Saturday, February 21, 2015

A fortunate change for Greece

German Finance Mininster Schauble and his Greek counterpart Varoufakis
On February 27, 2012, a new horoscope for Greece was introduced on this blog and SAMVA list. Significant events in the history of the country were examined in terms of the Systems‘Approach (SA), and the events were found to be remarkably consistent with the natal, period and transit influences of the horoscope. Further, the near term development of 2012-2014 was seen to be difficult but this was expected to be followed by relief.

The prediction in 2012
“ This horoscope seems to reflect well the events of Greek national life. At the same time, it does not paint a hopeful picture for the financial or political position of Greece in the summer of 2012 when the Mercury-Mercury period is operating and difficult transits are felt. Venus, Mars and Saturn are the helpful planets in this horoscope. Their placements suggest some amount of comforts, fortune, energy and status - all of which is consistent with what we know about life in Greece. Barring challenging transits, the Venus sub-period from January 2015, promises a fortunate change of events.“

Moreover, the following was stated.
"The recession from 2006 to 2011 is associated with the Rahu and Jupiter sub-periods of the Saturn major period. Now the Mercury major period has started, the difficulties are likely to continue during the Mercury and Ketu sub-periods lasting through 2014."

Recent developments
Youth unemployment in Greece has been near 60 percent in recent years
In late December 2014, the Samaras government collapsed.[1] It had been beholden to the fiscal austerity policies for several years, which had caused much suffering in Greek society, including keeping unemployment at depression levels.
   In the election on January 25, 2015, a new government came to power. It had the single aim of ending the austerity policies. It made bold statements about the need to scupper existing agreements. 
   On February 20, 2015, this was effectively achieved, when Greece and its Euro-area partners reached a deal to give Greece up to four months to renegotiate its debt agreement with the EU, IMF and ECB.
   While this initial agreement falls short of the initial demands to immediately renegotiate the debt, the change nonetheless represents a victory for Greece in that the austerity policies are in effect being relaxed with the consent of its Euro area partners. However, Greece does not have carte blanche to change its policies or the debt burden.

Challenges to gain a consensus
The new Greek government must also show good faith efforts in coming months to continue to reform the government and management of the country. This is hard given the placement of Mercury, as 8th lord of obstacles and endings, is on the most effective point of the 11th house of incomes and future plans and in aspect to the 5th house of speculation and management. This placement, as Indian astrologer and author V. K. Choudhry has pointed out, explains why the Greek people have such a hard time reaching agreement amongst themselves. This divisive energy is focused on the future direction of the country (11th house) and its management (5th house).
   Indeed, the country has historically been rife with corruption and mismanagement. During the 1940s, 1960s and 1970s, the country was in a state of civil war or political turmoil due also to extreme factionalism. During the major period of Mercury, the problems of factionalism have been there but the major problem has been the economic hardships following the financial crisis of recent years.

Scope for improved policies
The Greek economy is now predicted to be emerging from the recession. Such a change will help usher in better conditions for the working people in Greece. Moreover, the new agreement gives increased scope for the government to quickly implement policies that begin to reduce the high unemployment levels.[2]
   Kelly (2015) emphasises the advantages of the new agreement.[3]

"Greece gets to pick its own austerity.“

Meanwhile, Evans-Pritchard (2015), a noted critic of the EU, describes the overall implications thus.[4]

“Greece has secured a four-month reprieve from eurozone creditors at a last-ditch summit in Brussels, heading off imminent default and a traumatic rupture of monetary union.  The interim accord gives Greece breathing room to flesh out its economic agenda and reform plans, and effectively scraps the draconian fiscal targets imposed by the EU-IMF Troika."

   To this we can add that the alarmists were proved wrong, Greece did not opt out of, nor was it forced to leave the eurozone. Indeed, that would have been a disastrous outcome for the country. In short, the country has not suffered an additional loss at this time. Rather, the agreement ensures that Greece continues, despite the problems and challenges, as an integral member in in the European Union and euro zone.
 
   In November 2014, OECD, the international think tank in Paris, noted the rapidly improving economic outlook for Greece.[5]

“Following six years of deep recession, growth is projected to be positive in 2014, and to gain additional momentum in 2015-16.“

   In short, the sequence of recent events resulting in easier policies along with the rapidly improving economic situation may aptly be described as a "fortunate change" for the Greek people "from January 2015".[6] 
   It is also of interest that the Moon-Venus period that began in June 1949, ushered in a time in Greek life when a dire situation of civil war began to be resolved. This is important in that since January 22, 2015, Greece has been in the Mercury-Venus period. Hence, the prediction made three years ago.
   We should keep in mind that the Mercury major period runs from August 2011 to August 2028. Given the affliction of Mercury in the horoscope, we may expect that the legacy of the financial problems will remain in the background during the remainder of  this 17 year period, although the current developments will reflect more the sub-period and transit influences at any time. 
   The prediction is additional evidence to the reading of the history and recent developments in terms of the horoscope. Importantly, this prediction which was made far in advance ( in February 2012) has proved correct both in terms of the nature and timing of the developments. As such, it increase our confidence that the tentative 26° Aquarius rising chart is the authentic and correct national horoscope for Greece.

Developments in the EU
The developments are also revealing concerning the EU and Germany.
   In a blog article on January 1, 2015, European Union at cross roads, the Rahu major period from February 2015 in the 24° Cancer rising horoscope for the EU was described as follows.

“The influence of Rahu can be to obscure and mislead. This placement suggests that vested interests try to  manipulate the management of the union, the scope for speculation and that crises can develop, also concerning young people and universities.“

   Further, during February to May 2015 is likely to bring a crisis to the affairs of the EU, notably the management aspect of the union.

   "There will likely be a crisis for the management of the Union, including obstacles and endings for the vested interests, such as financial creditors. There may be exposures involving manipulations in the management of the EU.“

   Indeed, it seems the leaders of the Eurogroup were united in resisting the demands of the popular Greek leaders to reduce further the debts owed by Greek government to its various creditors. Even the leaders of countries like Portugal and Ireland have taken an adamant stance insisting that Greece honor its obligations. They likley felt compelled to do so, as they were pushed into a corner to also pay their debts at great cost to their tax payers but arguably with less economic difficulty than Greece. Likely, this hard line against the long suffering Greeks will give a bad impression to most people in the EU concerning the leadership.
   The situation was examined in late 2014 in terms of the newly discovered 24° Virgo rising horoscope for Germany, with the prediction begin made for early 2015 that there will likely be 

"...conflict in the area of initiatives and communication[, which] will create problems for... communal harmony.“

   Indeed, the Greek drama has been a part of the problems facing Germany, as Chancellor Merkel and Finance Minister Schauble were at the forefront of reaching the controversial agreement with Greece on a way out for the beleagured country. 
   Finally, the following was also predicted based on the tentative 1° Gemini rising horoscope for France 

"Early 2015 does not look quite as challenging for the France as it does for Germany or the EU."

   The French leader Hollande and his government have not been in the forefront of the tough negotiations. Rather they played a supportive role, staying in the background.

Conclusion
A prediction was made three years ago for the economic crisis to remain through 2014 but for a fortunate change in the national affairs of Greece starting from January 2015. This prediction is seemingly now being realised. 

References
[1] WSWS (2014). The collapse of the Greek government. 31 December.
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2015/02/150220-eurogroup-statement-greece/
[2] EU Council (2015). Eurogroup statement on Greece. 20/02,  21:00.
 http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2015/02/150220-eurogroup-statement-greece/
[3] Kelly,  Lorcan Roche (2015). Scoreboard: Here's What Each Side Got in the Greece Negotiations. Bloomberg. February 20, 9:42 PM GMT.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-20/scoreboard-here-s-what-each-side-got-in-the-greece-negotiations
[4] Evans-Pritchard, Ambrose (2015). Greece averts bankruptcy and softens austerity in last-ditch deal. Telegraph  20 February, 10:29PM GMT.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11426378/Greece-averts-bankruptcy-and-softens-austerity-in-last-ditch-deal.html
[5] OECD (2014). Economic outlook, analysis and forecasts for Greece. November.
http://www.oecd.org/eco/outlook/greece-economic-forecast-summary.htm
[6] Kapoor, Sony (2015). The Greek Deal – A game changer or a mere name changer? February 24.
http://re-define.org/blog/tue-02242015-1501/greek-deal-–-game-changer-or-mere-name-changer?sthash.jMs0Ipjl.mjjo