On the Bank of Collapse

Fear in the markets came today as investors and economists worried that Greece could be closer to defaulting on its debt, analysts say they don't believe the U.S. can be insulated from this stress on European banks. Economists are already worried that the U.S. is headed into a recession and worry Europe could be the tipping point.

In my opinion I don't think Greece will default, I believe that they will have a very strong restructuring. I don't think it'll be an unstructured default, meaning that they run out of money. I think they'll get more money on top of the cash they already received. Even though they haven't met the criteria for the austerity that they've done. I believe that it's the end of the line for this program. The eurozone is going to see that the deal with Greece isn't working out, and realize that there's no way they're ever going to get re-payed. The eurozone is going have to right down the debt, let Greece default, then deal with it in an orderly and structured way. The problem with this deal though is that the bondholders of the Greek debt. While that's principally Greek banks, there's also German, French and Belgium Banks.

But what people are asking is how will this affect the United States, a country teetering on recession? While defaulting sucks. I look at it as a positive thing. It shows that the countries ways are unsustainable, and it forces them to change. What we should really be concerned about is the economy, in both the United States and in Europe. Because at the end of the day austerity, which is what these countries are undergoing, is not a beneficial thing over the short to medium term. When you start cutting staff or wages (which is what austerity is) your basically just sucking money out of the economy and so that's going to have a negative impact on it. Greece defaulting shouldn't be frowned upon, shouldn't be looked at in fear by other nations. Nations shouldn't bail each other out, It sets a bad example. Let Greece default, if Greece wants to remain a player in the EU, then they should help themselves, not plead for help from others!

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US Sues to Stop AT&T Buy!

The Justice Department moved Wednesday to block AT&T's $39 billion plan to buy T-Mobile, claiming that combining the two wireless giants could stymie competition and innovation. I believe that this is fantastic news. This is what the government is for! To protect it's people. If this merger goes through it could set a dangerous precedent. Escalating costs are endangering the American way of life for those in the lower and middle classes. Every day we demand the government do something about gas prices, which they are largely powerless to affect, but here, we have laws and policy to protect our citizens from being taken advantage of!

lazytechguys.com

While some people might say that Sprint and Nextel were able to Merge, so it's only fair that AT&T and T-Mobile are able to merge as well. I call bull crap. The real difference is that Sprint + Nextel = 10 or 20% of the market. AT&T + T-Mobile = more like 40%. Also, at the time Sprint bought Nextel, there were more players (this was also before Alltel was acquired). So the landscape was left with Verizon, AT&T, Alltel, Sprint, T-Mobile. 5 carriers. By contrast, AT&T is trying to sell us on a future with 3 carriers as being a "SUPER COMPETITIVE MARKET!!"

Services and technology, which enjoy some of the fastest growing demographics can keep raising their prices. Some of these services, like cell phones, are going to become even more necessary than they already are since most of us have replaced land-lines with them. When they are left as our own source of phone communication, they'll be free to do what they want unless to regulate them properly now. Of course our economy will suffer if companies are allowed to get fat and lazy like this. Why would they innovate and create new jobs if they we are all ok with them letting maintain the status quo and still make more money for it. The Dept. of Justice needs to stand firm on this and show AT&T that AT&T isn't the one who keeps the public's best interest in mind.