THE DISPUTE originated in the 1920’s when Germany issued series of bearer bonds in the USA for revitalisation of its economy following the devastating effects of WWI. Acting as trustees, financial institutions such as JP Morgan and Lee Higgins & Co. produced and sold bonds in America raising funds that would be invested in Germany. These bonds corresponded to Agricultural Loans signed by 14 German banks and guaranteed by the German government. Of these 14 banks four are still active and are part of the troika mechanism. From 1933, Germany defaulted on interest repayments to Bondholders, as the new Nazi leadership considered the debt that Germany faced following WWI as illegal and issued a moratorium on bonds owed to foreign investors... 24 comments

NOW that the disastrous bailout deal has been done and dusted other than receiving the necessary approval from a number of European parliaments, the government has set to try and put the country back together.How they will do this to any great extent is anyone’s guess.President Nicos Anastasiades began on Sunday with an address to Russian businesses. Other than relaxing the rules on citizenship for many of those who sustained losses in the deposits haircut, there was not much else to offer them except grand words all of which have been heard before... 10 comments

IN THE past, highwaymen used to rob the rich but made sure that their faces were covered.  In the case of Cyprus, Germany and the troika, presided over a robbery of billions of euros from private savers in order to save the euro for the umpteenth time.  The deal offered to Cyprus is in fact a nasty and immoral political act, and the only thing it has achieved, besides bankrupting Cyprus, was to strike fear into the rest of the European countries because it established a precedent.  After all if European Common Market Nations are willing to save their currency by committing such acts, why not repeat it next time, and for the same reason, in Spain, Italy and Greece? ... 5 comments

EVERY DAY seems to bring another piece of bad news regarding the state of economy, which has been in free-fall and has yet to hit the bottom. Since the first Eurogroup meeting of March 15, the situation has become worse by the day and there seems to be no end in sight. We may wake up one morning and find the country has completely shut down, crushed under the weight of its mounting, unserviceable debts with no banks, businesses or services able to operate... 39 comments

 PEOPLE must be mightily depressed with the news they have been reading and hearing in last month or so. Apart from the odd, outrageous sound-bite from the Archbishop there has been absolutely nothing to make us smile, let alone laugh. It has been justified anger, misery and tears for weeks.It might seem in bad taste to raise the matter, but there have been a few pluses to the catastrophe that hit our Kyproulla. One of them has been watching the self-important union bosses lose their swagger and militancy and sounding like mental cases whenever they do try to use the outdated rhetoric of the good old days in our post-apocalyptic times... 11 comments

 We live in very difficult times. It is a world marked by cut-throat competition, the pursuit of narrow, national interests, greater geopolitical rivalries and non-transparent financial dealings. This is the world we live in. To survive in such a world we need education, knowledge and sound judgement. We live in very challenging times. We, therefore, must plan for tomorrow. Development will not come from selling homes to Russians and Chinese; that was the old economic model that has just collapsed. The green economy and creativity of young people, who have remained unutilised resources, must feature and society itself should be the heart of the new economic model. ... 6 comments

 If you were the warehouse manager of a Saudi Arabian food importer, would you risk losing a hand if caught stealing food from warehouse stock to feed your starving family?Fortunately, Cyprus courts do not cut off the hands of those caught stealing or stone to death those convicted of adultery. ... 5 comments

 A general feeling of despair reigns in Cyprus, doom and gloom everywhere, a belief that it will take more than 10 years to rebuild the economy.Yes, Cyprus faces problems; yes, it is in crisis; yes unemployment will rise to record levels. But is Cyprus down and out? No! Cyprus has absorbed an uppercut, but the referee has only counted to five; there is time until the 10. Will it last more than 10 years to get out of the mess? No! A recession can be swiftly avoided, recovery achieved in under three years, plus a much earlier very substantial reduction in unemployment. Years of austerity need not lie ahead!... 3 comments

 FOR THOSE of you on holiday the last four weeks, let me give you a brief recap.Cypriot, EU and IMF officials worked, mostly nights, towards delivering a 'rescue package' for Cyprus. The initial package put a bomb under the notion of European-guaranteed deposits of under €100,000. The painters were also invited and Cyprus' red lines were given a fresh coat of cobalt blue and bright yellow... Read on

 Many people have stated that this is the worst economic crisis the Republic of Cyprus has faced. This is absolute nonsense. Likewise, there can be no comparison between the enormous economic and social problems that we were able to tackle after the Turkish invasion of 1974 and now.The main differences in 1974 was that Cyprus was united in dealing with the situation. There was excellent cooperation between government, trade unions and business. Everyone pulled together, the planning mechanism was intact and Cyprus had considerable freedom of movement. The Cyprus pound was strong and maintained its strength, and innovative policies were introduced to get the economy going... 3 comments