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How the world sees Greece
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Greece given three days to deliver on IMF conditions
Greece has three days to reassure the IMF it can deliver on conditions attached to its bailout.
Greece: 2 fugitives shot dead in major manhunt after breaking out of prison
Greece: 2 fugitives shot dead in major manhunt after breaking out of prison Fox News The fugitives broke out of Trikala prison in central Greece on March 22, after accomplices from the outside attacked guards with grenades and automatic weapons. The five escapees also are suspected in a subsequent bank robbery and the murder of a ... |
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Greece given three days to show aid worthiness: Officials
Greece given three days to show aid worthiness: Officials Press TV Eurozone lenders expressed disappointment over the progress in the implementation of the deal made between Greece and its troika of international creditors - the IMF, European Commission (EC) and the European Central Bank (ECB), threatening to ... |
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Merkel says Greek debt sustainable
Kathimerini | Merkel says Greek debt sustainable Kathimerini Asked whether a new haircut on Greek debt would be needed, following the private sector involvement (PSI) in early 2012, the German chancellor said, “I don't see that.” Merkel also defended her decision to insist that the International Monetary Fund be ... |
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Rezoning approved for condos on former Greek church property on Main Street
Rezoning approved for condos on former Greek church property on Main Street AnnArbor.com Plans to redevelop the former Greek church property on North Main Street moved another step forward this week with the rezoning now approved by the Ann Arbor City Council. Ann Arbor developer Tom Fitzsimmons plans to build new upscale condos in ... |
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Michael G. Jacobides: Greece in the Balance
The workings of the public sector are so far off what they could and should be, and its existing human resources are so under-utilized that a solid rethink, pushed through with steely determination but also a deft touch, could transform the entire nature of public service in Greece.
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Greece?s ERT remains on air despite closure as employees revel in independence
Live and kicking: An ERT journalist works in the newsroom of the public broadcaster's Athens headquarters on Friday. ERT employees are 'occupying' and managing the building themselves and broadcasting news over the Internet following the broadcaster's disputed closure. | ...
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Outgoing Cosco chief Wei Jiafu speaks to Kathimerini ahead of retirement
Captain Wei Jiafu was presented with the Grand Cross of the Order of the Phoenix by Greek President Karolos Papoulias at the Greek Foreign Ministry in Athens on June ...
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Lenders Pressuring Greece Over Austerity Pledges
Greece's international creditors are putting new pressure on Athens to meet its pledges to cut government spending before handing over more bailout money to the debt-ridden country. The lenders are unhappy with the pace of cutbacks in the Greek government workforce and growing deficits on health care spending. Athens missed a June deadline to put more more than 12,000 state workers into a ...
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Three People Drowned in Greek Seas
Three people drowned last weekend while swimming in different regions of Greece and another three were injured. A 52-year-old man drowned in the sea area of Stomion. The unlucky man was transferred by ambulance to the General Hospital of Kyparissia where his death was verified. In Alykes, Volos a 67-year-old man drowned while a 57-year-old woman was found unconscious in the sea of Lagonisi, ...
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Merkel does not see a second Greek haircut report says
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is rejecting talk of a new debt writedown for struggling Greece and insisting that the country is making good progress.Greece last April received a first round of debt relief that wiped 100 billion euros ($130 billion) off the sum the government owed to private sector investors, who took heavy losses on bondholdings.The possibility of granting Greece a second round ...
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President meets Greek ambassador over completion of his mission
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Hellenic Republic Ioannis Metaxas on 2 July. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Hellenic Republic Ioannis Metaxas over completion of his diplomatic mission. 1news.az reports citing the official website of the President of Azerbaijan that ...
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Spain beats Mexico at U20 WCup; Uzbekistan beats Greece
Spain beats Mexico at U20 WCup; Uzbekistan beats Greece TSN ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Spain striker Jese scored in injury time as his team came from behind to beat Mexico 2-1 and reach the quarterfinals of the Under-20 World Cup on Tuesday. Jese's strike from outside the area was deflected by Mexico defender Abel ... |
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Report: Germany's Merkel rejects talk of new debt writedown for Greece
Report: Germany's Merkel rejects talk of new debt writedown for Greece Fox News The possibility of granting Greece a second round of debt relief has frequently been floated. But asked in an interview with Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung and five other European newspapers whether there will be a second writedown, Merkel replied: "I ... Merkel: Do Not See New Debt Restructuring For Greece - Press Merkel says does not see fresh Greek debt 'haircut': media |
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Report: Merkel sees no new Greek debt writedown
Report: Merkel sees no new Greek debt writedown Businessweek BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel is rejecting talk of a new debt writedown for struggling Greece and insisting that the country is making good progress. Greece last April received a first round of debt relief that wiped 100 billion euros ... Merkel says does not see fresh Greek debt 'haircut': media |
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Dippin' Dots goes Greek
Dippin' Dots goes Greek Business First of Louisville In addition to the opening of the new store, Dippin' Dots will sell products in a Greek amusement park and at popular Greek events. The release said company officials hope the new store will be a doorway for more international expansion. Other ... Dippin' Dots brand enters Greek market |
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Greek bailout money 'at risk'
euronews | Greek bailout money 'at risk' euronews He said: “The Greek coalition seems stable enough – even after it has become a little smaller because of the defection of one party – to see through even tougher votes in parliament and continue with the reforms. But also on the side of the troika ... |
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Greece must deliver over next three days
Greece must deliver over next three days Irish Times (blog) International Monetary Fund's (IMF) senior representative for Greece Bob Traa (C) arrives at the Labour Ministry in Athens this morning. Greece and its international lenders have resumed talks to unlock €8.1 billion euros of rescue loans after a two ... |
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Angela Merkel: youth unemployment is most pressing problem facing Europe
In interview with the Guardian, chancellor promotes merits of Germany's dual system of schooling and work experience, and says she regrets impact of eurozone crisis on young people
Angela Merkel has said youth unemployment is the biggest crisis facing Europe and urged other governments to do more to copy the German system – concentrating on apprenticeships and not simply academic study – to prevent the emergence of a "lost generation".
In an interview before a summit to tackle joblessness among young Europeans, the German chancellor said her country's tried and tested dual system – a mix of classroom learning and on-the-shop-floor work experience – was the best way forward at a time when almost six million under-25s in Europe are out of work.
"Youth unemployment is perhaps the most pressing problem facing Europe at the present time," she told the Guardian and five other European newspapers. "We in Germany have learned a lot from successfully reducing unemployment by means of structural reform since reunification and we can now bring that experience to bear."
Twenty European Union heads of state and all of the bloc's 28 labour ministers have descended on Berlin to hammer out concrete measures to deal with the problem. Economists say the young generation faces the very real prospect of ending up worse off – materially, professionally and socially – than their parents because of the evaporation of jobs in Europe.
Hundreds of twentysomethings have told the Guardian of their endless job frustrations: receiving rejections because they are overqualified, writing scores of unanswered letters, unable to build a life without a job to structure it around.
Merkel has been blamed for compounding the situation by insisting that southern European economies balance their books rather than spend money on job-creating policies. But she dismissed the suggestion that her jobs drive was a way of boosting Germany's poor public image abroad three months before she faces a general election.
She said the Berlin conference on Wednesday was about best practice, pointing out that Germany had halved its youth unemployment since 2005. "We are now in a position to offer a place on a [dual system] training programme to every young person who wants one," she said. "That wasn't always the case … One thing that experience taught us is that there is of course no need for any country to introduce the whole dual system straight away. Inter-company vocational training can be an alternative.
"We should not just try to make our young people more academic," she said. "Germany is seeing the positive effects of skilled workers and master craftsmen having an excellent reputation too."
Merkel exhorted young Europeans as well as employers to become more flexible, calling for greater mobility in Europe. She said that with language barriers often preventing mobility, she wanted to open up the Erasmus exchange programme to include vocational training.
Five years of economic crisis have prompted thousands of Europeans to migrate in search of work. Southern Europeans are now coming to Germany in record numbers, and Merkel quipped that while not all of them would enjoy the conditions offered to the Spaniard Pep Guardiola as Bayern Munich's new coach, they would be given good chances in Germany.
"We have no intention of expanding the low-wage sector, as there is a great demand for skilled workers, which cannot always be met by Germans, although they remain of course our first priority. To reiterate, Europe needs a more mobile labour market. To that end, the way students and academics move around the single market as a matter of course could be better reflected among skilled workers."
Last week Europe earmarked an extra €6bn to tackle youth unemployment. However, Merkel said: "Money alone won't be enough. We will need intelligent reform."
She stressed that contrary to widespread accusations that Germany was trying to impose its ideals and economic models on souther European countries, she did not expect everyone to conform to the strict German model.
"It's absolutely fine for a country to want to structure its economy in a completely different way to Germany's," she said. "I'm always pleased to see different roads leading to success. But what nobody can negate is the need to be competitive and to work for and earn prosperity. When I look at Italy, Spain or Greece I do see very different, successful industries.
"What is crucial is that we all realise how much the world has changed. China, India, Brazil, South Korea and many other countries have been competing with us [Europe] for quite some time in areas we used to dominate … We either offer those parts of the world attractive and innovative products, or we resign ourselves to losing market shares and therefore prosperity, which is precisely what I do not want, either for Germany or for Europe".
Speaking on the sixth floor in the cuboid chancellery in Berlin, with its sweeping views over the Tiergarten park and the sea of cranes that continue to reconstruct the German capital almost 23 years since reunification, Merkel said it was up to governments to solve the problems so as to prevent the social unrest that has been increasingly visible on the streets of southern European towns and cities in recent years.
"When things start to become dysfunctional, it is the job of politicians to remedy the situation. Youth unemployment has been much too high in some countries for many years and now the crisis has driven it even higher. That is unsustainable in a continent with an ageing population. We must not allow there to be a lost generation".
Merkel said the plight of young people was one of her major regrets about the crisis. "I am sorry that it is often those who had absolutely nothing to do with those wrong turnings, the young or the poor, who bear the brunt of the hardship today … It is highly regrettable that parts of the economic elite assume so little responsibility for the deplorable situation."
Highlighting another cultural difference between the approaches taken to the crisis by Germany and other parts of Europe, Merkel said the word "austerity" had entered her vocabulary for the first time only after the crisis had been well under way, as she preferred the term "sound budgeting".
"I see no dichotomy between sound budgeting and growth," she said. "The road we have now started on is therefore the right one, with budget consolidation on one side and fundamental structural reform on the other. That is what will bring sustainable growth."
Asked whether she had ever personally faced the worry of being out of work, Merkel – the daughter of a protestant pastor who moved his family to communist East Germany when she was six weeks old – said: "Fortunately not. In the first few years when I became a politician, I did sometimes think about what I would do if my political career suddenly came to an end.
"I imagined running a jobcentre," she said. "It's a pleasant task to help people find work."
She said her experience as an MP since 1990 in the northern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where the unemployment rate has dropped from 25% to 10% in recent years, had taught her how important it was to have experienced advisers on hand helping young people on a local level. "The [young people] need both to be given hope and to be pushed into investing their own energies … that can't be done centrally by Madrid or Berlin."
So has she now, on a far grander scale than she might ever have imagined, finally fulfilled her wish by becoming Europe's jobs tsar?
"No," she answered, appearing faintly annoyed by the question. "My task is to set the right political course in Germany and alongside my colleagues in Europe."
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Is Ireland right to stick with austerity
With dire problems after a lending binge, Ireland is in the centre of the eurozone austerity debate, but has it taken the right route?
Both sides of the austerity debate that is now gripping economists and policymakers cite Ireland's experience as evidence for their case. And, however much they try to position the country as a poster-child, neither side is able to convince the other. Yet this tug-of-war is important, because it illustrates the complex range of arguments that are in play. It also demonstrates why more conclusive economic policy making is proving so elusive.
Here is a quick reminder of Ireland's sad recent economic history. Lulled into complacency and excess by ample supplies of artificially cheap financing, Irish banks went on a lending binge. Irresponsible risk-taking and excessive greed outpaced prudential regulation and supervision. The banking system ended up fueling massive speculation, including a huge runup in real-estate prices, only to be brought to its knees when the bubbles popped.
Unlike the many Irish households that lost jobs and part of their wealth, the banks were deemed to be "too big to fail", so Ireland's political elites intervened with state funding. But, by underestimating both the domestic and international aspects of the problem, the authorities transformed a banking problem into a national tragedy.
Rather than restoring the banks to financial health and ensuring responsible behaviour, the Irish economy as a whole was dragged down. Growth collapsed; unemployment spiked. Lacking opportunities, emigration increased – a vivid reminder of how economic crises have wreaked havoc on the country's demographics throughout its history.
Investors withdrew in droves from what was once deemed the "Celtic Tiger". The government had no choice but to request a bailout from the troika – the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank, and the European Commission – thereby transferring an important component of national economic governance to an ad hoc, fragile, and sometimes feuding group of institutions.
While other struggling eurozone members also turned to the troika, Ireland stands out in at least two notable ways. First, two democratically elected governments have steadfastly implemented the agreed austerity programmes with little need for waivers and modifications – and thus without the associated political drama. Second, despite enduring considerable pain, Irish society has stuck with the programme, staging few of the street protests that have been common in other austerity-hit countries.
All of this puts Ireland in the middle of three important issues raised in the austerity debates: whether orthodox policy, with its heavy emphasis on immediate budget cuts, can restore conditions for growth, employment gains, and financial stability; whether the benefits of eurozone membership still outweigh the costs for countries that must restructure their economies; and how a small, open economy should strategically position itself in today's world.
Austerity's supporters point to the fact that Ireland is on the verge of "graduating" from the troika's programme. Growth has resumed, financial-risk premia have fallen sharply, foreign investment is picking up, and exports are booming. All of this, they argue, provides the basis for sustainable growth and declining unemployment. Ireland, they conclude, was right to stay in the eurozone, especially because small, open economies that are unanchored can be easily buffeted by a fluid global economy.
"Not so fast," says the other side. The critics of austerity point to the fact that Irish GDP has still not returned to its 2007 level. Unemployment remains far too high, with alarming levels of long-term and youth joblessness. Public debt remains too high as well, and, making matters worse, much more of it is now owed to official rather than private creditors (which would complicate debt restructuring should it become necessary).
The critics reject the argument that small, open economies are necessarily better off in a monetary union, pointing to how well Switzerland is coping. And they lament that eurozone membership means that Ireland's "internal devaluations," which involve significant cuts in real wages, have not yet run their course.
The data on the "Irish experiment" – including the lack of solid counterfactuals – are not conclusive enough for one side to declare a decisive victory. Yet there is some good analytical news. Ireland provides insights that are helpful in understanding how sociopolitical systems, including economically devastated countries such as Cyprus and Greece, have coped so far with shocks that were essentially unthinkable just a few years ago.
On my current visit, most of the Irish citizens with whom I have spoken say that the country had no alternative but to follow the path of austerity. While they appreciate the urgent need for growth and jobs, they believe that this can be achieved only after Ireland's finances are put back on a sound footing. They also argue that, given the banks' irresponsibility, there is no quick way to promote sustained expansion. They are still angry at bankers, but have yet to gain proper retribution.
Ireland's accumulation of wealth during its Celtic Tiger period, when the country surged toward the top of Europe's economic league table, has also been an effective shock absorber. This, together with fears about being left out in the geopolitical cold (despite the country's historical links with Britain and America), dampens Irish enthusiasm for economic experiments outside the eurozone.
Indeed, Irish society seems remarkably hesitant to change course. Right or wrong, Ireland will stick with austerity. Efforts to regain national control of the country's destiny, the Irish seem to believe, must take time. In some of Europe's other struggling countries, however, citizens may well prove less patient.
© Project Syndicate 1995–2013
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