system from further ECB funding or b) terminate any further bailout money to Greece's government. Either one of these moves will likely trigger a financial panic and spoil everyone's summer vacation plans.
So the Troika are now desperate to see PASOK and or New Democracy do better in the 17 June election. So how can they help them?
Angry Greek voters are looking for someone to blame, and as long as PASOK and New Democracy are seen as part of the problem it's unlikely that voters will put them back into power. So one strategy is to try and reshift the political blame onto the external Troika, which would have the effect of diverting negative feelings away from PASOK and New Democracy. This would help the two pro-bailout Greek parties reposition themselves as domestic victims rather than as co-conspirators with the hated foreigners.
And now you understand why the typically politie Christine Lagarde, head of the IMF, probably deliberately roiled the Aegean kettle this weekend with a comment about how it's 'payback time', and Greeks need to pay their taxes.
Queue the Greek firestorm.
And lo and behold, New Democracy, who of course along with PASOK quickly denounced Lagarde's rhetoric, is again rising in the polls.
Nice move, Troika.
And, by the way, Lagarde doesn't pay any taxes on her $551,700 in annual compensation.
Case in point is this weekend's snarky comment from the typically ladylike Madame Lagarde. But before we get to that, some background:
The single worst thing than can happen from the perspective of the Troika (the IMF, EU, and ECB) and Greek elites right now is for Syriza and its 37-year old leader, 'Sexy Alexis', as he's now being called, to do well in the 17 June Greek election runoff.
In the most recent May elections Greek voters turned away from the two pro-bailout/austerity parties, PASOK and New Democracy, as they were seen as tools of the Troika. This rejection by voters sent a shiver up the Troika's spine as they know that should Syriza and Alexis Tsipras prevail he will likely walk away from the terms of the bailout and thereby call the Troika's bluff to either a) cut off Greece's banking system from further ECB funding or b) terminate any further bailout money to Greece's government. Either one of these moves will likely trigger a financial panic and spoil everyone's summer vacation plans.
So the Troika are now desperate to see PASOK and or New Democracy do better in the 17 June election. So how can they help them?
 |
| Agent Provocateur: Christine Lagarde, IMF Chief |
Angry Greek voters are looking for someone to blame, and as long as PASOK and New Democracy are seen as part of the problem it's unlikely that voters will put them back into power. So one strategy is to try and reshift the political blame onto the external Troika, which would have the effect of diverting negative feelings away from PASOK and New Democracy. This would help the two pro-bailout Greek parties reposition themselves as domestic victims rather than as co-conspirators with the hated foreigners.
And now you understand why the typically politie Christine Lagarde, head of the IMF, probably deliberately roiled the Aegean kettle this weekend with a comment about how it's 'payback time', and Greeks need to pay their taxes.
Queue the Greek firestorm.
And lo and behold, New Democracy, who of course along with PASOK quickly denounced Lagarde's rhetoric, is again rising in the polls.
Nice move, Troika.
And, by the way, Lagarde doesn't pay any taxes on her $551,700 in annual compensation.
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