#17 As I wrote about the other day, child hunger has become so rampant in Greece that teachers are reporting that hungry children are begging their classmates for food.
#18 The debt to GDP ratio in Italy is now up to 136 percent.
#19 25 percent of all banking assets in the UK are in banks that are leveraged at least 40 to 1.
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Europe is facing financial Armageddon. Will it survive?
The continent of Europe is in its
worst crisis since World War II—one which threatens to destroy it. Think of headlines describing
riots—violence—debt—entitlement cutbacks—banks—and bailouts!
Long-established financial institutions are in trouble. Millions are unemployed, with little hope of a job. And millions of jobs are at risk. More and more lives are simply shattering. Extreme social unrest is brewing. Angry, frustrated people are taking to the streets in violent protests against their governments—some of which have already fallen. Others are faltering.
Entire nations face bankruptcy. The existence of the European Union hangs in the balance.
Leaders are frantically searching for solutions,
but to no avail. Europe is facing financial Armageddon. Will it survive? And how will the crisis ultimately affect the world? Europe will come together! The stage is rapidly being set, with economics the catalyst for what is coming. The Bible has much to say about where this is leading.
Unprecedented Financial Crisis
Everything that occurs on planet Earth is subject to a great unseen law—that of cause and effect. For every cause, there is one or more effects. Most people can see these effects—good or bad—but cannot trace them back to their origin—the cause that produced them. Europe is suffering from a host of effects—mostly BAD! There are causes behind these effects.
This Personal examines the causes—the why—of Europe’s financial problems. Once you understand this, you can know where Europe is going—you can know how conditions, trends and events will end. Europe is on a collision course with PROPHECY! But some background is necessary.
The situation in Europe is nearly apocalyptic, and the stakes have never been higher.
Many European nations simply cannot repay their debts,
while at the same time their economies are slowing, and tax revenue is decreasing. Worse, it is harder and harder to borrow more money.
With giant debt loads hanging over these countries, Europe is running out of options. Analysts now warn of impending bank failures. According to one executive at a major global bank, “If anyone thinks things are getting better then they simply don’t understand how severe the problems are” (Telegraph).
First is the growing distrust between banks, which are withdrawing deposits from one another and placing them with the European Central Bank (ECB). In December 2011, deposits there were at an all-time high of 905 billion euros! And many banks are becoming dependent on funding from their own central banks—so-called taxpayer-funded “zombie banks.”
As of December 2011, there is also a mammoth 115 billion euro capital shortfall in the eurozone’s banking system.
Banks have run out of proper forms of collateral needed to finance short-term loans, and are instead digging into their gold reserves—a last ditch emergency option. A collateral crunch lies ahead!
Europe’s financial system is so unstable that few experts any longer believe that the European Union has the funds to address the banks’ problems. Even if the bailout funds were raised to a trillion euros, some warn this would only help Italy and Spain—just two of 27 EU members. What happens when other countries need bailouts?
Europe’s banks are facing a crisis of immense proportions. A collapse of at least one major European bank is more than a possibility, it is imminent. When this happens, Europe’s financial sector will plunge into chaos, because its economies are already teetering on the edge.
