Financial 'monsters' threaten democracy

The financial crisis has hit Portugal hard and highlights the influence the financial markets have on government - and by extension on democracy.
 
This angers one man who has spent his life fighting for democratic values. Mário Soares, the former president of Portugal, is an outspoken critic of the markets; he calls them the "monsters of our time". He explained his concerns to euronews.
 
Ana Miranda, euronews journalist:
...
http://www.euronews.net/

Category:

• News

Tags:

• euronews
• interview
• Financial Crisis
• Portugal

[Omerath9]

@kmfw72 That's a very arrogant, and ignorant perception of the reality here. Our ability to expand commercially is very tied to EU policies and the Anglo-American economic dictatorship of the West. Sure, we have corruption in our country, but there is also a very powerful status quo that is difficult to breach. Portugal, like Greece and other weaker countries in the EU, are easy scapegoats for America's incompetence and thirst for power.

[forcadelta5]

ONCLE MOODY`S NEEDS YOU!

[businesscoutinho]

@kmfw72 U must work for Moody's...

[ecerejo]

@HexJamXXX

If he wanted to be a dictator he had plenty of chances to do so but he didn't because he believes in democracy. I'm not the greatest fan of him but I never looked at him as someone who was trying to be dictator. I don't think when he calls "the monsters of the market" I don't think he means the markets themselves but I'm sure that he's referring to the assholes from AIG etc that were that close to bringing the US of A to their knees, so much for unregulated markets.

[kmfw72]

@HexJamXXX Portugal is an economically stagnant subsidy junkie, the subsidies being provided by EU countries like the UK. Soares epitomises what is wrong with Portugal, stuck in the past, looking inward instead of outward, blaming others for its problems, and incapable of grasping that countries only prosper by making what the rest of the world wants to buy. People like him think that commerce is a dirty word.

[HexJamXXX]

@CheeezMaster Free Markets, ie. those beyond the control or influence of government, whereby the capital is owned by private individuals/investors - are democracy, and every £/$ or € is a vote. Soares is just unhappy people are voting against him with their cash; though more worrying is that he appears to think that people should not even be legally free to do so. c.f. a petite wanna-be-dictator

[CheeezMaster]

@HexJamXXX Please explain that to me too. Do you mean the markets in their current form?

[CheeezMaster]

Democracy and the EU are mutually exclusive terms.

[HexJamXXX]

@cmfluteguy

Yes really. The "markets" that "failed" were never the free markets but governmentally coerced/manipulated markets propped up well-meaning proto-fascists like the guy in the video and greedy morons like yourself who equate democracy with the right to vote yourself a share of other peoples money. I find Mário Soares inability to grasp why people wont give him unlimited amounts of their money, no-strings-attached, when he's just overseen the bankruptcy of an entire country stunning.

[cmfluteguy]

@HexJamXXX

Really?

Then if that is true, then "the markets" have failed as clearly evidenced by the most recent greed orgy.

If the markets have failed and if your statement is true, it follows that democracy has failed.

When ignorant trolls like you vote, that helps democracy to fail.