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March 2nd, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda A new report released by Eurostat, the EU’s statistics office, on Thursday indicated that the eurozone’s unemployment rate reached 10.7 percent, equaling 17 million jobless, in January.
Press TV has conducted an interview with the expert, Robert Oulds, to shed light on the economic crisis in the eurozone.
What follows is a rush transcript of the interview:
Press TV Let’s look at the unemployment, depending on how you want to look at it, it’s somewhat higher though if you want to look at the age group in some of these countries. For example, in Greece and Italy, amongst the youth it’s creeping its way to almost 30 percent. So how does that reflect any future prospects for growth for these countries, as well as other eurozone countries?
Oulds Well, it’s very bad for the future and we must remember the situation in Spain. The youth unemployment is now at 50 percent. They are usually the most productive generation of the population, yet they are out of work. There’s very much a situation where there’s little hope within these countries, such as Greece, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, because of the massive problems. The future is looking very dark for those countries.
As a result, the austerity measures being forced upon them by the European Union (EU). Your previous guest is talking about the bailout of the banks and what’s happening in the European Central Bank (ECB) has recently now given cheap loans to financial institutions throughout the EU, particularly the eurozone, which now total 1,000 billion euros.
That money has gone primarily to German banks. It’s not going to the people. It’s not going to the unemployed. It’s not going to creating wealth and jobs within countries such as Greece and Spain, which are really suffering as a result of being in the euro. It’s just going out to bailing out the financial institutions, rather than generating economic growth, and that is a severe problem and it shows that there is very little future for these countries as they are stuck in the eurozone with these austerity measures forced upon them.
Press TV You’ve mentioned German banks, why isn’t it trickling down? What is the problem here? Where is the disconnect? Are they just waiting to see the financial markets rebound?
Oulds Well, there is the fear that if Greece fully defaults, it’s already in a selective default, this would create economic problems because many banks and financial institutions particularly in France and Germany have irresponsibly loaned money to countries like Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Ireland. So they’re worried that those banks will go bust. The answer to the economic problem is that the countries exit the euro, stop having the austerity forced upon them, get a competitive currency valued at the right level, where their economies can begin to grow.
At the moment they are just having cut-backs. In Greece pensions are being cut. The healthcare is being cut. Wages are being cut. Wages have been reduced since this crisis has begun by as much as 25 percent in word terms. That is showing that there is a great deal of economic harm that is being taken on board by ordinary citizens and particularly the young people who are now out of work. That just shows that those countries have very little future, whilst these policies are being forced upon them to protect financial institutions.
Press TV With another big bubble to burst, the student loans out of the United States, eurozone, and countries are obviously to be affected. When we look at Greece though, what is it that they want from Greece, when it seems all analysts are pointing out to a default, an inevitable default? And looking at this desired debt ratio that they have, that they wanted to have basically be extended to 2020, that’s looking down the road eight years. That’s not even possible for Germany, is it? Are we looking at a default and of course how is that going to affect the eurozone and what countries are going to come after that?
Oulds The situation in Greece is already a selective default, a partial default. The political leaders of the EU that are pressuring Greece into austerity cuts and greater cuts to their public services whilst raising taxes on their citizens is primarily to keep the euro, which is a political project, because it’s the EU’s single currency and of course, they want to keep the EU intact and protect their financial markets and have a great deal of Greek money transferred to the banks and the financial institutions that loaned the money. Greece has been receiving bailouts from various countries within the EU, but 70 percent of that goes straight back to the banks that have irresponsibly loaned the money which the Greeks cannot afford to repay.
Greece is suffering a great deal of economic harm owed to protect the political project of euro. Many analysts think it’s very sensible that Greece exits the eurozone. Of course another aspect is that they want to keep the funds being transferred from the taxpayer to the financial institutions primarily in France and Germany that have close links to the ECB and are also benefiting the loans we’ve discussed. That’s the main aim. The main aim is not to keep jobs, not to reduce unemployment, and not to stimulate economic growth. It is just to continue that transfer of wealth from Southern Europe to banks in Northern Europe.
Press TVMax does have a point there, doesn’t he? In terms of what the troika, as he mentioned how they’re going to wreak the rewards, they’re walking a very fragile line in a matter of speaking, when they have almost complete control of the sovereignty of each of these nations and Greece is their first stop with other countries to follow?
Oulds Yes, you’re quite right. There is a sovereignty and democracy issue, and the troika, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the ECB, and the other institutions that make up the EU, own the only assets of Greece. The assets of Greece are now not owned by the Greek people and do not exist for the benefit of the Greeks. They are owned by these supranational institutions which operate without democratic accountability. That is in the bailout agreement. There’s a great deal of economic harm being done as a result of these institutions being unaccountable and undemocratic, even anti-democratic. To have a good economy, you need a government that will respond to the people’s needs and manage the economy in their own people’s best interests. At the moment, Greece is affectively run by the EU and the policies that are being imposed are not in the interests of the Greek people. That is what happens when democracy and sovereignty are taken away from a nation and given to unaccountable supranational institutions.
So really, there’s a democracy issue here and too much power has been taken away from member states and given to the EU. And really that process needs to be unbound and then of course we can governments actually respond to their people’s interests, and that will be to get jobs back in the economy.
SZH/HN
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