In yet another example of the Tour de France champion's star power, even Lance Armstrong's mistaken 911 call passes for news these days. Lance was at his home in Austin, Texas with his children, Luke, Isabelle and Grace, when he attempted to dial his friend Dave Bolch. But he accidentally entered a digit of Bolch's number wrong - and was left stunned when cops turned up at his house minutes later. Armstrong explained the mishap in a post on his Twitter.com page. He writes, "Cops at house. Someone dialled 911. After interrogating the kids we figured out yours truly misdialled (Bolch) whose number starts with 913. Doh!!" I can't wait to read about Contador's misdialled numbers. Oh wait, who's Contador?Greek Debt Now Political: President Sarkozy vs the IMF's Dominique Strauss-Kahn
No clear European plans means a falling Euro - good news for Spyns Tour de France 2010 clients. And now it's political. I've often written that a devalued Euro is exactly what the core economies of France and Germany wanted, however the struggle to prop up Greece is now personal and presidential. Back in 2007, France elected the young, energetic Nicolas Sarkozy as president. Through a series of brilliant maneuvers, Sarkozy "the capitalist" set about destroying what was left of the rival socialist party.
He appoi
nted several shining socialist stars to his cabinet under the guise of bi-partisan cooperation. Sarkozy also dispatched Dominique Strauss-Kahn to head the International Monetary Fund - then just a benign, mismanged financial institution. Strauss-Kahn is one of the French socialist party's wise old men. Despite this eminence grise, he was a virtual non-entity during the 2007 presidential election yet the crafty Sarkozy saw a potential rival in the 2012 presidential elections. Once in office, he campaigned for Strauss-Kahn to head the IMF in Washington. Cue the crash of 2008.Despite reports of "0.01% growth!" and stabilization, Greece proves that we have moved from a period of stockmarket upheaval to a new era of soverign debt crisis. Governments worldwide borrowed too heavily to sustain unrealistic spending habits and articifically prop up GDP. For example, governments started subsidizing automobile purchases with the questionable goals of propping up failed car companies and driving up consumer debt. Brilliant! This only delayed a second crash as we have seen with Greece. While European governments criticize the Greeks and ironically attempt to impose budget restraints that would cause civil unrest in Paris or Berlin, Athens is but the tip of the iceberg. Great Britain, the United States, Japan and France to name a few have deficits equal in real terms to Greece and yet that small country has become the world's scapegoat. It is political diversion and it won't last forever.
We've also entered a new era when deficits have become both unsustainable and political. I've always enjoyed the phrase "quantitative easing." It's an elegant term for printing money and giving it to banks. Central banks hope that by giving billions to banks, the banks will then lend it to customers to create jobs and stimulate the economy. Increasing the money supply simply drives up inflation but no one seems to think that's going to happen this time round. Wrong.
As risk increases, the cost to borrow increases, interest rates increase, and finally inflation increases. Take the UK for example. Prime Minister Gordon Brown reluctantly mentioned new taxes to pay for that country's version of "printing money." In indebted France, Sarkozy wants to lead a European coalition to bail out Greece but he needs German money and the Germans are universally hostile to helping out southern Europe. This is where it gets political.
Greece is a member of the IMF and can rightfully ask for IMF assistance. But who heads the IMF? Sarkozy's arch-rival Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Monsieur le President will do everything possible to avoid relinquishing the Greek crisis to Strauss-Kahn's IMF. To do so would boost his rival's international stature and the French love seeing their leaders on the world stage. As Athens burns, a bizarre joint taskforce of EU-IMF flunkies have landed in Greece to audit the books. It's pathetic and only distracts from France's own disastrous finances.
Rather than fiddle with Greece (population 11 million), G-7 governments like France should tell their citizens, "We spent your pension money, you can't have the latest gadget (on credit), say goodbye to healthcare and your standard of living is going to drop considerably in the coming years." That is the new reality.
Spyns is an active travel company based in Whistler BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. We offer week-long trips to Europe including tours to the 2010 Tour de France. For more information about our Tour de France trips, please visit our website http://www.tdf-tours.com/, email us at info@tdf-tours.com, or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720.
