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Want to send a message? Cyprus showed the world how it's done

If you haven't heard about what is going on in Cyprus I suggest you take a moment to read Ron Paul's commentary - The Great Cyprus Bank Robbery - which gives a pretty concise overview of the situation. 

In essence the bank went bankrupt, the bank turned to the government, the government turned to the ECB (European Central Bank) and the ECB told them to take depositors' money. And so they did - some depositors will lose six per cent, some 14 per cent and some will lose 60-to-80 per cent of their deposits. 

What a bloody mess. 

I think this may be the first time that a bank has gone in and literally taken a percentage of depositors chequing or savings accounts. In any other circumstance this would be, without question, stealing. The only reason it's not considered stealing here is that it's not stealing when the government takes something from you (I don't know what it is, but legally, it's not considered stealing).  

From a PR perspective this was an idiotic move, but man-oh-man talk about sending a message. 

With this one action Cyprus has changed the rules of the game. The message has been sent around the world:  If, a government or systemically essential bank is facing bankruptcy, it is acceptable to consider as an option the confiscation of people's wealth.

Think about what that means... it means the ultimate punishment for savers. If you save your money and put it in the bank, and the bank gets in trouble, they might take your savings. They won't take your house, or your car, or your pension (yet)... but they will take your savings. 

So those who behaved most responsibly in society (ie. those who saved their money) will be stolen from first. 

In addition, with Europe being a total mess right now, Cyprus has sent the message to Italians, the Irish, and every other nation that you better get your money OUT of the bank while you still can. 

Anyway, this move has sent a message heard around the world: Your money is only YOUR money so long as WE (bankers and the government) say it is. 

On a lighter note, I found the following commentary on the Cyprus fiasco interesting to watch (note: excessive profanity present in video)


Some additional commentary on Cyprus that is interesting/informative:





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