A variety of films from Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Romania, and the U.K. will be screened at the Reykjavík European Film Festival from November 16 to 25 at Bíó Paradís. |
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How the world sees Greece
Monday, November 12, 2012
Reykjavík European Film Festival This Week
A variety of films from Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Romania, and the U.K. will be screened at the Reykjavík European Film Festival from November 16 to 25 at Bíó Paradís.
America on the edge of a 'fiscal cliff'? No, it's the right peddling scare stories | Aditya Chakrabortty
The economic abyss is a distortion peddled by the US right and Obama's Democrats – just like Britain's left – need to counter the myth
The morning after Barack Obama's re-election, panic broke out. Radio 4 described financial markets slumping on worries over something called a "fiscal cliff". The New York Times, normally drunk on its own sobriety, warned of a "looming fiscal crisis". Other newspapers and TV networks predicted an economic "abyss", "peril", even "imminent armageddon". And that was before you got to the blogs.
The clock is ticking, apparently. Obama has until New Year's Eve in which to strike a deal with the Republicans – otherwise nearly 50 tax cuts will expire and the defence department alone will get slapped with $1.2tn in cuts. Unless the Democrats give the Republicans what they want in the form of further tax giveaways for the richest, the senator Mitch McConnell and his rightwing allies will block any attempt to extend borrowing – with disastrous economic consequences. It sounds like a budgetary version of the film Speed; but this is the fiscal cliff Washington is driving off. And the result will be another recession in the US (and, more likely than not, around the world, too) and soaring unemployment. No wonder ABC News calls it "taxmageddon".
There is just one problem with this version of events: it's exaggerated. Distorted. More spiced-up than a bargain balti.
For a start, the very term is wrong. Even if the most bloodcurdling predictions are borne out, there will be nothing cliff-like about 1 January 2013. Americans are not about to have a collective Wile E Coyote moment, in which they suddenly find themselves paddling furiously in mid-air – before the inevitable descent begins. This isn't a cliff-edge at all; it's more of a slope.
Over a full year, the measures surely will be devastating (enough, predicts the Congressional Budget Office, to see the US economy go from growth of more than 2% this year to shrinking by 0.5% next year). Most recipients of a payslip will not immediately clock that they are paying a bit more in tax – although they certainly will over the course of a year. But that gives the Democrats plenty of extra time to come up with their own proposal for a deal and haggle with the Republicans.
Yet metaphors matter; and so does media noise. Making out that some indescribable calamity is already inked into the calendar allows the right to hijack the Democrats' budget plans even before Obama begins his second term in office. Britons have had some experience of this.
After the general election of 2010, as Labour, the Tories and the Lib Dems negotiated over who would form a government with whom, the press and commentators in financial markets colluded in the pretence that the Great God of Gilts had no time for democratic deliberations. Nick Robinson was on TV heckling Lib Dems: "Are you not in danger of playing both sides while the country waits and the markets quake?"
And then, when Cameron and Osborne were safely installed in Downing Street, they regularly warned that unless historic cuts were laid out now, the markets would treat Britain as callously as Greece. The results we now know: businesses and consumers sat on their hands; tepid recovery was snuffed out; Britain went back into recession, and even now our annual national income is some 5% below what it was before the crisis.
Democratic debate was railroaded; the wrong economic policy was followed – and it was all done to avert a wildly inflated threat.
Something similar is happening in the US this time. Not everything is the same, of course, since history rhymes rather than repeats. So the argument in the US is about avoiding having too small, rather than too big, a deficit next year; even right-wing Americans acknowledge that severe and sudden austerity would be disastrous.
But the budget hawks in the US do want Obama to accept austerity over the longer term; and, what's more, they have plenty of money behind them. One of the major figures in that debate is the private-equity baron Peter Peterson, who has his own foundation and is pumping in millions to push for a "grand bargain" in which the Democrats are forced to slash social security and health spending to avoid the fiscal cliff. With that much money, he has plenty of allies in Washington, too – including former Clinton White House official Erskine Bowles, who is now being talked of as a possible new treasury secretary.
I can only hope that America's Democrats learn their lesson from the British experience. Because the right here owned the language and framed the debate. But that wasn't enough to defy economic reality.
The US, like the rest of the west, needs to have a serious debate about its long-term budget outlook. But that needs to take into account how to reduce its debt fairly and sustainably and in a way that allows for growth. Exactly the debate that, two years into its austerity government, Britain is still waiting to have.
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Greek Debt Deal Eludes Ministers
 San Francisco Chronicle | Greek Debt Deal Eludes Ministers Wall Street Journal Euro-zone countries are discussing a cut in the interest they charge on their bailout loans and giving Athens more time to repay them. They also are considering a buy-back of distressed Greek bonds that remain in private hands following a steep ... EURO GOVT-Greek, US uncertainty keeps Bunds near 2-month highs Greeks vote for more economic pain European Stocks Fall to Two-Week Low on Greek Meeting |
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Troika sees Greek debt at 144 percent/GDP in 2020: sources
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - International lenders are reaching a consensus that Greece's debt burden will fall to 144 percent of gross domestic product in 2020 and roughly 10 percentage points lower two years later if current policies do not change, several officials told Reuters on Monday.
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ECB Is Confident Greece Can Avoid Default
ECB officials are confident Greece can avoid defaulting on Treasury bills later this week despite the bank's decision to maintain its current cap on the amount Greek banks can borrow from the ECB's emergency loan program.
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Euro nations split on how to help Greece cut debt
BRUSSELS (AP) — European finance ministers appeared no closer Monday to agreeing on whether they were ready to take decisive action to help Greece dig itself out of its mountains of debt, despite a proposal from the country's international creditors to grant the country extra time to meet its targets.
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Merkel Vows Support for Portugal
 BBC News | Merkel Vows Support for Portugal New York Times Even as finance ministers from the 17 euro zone countries gathered in Brussels to consider the release of €31.5 billion, or $40.1 billion, in aid for Greece, Ms. Merkel expressed confidence that the troika of international lenders that has bailed out both Greece ... UPDATE 4-Merkel, in anxious Lisbon, hails austerity drive Angela Merkel praises Portugal's resolve on debt crisis Merkel commends Portugal's austerity measures during visit |
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Greece's Total Funding Gap 2013-2016 EUR32.6 Billion -Troika Report
 U.S. News & World Report | Greece's Total Funding Gap 2013-2016 EUR32.6 Billion -Troika Report Wall Street Journal ATHENS--Greece should be given an extra two years to meet its budget targets but a deeper-than-expected recession and delays in its privatization program will mean the country's European and international creditors will have to plug a growing financing ... Euro nations split on how to help Greece cut debt Euro finance ministers to discuss Greece's future News Summary: Greece may get 2 more years |
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News Summary: Greece may get 2 more years
MORE TIME? Greece's international creditors are thinking about giving the country two more years to meet its debt-reduction targets, according to a draft document obtained by The Associated Press Monday.
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Stocks edge higher as investors scoop up bargains
 Moneycontrol.com | Stocks edge higher as investors scoop up bargains Reuters NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks pushed higher on Monday as bargain-hunters emerged after last week's selloff, though concerns of a drawn-out battle over the "fiscal cliff" put a cap on gains. Barclays cut its year-end target for the S&P 500 to 1,325 from 1,395, ... Stocks Hold Gains, Led by Telecoms; FB Climbs Stocks Waver in Thin Trade; Corporate News Eyed Stocks slip as worries about fiscal cliff return |
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European markets at close: 12.11.2012
 euronews | European markets at close: 12.11.2012 euronews Latest business news · Virtual panel: Are you using your e-skills? Greece waits for eurozone decision · Japan economy shrinks as recession looms · European markets at close: 09.11.2012 · Top Stories · Anti-austerity protests mark Merkel's Portuguese visit ... Angela Merkel praises Portugal's resolve on debt crisis Merkel commends Portugal's austerity measures during visit Merkel: Lisbon courageous in bailout deal |
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Greece To Default By Friday Unless Brussels Sends The Bailout Cash
After passing a 2013 austerity budget and more structural reform, Greek Prime Minister Samaras is waiting for European finance mnisters to give him the promised tranche of bailout money, or Greece may default by Friday.
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Greece bailout extension 'to cost 32bn euros more'
 BBC News | Greece bailout extension 'to cost 32bn euros more' BBC News A draft document prepared for eurozone finance ministers suggests that Greece should be given two more years to meet budget goals, but that this will add 32.6bn euros ($41.4bn) to its bailout. Eurozone finance ministers are meeting in Brussels to ... Two more years for Greece to cost 33 billion euros: troika Euro Flat on Lingering Greece Uncertainty Greece's Total Funding Gap 2013-2016 EUR32.6 Billion -Troika Report |
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Creditors propose granting two more years to Greece
Draft proposal lacks crucial specifics on how much additional assistance Greece would need and how shortfall should be addressed
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Creditors propose giving Greece 2 more years
BERLIN (AP) — Greece's international creditors are proposing granting the country two more years to meet its debt reduction targets as the country enters its sixth consecutive year of recession, according to a draft document obtained by The Associated Press Monday.
The country's so-called "troika" of creditors — the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund — has already pledged €240 billion ($305 billion) in bailout loans to keep Greece afloat while Athens implements reforms and austerity measures to get its finances in order.
Many analysts have said a two-year extension to the debt reduction target could require as much as €30 billion in fresh assistance, or granting Greece a reduction in what it owes — meaning its eurozone creditors will have to agree to take losses on some of their loans.
The country's so-called "troika" of creditors — the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund — has already pledged €240 billion ($305 billion) in bailout loans to keep Greece afloat while Athens implements reforms and austerity measures to get its finances in order.
Many analysts have said a two-year extension to the debt reduction target could require as much as €30 billion in fresh assistance, or granting Greece a reduction in what it owes — meaning its eurozone creditors will have to agree to take losses on some of their loans.
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Stocks Eke out Tiny Gains as Greece Nears Bailout
 Globe and Mail | Stocks Eke out Tiny Gains as Greece Nears Bailout ABC News U.S. stocks eked out the tiniest of gains on Monday morning, small comfort after worries about the fiscal cliff sent the market plunging last week. Investors were holding on to a small piece of good news out of debt-riddled Europe: Greek lawmakers ... Stocks edge higher ahead of talks on Greece, fiscal cliff |
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ECB Cuts Greek ELA Ceiling for T-Bills, Widens Collateral
 Business Recorder | ECB Cuts Greek ELA Ceiling for T-Bills, Widens Collateral - Report Wall Street Journal The ECB's governing council has decided to reduce the amount that Greek banks can borrow against T-bills in ELA to 3 billion euros ($3.8 billion) from EUR7 billion, the newspaper said, citing central banking sources. But the broadening of eligible ... ECB extends Greek bank collateral limits: paper ECB Broadens Elligible Collateral For Greek ELA - Press |
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