Showing posts with label 1%. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1%. Show all posts
Friday, November 8, 2013
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Friday, June 15, 2012
Greece's super-rich maintain lavish lifestyles and low profiles | Digg Topnews
Greece's super-rich maintain lavish lifestyles and low profiles | Digg Topnews
Three days before Greeks cast their ballots in a make-or-break election, their country could not be more divided. Here there is no talk of the pain of crisis – the only topic of conversation elsewhere in Greek society. The destitution and despair of Athens is a world away – and for many quite clearly it is best kept that way.
"Greeks brought this crisis upon themselves," said a London-based shipowner upholding the sector's vow of silence by insisting on anonymity. "They allowed crooks and corruption to prosper."
Almost 100 years after it was built by a tobacco tycoon, the elegant Poseidonion remains the favourite playground for Athenian high society. The former King Constantine, who was schooled on the island, is a frequent visitor. Tonight, as the crowd sits on its terrace sipping cocktails, staff with long-handled brooms clean the bows of their mega-yachts moored in front of the hotel. A tiny pony takes their children – all guarded by nannies – around the plaza. While locals fret that Spetses, already known as the "new Monaco", is at risk of becoming a "club for the rich" there are also obvious payoffs.
Christina Ioannidis, who runs a high-end clothes shop on the island, says one of them is that the crisis has not affected her at all. "If truth be told, business couldn't be better," she says, knocking on wood. "I've had to employ an assistant all year round because there's such demand, even in winter."
Pumping money into the economy of Spetses – or the islands from which they hail – is a far cry from the world of philanthropy with which Aristotle Onassis and Stavros Niarchos and other fabled shipowners were associated. Known as the Golden Greeks, both men left large bequests in the form of charitable foundations. The Niarchos foundation recently gave €100m (£81m) to help civic society fight the crisis's many ills, with the aid including food vouchers for the children of the new poor and support for organisations dealing with the homeless.
But since the outbreak of Greece's runaway debt crisis, its moneyed class has been notable more by its absence than presence. Oligarchs, who made vast fortunes cornering the oil, gas, construction and banking industries, as well as the media, have been eerily silent – often going out of their way to be as low a profile as possible.
Greek shipowners, who have gained from their profits being tax-free and who control at least 15% of the world's merchant freight, have also remained low-key. With their wealth offshore and highly secretive, the estimated 900 families who run the sector have the largest fleet in the world. As Athens' biggest foreign currency earner after tourism, the industry remitted more than $175bn (£112bn) to the country in untaxed earnings over the past decade. Greece's debt currently stands at €280bn.
As ordinary Greeks have been thrown into ever greater poverty by wage and pension cuts and a seemingly endless array of new and higher taxes, their wealthy compatriots have been busy either whisking their money out of Greece or snapping up prime real estate abroad.
An estimated €8bn flowed out of the Greek banking system in May as speculation over the country's possible exit from the eurozone mounted. Another €4bn was reported to have been withdrawn in the last two weeks – on top of an estimated €20bn since the start of the crisis in late 2009. Stories of rich Greeks sending their wives and best friends on "shopping missions" to remove secret hoards kept in banks in Switzerland and Cyprus are legion.
"At a time when Greece, more than ever, needs symbolic gestures from its rich citizens, they seem to be doing practically nothing to help their country," said Theodore Pelagidis, professor of economic analysis at Piraeus University.
"We need to see cool-headed entrepreneurs not only complain about bureaucracy and corruption but do something for Greece."
In an atmosphere that has become increasingly aggravated between the haves and have-nots, displays of wealth are clearly being downplayed, especially in Athens, where the majority of the 11 million-strong Greek population lives and which has been worst hit by the belt-tightening.
Over the past year, Pelagidis said a growing number of very wealthy Greeks had even taken to inviting academics, like himself, to their mansions, in the capital's leafy northern suburbs, to be apprised of the situation. Lectures in particular demand were political, economic and historical in nature.
"They are so cut off they know nothing," he said. "I'm not sure whether it's a case of the spoiled and uneducated rich trying to overcome their remorse, or a case of them simply wanting to fight their boredom but after going once I decided never to go again. I came away thinking it was like a form of psychotherapy for them."
What is sure, however, is that the super-rich appear to have come up with contingency plans to disperse their wealth as the crisis deepens. In recent months, acting on a trend that began soon after Greece's debt woes erupted, a growing number have been snapping up property in London. Increasingly, many have made their way to the door of 88 (London) Ltd, a high-end property brokerage run by Panos Koutsogiannakis. Suddenly the Greek Australian has found himself investing in properties worth £5m and more.
full story: http://digg.com/newsbar/topnews/greece_s_super_rich_maintain_lavish_lifestyles_and_low_profiles
Three days before Greeks cast their ballots in a make-or-break election, their country could not be more divided. Here there is no talk of the pain of crisis – the only topic of conversation elsewhere in Greek society. The destitution and despair of Athens is a world away – and for many quite clearly it is best kept that way.
"Greeks brought this crisis upon themselves," said a London-based shipowner upholding the sector's vow of silence by insisting on anonymity. "They allowed crooks and corruption to prosper."
Almost 100 years after it was built by a tobacco tycoon, the elegant Poseidonion remains the favourite playground for Athenian high society. The former King Constantine, who was schooled on the island, is a frequent visitor. Tonight, as the crowd sits on its terrace sipping cocktails, staff with long-handled brooms clean the bows of their mega-yachts moored in front of the hotel. A tiny pony takes their children – all guarded by nannies – around the plaza. While locals fret that Spetses, already known as the "new Monaco", is at risk of becoming a "club for the rich" there are also obvious payoffs.
Christina Ioannidis, who runs a high-end clothes shop on the island, says one of them is that the crisis has not affected her at all. "If truth be told, business couldn't be better," she says, knocking on wood. "I've had to employ an assistant all year round because there's such demand, even in winter."
Pumping money into the economy of Spetses – or the islands from which they hail – is a far cry from the world of philanthropy with which Aristotle Onassis and Stavros Niarchos and other fabled shipowners were associated. Known as the Golden Greeks, both men left large bequests in the form of charitable foundations. The Niarchos foundation recently gave €100m (£81m) to help civic society fight the crisis's many ills, with the aid including food vouchers for the children of the new poor and support for organisations dealing with the homeless.
But since the outbreak of Greece's runaway debt crisis, its moneyed class has been notable more by its absence than presence. Oligarchs, who made vast fortunes cornering the oil, gas, construction and banking industries, as well as the media, have been eerily silent – often going out of their way to be as low a profile as possible.
Greek shipowners, who have gained from their profits being tax-free and who control at least 15% of the world's merchant freight, have also remained low-key. With their wealth offshore and highly secretive, the estimated 900 families who run the sector have the largest fleet in the world. As Athens' biggest foreign currency earner after tourism, the industry remitted more than $175bn (£112bn) to the country in untaxed earnings over the past decade. Greece's debt currently stands at €280bn.
As ordinary Greeks have been thrown into ever greater poverty by wage and pension cuts and a seemingly endless array of new and higher taxes, their wealthy compatriots have been busy either whisking their money out of Greece or snapping up prime real estate abroad.
An estimated €8bn flowed out of the Greek banking system in May as speculation over the country's possible exit from the eurozone mounted. Another €4bn was reported to have been withdrawn in the last two weeks – on top of an estimated €20bn since the start of the crisis in late 2009. Stories of rich Greeks sending their wives and best friends on "shopping missions" to remove secret hoards kept in banks in Switzerland and Cyprus are legion.
"At a time when Greece, more than ever, needs symbolic gestures from its rich citizens, they seem to be doing practically nothing to help their country," said Theodore Pelagidis, professor of economic analysis at Piraeus University.
"We need to see cool-headed entrepreneurs not only complain about bureaucracy and corruption but do something for Greece."
In an atmosphere that has become increasingly aggravated between the haves and have-nots, displays of wealth are clearly being downplayed, especially in Athens, where the majority of the 11 million-strong Greek population lives and which has been worst hit by the belt-tightening.
Over the past year, Pelagidis said a growing number of very wealthy Greeks had even taken to inviting academics, like himself, to their mansions, in the capital's leafy northern suburbs, to be apprised of the situation. Lectures in particular demand were political, economic and historical in nature.
"They are so cut off they know nothing," he said. "I'm not sure whether it's a case of the spoiled and uneducated rich trying to overcome their remorse, or a case of them simply wanting to fight their boredom but after going once I decided never to go again. I came away thinking it was like a form of psychotherapy for them."
What is sure, however, is that the super-rich appear to have come up with contingency plans to disperse their wealth as the crisis deepens. In recent months, acting on a trend that began soon after Greece's debt woes erupted, a growing number have been snapping up property in London. Increasingly, many have made their way to the door of 88 (London) Ltd, a high-end property brokerage run by Panos Koutsogiannakis. Suddenly the Greek Australian has found himself investing in properties worth £5m and more.
full story: http://digg.com/newsbar/topnews/greece_s_super_rich_maintain_lavish_lifestyles_and_low_profiles
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Friday, June 1, 2012
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Bruce Springsteen: Bankers Are 'Greedy Thieves'
Bruce Springsteen: Bankers Are 'Greedy Thieves':
'via Blog this'
'via Blog this'
BERLIN, May 30 - Rocker Bruce Springsteen touched on a nerve of widespread discontent with the financiers and bankers at a Berlin concert on Wednesday, railing against them as "greedy thieves" and "robber barons."
Springsteen, a singer-songwriter dubbed "The Boss" who has long championed populist causes, played to a sold-out crowd at Berlin's Olympic Stadium, singing from his album "Wrecking Ball" and speaking about tough economic times that have put people out of work worldwide and led to debt crises in Greece and other countries.
"In America, a lot of people have lost their jobs," said Springsteen, 62, who performed for three hours to some 58,000 fans in the packed stadium that hosted the 1936 Olympics and the 2006 World Cup final.
"But also in Europe and in Berlin, times are tough," he added, speaking in fluent German. "This song is for all those who are struggling." He then introduced "Jack of All Trades", a withering attack on bankers that includes the lyrics: "The banker man grows fat, working man grows thin."
Europe has been especially hard hit since 2008's financial meltdown that sparked an enduring sovereign debt crisis. Unemployment on the continent has risen to levels not seen since the 1990s.
Springsteen's "Wrecking Ball" tour began on May 13 in Spain, which is struggling with its crushing debt load, and it runs for 2-1/2 months with 33 stops in 15 countries before concluding on July 31 in Helsinki.
originally from Rueters http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/31/bruce-springsteen-bankers_n_1559776.html
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Must see: C Hedges: A Spring Capitalism Corps Globalized Elite W Street OWS US Bud...
Washington is an apendage of the Main Street. The Occupy has felt the full wrath of the power elite. The elite's is to severe Occupy from the whole.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Crowd gathers in Detroit at GE Annual Shareholder Meeting
Detroit— While several thousand protesters made noise Wednesday in the city's downtown over feelings General Electric isn't paying enough in taxes, three dozen protestors stood up at the beginning of GE's annual shareholder meeting chanting "pay your fair share"
The group was escorted from the meeting room at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center by police and security without incident. They continued their demonstration outside in the lobby. A phalanx of security guards formed outside the ballroom to prevent them from re-entering.
The protesters with ties to the "99 percent" movement — made popular last year in light of corporate bank bailouts — made their frustrations known over GE's tax payments outside the building, stretching into nearby Hart Plaza.
Inside the Renaissance Center, security was tight. Shareholders were required to pass through metal detectors, and endure bag searches and wand scans in order to enter the lobby outside the meeting room. Only registered shareholders were allowed in, but it was clear by the union pins some wore that they would bring the protest inside.
A small group of union activists from the Service Employees International Union tried to enter the meeting with proxies from shareholders, but they were turned away by security and police. GE CEO Jeff Immelt had planned to come out and mingle with investors but that was canceled out of security concerns. From The
Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120425/METRO/204250367#ixzz1tBeiekOX
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Meet Scott Walker's Billionaires | Crooks and Liars
Meet Scott Walker's Billionaires | Crooks and Liars:
"Scott Walker's out-of-state support has been remarkable. Out of the $4.5 million he raised in the first quarter of 2012, nearly $4 million came from out-of-state donors in the five-week period before the limits on donations for the recall kicked in, and most donors were boys sitting at the Billionaire Boys' Club table. Here are a few notable out-of-state names, industries and donation amounts:
Stanley Herzog, MO (Construction) $250,000
Robert Perry, TX (Construction) $250,000
Sarah Atkins, MO (Building Products) $250,000
David C Humphreys, MO (Building Products) $250,000
Trevor Rees-Jones, TX (Big Oil) $100,000
Bruce Covner, NY (Hedge Funds) $100,000
John M Templeton, Jr, PA (Investments) $30,000
"
'via Blog this'
LP - My god the number of billionaires that are just so concerned with what goes on in the badger state, just as long as out of state billionaires buy elections and not out of state unions.
"Scott Walker's out-of-state support has been remarkable. Out of the $4.5 million he raised in the first quarter of 2012, nearly $4 million came from out-of-state donors in the five-week period before the limits on donations for the recall kicked in, and most donors were boys sitting at the Billionaire Boys' Club table. Here are a few notable out-of-state names, industries and donation amounts:
Stanley Herzog, MO (Construction) $250,000
Robert Perry, TX (Construction) $250,000
Sarah Atkins, MO (Building Products) $250,000
David C Humphreys, MO (Building Products) $250,000
Trevor Rees-Jones, TX (Big Oil) $100,000
Bruce Covner, NY (Hedge Funds) $100,000
John M Templeton, Jr, PA (Investments) $30,000
"
'via Blog this'
LP - My god the number of billionaires that are just so concerned with what goes on in the badger state, just as long as out of state billionaires buy elections and not out of state unions.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)