Ghost of Truth

EU Investment Fund: The March into…

Ghost of Truth — Thu, 13 Mar 2025 12:57:19 GMT

EU Investment Fund: The March into Socialism

Totalitarianism is characterized by the elimination of individual freedoms and the growth of the state into an entity with virtually unlimited internal power. The European Union’s plan to secure the financing of its expanding central state and arms sector by tapping into citizens’ savings unequivocally points in this direction.

It was just a year ago when former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi presented an investment plan intended to steer the EU—a ship languishing in the stagnant waters of recession—back onto the high seas. The Italian proposed a hefty 800 billion euros, which the Brussels central body would take control of to escape the productivity and growth trap through investments in Europe’s ailing infrastructure, technology hubs, and energy grid. This immense sum was to be managed through the EU’s established investment arms: the European Investment Bank, cohesion funds, and national and regional dependencies like Germany’s Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau. As has often been the case in the past, a cloak of silence fell over Draghi’s latest attempt at a centralized breakthrough, and his polished “Whatever it Takes” vanished amid the media waves of the Ukraine war, Russia sanctions, and sanctimonious Trump-bashing, relegated to the drawers of Brussels’ thousand-layered bureaucracy.

Now, ironically, it is Germany—the fiscal taskmaster that, during the recent debt crisis, ruthlessly drilled its southern European partners, particularly Greece, into submission with its austerity whip, driving them to despair and thrift—that has dusted off Draghi’s plan and brought it back to the table. Though the focus has shifted—now centered on Germany’s rearmament in the face of Putin-mania and the buildup of a European arms sector—the principle remains unchanged: the central state entity secures financing through new debt, stimulates aggregate demand, and leads the old continent to an Eden of growth and gleaming prosperity. So goes the theory. In practice, of course, things look very different, veering miles away from the bureaucrats’ sunny boulevard into the swampy forests of rising national debt and the progressive crowding out of the private sector. This state gigantomania threatens to drain liquidity from the free capital market and drive up interest rates—a trend already materializing in the sell-off of European government bonds in the days following the debt program’s announcement. German 10-year bonds shot up by 40 basis points within two days, setting the tone. The market appears saturated, and Europeans are finding it increasingly difficult to place new debt.

At this moment of geopolitical shift, as the Americans gradually withdraw from European affairs like the Ukraine war, creativity is required when economic options run dry. And they are creative in Brussels when it comes to geopolitical power plays and expanding the EU’s debt scheme. After all, the goal is not just to roll over the enormous existing debts of the Union’s member states, regions, municipalities, social security systems, and state funds into the future. The growing central apparatus in Brussels, fueled by the long-discredited Keynesian thesis of economic policy and the necessity of state intervention, is increasingly absorbing the productive forces of the private sector. We currently stand at the end of a decade in the EU with no significant productivity growth—an abysmal report card for EU economic policy in light of technological progress. Grade: F! The European economy, burdened by bureaucracy and regulation, can no longer translate the macro-impulses of robotics or AI into business models or align economic processes with international standards. Here’s a figure: last year, the German economy lost 136 billion euros in direct investments, much of which left the Eurozone. Once invested elsewhere, that capital won’t return anytime soon.

Back to the creative masterpiece of the Euro-acrobats in Brussels, who have long been racking their brains over how to finance their Brussels behemoth in the future. Citizens’ cash assets are to be the solution, says Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. Trillions of euros are lying unused and idle in European citizens’ accounts, and these must now be activated, according to the CDU politician. Respect for individual autonomy and sovereignty? Nowhere to be found! The EU is ruled by collective coercion, a naive belief in the omnipotence of state regulators, and a firm resolve to transfer private capital formation—soon with digital central bank money—into the hands of the state. The initiators of this assault on our sovereignty estimate the total volume of European cash deposits at 10 trillion euros—a hefty sum to underpin a potential new investment fund with the necessary collateral and stabilize it with the creditworthiness of European taxpayers. Leading the charge and legally responsible would be the European Commission (surprise, surprise), which, if this audacious stunt succeeds, would gain an enormous boost in power. Simultaneously, the long-delayed Capital Markets Union is set to be implemented, which, alongside deeper harmonization of the European banking sector, would primarily regulate the preparatory legal steps for joint debt issuance. Because that was the goal from the start: the establishment of a European Debt Union, leveraging Germany’s still-solid credit rating to refinance and expand the EU project. The American withdrawal comes at just the right time, providing the argumentative framework to hollow out the Maastricht criteria, which until now precluded collective debt. Times have changed!

Active management is expected to be entrusted to the European Investment Bank—an institution with extensive experience in centrally controlled fund distribution within the EU. It serves as both the Brussels central planners’ “watering can” and is ready to step into the game. Cash deposits, low-interest money market products, or pension fund assets are to be tapped. The plan is to lure citizens with a savings scheme offering interest and a fixed return promise. Once the fund is filled, it will serve as the basis for bond issuances, providing valuable leverage for the initial capital. The European Central Bank would then have the honorable task of keeping these bonds liquid—a fate likely similar to that of the EU’s “SURE” bonds introduced during the COVID lockdowns. These first-of-their-kind joint debt securities are trading stably at 40 percent below par, with no volume—the market says “Nyet” to this kind of debt acceleration. At the core of the investments is the financing of military technology—drones, tanks, cybersecurity—and the buildup of the general production infrastructure for a European military sector.

This, then, is the path Brussels is now taking. Naturally, small and medium-sized enterprises are not to be left out of this investment offensive, according to Brussels. Of course not—after all, it’s precisely these small businesses that dominate the arms sector. How do we know? From the American military-industrial complex, which serves as a model for Europeans and is dominated by classic mid-sized firms like Lockheed Martin or RTX.

#eu #ecb #europe #socialism #trump #usa #bitcoin #nostr #grownostr

Trump On The EU: We'll…

Ghost of Truth — Wed, 12 Mar 2025 17:44:11 GMT

Trump On The EU: We'll Win That Financial Battle

During the press meeting with the Irish Prime Minister, US President Donald Trump has once again clearly defined what he sees as his geopolitical enemy: the European Union! Rarely have politicians at this level spoken more clearly and given us a hint as to what could happen next.

With the withdrawal of the United States from the Ukraine battlefield, the European Union has now found the scapegoat for something it has been planning for a long time: the consolidation of government debt in a common fund, curated by the European Commission and kept liquid under the care of the European Central Bank and its interventions on the bond market. In this way, both institutions would allow themselves an enormous increase in power, with the European Central Bank in particular virtually outgrowing itself.

However, what then presents itself here as collective collateral, as euro debt, is more than just a fragile credit substrate of the highly indebted euro states. It is highly endangered credit, as the eurozone can no longer leave the waters of recession, while the waves of geopolitics are causing the ship of state europe, if that is what you want to call this violent construct, to lurch violently.

To prevent this fiscal policy tightrope act from failing immediately, officials in Brussels and in the ECB's Frankfurt tower are openly talking about the introduction of digital central bank money, cbdc, as early as this fall. Panic is in the air, Europeans' fear of capital flight from the crisis-ridden eurozone to the United States is thickening the air in Europe to the point where you can almost cut it.

The German plan to implement the gigantic debt program proposed a year ago by former ECB President Mario Draghi to revive the eurozone economy as part of Germany's rearmament has caused panic selling on the eurozone bond markets. Much of this capital found its way into European defense companies. They now stand as a godfather for the Europeans' attempt to build their own military industrial complex, which would of course be centrally controlled and promise Brussels a last hope of stimulating growth. It is in this context that European representatives of all powers are now trying to manipulate and undermine the peace negotiations between Russia, Ukraine and the United States. A peace treaty would be the worst thing that could thwart these plans. This is the hour of the anti-diplomats, of BoJo the Clown and other weirdos who represent the geopolitical interests of London and have no regard for any humanitarian successes.

The gates out of the eurozone are slowly closing, capital controls and the ECB's infamous control money are looming on a cloudy horizon. At this point, I have to take sides with Bitcoin. Bitcoin can replace this gateway for the little man at this point and help to protect his purchasing power from the encroaching functionaries from Brussels and the European capitals as well as the European Central Bank. The fact that officials from the EU and the European Central Bank keep referring either to the irrelevance of Bitcoin or to its merciless failure says more than a thousand words. It's a kind of coronation ceremony, performed by those who normally crown themselves with the crown, not realizing that they are doing the business of their mortal enemy by repeatedly pointing to it in an attention-grabbing way.

It simply fits into the picture that President Trump has announced the introduction of the strategic Bitcoin reserve and is pursuing a pro-Bitcoin policy. This time, he is not just engaging in polite rhetoric, he is actually taking action and thus underlining the seriousness of his efforts to show functionaries and central planners of the European Union their limits. Bitcoin is an excellent instrument for defending our individual freedom, especially when it comes to individual freedom or digital prison. It almost seems as if we are witnessing the resurgence of the systemic conflict of freedom versus collectivism, only in this case Europeans are openly taking sides with the devolutionary program of socialism. And the downward spiral on the old continent is spinning faster and faster.
The time to act is now, not in October!

#eu #ezb #euro #usa #trump #usd #bitcoin #news #nostr #cbdc #grownostr

Eurozone: Watch Out For Capital Flight

Ghost of Truth — Tue, 11 Mar 2025 10:42:12 GMT

Eurozone: Watch Out For Capital Flight

Central planners in the European Union are under massive pressure and the alarm sirens are ringing not only in the Frankfurt ECB Tower, but also in Brussels and London, where the big cribs are being drawn. The fact that ECB President Christine Lagarde, of all people, announced the introduction of digital control money, the euro CBDC, three days ago must be seen in a global context.

The sacking of Vladimir Selensky from the White House was a sign that the Ukrainian credit pump is being shut off, that Americans are no longer prepared to tie their economic and social future to the fate of war-mongering Europeans und EU socialists. They now have to deal with the self-created problem in Ukraine themselves and are plunging into massive orgies of debt, which can be seen in the example of Germany which has just announced a 500 billion euro arms program, financed of course with the credit pump, immediately after the Bundestag elections.

The result is refinancing problems on the bond markets, with liquidity squeezes on the horizon for the eurozone. And it seems that there won't be a second coronavirus to justify freezing the economy and pumping subsidies directly into the system without risking hyperinflation and the collapse of the euro.

So now the CBDC in the eurozone, planned from October, a sign of panic in the capitals of the eurozone in the face of massive debt, deepening recessionary trends and the withdrawal of the Americans from co-financing the bankrupt Europeans. A CBDC is nothing else than capital controls to prevent the flight of capital to the USA, while getting rid of the problem of public debt at the expense of the citizens via inflation. At least that's the plan. It can therefore be assumed that before it is introduced, we will see massive flight movements to the location that treats capital better and more respectfully than the euro-commies do these days.

So let's pay attention to the barometer of this capital flight, the interest rate spreads between US government bonds and those of Germany or France. If the capital flight from the eurozone to the USA begins, this spread will explode (european rares rising rapidly as the bonds will be selling off, US bonds vice versa). And following Kristin Lagarde's logic again, this explosion is expected in the fall. Let's stay vigilant!

#europe #Euro #ecb #EU #usa #trump #debt #bitcoin #nostr #fiatponzi #cbdc

EU’s Fiat Gambit: Leveraging Geopolitical…

Ghost of Truth — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 09:53:19 GMT

EU’s Fiat Gambit: Leveraging Geopolitical Chaos to Mask Economic Decay

The political shift in the White House reveals that the world is moving toward a radical economic bifurcation. One side, led by the United States, is relying more and more on free market forces while cutting government spending (think of Argentina), while the other side is falling back on old-fashioned recipes of socialism, state interventionism and the rotten recipe book of Keynesian magic which will only lead them deeper into the unavoidable debt trap as it is an illusion to be able to control interest rates without consequences like massive inflation and currency debasement.

A glance at the history books of the 20th century already tells us the outcome of this test of strength: decentralized systems that entrust decision-making powers to the individual will always carry off the laurels of the victor. They are simply channelling scarce ressources like energy better than other systems. Without anticipating the point I would like to make: it will not be the Europeans who rely more than ever on centralization and the consolidation of power in Brussels who will be receiving economic laurel.

The European Union is betting big these days, hijacking the U.S. pullback from the Ukrainian battle field and monetizing Russia-stoked fears politically to roll out a mammoth €800 billion fiat credit blitz, this time as the South has been sucked dry over the years led by german debt issue, to dodge its spiraling growth crisis and keep rolling the debt over space and time. We all know the keynesian logic: all economic misery has its roots in a lack of demand which certainly the all-knowing government will fill up with hyper intelligent government spending programs.

What we are witnessing here is a reckless dive into the Keynesian debt pit. Meanwhile recession signals scream loud: February 2025’s composite PMI sits at a dismal 48.9, stuck below the neutral measurment of 50 for months. Industry and the construction sector in particular are at rock bottom and show hardly any signs of revitalization, even if the business cycle is picking up a little speed globally. Industrial output is tanking with a 0.6% monthly slide in January,now with a PMI at 47.6 deep in recessionary territory hammered by high energy prices and supply woes. Deficits are swelling to 4% of GDP in 2025, with debt-to-GDP nearing 90% by 2026 (point of no return usually can be find at around 80%), per the European Commission. Productivity’s a ghost and it stays flat for the time being.

Once again, it was the bond market that reacted quickly to the geopolitical impact of Germany's gigantic debt program, which is now trying to close the gap with the other European debtor countries. Bond markets pounced on Germany’s debt reveal: 10-year yields leapt 40 basis points within two days after the announcement of the new german debt fiesta - Germany’s from 2.4% to 2.8%, Italy’s from 3.6% to 4.0%, France’s from 3.1% to 3.5%- defying the ECB’s 0.25-point rate cut.

That €800 billion tab that follows step by step the debt structure proposed by ex ECB president Mario Draghi last year to give the dead Eurozone a last stroke. The program follows Draghi's proposal like a little dog follows its drunken owner. It comes with €22.4 billion in annual interest, a chokehold on a wobbly economy. Worse, it’s a catalyst for centralization. Subsidies soared 15% last year, per EU data, propping up dying industries, while regulations - like new green and digital mandates - pile on €22 billion in yearly costs, per the European Chamber of Commerce, suffocating innovation.

What we are experiencing here in Europe is the path to common debt, the suspension of the last Maastricht rules which, looking back today, we can say was probably the plan of the fiat centralists from the very beginning, since cheap credit is the drug they are all addicted to since cheap credit is the drug they are all addicted to and with which they are getting the population drunk. Every election cycle is always a gift-giving contest, the presentation of false hopes and simulation games, the creation of false security and prosperity, in the forge of the central banks' printing presses, brought into the world by politicians whose distance from economic reality has become maximum.

But if there is one thing the Europeans understand, it is how to turn self-created crises into an advantage for the centralized body of power in brussels. In their understanding of economics, prosperity comes from well-organized central planning, which implies communal debt, or more simply, using Germany's creditworthiness to force more credit on others. We can therefore expect the imminent introduction of Eurobonds to further expand the nonsensical credit programs of the past decades and accelerate the massive capital shortfall, which will further inhibit productivity, especially in the eurozone. In this way, Europe will not be able to translate technological progress into active production and prosperity.

Debt slaves nations to bond markets, demanding risk premiums as trust fades and puts the onus on taxpayers to divert ever larger portions of productive capital into channels into which it seeps away without bringing further progress. Germany’s debt brake is toast (it has always been an illusion, since political actions, even when written into constitutions, are reversible at any time) and the CDU’s cynical push through a defunct Bundestag reeks of desperation.

Remember: the CDU is the party that was still pretending to have Christian-conservative values during the Merkel era, while executing the green-socialist agenda of decomposition in a way that even the heirs of the GDR SED and their green socialist brothers and sisters in the West did not dare to dream of.

The whole german economy was built as a charade within a fog of narratives which over the past two decades has essentially been a kind of euro mercantilism: a domestically low-wage sector coupled with a currency that was undervalued by 30 to 40% for the German economy. Massive trade surpluses (the narrative of world export champion Germany) ensured booming foreign credit business and an enormous dependence of the entire eurozone on the creditworthiness of the German economy. At the end of the past few years, the Brussels-Berlin policy, since the attack on the nuclear industry such as the automotive industry and the phasing out of nuclear power, has affected the German economy to such an extent that the spectre of recession in the form of Germany's sinking lead is now haunting the whole of Europe.

In what creative german politicians call “Special funds” (which is officially unconstitutional) they're hiding their reckless spending now, sticking taxpayers with the bill. This is centralized control masquerading as rescue—industry fades, productivity dies, and the crash of the hole economic bubble nears.

#EU #DebtCrisis #Recession #Bitcoin #Nostr #Grownostr #Fiat #IndustrialDecline #FiatPonzi #Eurozone #Euro #StackerNews #Nostr #germany #debtspiral

EU: Debt acceleration ahead!

Ghost of Truth — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 10:42:42 GMT

EU: Debt acceleration ahead!

Eyes on the debt in the eurozone! The withdrawal of the USA from the financing of the Ukraine disaster gives the eurocommies exactly the opportunity they have been waiting for a long time to create panic, stir up fear of war and communitize the sovereign debt of the European Union. For legal reasons, this has not been possible until now, but it should now be easy to get rid of it as the mainstream press once again succeeds in manipulating public opinion.

Since the lockdown policy, the eurozone economy has been in recession only surviving through massive expansion of the state sector and credit-financed artificial demand for dubious projects such as the green transformation. And the sad attempt by German politicians to declare the planned 500 billion euros in new debt for the defense budget as a so-called special fund in order to deceive the public about the state of the state's finances is nothing but a ridiculous camouflage. We know from the history of economies that countries with a government debt ratio of over 80% can no longer escape the debt trap without default! The eurozone has long since crossed this demarcation line. Under the new Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Germany, which in the past has been fiscally very conservative, at least in comparison to its European partners, is now also falling into the well visible debt trap. At least for those of us who still have one or two functioning brain cells, this debt trap cannot be overlooked. But politicians are known to be a special breed of people with the experience and learning horizon of fruit flies.

Especially in fiat economies, war has always been the scapegoat in the past to keep the debt printer running hot. It is the fatal failure of science that throughout the 20th century and to this day it has not succeeded in exposing the Keynesian delusion of the feasible global control of complex economies for what it is: a pseudo-scientific childish belief that played into the hands of socialists and central planners.

This pseudo-academic religion, this offset of crude macroeconomic theories, gives politicians precisely the tools they need to centralize political power and influence the individual economy. The media sector is also to blame for this debacle, as Keynesianism has never had to face real criticism in the public sphere. It seems to have been almost forgotten that the centralization of decision-making processes, to the exclusion of decentralized pricing, is the decisive criterion for the failure of complex systems.

The current debates of the European Union's top politicians, which revolve exclusively around the way in which debt is accelerated and no longer around the consolidation of public finances, also shows wonderfully that the players within this stabilized argumentative matrix are no longer able to change their perspective. In short: Europe is largely incapable of reform and is intellectually blocking itself!

And the market's reaction is not long in coming: interest rates on German government bonds are already rising while inflation rates in Europe are picking up speed again, which will probably soon prompt the powerful central planners at the European Central Bank to introduce some form of yield curve control so as not to abandon the ailing public finances of the eurozone countries which is likely to pose a massive threat to the already ailing euro. Against the backdrop of the severity of the fiscal crisis, all the talk about a moderate interest rate run in the eurozone is completely self-evident. Credit must be made cheaper again in the eurozone in order to prevent the collapse of the zombie economy that has been systematically bred since the days of the last financial crisis and on which many millions of jobs depend, the social foundations of the old continent the last argumentative bastion of the central planners in Brussels and the European capitals.

The Eurozone debt crisis is entering the next round, the attempt to further escalate the war in Ukraine is being morally charged by Russia's panic in the media and over half a billion Europeans are facing an economic fiasco. And we haven't even talked about what will happen if tax revenues implode and Europe's golden calf, the various social insurance schemes, collapse underfunded. At a certain point, we enter the endgame of the Fiatponzi.

#eu #europe #ukraine #russia #debtcrisis #news #geopolitics #bitcoin #nostr #grownostr #fiatponzi

New Fiscal Fiasco In Germany: Could…

Ghost of Truth — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 08:28:22 GMT

New Fiscal Fiasco In Germany: Could Political Incompetence Finally Force Peace?

It didn't take long for the ripples caused by Vladimir Selenski's bizarre appearance in the White House to reach the old continent again. In a hectic emergency meeting in London, the leaders of European politics tried to demonstrate their unity and their will to continue the Ukraine project, whatever the cost. At times, it was like watching half-strength men playing with their muscles - somewhat bizarre and ridiculous, but not unfunny if it weren't a matter of life and death.

It was just over a week ago that the Germans re-elected the Bundestag after the collapse of the government a few months ago, and it quickly became clear that a coalition of familiar forces would be needed to keep the German globalists' mortal enemy, the AFD, out of business. And so the new Chancellor of the CDU, Friedrich Merz, will forge a coalition with the Social Democrats, as quickly as possible, and continue what they had started: the joint action against Putin's Russia.

It only took a few hours for Merz to announce immense new borrowing to expand the country's defense budget to possibly up to 600 billion euros in the coming years. Money that the eurozone's largest economy does not have, after having shot itself in the head several times economically. Just think of the war against the automotive industry and the phase-out of nuclear power, as well as the sanctions packages against Russia, which have left the German economy lagging behind.

Germany’s prospective black-red coalition is staring down this self-inflicted financial abyss. Sources close to the negotiations between the Union (CDU/CSU) and SPD reveal a staggering budget shortfall—between €130 billion and €150 billion—projected through 2028. Federal Finance Minister Jörg Kukies (SPD) dropped this bombshell during Friday’s exploratory talks, according to insider accounts confirmed by multiple outlets. The figure paints a grim picture of a nation teetering on the edge of economic ruin. Friedrich Merz, who campaigned on a promise to audit the federal books, must now wish he’d never peeked under the hood. What he found was worse than anyone dared predict: a fiscal mess so severe it’s rattling the foundations of Germany’s economic reputation. The numbers don’t lie, and they’re screaming a warning—Berlin’s balance sheet is bleeding red, and the coalition’s ambitions may drown in it. This isn’t just a hiccup; it’s a structural collapse years in the making. Analysts point to unchecked spending and systemic strains, though the talks remain tight-lipped on specifics. For now, the coalition hopefuls are scrambling to plug a gap that threatens to swallow their agenda whole.

This brings us to the Punch and Judy show and the team photo of the mimetically embarrassing group meeting in London. There, the two new strong men of Europe, Emmanuel Macron and host Keir Starmer, unceremoniously relegated the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to last place, just to say: if you can't pay for anything, then you won't take part in the future big-man games!

Everyone knows that, with the possible exception of Poland, no other European state has any military power worth mentioning. They are all small shadows of their former selves, rotten economies with weak fiscal chests that have saved their shadow armies from the Cold War under the protective umbrella of the Americans, who are now withdrawing. But obviously no one in Europe has read this memo properly, otherwise how could this meaningless talk of boots on the ground in Ukraine and massive support for the country be understood? The Europeans will soon have to deal with completely different problems, migration policy, economic and security problems, and the Ukraine project will very quickly fade into the background. But to this day, no effort at diplomacy with Russia can be seen. It is a complete denial of reality among the so-called political elite of the old continent.

Let’s call it what it is: Germany’s fiscal implosion is a twisted stroke of good fortune for a continent on edge. For years, Berlin’s shot itself in the foot—wild spending sprees, an open-door rush into social welfare, and an economic self-sabotage that historians will marvel at in disbelief. This €150 billion chasm isn’t a glitch; it’s the bill coming due for a nation that’s been running on fumes. This economic seppuku might just douse the war drums thumping across Europe. With Germany’s credit rating poised to tank—hello, France’s shaky tier—the markets won’t stomach funding big kinetic wars or military gambits via the money printer. Hyperinflation would shred the euro before the first tank rolls. So, while Germany’s elites scramble to salvage their coalition, the rest of us might dodge a bullet. Economic chaos? Sure. But a quieter continent...

On a meta-level, a kind of war-weariness is taking place, which has demographic reasons and is based on the general decomposition of every form of patriotism. For decades, the radical left has successfully rooted out any form of traditional patriotic thinking from the minds and souls of the people and it will not be possible to activate them once again for a proxy war of the globalists from London and Brussels. No one in their right mind will fight for 15 minute cities, cbdc control money or forced vaccinations and total media control. The game is over!

#economy #eu #germany #debtcrisis #ecb #bitcoin #nostr #grownostr #plebchain

Europe's Struggle For Russian Reparations…

Ghost of Truth — Sat, 01 Mar 2025 11:36:23 GMT

Europe's Struggle For Russian Reparations And Collaterals

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky's expulsion from the White House was the bizarre highlight of an even more bizarre political week in Washington, which saw numerous visitors from the European Union as guests of Donald Trump. Alongside the Frenchman Macron and his English counterpart Starmer, Zelensky was also there once again - and the new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is also expected to visit the White House shortly to put forward what is really at stake in the Ukraine conflict: the continued funding of the money pump! !

The withdrawal of the USA from the financing of the Ukraine project has startled them all and has made Europeans aware of their own economic and military impotence these days. The high point of this awakening was the fact that the USA is negotiating exclusively with Russia and no longer even reserves a seat at the cat's table for the Europeans when it comes to the European issue of Ukraine.

Trump has thus revealed that all the sabre-rattling by the Europeans in the Russia affair, all the sanctions packages were nothing more than the barking of a disabled dog that is no longer even able to adequately stake out its original territory.

In this context, the question of how to deal with the Russian assets frozen by the European Union, especially those of the Russian Central Bank, is raised time and again. As an economic background, it is important to know that the European Union has immense liquidity problems, especially in its banking sector and in view of the problems in the eurozone and the immense distortions in the common currency; they need new collateral in order to be able to create new credit.

And this is exactly where the Russian assets come into play. the expropriation, which I will describe in more detail below, comprises around 235 billion dollars in assets, which the European Union would very much like to use as the initial financing for so-called Eurobonds, the common financing of the European Union's immense mountain of debt, in order to buy itself a few more years and remain liquid. Similar ideas also apply to Russian reparations payments in the event of Moscow's defeat, which would above all help the Bank of England, one of the main guarantors of Ukraine's national debt, to get back on its feet.

It is precisely these kinds of mind games that keep resonating in the Europeans' attempts to escalate the Russian war. In order to achieve this goal, London in particular had firmly counted on the military intervention of the Americans, who have now done a 180 degree turnaround, leaving the Europeans naked.

To emphasize this turnaround once again, Selensky was expelled from the White House. It can therefore be assumed that the issue of Russian assets will be raised again in the coming days and weeks. Finally, let's take a look at the structure of these assets.

Overview of Frozen Assets

The EU has imposed sanctions in response to Russia’s actions, particularly following the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. These sanctions include asset freezes targeting both Russian state entities (such as the Central Bank of Russia) and private individuals or companies (e.g., oligarchs and sanctioned entities).

The frozen assets fall into two main categories:

State-owned assets, primarily reserves of the Central Bank of Russia.

Private assets, belonging to individuals and entities listed under EU sanctions.

1. Central Bank of Russia Assets

Total Value: Approximately €210 billion (around $215 billion USD, depending on exchange rates) of Russian Central Bank reserves have been immobilized in the EU as of mid-2023, with updates suggesting this figure has remained stable or slightly adjusted by 2025.

Nature of Assets: These are primarily financial reserves held in foreign currencies, securities, and other liquid instruments. Most of these assets are managed by central securities depositories (CSDs) like Euroclear in Belgium, which holds the largest share.

Location: The majority is held in Belgium, with smaller portions distributed across other EU countries such as Germany, France, and Luxembourg.

Legal Status: These assets are "immobilized" rather than confiscated, meaning they cannot be accessed or managed by Russia but remain in place pending further legal or political decisions. The EU has begun using the extraordinary profits (e.g., interest) from these assets, estimated at €2.5–3 billion annually, to support Ukraine as of May 2024.

2. Private Assets of Individuals and Entities

Total Value: As of late 2022, the EU had frozen €17.5 billion worth of assets belonging to Russian oligarchs, individuals, and companies. Earlier figures from June 2022 cited €12.5 billion, indicating a significant increase over time. Posts on X and other sources suggest that by 2025, the total value of frozen private assets may exceed €20 billion, though no official update confirms this precisely as of March 1, 2025.

Number of Targets: Over 1,350 individuals and entities are subject to asset freezes, including oligarchs, government officials, and companies linked to Russia’s war efforts.

Types of Assets:

Real Estate: Luxury properties such as villas, mansions, and apartments across EU countries, particularly in France, Italy, Spain, and Cyprus. Examples include properties owned by oligarchs like Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman.

Yachts: High-profile seizures include superyachts like the Dilbar (owned by Usmanov, seized in Germany) and the Amore Vero (linked to Igor Sechin, seized in France). These vessels are often valued in the tens or hundreds of millions of euros.

Helicopters and Private Jets: Aircraft owned by sanctioned individuals have been grounded and frozen, such as those linked to Gennady Timchenko and Alexey Mordashov.

Art and Valuables: Paintings, sculptures, and other high-value items, including collections seized from oligarchs’ residences or storage facilities.

Financial Assets: Bank accounts, investments, and shares in EU-based companies controlled by sanctioned persons. For instance, accounts tied to Petr Aven and Mikhail Fridman in Alfa Group were frozen in 2022.

Business Holdings: Stakes in EU-based firms or subsidiaries owned by Russian entities, such as those linked to Rostec or Sovcomflot, have been subjected to asset freezes.

Oligarchs’ Assets: By June 2022, €12.5 billion in private assets were reported frozen, doubling from earlier estimates in April. This included yachts, helicopters, and real estate.

Entities: Companies like Sogaz (insurance), Alfa Bank, and Russian Railways faced asset freezes, impacting their financial holdings and operational assets in the EU.

Additional Details

Windfall Profits: Since May 2024, the EU has redirected net profits from immobilized Central Bank assets (e.g., €557 million earned between February and April 2024) to Ukraine, with 90% allocated for military support and 10% for reconstruction.

Updates in 2024-2025: The 15th sanctions package (December 2024) added 54 individuals and 30 entities, further expanding the scope of frozen assets, though specific values for these additions are not yet detailed.

#geopolitics #ukraine #russia #usa #eu #uk #trump #zelenski #bitcoin #nostr #plebchain #news

Germany Votes For Europe's Decline…

Ghost of Truth — Mon, 24 Feb 2025 07:57:27 GMT

Germany Votes For Europe's Decline - A Comment

This time the mainstream was right: the forecasts for the German federal elections had already indicated that the only real opposition party, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), which was carefully isolated with a cordon sanitaire by the bloc of green socialist unity parties of the Davos mindset, could not make it to a relevant size in the German Bundestag. They have not even cleared the 25% hurdle that would be necessary to initiate committees of inquiry into the various ethical fault lines of the political power circle.

Four out of five Germans have voted for the continuation of Merkel's policy of open borders, growing Islamization, vulgarization of education policy, the overgrowth of inner cities in Germany, increasing regulation of the economy and thus the creeping but slowly accelerating death of the German economy and culture.

They have also, and now it is becoming European, chosen to continue with the Ukraine policy, i.e. they have supported the push by European politicians to build up their own war economy at a time when the Americans are retreating economically from the battlefield and, generally speaking, are returning to a policy of rationality. They have sorted out the infantile climate narrative as the last of the Mohicans, further fueling the zero interest rate policy of the European Central Bank's monetary policy and keeping the gigantic subsidy machine in Brussels running hot, which makes productivity and the efficient allocation of capital in Europe even more impossible. The Germans have earned their right to continue in this way by turning their backs on reality and refusing to recognize that they are geopolitically, economically and culturally isolated and will no longer play the violin in this orchestra of power in which the USA, China and Russia are now rewriting the score - power is moving from the Old Continent to the Pacific, and Europe is powerless in the face of this.

The new Chancellor of Merkel's CDU party, Friedrich Merz, an economics expert proclaimed by the media and pre-selected by the power machine, will forge a green socialist coalition that will consistently continue Germany's crash course with reality. We can already see the consequences of this catastrophe in the German labor market, which shed 200,000 jobs in January alone, in productivity, which has not changed for a decade, while in America, for example, the business cycle is picking up again, Germany is acting like the sinking lead for the European economy.

We can now expect a further centralization of the energy sector, a consistent policy against the interests of Germany's core industries, such as the automotive industry, with gigantic subsidies for wind turbines in forests, with nonsensical projects that destroy the cultural landscape of wind turbines and solar areas. The psychological warfare of the Davos clique continues, the demoralization through an aesthetic architecture of horror will continue to accelerate.

What could happen now? The Europeans will do everything in their power to completely eliminate the Maastricht criteria, to force Community financing through war bonds and to consolidate further political powers in their global government in Brussels. At the same time, an attempt is being made to consolidate the gigantic national debts of the European states of the EU under the umbrella of the European Central Bank in order to gain time to cover new collateral with new credit and drive forward the centralization of the economy.

The Germans have voted to impose the disaster that they feel and see in their own wallets in their own inner cities, they have now elected a new government that will certainly not survive the next legislative period, no matter what colorful offsets of incompetence and compliance they form their new coalition from. The lost Ukraine war will lead to the next government crisis, then there will be another election, then we will see whether the AFD gains further strength and the Germans may come to the realization that this path is a dead end. For now, however, things will continue to go downhill, with more lost years being written into the balance sheet.

#germany #germanelections #eu #merz #wef #socialism #climatescam #nostr #grownostr #geopolitics #bitcoin #plebchain

Europe’s Defense Gambit: Security Hype,…

Ghost of Truth — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 08:53:00 GMT

Europe’s Defense Gambit: Security Hype, Economic Collateral Damage, and Central Planners’ Folly

Europe’s military buildup is being sold as a grand necessity, but the numbers—and the fallout—tell a messier story. Independent studies dangle the carrot: ramp up defense budgets, and you might spark an economic jolt. EY’s report, cooked up for Dekabank and leaked to Handelsblatt, claims a €46 billion annual windfall if NATO’s European crew hikes spending from 2% to 3% of GDP. GDP could jump 0.66 points, and 660,000 jobs might pop up—factories, tech, the works. Sounds like a libertarian’s dream: markets thriving off a leaner, meaner defense.

Except it’s not. Here’s the gut punch: war economies don’t create wealth—they redistribute it, badly. That €46 billion gets ripped from the private sector—businesses, innovators, and regular folks footing the bill. Central planners, with their sticky fingers and socialist swagger, are starving the real engine of prosperity to prop up their latest pet project. We’re not richer; we’re just more militarized and broke.

And the funding? A clown show. The EU’s bureaucratic overlords can’t resist meddling, yet their system’s too creaky to handle this without choking the gains. Eurobonds—my forbidden obsession—could be the fix: joint debt as collateral to juice credit without crushing the private sphere. But don’t hold your breath—these control freaks dread anything that smells like market freedom. This isn’t a boom; it’s a heist, with liberty as the first casualty.

#StackerNews #Nostr #EuropeDefense #WarEconomy #Eurobonds #Libertarian #CentralPlanning #EU #Bitcoin #Plebchain

Moment Of Reality: Tariff War Reaches…

Ghost of Truth — Mon, 03 Feb 2025 08:14:41 GMT

Moment Of Reality: Tariff War Reaches European Union

The US tariff war against the European Union officially begins today. The Americans' aim should be to reduce the trade deficit and at the same time attract industry and rebuild the sector in the United States. What is the biggest lever that the Americans have? Of course, the core of the European economy, German industry. Due to its ideological furor in recent years, it has already damaged itself to such an extent through the climate packages, the withdrawal from nuclear energy, the eternal attacks on Germany's and Europe's key industry, the automotive industry, that it basically stands like a castle with open gates through which the battering ram of tariffs simply has to pass.

It is actually the biggest lever the US can use at this moment to bring about success very quickly, as large sections of the business community, especially in Germany, are more than willing to leave. Too deeply frightened by a policy that is no longer capable of reform, blindly following an attempt to keep a Keynesian model alive with the help of the climate narrative, which has long since been destroyed after American investors left the ESG sector in droves.

The policy driven by reason should now do everything in its power to deregulate and return to a market economy. An agreement with Russia should be reached as quickly as possible in order to regain control of the exploding energy prices (Europe is energy-poor), reduce taxes and cut the sprawling welfare state. But none of this will happen, because it would mean dismantling the power apparatus in Brussels, which thrives on spreading its subsidy machine across the continent like an octopus, relying on the economic potential of the private sector, which it systematically sucks dry. In this way, the parasite is destroying the host body, which is clearly visible in the falling productivity development throughout Europe - it is a death spiral that has been set in motion here and which is seemingly unstoppable.

European citizens are facing difficult times, but it is their responsibility to pull the emergency brake and return to a policy of common sense and force their representatives to do so. A general strike, a business strike or the systematic demonetization of the state apparatus could be the first steps. But something has to happen now, now at the latest.

#europe #eu #wef #bitcoin #freedom #socialism #nostr #grownostr #plebchain #trump #tradewar

Europe: The Collapsing Machine Shows Teeth

Ghost of Truth — Sat, 01 Feb 2025 14:56:03 GMT

Europe: The Collapsing Machine Shows Teeth

Collapsing bodies of power, whose principle is a centralist and exclusionary one, have one thing in common: in their final phase they tend towards massive oppressive politics. We have already seen the attempt of the good old 'divide et impera' by the left power machine in the forms of the cultural Marxist attack, in ESG politics or in the form of 'DEI'.

Now we are witnessing the next wave of attack, carried out by parasites like Toni Blair, representing the European power body London, Brussels, Davos, pushing for the implementation of drastic control mechanisms, like digital IDs. The final phase of such regimes depends on the technological level of its time and the culture in which it is applied. In my opinion, the war is already lost for these people, but these vandals will take down with them what they can get their hands on in their decay.

This also implies far-reaching encroachments on private property. The economic compass in Europe is already pointing south and will increase the pressure on the regime when the money in the social coffers, the resources to lethargize the masses, runs out. It cannot be said clearly enough: it is time to prepare economically, mentally and physically for difficult times ahead. Prepare yourselves, Europeans!

#eu #europe #wef #socialism #climatescam #bitcoin #nostr #grownostr #plebchain #digitalID

Etatism: Self-generated Entropy Will Bring…

Ghost of Truth — Sun, 26 Jan 2025 19:27:40 GMT

Etatism: Self-generated Entropy Will Bring Down The Leviathan

Human economic activity is primarily aimed at eliminating or handling the scarcity of resources. At its root is a dramatic psychodynamic process, a desire to reduce volatility and uncertainty, a rebellion against our 'human condition'. This Camusian revolt is intrinsic to us, it makes us forced and active participants in the evolutionary process.

To this end, we optimize our processes on free markets without coercion in accordance with our own objectives in order to reduce the fog of uncertainty as far as possible by collectively anticipating the future. Just think of the pioneering invention of insurance systems or futures markets! In this way, we collectively increase prosperity, welfare, our sense of security and at the same time our social and intergenerational ties on the basis of individual decisions. We are trying to control time and space by implementing these first principles of reason and work.

The state, the coercive monopolist in the postmodern age, reduces our potential to fulfill these processes optimally with each individual intervention in their complexity. The caste that dominates it has developed a business model of disrupting collective action in the space of freedom in order to offer solutions that the collective has to pay for in order to keep the damage this intervention has caused (allocation and the information problem) under control.

The state operates like a protection racketeer, initially causing considerable damage to those it 'protects'. The entire modern welfare system works according to this principle: compulsory taxes are increased to such an extent that economic activities are more profitable for many people, small businesses go out of business and the herd of those dependent on the state continues to grow. The more energy this bureaucratic complex draws from the free market system, the greater the danger of a sudden increase in entropy and volatility when the giant collapses under its weight. And the monster is eating its and our lunch faster by the day...

#socialism #postmodern #mises #bitcoin #freedom #freemarket #communism #eu #nostr