<div dir="ltr"><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Dante-Gabryell Monson</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:dante.monson@gmail.com">dante.monson@gmail.com</a>></span><br>Date: Mon, Aug 24, 2015 at 4:07 PM<br>Subject: Fwd: <nettime> Germans begin the looting of Greece<br>To: <a href="mailto:econowmix@googlegroups.com">econowmix@googlegroups.com</a>, <a href="mailto:op-n-m@googlegroups.com">op-n-m@googlegroups.com</a><br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: "nettime's avid reader" <<a href="mailto:nettime@kein.org" target="_blank">nettime@kein.org</a>><br>Date: 23 Aug 2015 22:57<br>Subject: <nettime> Germans begin the looting of Greece<br>To: <<a href="mailto:nettime-l@mx.kein.org" target="_blank">nettime-l@mx.kein.org</a>><br>Cc: <br><br type="attribution"><br>
[Mind the source. Marketwatch. Not Jacobinmag.]<br>
<br>
By Darrell Delamaide<br>
<br>
Published: Aug 21, 2015 3:30 a.m. ET<br>
<a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/germans-begin-the-looting-of-greece-2015-08-21" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.marketwatch.com/story/germans-begin-the-looting-of-greece-2015-08-21</a><br>
<br>
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — To the victor goes the spoils.<br>
<br>
The ink was not yet dry on the new European bailout accord for Greece<br>
before German companies started their plundering of Greek assets.<br>
<br>
Per provisions of the “agreement” imposed on Greece, the Athens<br>
government awarded the German company that runs the Frankfurt Airport,<br>
Fraport, a concession to operate 14 regional airports, mostly on the<br>
islands like Mykonos and Santorini favored by tourists, for up to 50<br>
years in the first privatization of government-owned assets demanded<br>
by the creditors.<br>
<br>
<br>
The airport deal had been agreed upon last year by the previous Greek<br>
government and then suspended by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s newly<br>
elected government this year as part of his pledge to prevent the fire<br>
sale of valuable public assets at bargain-basement prices.<br>
<br>
The airport deal gives Fraport the right to run the facilities as its<br>
own for 1.2 billion euros over the 50 years and an annual rent of 23<br>
million euros. The German company is also pledging to invest<br>
significantly in upgrades for the airports.<br>
<br>
Under the terms of the new bailout accord, which provides 86 billion<br>
euros of new debt to a government already vastly overindebted, the<br>
country must sequester 50 billion euros worth of public assets to sell<br>
off at distressed prices to mostly foreign bidders — with German<br>
companies first in line.<br>
<br>
In the end, Tsipras had no choice but to buckle under to the<br>
creditors’ demands if he wanted to fulfill his other pledge of keeping<br>
the country in the euro..<br>
<br>
But the plundering that has now begun unmasks the whole euro charade<br>
for what it really is — a war of conquest by money rather than by arms.<br>
<br>
Privatization is a standard feature of the neoliberal policy mix<br>
seeking smaller government, less state intervention and more<br>
free-market competition. (Privatization, of course, leads just as<br>
often to crony capitalism, while some services, such as electricity<br>
and trains, are arguably more efficient as government-owned monopolies.)<br>
<br>
But privatization in the context of the bailout accord is tantamount<br>
to expropriation, like forcing a bankrupt to sell the family silver in<br>
order to pay off debts.<br>
<br>
After piling more and more unsustainable debt onto the Greek<br>
government in two previous bailouts — most of which went back to banks<br>
in France and Germany — the victorious Northern European governments<br>
are now inviting their companies to partake in the spoils.<br>
<br>
Fraport, which ironically is majority-owned by state and local<br>
governments in Germany, has cherry-picked among Greece’s network of<br>
regional airports to take over only those that make a profit. It is<br>
happy to leave the 30 other loss-making airports in the hands of a<br>
bankrupt state.<br>
<br>
Greek Infrastructure Minister Christos Spirtzis told German television<br>
that this deal to take away the profitable airports and leave the<br>
ailing government with only those requiring subsidies “is more fitting<br>
for a colony than for an EU member state.”<br>
<br>
The official memorandum of understanding approved this week<br>
specifically mentions the airport deal and that it must be made with<br>
the buyer already agreed upon, even though the bulk of the<br>
privatizations that Greece must make will be finalized only in March<br>
of next year.<br>
<br>
Sven Giegold, a German member of the European Parliament who<br>
represents the environmentalist party, the Greens, called this<br>
isolated provision “bizarre.”<br>
<br>
Even with the announcement of the concession by the Greek government,<br>
however, the German company indicated that it might seek better terms<br>
than those previously agreed upon.<br>
<br>
This same pattern of taking over profitable assets at depressed prices<br>
will no doubt become evident in the other sales mandated by the agreement.<br>
<br>
Other assets to be sold will include the ports of Piraeus and<br>
Thessaloniki and valuable waterfront properties for hotel and casino<br>
development. State-owned electricity and train operations are also<br>
targeted for privatization.<br>
<br>
How anyone can view this blatant profiteering as furthering the<br>
process of European integration is a mystery. How any European can<br>
look at this naked German aggression with equanimity is also baffling.<br>
<br>
The irrepressible Yanis Varoufakis, unbowed after his resistance to<br>
capitulation ended his brief tenure as finance minister, notes in an<br>
annotated version of the MOU that the Greek government in May had<br>
proposed an alternative path to privatization that would have<br>
leveraged the public assets to promote more investment and growth.<br>
<br>
Under that plan, Greece would upgrade the public assets, fully<br>
utilizing aid available from EU sources like the European Investment<br>
Bank, to help drive growth and then privatize them at its own pace at<br>
a much higher price.<br>
<br>
Like every other suggestion from the Greek side, this proposal was<br>
dismissed out of hand by the German-led EU negotiators.<br>
<br>
The war is over; let the occupation begin.<br>
<br>
<br>
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</div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div>Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: <a href="http://commonstransition.org" target="_blank">http://commonstransition.org</a> </div><div><br></div>P2P Foundation: <a href="http://p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://p2pfoundation.net</a> - <a href="http://blog.p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://blog.p2pfoundation.net</a> <br><br><a href="http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation" target="_blank"></a>Updates: <a href="http://twitter.com/mbauwens" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/mbauwens</a>; <a href="http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens</a><br><br>#82 on the (En)Rich list: <a href="http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/" target="_blank">http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/</a> <br></div></div></div></div>
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