Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

Christine Lagarde attack on Greece backfires as she pays no tax

Christine Lagarde, the International Monetary Fund managing director who provoked an angry reaction from the Greek people after telling them to pay their taxes, does not pay tax on her own salary, it has emerged.






By Philip Aldrick, Economics Editor

7:04PM BST 29 May 2012





Ms Lagarde was forced to publish an embarrassing climbdown on her Facebook page over the weekend after being bombarded by hundreds of Greek people who felt insulted by her suggestion that the country’s crisis was partly due to “all these people in Greece who are trying to escape tax”.


However, on Tuesday she had to admit that her $467,940 (£300,000) annual salary and $83,760 of additional allowances are entirely tax-free as the IMF is an international organisation.


An IMF spokesman said: “Salaries, like those in most international organizations, are paid on a lower, net of tax basis to ensure equal pay for equal work regardless of nationality.”


He added that Ms Lagarde, 56, does pay all other “taxes levied on her, including local and property taxes in the US and France”.


Ms Lagarde earns more than President Barack Obama and David Cameron, both of whom pay taxes.



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/9298501/Christine-Lagarde-attack-on-Greece-backfires-as-she-pays-no-tax.html

No problem.

Yes!

So was Maggie and the murder of the Belgrano!

i'm certainly a strong supporter of fred's

at least when he calls for the return of GF
at least GF's interesting and even occasionally moderately entertaining, in absolute contrast to fred who is neither

I see Baler Boy has a sideline---------------he is running in the 2 o'clock at Doncaster today.
2517

In Greece, particularly in the vicinity of the ATMs, there's a lot of this about:



So much so, that apparently a few people, and the number of them is growing, are turning to using Bitcoin as a currency. Bitcoin is 'international'.

"Hey! This will be a bloody good time to re-do the review," say the Bank of England.

Cash in bank accounts will only be guaranteed up to a limit of £75,000 from January 1, 2016, the Bank of England has said, down from the current limit of £85,000.

The guarantee is used by savers when a bank or building society collapses. The level of deposits covered by the scheme was increased in several stages through the financial crisis to reassure savers their money was safe, in a bid to avoid bank runs. This is the first time the level of protection has been cut since the credit crunch.

The Treasury-backed but industry-funded Financial Services Compensation Scheme refunds those who lose money, and the cash is later recouped from the rest of the banking industry. Savers called on the protection when Bradford & Bingley failed, and when the Icelandic banks crashed.

Britain's deposit guarantee is set in line with the €100,000 guarantee for depositors across the European Union, a limit set in 2010. But the Government reviews this level every five years, and the present strength of the pound against the euro means €100,000 translates more closely to £75,000.

There is a report that 50,000 tourists a day are cancelling holidays in Greece. That is 65% of their tourism.

An interesting side effect of their banking crisis is that transferring money abroad is banned under capital controls. This means that Greek travellers in other countries are stranded. The use of their debit/credit cards is classed as transferring abroad. A honeymoon couple in NY cannot buy food. Greeks in US hospitals cannot pay their bills. Greek business people have no access to funds outside Greece.

It's a sad state of affairs ,as well as all the immigrants landing on Kos ,the Greeks who own cafe's and small hotels etc must be wondering where to go from here.

2517,

P 61213

You shouldn't put images of Cynic on the thread.

Especially, when he doesn't have his begging bowl on display!

He looks younger than I expected!

Is that guy above, sitting on the pavement, a Greek mime artist?

JB.

They could try London.

Thames valley is said to be very welcoming!

For F###s sake Fred we don't need any more immigrants !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ummmmh,

Perhaps, Manuel should stay in Portugal as he is only a second degree migrant!

certainly very cheap to eat well in this area

The IG Greek Referendum binary is still strongly pointing to a ‘yes’ victory, and at 67% suggests that a number of Syriza ministers could well be stepping down next week.

Where are you cynic Mc Donalds ?

The bookies are certainly putting the yes vote as odds on, but all the polls are showing it's neck and neck at between 41% and 43% apiece. The apparently large undecided voters will almost certainly swing it.

cascais ....... dinner for both us last night = little plates of smoked ham, olives, and shrimps followed by spanking(?) fresh whole quite large crab, at least a dozen razor clams and bottle of adequate rose was €90 including a good tip

This was 2 days ago

Paddy has paid out on bets for a Yes vote in the Greek referendum due to be held on Sunday.

The bookie said it has stumped up a five-figure sum to punters backing Greeks to vote for the new bailout offer on the table.

The chances of a result in favour of staying in the euro had dropped to 2/7, or an 80 per cent chance of a Yes vote.

“Our punters are on a roll calling elections the right way. Despite some polls suggesting it’s neck and neck, over the last few days we've seen enough to be convinced. In a race with two potential outcomes we’ve seen over 85 per cent of money go one way and that’s massive. If you’ve had a bet, it’s time to collect,” said Paddy Power.