EU measures cover up kleptocracy

Financial journalist Max Keiser says austerity measures imposed by European Union governments are cover-ups for the kleptocracy rampant across the bloc.

“We are talking about a kleptocracy where bankers and politicians are stealing money and trying to cover their tracks by blaming it on folks and imposing austerity measures on them,” Keiser said.

Many European banks have not disclosed trillions of dollars of their bad debts to their governments since the real estate problem popped in 2008, Keiser told Press TV on Thursday.

Several EU governments, hit by economic crisis and high debt, insist the austerity measures are needed to slash budget deficits.

On Wednesday, the European Commission announced that in order to evade another Greek-style debt crisis, they plan to impose fines on countries that fail to meet the region’s budget rules, the Associated Press ported.

Now, governments are trying to make people bail out the banks by adopting economic austerity measures while there is no sensible connection between these two issues, Keiser argued.

He added that bankers have rigged the market by using high frequency and programmed trading and faulty accounting to create apparent rises in stock markets.

This is why there is no significant recovery and job creation after three years of the financial crisis in Europe, Keiser pointed out.