Cyprus surprise - Cypriot depositors to take a 'haircut'

N1AK

Graham_Devon wrote: »

If my voice was the voice of the people who've just pulled my pants down I don't think I'd be too happy claiming my voice had been heard.

If they had announced last week that there was a small chance that their would be a 'tax' on bank balances then everyone would have immediately tried to take all of their money out of the banks and either a) The government would stop them (effectively same situation as not telling them) or b) it would have destroyed all their banks and most people would lose everything.

You'd have to be incredibly naive to characterise this as people being victimised. They have effectively lost everything, the EU is offering them a bailout if they are willing to lose 6-10% of savings.

spacey2012

N1AK wrote: »

If they had announced last week that there was a small chance that their would be a 'tax' on bank balances then everyone would have immediately tried to take all of their money out of the banks and either a) The government would stop them (effectively same situation as not telling them) or b) it would have destroyed all their banks and most people would lose everything.

You'd have to be incredibly naive to characterise this as people being victimised. They have effectively lost everything, the EU is offering them a bailout if they are willing to lose 6-10% of savings.

BULL !

They are stealing money people worked for.
They gave their labour for that money, that is what is stolen, the sweat from their backs.
Crooks.

N1AK

BlondeHeadOn wrote: »

I assume this money will be subject to the 6.75% deduction as will my personal accounts. What am I supposed to tell my brides? ...

Oh cry me a river. What an over-dramatic twit. 6.75% of a €5k deposit is €337.50. They could:

• Make up some/all of the shortfall by accepting a lower profit margin
• Inform people that they need to provide the €337.50
• Trim costs/services by 6.75%

Better than having to tell their brides that the government refused the bailout, the bank collapsed and the government wasn't able to guarantee the money so your entire deposit is gone and my business is closed.

For all the bs about not being able to trust banks, would people trust banks if Cyprus allows its banks to fail rather than give up 6-10% of deposits?

ILW

Could they not take out a levy of say 5% on secured borrowings? That would be interesting as it does seem that none of the rules apply anymore.

N1AK

spacey2012 wrote: »

BULL !

They are stealing money people worked for.
They gave their labour for that money, that is what is stolen, the sweat from their backs.
Crooks.

Did you learn to debate on the internet because puerility of that level certainly implies it. By that same, mentally deficient, logic tax is stealing because people earned it :rotfl:

If you had a £20,000 boat which was starting to sink (and you couldn't stop it) then someone came along and offered to save it if you gave them 10% of its value you'd be incredibly stupid to say no and call it theft.

ILW

N1AK wrote: »

Did you learn to debate on the internet because puerility of that level certainly implies it. By that same, mentally deficient, logic tax is stealing because people earned it :rotfl:

If you had a £20,000 boat which was starting to sink (and you couldn't stop it) then someone came along and offered to save it if you gave them 10% of its value you'd be incredibly stupid to say no and call it theft.

If your government had sold you the boat with a cast iron assurance that it would not sink, then you may feel robbed.

wotsthat

ILW wrote: »

Could they not take out a levy of say 5% on secured borrowings? That would be interesting as it does seem that none of the rules apply anymore.

Governments can raise tax in many ways.

The advantage of a deposit tax is that they can decide the tax on a Friday and receive it by the Sunday. i.e. they get the money very quickly.

wotsthat

ILW wrote: »

If your government had sold you the boat with a cast iron assurance that it would not sink, then you may feel robbed.

Who'd believe a government that said that?

spacey2012

It is not a boat, it is people money they worked for.
Stop preaching in to stupidity.
Your reputation as the board mouthpiece for the EU is getting a bit tiresome.

N1AK

ILW wrote: »

If your government had sold you the boat with a cast iron assurance that it would not sink, then you may feel robbed.

If I'd bought the boat off of a dealer who was clearly spending more than he was making then I'd have taken his 'guarantee' in that light. Besides which the government never guaranteed not to 'tax' or levy savings they have guaranteed peoples money, up to a limit, in the case of a bank failing (something they clearly can't back up, but not the same thing).

The issue for Cyprus is that if it wasn't part of the EU it could simply devalue its currency by 5-10% by printing. We've been doing something similar over here since the crisis started but there has been far less protesting than decreasing people's savings by the same amount by taxing would have had.