The Battle Begins

"Submitted by Mark J. Grant, author of Out of the Box,

If the leaks from the European Parliament are to be believed then the lines are being drawn in the sand for quite a fight. The rumor is that Mr. Draghi is going to propose a plan to buy short sovereign debt (0-3 years) without limit if a nation fills out the requisite form and officially asks for aid with conditionality. The rumor further states that this short term-buying, which involves lending money directly to various governments and not just buying bonds in the secondary market, does not violate the mandate of the ECB which specifically forbids the ECB from doing exactly what he may be proposing. I find his argument spurious as defined by maturity and it will be quite interesting to see what reaction Germany and her allies may have to this scheme. The dog fight will begin later today as he releases his actual plan to the various central banks in Europe. The constant speculation will end and the reactions of the various governments will be front and center upon the world’s stage.

“He thinks it’s not a violation of the treaty and you can do it under the current legal framework,” said Gauzes, a French Christian Democrat. “He said for example three years is ok, 15 years no.”

I find this once again proof that the rules and regulations in Europe, the very stipulations that we rely upon, can be changed, modified or distorted with the blink of an eye and the wave of a hand. It seems that nothing is set in concrete, nothing is firm and that everything is moveable upon a moment’s notice. I find Mr. Draghi’s argument ridiculous, if the report is to be believed, and one fraught with fiscal danger as it would probably mean that all new sovereign financing would be within the timeframe that he sets and so the amount of upfront debt, which would constantly have to be rolled, would present a series of dangers including the inability to finance it as it comes due along with a balance sheet at the ECB that could swell well past the $4 trillion mark where it is now or 45% larger than the current balance sheet at the Fed. The world does not receive funding from alien worlds and there are consequences that append from having a ledger that expands without boundaries and where the slightest imperfection pricks the balloon and the whole bloated piece of plastic twizzles off into the air with frightening results and a dreadful sound.

If this rumor is at all accurate and Mr. Draghi is going to redefine the European treaty under his own terms then we may expect quite a reaction from various countries including Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Finland..."

at http://www.zerohedge.com/news/battle-begins