Switzerland going the way of Iceland - Bankrupt

[GHook93]

Economist Warns Switzerland Could Go Broke

Monday, February 23, 2009 10:05 AM

By: Julie Crawshaw Article Font Size

Economist Artur Schmidt says Switzerland could go broke because Swiss banks extended billions in credit to Eastern European countries which now can't pay back the money.

“Switzerland, like Iceland, is threatened with a potential national bankruptcy,” Schmidt told the Swiss daily Tagesanzeige.

Loans made in Swiss francs stimulated rapid economic growth in many Eastern European countries, Schmidt says, making Swiss currency very important.

Moneynews - Economist Warns Switzerland Could Go Broke

So who are they going to blame this on?

 

[Charles_Main]

Economist Warns Switzerland Could Go Broke

Monday, February 23, 2009 10:05 AM

By: Julie Crawshaw Article Font Size

Economist Artur Schmidt says Switzerland could go broke because Swiss banks extended billions in credit to Eastern European countries which now can't pay back the money.

“Switzerland, like Iceland, is threatened with a potential national bankruptcy,” Schmidt told the Swiss daily Tagesanzeige.

Loans made in Swiss francs stimulated rapid economic growth in many Eastern European countries, Schmidt says, making Swiss currency very important.

Moneynews - Economist Warns Switzerland Could Go Broke

So who are they going to blame this on?

The US of course.

That is one thing about this whole crisis that makes me laugh. For Years now we have heard radicals on the Left gleefully tell us the US was about to fall, and cheer lead that idea. I have always said to them that if we Fall they shall fall with us, and they always dismiss it.

The truth hurts. As goes the USA goes the World, and the world is seeing that today.

 

[GHook93]

Exactly America gets the blame. With Iceland, they said damn American CDOs. However, with Switzerland they are losing on bad loans to Eastern Europe!

So they will cry America's fault.


Or they could blame the Jews! j/k

 

[Mad Scientist]

I don't understand how they went broke. The government provided everything for them. In fact I'll bet a large number of them didn't even need to work./sarc

No need to worry though, socialism will work just fine here in the good ole' USA under Barack Obama! He'll tweak the system just right! Yay!

 

[Truthmatters]

Switzerland - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Switzerland has a stable, modern, and one of the most capitalist economies in the world. It has the 2nd highest European rating after Ireland in the Index of Economic Freedom 2008, while also providing large coverage through public services. The nominal per capita GDP is higher than those of the larger western European economies and Japan, ranking 6th behind Luxembourg, Norway, Qatar, Iceland and Ireland. If adjusted for purchasing power parity it ranks 15th.[31] The World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report currently ranks Switzerland's economy as the second most competitive in the world.[32] For much of the 20th century, Switzerland was the wealthiest country in Europe by a considerable margin.[33] In 2005 the median household income in Switzerland was an estimated 95,000 CHF, the equivalent of roughly 81,000 USD (as of Nov. 2008) in purchasing power parity, which is similar to wealthy American states like California.[34]


Cheese making and dairying is an old Swiss industry.[35]
Engadin valley, tourism constitutes an important revenue for the alpine regionsSwitzerland is home to several large multinational corporations. The largest Swiss companies by revenue are Glencore, Nestlé, Novartis, Hoffmann-La Roche, ABB and Adecco.[36] Also notable areUBS AG, Zurich Financial Services, Credit Suisse, Swiss Re, and The Swatch Group. Switzerland is ranked as having one of the most powerful economies in the world.[33]

 

[DanWyns]

If the Swiss go, watch for Austria next
An amount near 80% of their GDP is in outside loans, mostly Eastern Europe

 

[Truthmatters]

UBS was run by Phil Gramm and is in the tank now. He went to work for them soon after he got the GLBact 1999 signed by Clinton.

 

[DanWyns]

UBS was run by Phil Gramm and is in the tank now. He went to work for them soon after he got the GLBact 1999 signed by Clinton.

Phil Gramm should be dragged through the village square, tarred feathered, then hung by his testicles from the nearest yardarm

 

[Truthmatters]

His wife was on the Enron Board when he helped them out too.

The fact that McCain picked HIM as his economic advisor spoke very loudly.

 

[Truthmatters]

Another failed attempt to twist the facts into Republican talking points huh?

 

[Munin]

US is part of the blame, do you think Switzerland would be in this mess if the US had a stable economy right now?

 

[Truthmatters]

Or if the Swiss did not buy so much of our bad debt?

UBS is one of their biggest corps and Phil Gramm rode it into the ground with sub prime.

 

[GHook93]

I don't understand how they went broke. The government provided everything for them. In fact I'll bet a large number of them didn't even need to work./sarc

No need to worry though, socialism will work just fine here in the good ole' USA under Barack Obama! He'll tweak the system just right! Yay!

I think your thinking of Sweden or Denmark, I am not sure the Switzerland is that socialist!

 

[Truthmatters]

Glencore - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Its their top company and they are heavey in oil and gas.

Swiss banking ring a bell to you people?

 

[wimpy77]

doesn't suprise me.

 

[Truthmatters]

It shows the utter devastation that deregulating even just a single industry can bring.

All of Europe bought our securities and lost on them. How quick will we be able to build our reputations in this area?

This could screw us for a very long time.

 

[DanWyns]

This is an interesting article on Europe's woes

snip

"Yves here. Recall we said a few days ago (based on admittedly a small number of conversations, but the Austrian and German businessmen were knowledgeable) that the Austrian banks were widely known to be bankrupt, that Austrians knew they needed to be rescued and would need help. The Austrians were highly confident that Germany would fund a bailout, and the Germans were mystified that the Austrians were so certain. The Germans' doubts appear to have been well founded. Back to the piece:

Stephen Jen, currency chief at Morgan Stanley, said Eastern Europe has borrowed $1.7 trillion abroad, much on short-term maturities. It must repay – or roll over – $400bn this year, equal to a third of the region's GDP. Good luck. The credit window has slammed shut....

"This is the largest run on a currency in history," said Mr Jen.

In Poland, 60pc of mortgages are in Swiss francs. The zloty has just halved against the franc. Hungary, the Balkans, the Baltics, and Ukraine are all suffering variants of this story. As an act of collective folly – by lenders and borrowers – it matches America's sub-prime debacle. There is a crucial difference, however. European banks are on the hook for both. US banks are not.

Almost all East bloc debts are owed to West Europe, especially Austrian, Swedish, Greek, Italian, and Belgian banks. En plus, Europeans account for an astonishing 74pc of the entire $4.9 trillion portfolio of loans to emerging markets....

Whether it takes months, or just weeks, the world is going to discover that Europe's financial system is sunk, and that there is no EU Federal Reserve yet ready to act as a lender of last resort or to flood the markets with emergency stimulus...."

from : www dot nakedcapitalism

 

[sealybobo]

It shows the utter devastation that deregulating even just a single industry can bring.

All of Europe bought our securities and lost on them. How quick will we be able to build our reputations in this area?

This could screw us for a very long time.

Switzerland SCREWED us too with their Swiss Bank Accounts. Fuck em!!!

What does the IRS do if you screw up on your taxes? They bend you over and charge you fines plus interest. Correct?

So all the rich people who've been fucking us over the last 8 years? Look out.

Or, do you think these people will be treated differently than you or I would because they are rich?

This is why I get sick when broke ass republicans defend the GOP. They are stupid assholes. No other way to say it.

Battle over UBS secret accounts is before US court
By CURT ANDERSON – 3 hours ago

Before you read this, don't think Bush didn't know about this. So when people tell you there is no difference between the Dems and GOP, show them this.

Thank God the Bush Federal Prosecutors are gone.

MIAMI (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service should quickly gain access to the secret accounts of 52,000 wealthy Americans at Swiss bank UBS AG to stop continuing tax evasion, U.S. lawyers told a federal judge.

"The United States does not believe justice is served by delay," said Justice Department tax attorney Stuart Gibson in court papers filed Friday. "Delay serves the cause of those U.S. taxpayers who continue to hide behind the actions" of the bank.

U.S. District Judge Alan S. Gold scheduled a hearing Monday to begin sorting through the IRS lawsuit. UBS claims that turning over the account names — possibly in a matter of weeks — would violate Swiss privacy law and jeopardize the bank's license to stay in business. UBS wants Gold to slow down the process.

"Such violations would expose these (UBS) employees to substantial prison terms, as well as fines, penalties and other sanctions," the UBS lawyers said in a Friday court filing. "There is simply no reason to have, nor equity in having, such an expedited process here."

The IRS last week asked Gold to enforce so-called "John Doe summonses" seeking information about the 52,000 accounts that hold an estimated $14.8 billion in assets. The lawsuit was accompanied by dozens of internal UBS e-mails, memos and other material that the IRS contends shows a systematic, long-term scheme by bank employees to help wealthy Americans evade U.S. income taxes.

The lawsuit followed by one day an agreement in which the Justice Department would defer criminal prosecution of UBS in exchange for the identities of up to 300 U.S. customers and payment by the bank of $780 million. That deal did not cover the much broader list of 52,000 names now sought by the IRS, but both sides knew the U.S. would ask for them.

UBS "knew this day was coming, and it knew this day would come sooner, rather than later," Gibson said.

Another Miami federal judge in July 2008 approved the summonses seeking the account information, but UBS never complied. The new lawsuit asks Gold to enforce that earlier ruling, first by issuing an order requiring UBS to "show cause" why it has not done so.

Federal prosecutors in Miami previously charged a senior UBS executive, Raoul Weill, with conspiring to defraud the U.S. by helping American customers conceal some $20 billion from the IRS. Weill is a fugitive living in Switzerland, but his New York-based attorney has said he is innocent.

A former UBS banker, Bradley Birkenfeld, pleaded guilty last year in Fort Lauderdale to similar fraud conspiracy charges and has been cooperating extensively with U.S. investigators. Birkenfeld has not yet been sentenced.

 

[Truthmatters]

Phil Gramm ran this company, McCain wanted him as his top advisor. What in the hell does that tell you about the republican party leadership?

 

[DavidS]

Economist Warns Switzerland Could Go Broke

Monday, February 23, 2009 10:05 AM

By: Julie Crawshaw Article Font Size

Economist Artur Schmidt says Switzerland could go broke because Swiss banks extended billions in credit to Eastern European countries which now can't pay back the money.

“Switzerland, like Iceland, is threatened with a potential national bankruptcy,” Schmidt told the Swiss daily Tagesanzeige.

Loans made in Swiss francs stimulated rapid economic growth in many Eastern European countries, Schmidt says, making Swiss currency very important.

Moneynews - Economist Warns Switzerland Could Go Broke

So who are they going to blame this on?

GOOD! I hope the fucking Swizz rot in hell. With all of the money and riches that they held when the Nazis stole it from the Jews and absolutely refused to give it back and then with all of the "swiss off shore bank accounts" tax cheats held there, I fucking hope the Swiss get conquered by the Russians.... they deserve it. God damn Switzerland.