People Worlwide Take To Streets As Economies Crash
France paralyzed by a wave of strike action, the boulevards of Paris resembling a debris-strewn battle?eld. Greek farmers block the road into Bulgaria in protest at low prices for their produce. Icelanders all but stormed their Parliament. Violent protests rock the Latvian capital of Riga. In the grand sweep of the current financial crisis, a few riots here and there may not seem to add up to much. But it is a sign of things to come: a new age of rebellion. The financial meltdown has become part of the real economy and is now beginning to shape real politics. More and more citizens on the edge of the global crisis are taking to the streets. Bulgaria has been gripped this month by its worst riots since 1997 when street power helped to topple a Socialist government. Now Socialists are at the helm again and are having to fend off popular protests about government incompetence and corruption. Iceland, Bulgaria, Latvia: these are not natural protest cultures. Something is going amiss. The LSE economist Robert Wade recently warned the world was approaching a new tipping point. Starting from March-May 2009, we can expect largescale civil unrest, he said. "It will be caused by the rise of general awareness throughout Europe, America and Asia that hundreds of millions of people in rich and poor countries are experiencing rapidly falling consumption standards; that the crisis is getting worse not better; and that it has escaped the control of public authorities, national and international." Ukraine may go next . The gas pricing deal agreed with Moscow could propel the country towards a serious financial crisis. Russia, too, is looking wobbly. Governments have so far managed to deflect attention from their role in the crash, their slipshod monitoring, by declaring themselves to be indispensable to the solution. This may save the skins of politicians in wealthier countries who can expensively try to prop up banks and sickly industries. But it does not work in countries that are heavily indebted, with bloated and exposed financial sectors. AGENCIES *TROUBLE* *ALL AROUND * Upset at the government's handling of the economic crisis, protesters in PARIS clashed with police last week, throwing bottles and overturning cars Thousands of protesters held rare rallies throughout RUSSIA on Saturday, calling for the resignation of the government as the country continues to sink deeper into an economic morass Fuelled by fears of rising job cuts, wildcat strikes against foreign workers spread through oil refineries and other energy facilities in BRITAIN on Saturday Venting their fury at the way that the political class allowed the country to slip towards bankruptcy, ICELANDERS all but stormed their Parliament a few days ago Last week in LATVIA—where growth has been in double-digit figures for years—10,000 people, rioting over the country's economic troubles, besieged the parliament and threw Molotov cocktails at police Some 7,000 protesters gathered outside the LITHUANIAN parliament on January 16 to demonstrate against the government's reforms, forcing the police to fire rubber bullets to dispel the mob --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""GLOBAL SPECULATORS"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/globalspeculators?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
