I have long been a supporter of the EU and thought we should adopt the euro. The extraordinary incompetence of the money folk is changing my mind. Christine Lagarde said she wanted to have discussions with “adults” and “grownups”. How “grown up” are those in the troika who have made such an extraordinary hash of the Greek predicament and, in consequence, of the whole European project? Like Wonga, they extended credit when they shouldn’t have done, and are now extorting money from those to whom they should not have extended it. What kind of a mess is that? What kind of Europe is this? They are deeply incompetent, if not worse. I honour Peter Luff’s commitment (Letters, 17 July), but his allies have let him down.Margaret DrabbleLondon Continue reading...
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Sunday, July 19, 2015
Greek banks to reopen for first time in three weeks
Withdrawal limit relaxed to €420 a week and deposit boxes can be emptied, but capital controls remainGreek banks will reopen on Monday morning for the first time in three weeks, with queues expected to form outside branches as customers rush to empty deposit boxes they have been unable to access.Withdrawals will still be restricted, but in a slight relaxation of capital controls, Greeks will be able to withdraw a weekly allowance of €420 (£290) in one transaction rather than being limited to €60 a day. Restrictions on sending money abroad and other controls remain in place. Related: Now a deal has been done, what lies ahead for the Greek economy? Continue reading...
Read Merkel’s Lips: “No New Haircuts”
BERLIN, GERMANY — Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday suggested that Germany would show flexibility in negotiating how Greece deals with its massive debt, but again ruled out writing off part of the money. Speaking on ARD television’s Bericht aus Berlin program, Merkel said that “a classic haircut of 30, 40 percent of debt cannot happen […] The post Read Merkel’s Lips: “No New Haircuts” appeared first on The National Herald.
Goldman's Greek and Malaysian Deals
If you haven't read Robert Reich's explanation in the July issue of The Nation of how Goldman Sachs engineered Greece's downfall you really ought to take a look. And please note this isn't the only country in the world in which Goldman Sachs has become a persona non grata. Reich's allegations regarding Greece Goldman Sachs came to the rescue, arranging a secret loan of 2.8 billion euros for Greece, disguised as an off-the-books "cross-currency swap"--a complicated transaction in which Greece's foreign-currency debt was converted into a domestic-currency obligation using a fictitious market exchange rate. As a result, about 2 percent of Greece's debt magically disappeared from its national accounts The consequences were severe: By 2005, Greece owed almost double what it had put into the deal, pushing its off-the-books debt from 2.8 billion euros to 5.1 billion. Mario Draghi, head of the European Central Bank (ECB), who is now refusing to include Greece in its quantitative easing bailout of poorer euro dollar countries, was Goldman's international division director when Greece agreed to lock in the 5.1 billion euros it came to owe Goldman Sachs just four years after Greece had agreed to pay Goldman 2.8 billion euros. The ECB, we should note is part of the troika that is imposing its "reforms" on the new Greek government. In late June of this year,the ECB blocked a request from the Bank of Greece for more emergency loans from the ECB, thus creating a financial and political crisis in Greece when cash withdawals by Greek bank depositors were limited to 60 euros a day. Professor Reich points the finger at Goldman's deals for being the main cause in bringing Greece's government to its knees this July. Reich alleges Greece's healthcare system was another target of Goldman Sachs' profit-making, debt-deepening deals in 2009. This time the Greek government had the sense to turn down Goldman's offer. US cities, notably Detroit, Michigan and Oakland, California were Goldman's next targets. They too have paid dearly for investing with this company. But none of these deals compare with the scope of what is now alleged to be the result of Goldman's operations in Malaysia. Goldman's Loan Deal for Malaysia In 2013, for a fee of $300 million, Goldman arranged a three billion dollar bond for a state-owned investment fund run by the Finance Ministry of Malasia. The name of that deal (to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad fund) is the acronym, 1MDB. Scandal erupted when the prime minister of Malaysia, Najib Razad, the man who set up the 1MDB investment fund in 2009, was thought to have received payments from the 1MDB fund totaling around $700 billion. Some Malaysians believe this money came from Goldman Sachs. As a result of the scandal, an investigation of the 1MDB fund arose. Najib Razid denies taking money for personal gain, and there is no evidence the alleged bribe was paid by Goldman. However, the 1MDB fund is already eleven billion dollars in debt. In response, Abu Dhabi's sovereign state fund invested one billion dollars in Malaysia's government-owned fund. Nevertheless, the Malaysian fund still needed to reschedule payments on debt it owes. Investigators of the 1MDB fund want to know how the 1MDB managed to borrow 11 billion dollars without the means to pay off that much debt. In the meantime, Goldman's popularity has declined steadily as many investors interested in Malaysia are going elsewhere for advice. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Paul Krugman: "I may have overestimated the competence of the Greek government" – CNN Press ...
They discussed how a Grexit would impact the European Union, if a Grexit is probable, if the Greek crisis is over, and how Puerto Rico and Greece ...
Greek debt crisis: Germany 'may consider' debt relief
Greek debt crisis: Germany 'may consider' debt relief. 1 hour ago. From the section Europe. Angela Merkel speaks to ARD on 19 July 2015 Angela ...
Only statistics will do with Greece
… about Greece these past five years. The tale is that the Greeks … (Germany above all) generously rescued Greece with taxpayers’ money. Germany and … Greece’s finance minister. He described making economic presentations on Greece’s …
Merkel Signals Greek Debt Relief Option as Banks Set to Reopen
… to discuss the matter once Greece successfully completes the first round … euros, while transfers abroad from Greek accounts remain banned. The Athens … negotiations since 2012. Ensuring that Greece’s debt is sustainable looms …
Merkel dogged by coalition tensions over Greece
By Michelle Martin and Noah Barkin BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel tried to restore calm to her coalition government on Sunday after tensions tied to bailout negotiations with Greece burst out into the open, laying bare resentment among the highest-ranking ministers in her cabinet. Schaeuble, the influential 72-year-old minister who has pressed a hard line with Greece for months, was unrepentant and even suggested that he would be prepared to step aside if Merkel objected to his negotiating tactics. Schaeuble's hardline stance and deep scepticism towards Greece in the German population has pushed her towards a tough line at a time when Gabriel's SPD and key European partners like France favoured a more conciliatory approach.
Greek banks ready to open Monday, Merkel urges swift bailout talks
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek banks are ready to open their branches across the country on Monday after a three-week shutdown, officials said, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for swift aid talks so Athens could also lift withdrawal limits.
Francois Hollande calls for eurozone government
French president wants eurozone government to strengthen political and economic union, saying answer to Greek crisis is 'more Europe, not less'
Greek banks re-open Monday, and a lot of people are psyched to get back into their deposit boxes
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek banks expect long queues but no major problems when they reopen on Monday for the first time in three weeks, although withdrawals will still be limited and capital controls will remain, senior banking officials said on Sunday. The cautious reopening of the banks, and an increase in value added tax on restaurant food and public transport from Monday, are aimed at restoring trust inside and outside Greece after an aid-for-reforms deal last week averted bankruptcy. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is trying to turn a corner after bailout terms he reluctantly accepted prompted a rebellion in his leftist Syriza party. He sacked party rebels in a government reshuffle on Friday and is seeking a swift start to talks on the bailout accord with European partners and the IMF before elections which Interior Minister Nikos Voutsis said were likely in September or October. The government on Saturday issued a decree ordering the lenders to pull up their shutters on Monday after they were closed on June 29 to prevent the system collapsing as withdrawals skyrocketed over worries on Greece's debt crisis. The head of Greece's banking association Louka Katseli urged Greeks, who will be able to withdraw 420 euros a week at once instead of just 60 euros a day, to put their money back. "Tomorrow when the banks reopen and normality is restored, let's all help our economy. If we take our money out of chests and from our homes - where they are not safe in any case - and we deposit them in the banks, we will strengthen the liquidity of the economy," she told Skai television on Sunday. Sigmar Gabriel, economy minister of Germany, the biggest contributor to eurozone bailouts, said the deal could succeed where previous ones failed because the European Union now emphasizes growth and investment rather than just austerity. It would depend on reforms being enacted and "convincing the population that this is a path that allows Greece to assert itself rather than becoming a permanent alms-receiver," he said in extracts from a television interview. French President Francois Hollande, who pushed hard for a deal, said the Greek crisis had weakened Europeans' faith in the European project and revived calls for the creation of a euro zone government. "What threatens us is not an excess of Europe but its insufficiency," Hollande wrote in an op-ed in the Journal du Dimanche weekly newspaper. DEPOSIT BOXES The deal struck at a euro zone summit last week allowed the European Central Bank to top up emergency credit lines which the Greek banking sector needs to survive. "The banks are ready to open and we don't expect any major problems on Monday," an official at the Central Bank of Greece told Reuters. As well as getting a weekly limit instead of a daily one, customers will also be able to access their safety deposit boxes and withdraw money without a credit card. Deposit boxes are not affected by the capital restrictions and clients can therefore take whatever they want from them, bank officials said. But restrictions on transfers abroad and other capital controls remain in place. "The banks are ready and they will open all their branches on Monday," a senior official at Piraeus Bank , Greece's second-largest bank by assets, told Reuters. "There might be queues because many people will want to withdraw money from their deposit boxes." One official at EFG Eurobank , the country's third-largest bank by assets, said the bank was expecting long queues in the first two or three days. "We might have some minor problems with bank checks that have expired in the last two weeks, but this is something that the government should decide on," the official said. Acceptance of the bailout terms that allowed for the banks to reopen marked a turnaround for Tsipras after months of difficult talks and a referendum that rejected a less stringent deal proposed by the lenders. But opinion polls suggest the prime minister's popularity remains high. The VAT increases that will come into force from Monday are among a series of reforms demanded by creditors, many of whom have expressed doubt the government would keep its promises. (Additional reporting by Costas Pitas in Athens and Michelle Martin in Berlin; writing by Ingrid Melander; editing by Philippa Fletcher)Join the conversation about this story »
Time to deal with the debt restructuring for Greece
The deal agreed after a marathon negotiating session in Brussels last week was welcome, in so far as it removed the immediate risk of Greece leaving ...
The beach is a melting pot – the perfect place to examine what has shattered our confidence in Europe
Beaches work because everyone understands the rules, and the Greeks are being kicked off the sand for flouting themThey are coming: flooding airport lounges with tattoos and leggings, battered straw hats and extended families. On arrival, in Magaluf or Mytilene, they will mix with streams of holidaymakers from a place called Europe.On the beach, they will mix again. Sixth-form girls from Surrey will hobnob with Corsican fisher-boys. Continue reading...
In bastion, Mexico kingpin seen as benevolent bandit
Badiraguato (Mexico) (AFP) - The lush Mexican mountain stronghold of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is dotted with hamlets where poor farmers live in humble homes, scrape by on crops and lionize the fugitive drug kingpin.One week after Guzman escaped prison again, his legend has grown in his home region in northwestern Sinaloa state, where he is revered as a benevolent bandit despite his drug cartel's murderous record.US authorities have intelligence suggesting Guzman is already in the region, the safest place for him because of the support he enjoys, an American security official told AFP.In Badiraguato, the municipality that encompasses villages where some of Mexico's most infamous drug lords were born, residents hope Guzman will revive the economy.They say the Sinaloa drug cartel boss employed farmers, sent food to nursing homes and gave toys to children at Christmas before his February 2014 capture."People are happy because he helps a lot," said Gerardo Avila, 22, eating a watermelon under scorching heat in front of his small clothing shop near Badiraguato's town hall."He gives money. He creates jobs. He helps more than presidents," Avila said. What kind of jobs? "Working on the hills, cutting trees."Erica, a 40-year-old with a candy cart in front of the church, said people believe Guzman has been good to the community.When Guzman is out of prison, "people work, there's movement, but up there," said Erica, lifting her chin toward the mountains.But Guzman's business, of course, is not logging. Farmers grow marijuana and opium poppies high on the hills."It has been a necessary evil," said Enrique Amarillas, 50, head of a local civic association, complaining that the "government has not created the conditions to combat poverty."Mayor Mario Valenzuela estimated that more than 50 percent of farmers grow drugs."Unfortunately opium poppies, marijuana are still produced in Badiraguato. But I insist, it's not the only economic activity," Valenzuela told AFP."They produce marijuana to survive," he said. "The business is for people like Chapo Guzman, those who distribute." - Chapo's mom - While Badiraguato boasts an elaborate arch welcoming visitors, paved roads and a wooden suspension bridge over a river, its surrounding villages are less fortunate.The municipality is the second poorest among 18 in the state, with one-fifth of its population of 32,600 living in extreme poverty, according to government figures.Badiraguato's domain includes hamlets perched between thick forests. They lack running water and are only accessible with all-terrain vehicles.One village is La Tuna, where Guzman was born in 1957 and his 86-year-old mother lives in a large house built by her son."She's 100 percent dedicated to her ranch and her apostolical faith. People respect her, not because she's the mother of Chapo Guzman, but because she earns it," Valenzuela said.The region produced other veteran drug capos, including Rafael Caro Quintero.Caro Quintero was freed over a legal technicality in 2013 after serving 28 years of a 40-year sentence for the murder of a US undercover agent in 1985.Badiraguato's mayor said marines swarmed villages last year and last month in failed attempts to rearrest him.Another capo, "Don Neto" Fonseca, built a marble tomb with four columns resembling a Greek pantheon on top of a hill for the day he dies. He is languishing in prison.Below the mausoleum, villagers live in small homes, raising chickens and shopping in a subsidized food store."There are no criminals here. Just work. No wealth," said Martin Medina, 44, sitting on a porch alongside four other farmers, as chickens clucked nearby.The US security official said Guzman is believed to be somewhere in the Golden Triangle, a remote drug-running region that includes the states of Sinaloa, Durango and Chihuahua."It's his stomping grounds, people love him there," the official said on condition of anonymity.The official said the best chance of catching Guzman would be for federal forces to flood the area.While Badiraguato's mayor said there were more troops in town, no major movements of federal forces or checkpoints were seen on long stretches of winding roads and dirt paths when an AFP reporter visited the region on Friday. - 'Normal work' - Guzman, 58, has eluded a massive nationwide manhunt since his July 11 escape through a tunnel under his maximum-security prison cell near Mexico City.Last year, marines captured him in the Sinaloa coastal resort of Mazatlan after he fled the state capital, Culiacan, through an escape tunnel in one of his houses.Support for him runs strong in Culiacan. A cross illuminated by four lights sits in a parking lot where one of his 10 children was gunned down in 2008."Sales went down by 50 percent after they captured Guzman," said the owner of a garage in front of the cross. "Whether we're right or wrong, he brings a lot of work."But not everybody is a fan.Back in Badiraguato, a 12-year-old boy working in a stall that sells kitchenware in the plaza said he considers Guzman a criminal.Does he want to be like El Chapo when he grows up? "No, I don't want to be like him. I want to do normal work, right here."Join the conversation about this story »
Merkel rules out Greek haircut, open to debt relief
Berlin (AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday again ruled out forgiving some of Greece's crippling debt but said Berlin was open to a flexible repayment plan.Merkel told public broadcaster ARD that "there can't be a classic haircut -- forgiving 30 or 40 percent of debt -- in a monetary union".But she noted that Greece had received other forms of debt relief in recent years including a "voluntary writedown for private creditors, extended maturities and lower interest rates"."We can discuss possibilities along those lines again," she said.Merkel said that such steps could only be agreed when initial terms of a new 86-billion-euro ($93-billion) bailout package are hammered out.The IMF, one of Greece's creditors alongside the EU and the European Central Bank, caused a stir this month with a bombshell report criticising the latest bailout deal and warning that lenders would have to go "far beyond" existing estimates for debt relief.And on Thursday ECB chief Mario Draghi added his voice to calls for debt relief for Greece -- whose debts amount to 180 percent of economic output -- saying the main question at this stage was what form this relief should take.Merkel handily won a German parliamentary vote Friday to begin negotiations on a new bailout package.But a rising number of deputies from her conservative camp have rebelled in successive votes on Greece and Merkel's hardline finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, has suggested it might be better for Greece to take a five-year "time-out" from the euro.Schaeuble said in an interview Saturday that he was prepared to resign rather than go against his convictions in the upcoming negotiations with Greece.Asked about the comments, Merkel said she and Schaeuble would continue to be Germany's negotiators in the talks."And I can only say that no one has come to me and asked to be relieved of his duties," she said.Merkel said any talk of a possible "Grexit" -- Greece exiting the eurozone -- was now off the table."What counts is what was agreed at the talks" during an emergency eurozone summit last weekend in Brussels where leaders agreed to negotiate another Greece bailout."Now we've said everything that's to be said about that and are looking to the future."Join the conversation about this story »
Merkel says Grexit off the table, rules out debt write-off
German Chancellor Angela Merkel rejected the idea of a Greek debt haircut, saying it wouldn't work in a currency union. At the same time, she also ruled out forcing Greece to leave the eurozone.
Greece's hospital of hope
Elpis Hospital in Athens strives against all odds to treat as many patients as possible amid grave healthcare crisis.
Merkel Rules Out Greek Debt Write-Off, But Open To Other Relief
BERLIN (AP) -- Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday suggested that Germany would show flexibility in negotiating how Greece deals with its massive debt, but again ruled out writing off part of the money. Speaking on ARD television's Bericht aus Berlin program, Merkel said that "a classic haircut of 30, 40 percent of debt cannot happen in a currency union." But Merkel, who persuaded German lawmakers on Friday to give their overwhelming backing to another financial rescue package, suggested that she was open to discussing ways to lessen the burden on Athens. She said, for example, Greece previously has been given more favorable interest rates, time extensions and other relief "We can talk about such things again," she said, but added such talks could only begin after details of Greece's bailout program are finalized. Though the broad outlines of the Greek bailout were agreed last Monday by the eurozone's 19 leaders, the details are now being negotiated. The discussions, which are expected to last four weeks, will include economic targets and reforms deemed necessary in return for an anticipated 85 billion euros ($93 billion) over three years. Merkel pushed for them to move as quickly as possible, saying that it was important that "the country gets back on both feet quickly." Asked about Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble's suggestion last week that Greece could take a five-year "timeout" from the shared euro currency to address its economic problems, Merkel said the idea of a "Grexit" was no longer on the table. "The option was discussed but we decided on this option, which was quite apparently the right one for all the other" eurozone nations, she said. Talking to Parliament on Friday, Merkel said the alternative to the new rescue package "would not be a time-out from the euro that would be orderly ... but predictable chaos." German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, who is also economy minister and chairman of Merkel's junior coalition partner, the Social Democrats, on Sunday criticized Schaeuble for bringing up the idea of a timeout, saying "it wasn't prudent to make this suggestion as a German suggestion." He suggested there was a disconnect between Merkel and Schaeuble, but the finance minister downplayed any differences, saying in a Der Spiegel interview "we're not always of the same opinion but we're on the same path." Merkel skirted the issue when asked about internal strife, saying only that her coalition and her party would work together going ahead, and that "the finance minister will conduct the negotiations the same way I will." Also on HuffPost: -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Merkel Holds Out Prospect of Limited Greek Debt Relief
Nations in the 19-member currency union will consider extending maturities and reducing interest rates on Greek bonds only after the first assessment ...
Merkel urges Greece to act fast on bailout terms
… outside Greece after an aid-for-reforms deal last week averted bankruptcy. Greeks will … head of Greece's banking association Louka Katseli urged Greeks to … Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble for suggesting Greece could quit the euro zone …
Greek Banks to Open Monday as Next Parliamentary Vote Looms
… . For more Greece news and data, click here.) Greeks will regain banking … the month- long confrontation between Greece and its creditors, will stay … International Monetary Fund has said Greece’s creditors, which include the …
EU’s last terrormongering card: if Grexit “the sound of army tanks would be heard in the street of Athens”
What if the Brussels Agreement was adopted by the Greek government and the Parliament. The fear-mongering against the Greeks continue. After the creditors tried everything in this direction, after we critical observers thought we had seen everything… surprise! Another card was pulled out: tanks in the streets of Athens. An […]
Greece crisis: long queues expected as banks reopen on Monday
… Sunday. (Photo: REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou) Greek banks have been closed since … market shortages and export disruption. Greece's banks are able … ministers also agreed to give Greece a €7bn bridging loan, which …
Greece prepares to reboot economy
Greece prepared Sunday to restart its struggling economy with a revamped government, a bank reboot and a new round of tax hikes agreed after months of fraught confrontation with its creditors.
Merkel says Greece must act fast as banks prepare to reopen
By Costas Pitas and Lefteris Papadimas ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece will reopen its banks on Monday for the first time in three weeks, but with restrictions on withdrawals still in place, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the government would have to move fast on any new bailout terms. Greeks will be able to withdraw 420 euros a week at once instead of just 60 euros a day but capital controls will remain. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is trying to turn a corner after he reluctantly agreed to negotiate a third bailout, allowing the European Central Bank to top up emergency credit lines but prompting a rebellion in his leftist Syriza party.
Israel, Greece sign status of forces agreement
Israel and Greece signed a status of forces accord in Tel Aviv on Sunday that offers legal defense to both militaries while training in the other's country.
Merkel hints at debt changes after review of new Greece bailout
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday it would be possible to talk about changing the maturities of Greece's debt or reducing the interest ...
You should actually read the IMF's memo on Greece. It's horrific.
Germany and the EU "won" their arguments with Greece, and the country accepted another bailout deal as the cost of staying in the eurozone. Neither the country nor the people wanted the bailout to come with another painful austerity package, but it has. But it is not until you actually read the IMF's July 14 memo on the current state of Greek debt (PDF) that you realise just how far from reality German chancellor Angela Merkel was when she got her victory, and just how realistic the protestations of prime minister Alexis Tsipras and his left-leaning Syriza government actually were. The IMF's analysis is brutal. Greece can't pay the debt the Germans want it to pay, the IMF says, and instead it will need those debts to be forgiven if the country is to survive. Bear in mind this does not come from a disinterested party. The IMF is owed €32 billion ($35 billion / $22 billion) by Greece. And yet the IMF just called for "debt relief measures that go far beyond what Europe has been willing to consider so far." It made that call after Tsipras agreed to the latest bailout — the one rejected in the Greek referendum — and even as Tsipras is trying to persuade the Greek parliament to pass the reforms on which it depends. The memo is only four pages long but here are the highlights. Here we go! Note that the IMF says Greek debt is "unsustainable" and is calling for "debt relief," not just additional debt or debt restructuring: This is basically what former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis — the charismatic bald guy the Germans hated, who wouldn't wear a tie — was calling for all along. The IMF admits its debt estimates are all now wrong, by a margin of 60 billion euros: In this next section, the IMF admits two more mistakes: Greek debt is spiraling way beyond the level that an economy of its size can sustain — 200% of GDP The debt estimates on which the deal are predicated are all wrong, by about 28 percentage points: (For comparison, the UK and the US have debt-to-GDP ratios of 94% and 97%.) For Greece to survive, one miraculous thing must happen — Greece must suddenly become the fastest-growing, most productive economy in Europe: (This isn't completely unrealistic, because Greece is at such a low ebb right now that almost any growth would make it, in percentage terms, fast-growing.) Lastly, here is the IMF telling Germany the thing the Germans don't want to hear. Without debt relief, it's going to take 30 years for Greece to pay the money back: So, see you in 2045, everybody!Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: The science behind losing weight
Parliamentary vote heaps intense pressure on Greek government
Mr Tsipras signed up to these policies with obvious reluctance only a week after the Greek people, following his advice, had rejected softer bailout ...
Two Syrian refugees: a 1,500-mile journey of hope and hardship
It was 10 a.m., and the smuggler told them it was time to go. The two young Syrian men thought he wasn’t serious – surely they would wait to cross the Aegean Sea at night, wouldn’t they? All their hopes rested on this journey, and now they feared this smuggler was going to ruin it all by sending them across the channel, from Turkey to Greece, in the glare of day.
Greek judges drop felony charge against stats chief
Greek judicial authorities dropped a felony charge against the head of the country's statistics agency, putting an end to an investigation into accusations that he artificially inflated the country's debt figures, a court official said. A veteran IMF statistician, Andreas Georgiou was appointed head of ELSTAT in 2010 in an effort to restore the credibility of Greek statistics a few months after the country's debt crisis erupted. In 2013, an economics crime prosecutor formally slapped felony charges on Georgiou and two other employees of the Greek statistics agency on accusations that they falsified the country's 2009 fiscal data.
More job losses are coming for the US shale industry
With the recently concluded nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 countries, oil prices have already started heading downward on sentiments that Iran’s crude oil supply would further contribute to the already rising global supply glut. The economic crisis in Greece, OPEC’s high production levels and China’s market turmoil have created more pressure on oil prices, making a price rebound look highly unlikely in the near future. So, with the prices of both Brent and WTI moving towards $50 per barrel, the short to medium-term outlook for oil remains mostly bearish. This is bad news for the U.S. shale sector which is already dealing with rising debt and the ever-increasing risk of default. A recent Bloomberg report stated that U.S. driller’s debts stood at $235 billion at the end of first quarter of 2015, which is quite worrying. Does this mean that the U.S. oil sector is likely to witness a lot more layoffs than we have seen so far? Surprisingly, a recent IHS study had revealed that the U.S. shale sector has been boosting job creation in addition to supporting around 1.7 million jobs in U.S. All this as the overall unemployment rate in U.S. has been declining since previous years. But with rising negative sentiment pertaining to oil prices, is U.S. the shale sector prepared to face one of its biggest tests yet? Will the industry be able to sustain another long period of low oil prices or will it once again resort to trimming its workforce? Low oil prices will most likely result in more job losses Since the oil price collapse of last year, we have seen how oil field services and drilling companies have slashed thousands of jobs in order to reduce costs and cut their operational spending. Some of the major oilfield companies like Schlumberger, Halliburton and Weatherford have already announced close to 20,000 layoffs as of February 2015. However, the markets turned bullish when oil prices were hovering in the range of $60 per barrel during the last two months, raising hopes that oil companies would be sending close to 150 drilling rigs back into operation. Now that oil prices are again moving towards the $50 per barrel mark, high drilling costs make almost a third shale oil in the U.S. too expensive to produce. Even Goldman Sachs has admitted that the $50 per barrel oil price level would deter any kind of a drilling recovery in U.S. this year, as there would only be around 20 to 50 rigs returning to work by end of this December. In fact, analysts from Goldman predict WTI will fall to $45 a barrel by October this year. “Oil rebalancing remains in its early stages with the current cash flow and funding mix stalling it, we believe that as fundamentals reassert themselves and we move past the seasonal peak in demand, oil prices will continue to sequentially decline,” said analysts from Goldman Sachs. U.S. shale sector faces another challenge as hedges expire The U.S. shale industry had been somewhat insulated from the effects of low oil prices in the past as companies had hedged their production. This meant that companies had fixed their future selling price in order to temporarily circumvent the ongoing volatility in the oil markets. Since most of the companies had hedged their production before the last oil price crash, they were well protected from the erratic oil price movements. However, the situation is quite different now as most of these hedges are about to expire. For small and medium shale companies that had hedged their production at $85 or $90 per barrel previously, having more of their production exposed to $50 per barrel prices will be painful. What to expect over the coming months The coming few months will prove challenging for the sector, and some small and medium U.S. producers may start missing their debt repayments or even file for bankruptcy. Quicksilver Resources and American Eagle Energy are two of the six U.S. based companies that have filed for bankruptcy in 2015 so far. Sabine Oil and Gas Corp. is the latest, and the biggest, U.S. producer to file for bankruptcy so far. Even mergers and acquisitions have slowed down considerably for the U.S. oil and gas industry in 2015. If the present trend persists, companies will have no choice but to cut their workforces even further to remain competitive and reduce their rising overheads. If oil prices remain in the range of $50 per barrel for longer than expected, even big operators such as Exxon Mobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips (who have so far not made any major layoffs) could start downsizing their workforce. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Scientists just discovered 11,000-foot ice mountains, geysers, and volcanoes on Pluto
Britain could leave the EU because of a 'groundswell' in the Labour Party, says one top economist
One of Europe's most well-known economists just made a big call. Societe Generale's Albert Edwards says a "Brexit" — Britain leaving Europe — is now much more likely after this week's Greek bailout agreement. In a note sent to clients Friday Edwards says: "For me the biggest unforeseen impact of last weekend is that the Greek ‘agreement’ makes it far more likely that the UK will leave the EU after the 2017 referendum." The Tory government has pledged to hold a referendum on Britain's EU membership by 2017, although the official party line is that the Conservatives are pro-Europe. Prime Minister David Cameron was forced into promising the referendum in the face of a swell in support for anti-Europe party UKIP. Edwards' big argument is that the treatment of Greece by Europe is likely to turn many of Britain's left wing off Europe. The EU's insistence on tough austerity measures in the face of mass unemployment and poverty is precisely the type of thing the British left have been campaigning against over the past five years. The left have traditionally been the biggest proponents of Europe, while fractions of the right opposed the EU — most notably the Conservative splinter party UKIP. If the left desert the EU cause then the already close battle for UK public opinion could tip in favour of a Brexit. Edwards points to an article by Guardian columnist Owen Jones and a report in the Telegraph as evidence of the "massive change that has taken place in UK politics over the past week." He goes on: "A groundswell has now started within the Labour Party to campaign to leave the EU." He concludes the note by saying: "For if even a Europhile such as I, who believes strongly in the unlimited free movement of labour across the EU, reaches the point at which he is likely to vote for a Brexit, I would think it is time for investors to prepare themselves for that momentous outcome." It might be wiser to take all this with a pinch of salt, however. Edwards is known for his massively pessimistic views, always declaring the next "massive change" or disaster is around the corner. And while he believes there's a "groundswell" in the Labour Party, it's hard to see how he's backing this up. The Party is in the midst of a leadership battle and is in disarray after a crippling election defeat. It's hard to make any proclamations about the Party thinks right now.Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: This animated map shows how religion spread across the world
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There's always a little problem about believing government statistics: can you have any trust in the government that is providing them? As an example we've got Greece recently: they were swearing blind that they were meeting all those lovely Maastricht targets for their governmental numbers and then we found out [...]