Is Saudi Arabia on the Brink of Bankruptcy?

Up until now, oil has allowed the payment of all kinds of bills. Citizens have got used to a high level of subsidies and allowances, and not having to pay any taxes. But since the falling of the oil prices, everything has changed for Saudi Arabia. In 2015, the deficit reached 15% of the GDP with the situation continuing in 2016 and threatening to swallow up every penny saved during the “black gold” years in a very short period of time. 70% of the Saudi population is under 30 and they will require two million jobs over the next decade. In this video, we talk about the plan that Saudi Arabia is trying to follow to escape from this scenario.

Mothers Forced to Sell Their Children: Mail Reveals the Distressing Human Toll of Greece's Euro Meltdown
MAIL ONLINE: The economic crisis across Europe has perhaps been most keenly felt in Greece, where people have taken to the streets in violent and emotional protests against the austeri[t]y measures imposed on the nation. / In this heartbreaking dispatch from the streets of Athens, SUE REID finds mothers who have been forced to sell their own children in the battle for survival.

Once a month, usually on a Saturday, Kasiani Papadopoulou packs a bag with children’s presents and takes the bus from her one-bedroom flat in a dusty suburb of Athens up into the cool hills outside the Greek capital that overlook the sea.

The 20-mile journey is an emotional one for her, but she would not stop making it for anything in the world.

A young widow of 30, she travels to see her two daughters and son — aged 14, 13 and 12. Kasiani was forced to give them away a year ago when her money ran out and she was unable to pay for their food, her rent or send them to school with shoes or books.

At the charity home where the three are now cared for, the children excitedly shout ‘Mama’ as they run down the steps to greet her. Her eldest daughter, Ianthe, hugs her tightly and gives her a kiss.

When, a few hours later, it is time to say goodbye, Kasiani is always close to tears. The youngest, Melissa and Markos, cling to her before she leaves to go home alone.

‘It is not easy for a mother to leave her kids,’ she says to me, her voice cracking with emotion when I spoke to her this week in Athens.

‘At Christmas, at Easter, on their birthdays, I am always so sad because I do not see them. Some people judge me over what I’ve done — even my own family and neighbours — but they do not understand the truth. I’ve done what is best for my children.

‘I cannot count the number of doorbells I have rung of government departments, asking officials to help me and my family. They make promises but do nothing. They have no money either. Our country is in crisis.’

Kasiani’s children were born in a country which has been brought to its knees by crushing debt. This was built up by Greece’s huge profligacy after joining the European Union and then milking the system for everything it could get.

The public sector wage bill doubled in the past decade as perks and fiddles reminiscent of Britain in the union controlled 1970s flourished. Paying taxes became optional for the middle and upper classes and corruption was rife.

Until two years ago, the big fat Greek gravy train carried on racing towards the buffers. Even pastry chefs and hairdressers were listed among the 600 ‘professions’ allowed to retire at 50 (with a state pension of 95 per cent of their final year’s earnings) on account of the ‘arduous and perilous’ nature of their work.

Now drastic austerity measures imposed by Eurozone finance leaders mean that benefits, state pensions and pay rates have been pared to the bone as taxes are hiked heavenwards in a last ditch attempt to balance the books and stop the country going bankrupt. Read on and comment » | Sue Reid | Friday, May 11, 2012

The Duchess of York Faces Bankruptcy Over Her £5m Debts
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: The Duchess of York’s debts have risen to almost £5 million, causing alarm in the Royal family, which now fears her best option is bankruptcy.

The Sunday Telegraph can reveal that at least one senior financial adviser to Buckingham Palace has recommended voluntary bankruptcy even though this would cause acute embarrassment to the Queen, the Duke of York and others.

The Queen is said to be “deeply concerned” by the debts, which are more than twice as large as previously thought.

David Cameron, the Prime Minister, has even been briefed on the issue and the problem is believed to have been discussed recently during one of his weekly private audiences with the Queen.

No senior member of the Royal family has ever been declared bankrupt, but this course of action is increasingly likely.

“One key adviser believes the right thing is for the Duchess of York to go bankrupt. He says it will be a week-long wonder, then everyone will say, 'It’s not altogether surprising’ and then they will forget about it,” a senior royal source said.

However, the Duke of York, who along with his private office is masterminding the “rescue plan”, knows that the Duchess is desperately keen to avoid bankruptcy. Such a move would also be particularly embarrassing for him because he is the UK’s Special Representative for International Trade and Development. >>> Andrew Alderson, Chief Reporter | Saturday, August 07, 2010

The Bankrupt State – Greece
Watch Journeyman Pictures video here

Gordon Brown Brings Britain to the Edge of Bankruptcy
Photo of Gordon Brown, the then incompetent Chancellor and the now incompetent Prime Minister, courtesy of The Telegraph
THE TELEGRAPH: Iain Martin says the Prime Minister hasn't 'saved the world' and now faces disgrace in the history books

They don't know what they're doing, do they? With every step taken by the Government as it tries frantically to prop up the British banking system, this central truth becomes ever more obvious.

Yesterday marked a new low for all involved, even by the standards of this crisis. Britons woke to news of the enormity of the fresh horrors in store. Despite all the sophistry and outdated boom-era terminology from experts, I think a far greater number of people than is imagined grasp at root what is happening here.

The country stands on the precipice. We are at risk of utter humiliation, of London becoming a Reykjavik on Thames and Britain going under. Thanks to the arrogance, hubristic strutting and serial incompetence of the Government and a group of bankers, the possibility of national bankruptcy is not unrealistic. >>> By Iain Martin | Wednesday, January 21, 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>