HERALD SUN: THE Cyprus fiasco teaches a terrific - but often forgotten - lesson to every social planner of the Left.
That fiasco is the astonishing decision to steal up to 10 per cent from every bank deposit in Cyprus to help fund a bailout of that country's banks.
This overnight theft was a condition demanded by the new masters of Europe, the European Union and International Monetary Fund, to raise $8 billion towards its $12.5 billion bailout of Cyprus.
But Cypriots reacted with such fury that not one Cypriot MP dared back the plan and even the Cypriot President, who reluctantly struck the deal last week, dropped it "because (the people) think it is unjust".
The banks remained closed for days to stop a bank run by people who rightly realised their accounts were now overseen by thieves and the panic threatened to spread to other debt-crushed European countries.
Even in Australia, our markets plunged $30 billion for fear of what might happen next. As former Cyprus central bank governor Athanasios Orphanides rightly said: "To confiscate deposits is essentially sending a message that no one with deposits ... in a weak country, like Spain, should feel safe ..."
So here are the lessons for the Left. » | Andrew Bolt | Herald Sun | Wednesday, March 20, 2013
