πράσινη έκταση's Body Count

The collapse of Greenspan's global asset bubble hit Greece hard:

The harsh austerity measures imposed on Greece by its EU creditors led to the major spike in suicides in the country during the peak of its crisis in 2011 and 2012, a survey by the UK’s leading medical magazine said.

“The introduction of austerity measures [in Greece] in June 2011 marked the start of a significant, sharp, and sustained increase in suicides, to reach a peak in 2012,” the report by BMJ Open said.

The scientists, who analyzed data gathered by the Hellenic Statistical Authority from over the past 30 years, said that a total of 11,505 Greeks took their own lives – 9,079 men and 2,426 women – from 1983 to 2012.

The number of total suicides rose by over 35 per cent in June 2011 when the austerity measures were introduced, leading to violent protests and strikes, the research said. The number of people taking their lives was rising until the end of the year and continued into 2012, it added.

On average, an extra 11.2 suicides occurred every month in Greece, which is described in the paper as a country which historically had “one of the lowest suicide rates in the world.”

“The maximum number of monthly reported suicides that occurred over the 30-year study period was 64 in July 2012, followed by 62 in May 2012,” the report said.

There was another spike in April 2012, after a retired pharmacist, Dimitris Christoulas, shot himself outside the Greek Parliament. The intense media coverage of an act undertaken by a desperate man, who blamed governmental austerity policies for the decision to take own life, might have provoked the so-called ‘suicide contagion’, the survey said.

The study revealed that men, who remain Greece’s top earners, were more heavily affected by austerity than women; suicide rates among males began rising in 2008 when the recession began. It increased by over 13 per cent in 2010 and rose by an extra 18.5 per cent (5.2 suicides) every month, starting from June 2011.

Greenspan's Body Count: L'Wren Scott, girlfriend of Mick Jagger

Debt distress reaches all levels of society:

L’Wren Scott, prominent fashion designer and long-time girlfriend of Mick Jagger, was found dead in an apparent suicide in her New York City apartment on Monday morning. It has been revealed by MailOnline that Scott was “distraught and ‘embarrassed’ over her failing business.” According to MailOnline, L’Wren Scott’s company was $6 million in debt at the time of her suicide. An assistant discovered her body after receiving a text at 8:30 a.m. from Scott requesting her to go over to Scott’s 11th Avenue apartment and let herself in. After hearing about Scott’s death, actress Ellen Barkin and several other close friends went to Scott’s apartment. One friend said that Scott had been avoiding phone calls and had been acting strangely for more than a week.

Greenspan's Body Count stands at 251.

UPDATE: Bernanke's Body Count? Most of the debt burden seems to have been piled on during Bernanke's post-crash liquidity sloshfest:

Her company’s debt was growing over the years, going from $2,120,015.67 in 2009 to $3,063,160.87 in 2010.

Greenspan's Body Count: Jennifer Berman, Alexander Berman, Jacqueline Berman

It's hard to believe that Alan Greenspan is still killing, years after the housing crash and after his successor Zimbabwe Ben has re-inflated the housing bubble.  But the Maestro works in mysterious ways.

Today's episode of Greenspan's Body Count comes from the wealthy town of West Palm Beach.

By 6 p.m. city police confirmed Alexander Berman, 16, and his sister, Jacqueline, 15, had been found dead in the pink house with the basketball net out front. The body of a woman, who police identified as Richard Berman’s ex-wife, was also found in the home.

The three appear to have died from gun shots in a murder-suicide.

“I can’t believe this could happen in our neighborhood, but I guess it could happen anywhere,” said Rod Tinson, a neighbor. “It’s a shame. It’s sickening to hear the teenage kids, too.”

The teens’ mother, Jennifer Berman, 48, sent emails to Richard Berman, her ex-husband and father of the children, and to other members of their family Monday morning, saying she was going to harm either herself or other family members, said Sgt. David Lefont, a city police spokesman.

[...]

The home, which records still list the two as owning, has been in the process of foreclosure since 2010. It originally belonged to Jennifer Berman’s mother, according to court records, and had recently been sold. The mother and children were to move out in February.

Zillow shows the home having been sold in 2004 at the deeply discounted price of $101,000. That's likely the family deal purchase from Jennifer Berman's mother or her estate. But the family must have hit the home ATM a little too hard with the value soaring to over $1 million at the peak of Greenspan's bubble.

Greenspan's Body Count stands at 250.

Greenspan's Body Count: Harmandeep Singh and Karanjit Kaur

We were commenting just yesterday that Greenspan's Body Count has slowed down. Most victims of Greenspan's bubble have long since been foreclosed, gotten loan mods, found new jobs, or otherwise hung onto their houses long enough for Bernanke's echo bubble to bail them out.

Well, speak of the devil...

ABC Fresno:

Police say they have uncovered a critical piece of evidence that is shedding light on what lead to two deaths over the weekend at a Fresno home. The man who police believe shot and killed his wife and then turned the gun on himself left behind a note.

Family members Monday said Harmandeep Singh left a suicide note that was turned over to detectives. While the couple may have seemed to be all smiles around their family, police are finding there were some underlying problems.

[...]

Since Saturday, investigators have learned the pair had some financial problems police believe may have contributed to the murder-suicide.

Harmandeep Singh and Karanjit Kaur lived at 6577 West Celeste Avenue in Fresno, purchased for $470,000 in June 2007 and now worth $298,000 despite Bernanke's best efforts to equal Greenspan's bubble-blowing.

Greenspan's Body Count stands at 247.

Greenspan goes to Greece

America's most prolific serial killer is terrorizing Greece:

Suicides increased by 45 percent during the first four years of Greece's financial crisis, a mental health aid group said Tuesday, warning there are indications of a further "very large rise" over the past two years.

The Athens-based group Klimaka said officially reported suicides rose steadily, accounting for an annual jump in deaths from 328 in 2007 to 477 in 2011, according to data from the Greek Statistical Authority.

The group said, based on its own research, the number of suicides has continued to rise through 2012 and 2013.

Greece still has one of the lowest suicide rates in Europe, but a dramatic rise in poverty and unemployment since the debt-strapped nation began imposing harsh austerity measures has been blamed for the increase in deaths.

"The true measure of a career is to be able to be content, even proud, that you succeeded through your own endeavors without leaving a trail of casualties in your wake." -- Alan Greenspan, June 1999

Greenspan's Body Count: Roger Wagner, Carolyn Wagner, John Conrad Wagner

This is not the first student debt case on Greenspan's Body Count. There was Thomas J. Fuchs, Jason Yoder, and Otis Beckford. But today's episode of Greenspan's Body Count combines student debt with patricide for financial gain a la Ernest Scheringer.

Meet John Conrad Wagner, a heavily indebted and underemployed lawyer, who was found dead in his Philadelphia home after apparently shooting his mother to death over Christmas in her Florida home.

Oh, and that father-son hiking trip in 2011 where his father "fell" off a cliff... yeah, that's suddenly looking a little suspicious.

"We'll never know his motive," said Marion County Sheriff's Capt. Robert Sandlin. "What is our opinion? Financial. He had a lot of student loans that were outstanding."

A little friendly advice from W.C. to parents of student debtors: put a murder clause in your will where if you die in suspicious circumstances, the kid gets nothing. And make sure the kid knows about the clause.

Greenspan's Body Count stands at 242.

HT: Above the Law.

Greenspan goes to England

We don't credit Greenspan's Body Count with debt-related deaths in other countries.  Even if Alan Greenspan led the global debt bubble by example, foreign central banks and governments could have, and should have, been wise enough not to follow.

Nevertheless, this story from the UK provides a useful reminder of the tragedy of a debt-funded consumer culture.

A new study has revealed that the suicide rates are soaring across the UK with money worries pushing many people over the edge.

The study commissioned by the charity Papyrus, which aims to prevent suicide among young people, highlights the fact that cuts to mental health services and aggressive debt collecting are among major factors aggravating the situation.

It cited the tragic death of a young boy aged just 23 as an instance, noting that “the boy took his own life writing his final words on the back of a bank statement after racking up a 3000 pound overdraft and a five thousand pound student debt”.

According to latest figures, the study revealed, suicide is on the increase in the UK accounting for 6000 deaths between 2010 and 2011, which shows a rise of 7 percent. 

Tragically, Ben Bernanke's, and other central bankers', solution to the debt crisis is more debt.   "Consumer credit" they call it, and more of it is a sign of a healthy economy in their twisted Keynesian minds.

When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?

Greenspan's Body Count: Lynda Clark and Gregory Bellows commit suicide before evictions

CBS3 in Philadelphia:

On March 5, deputies arriving to post an eviction notice on Lynda Clark's South Philadelphia home found she had hanged herself.

"It's devastating for everyone. We're not even family members and it's just devastating to us," Captain Albert Innaurato of the Philadelphia Sheriff's Office said.

Less than three weeks later, owner Gregory Bellows shot and killed himself shortly before deputies arrived to evict him from his Roxborough home.

Court records show Clark, whose debt topped $100,000, lost her home at a Sheriff's Sale last October. Bellows, owing more than $240,000, had his home sold at a Sheriff's Sale in 2008.

Remember the good old days when you put 20% down and paid less than 3x annual income for a house with a 30-year-fixed rate mortgage, and you slowly built equity by paying off the mortgage and as houses slowly appreciated 1% to 3% a year? Back in those days, if you got into financial trouble, you could sell your house and get out with equity and dignity. Well, those days are long gone thanks to Alan Greenspan. Now suicide is the most attractive option for many in Greenspan's housing crash.

Drudge headlines this "SHOCK: 2 Homeowners Commit Suicide Ahead Of Eviction...", but is there anything shocking about this? This is still a slow month for Alan Greenspan. SHOCK: Sunny Day In San Diego...

Greenspan's Body Count stands at 132.

Lynda Clark
Gregory Bellows
Sallie Gist
Rayshawn Reed
Byron Reed Sr.
Byron Reed Jr.
Elisha Gist
Elijah Gist
Tiera Davidson
Christopher Oetting
Neal Jacobson
Franki Jacobson
Eric Jacobson
Joshua Jacobson
Vincenza Garcia
Bill Sparkman
Debra K. Gibbs
Otis Beckford
Carol Kennedy
Diane Ward
Edith Moreno
Diana Moreno
Scott Peters
Tom Blackmore
Kevin Daniel O'Connell
Julie Fay
Wallis Fay
Siu Fong Ng
Ernest Scherer Jr.
Charlene Abendroth
J.D. Wood
Cynthia Wood
Aubrey Wood
Dillon Wood
Betty J. Lipply
Dwight Deely
Linda Patrick
David Kellerman
Christopher Wood
Francie Billotti-Wood
Chandler Wood
Gavin Wood
Fiona Wood
Gil Weber
Gregory Graham
Randolph Graham
David Kelley
Ramona woman
Del Mar man
Wayne "Mike" Anderson
Jeffrey M. Pearson
Ervin Antonio Lupoe
Ana Lupoe
Brittney Lupoe
Jaszmin Lupoe
Jassely Lupoe
Benjamin Lupoe
Christian Lupoe
Steven L. Good
Adolf Merckle
Mike Upham
Randy Motts
Kristy Hunt
Joseph Nesheiwat
Tom Brisch
Alex Widmer
Brian Pugh
Marilyn Lewis
Sid Agrawal
Kirk Stephenson
Barry Fox
Dallas Dwayne Carter
David Hetzel
Sharron Hetzel
Cliff Kendall
Pamela Ross
Roland Gore
Mrs. Gore
Wanda Dunn
Karthik Rajaram
Subasri Rajaram
Krishna Rajaram
Ganesha Rajaram
Arjuna Rajaram
Indra Ramasesham
Joe X
Isabelle Jarka
Robert Wagner
Lt. Michael Howe
John Roberts
Palmer C. White
Dianne Pittman White
Ed Boesen
Edwin F. Rachleff
Carlene Balderrama
Troy VanderStelt
Scott M. Coles
Dawn E. Armstrong
Thomas Lizotte
Jonathon Calvin "40-Cal" Jacques
Salvador X
Lupe X
Jade X
Little Boy X
Little Girl X
Kashmir Billon
Bill McMurtry
Lisa McMurtry
James Hahn
Raymond Donaca
Deanna Donaca
[redacted]
[redacted]
Michel Veillette
Nadya Ferrari-Veillette
Marguerite Veillette
Vincent Veillette
Mia Veillette
Jacob Veillette
Maurice Pereira
Natasha Pereira
Mark Achilli
Raed Al-Farah
Andrew Kissel
Rufus Shaw Jr.
Lynn Flint Shaw
Mr. Pierce
Walter Buczynksi
Marci Buczynski
Jason Washington