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Do Americans Realize How The Crisis Breeds Global Chaos?

KREMS, AUSTRIA: Obsessed as we are about our own crumbling economy, it’s hard for most Americans to see and appreciate the global nature of the crisis and how it is impacting and will impact others throughout the world. We don’t recognize how many in other countries blame the fall of their own economies on a kind of “financial aid” born in the USA.
And even as protests spread, with Britain just putting its own army on alert for fear of disruptions this summer by anarchists bent on class war with slogans like “burn a banker,” mass demonstrations show no sign of abating in France, Iceland, Ireland, Greece and other EU countries. People here have politicized economic issues perhaps because of a more thorough and diverse media environment, as well as an expectation that their governments have a duty to protect their people.
When I arrived in Vienna for a film forum and festival at Danube University, I was surprised to see merchandise and remainders marked down to flea market prices at stalls in the usual pricey booths at an airport known for pedaling luxury brands.
Some think the European Union and the Euro zone may not survive the tremors. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on Friday, “The European Union is facing an unprecedented situation due to the economic crisis and needs to work at different levels to restore credit flows.” He said the bloc’s economy is expected to contract by 2 percent this year.General Motors wants a bailout from European governments too, with 32,000 jobs at risk.Eastern Europe is feeling the crunch worst with its currencies reeling. Western Europe has so far declined to come to their requests for more bailouts from Hungary, for example, once a model for how the free market can replace Soviet bloc economics.
There are waves of protests underway in the East. Left publications report:
“Thousands of demonstrators in Lithuania, Latvia and Bulgaria have attacked government buildings and called on their governments to resign as unemployment soars in Eastern Europe.
Experts predict a regional increase of 15 million to 18 million unemployed in the coming months, with no relief as jobs for immigrants disappear in Western Europe and the United States.”
Writes Mike Whitney: “The global economy is decelerating at the fastest pace on record. 40 percent of global wealth has been wiped out. The banking system is insolvent, unemployment is soaring, tax revenues are falling, the markets are in shock, housing is crashing, deficits are soaring, and consumer confidence is at its lowest point in history.”
When you look at some of the numbers, you can see the time bombs that are ticking away, According to Ed Bonawitz, many countries are in deep hock, “Ireland’s external debt, at US$1.8 trillion, equals 900% of the country’s US$200 billion GDP. The United Kingdom’s external debt of US$10.5 trillion equals 456% of its US$2.3 trillion GDP. Switzerland’s external debt of US$1.3 trillion equals 433% of its US$300 billion GDP.” Now that the credit markets are locked tight, renegotiating the terms of these loans is virtually impossible. U.S. Banks are said to have a loan ratio of around 26-to-1. And European Banks have one that is around 60-to-1.'
Lees verder: http://www.mediachannel.org/wordpress/2009/03/09/the-financial-crisis-slams-into-europe/