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Sharmini Peries: The European Commission announced on May 2, that an agreement on Greek pension and income tax reforms would pave the way for further discussions on debt release for Greece. The European Commission described this as good news for Greece. The Greek government described the situation in similar terms. However, little attention has been... Read More
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The Iran nuclear agreement has less to do with proliferation than it does with geopolitics. The reason Obama wants to ease sanctions on Iran is because he wants to push down oil prices while creating an alternate source of natural gas for Europe. In other words, the real objective here is to hurt Russia which... Read More
Varoufakis vs. the Troika
A disagreement over the terms of a deal to provide a bailout extension for Greece, has set the stage for a final clash between the Eurogroup and members of the Greek ruling party, Syriza. Although the agreement was approved on Tuesday when a list of reforms were submitted by Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis to... Read More
A Valiant Effort
It’s not easy to negotiate with a gun to your head. Nevertheless, that’s the situation Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis found himself in on Friday preceding a crucial meeting with the Eurogroup. According to one report, the objective of the last-ditch confab “was to prepare a consensus text that would be the basis for the... Read More
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Don't Tell Anyone in Berlin
If you haven’t been following developments in the Greek-EU standoff, you’re really missing out. This might be the best story of the year. And what makes it so riveting, is that no one thought that little Greece could face off with the powerful leaders of the EU and make them blink. But that’s exactly what’s... Read More
Monday's Deadline
Monday is a crucial deadline in Greece’s struggle against Brussels-imposed austerity. Eurozone finance ministers are set to meet in the morning to decide whether Greece has made sufficient progress on previous agreements to justify further support. The new leftist government of Greece, Syzira, has rejected provisions in the so-called bailout, saying that the loans have... Read More
Staring into the Abyss
"The Greek economy is finished. The Greek economy is in a great, great depression... There is no power, no force within the Greek economy, within Greek society that can avert it....Imagine if we were in Ohio in 1931 and we were to ask: What can Ohio politicians do to get Ohio out of the Great... Read More
The Old Regime Pulls One Out
The Greek election produced a knife-edge result yesterday, with the establishment parties snatching victory in a narrow race. “The Greek people voted today to stay on the European course and remain in the eurozone ... there will be no more adventures, Greece's place in Europe will not be put in doubt,” said the leader of... Read More
CounterPunch Diary
Regard the Greek political landscape and how dramatically it has changed from last November. On November 2, 2011, Greek prime minister George Papandreou flew to Cannes before a G20 meeting and received one of the most humiliating rebuffs in European history since Pope Gregory VII left Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV shivering in the snow.... Read More
Greeks Face Momentous Elections
Athens As Greeks prepare to vote in the most important election in their history on Sunday, people in Athens fear they are facing a future full of uncertainty, poverty and violence. Well-publicized crimes help create an atmosphere of violence as the wealthy and vulnerable immigrants alike come under attack. In one incident this week two... Read More
Back to the Drachma?
Europe is a trainwreck. The signs of a credit crunch are popping up in countries on the periphery, a slow-motion bank run is underway in Greece and Spain, the ratings agencies have slashed the ratings on banks in Italy and Spain, and the British money printer, De La Rue, has been contacted to "draw up... Read More
Left to Fend for Itself
The endgame for Greece is now in sight. Attempts to form a unity government have failed and public opposition to austerity is growing. The uncertain political situation has triggered a bank run which drained nearly $900 million in deposits from Greek banks on Monday alone. Panicky Greeks are moving their money out of the country... Read More
Times are very tough, but…
Maria Svoronou has three jobs and was finishing a twelve hour day as euro zone leaders were finalizing Greece’s rescue package in Brussels. For all her hard work, she earns only Eur 870 a month and says that “if the situation gets any worse, I won’t be able to survive.” Ms Svoronou, aged 33 and... Read More
Greece Avoids Default, But for How Long?
If Greece's €130 billion loan was going to be used for fiscal stimulus, then it might be worth the commitment. Because that kind of money could put a lot people back to work and kick-start the economy fast. But the loan isn't going to be used for stimulus. It's going to be used to recapitalize... Read More
Sell Them Tanks, Then Call Them Profligate
Athens As Greeks waited for a second eurozone rescue package to finally be agreed in Brussels today, many were blaming Germany and France for encouraging and benefiting from some of the much-criticized profligate spending that reduced Greece to near bankruptcy. About 1000 protesters gathered in front of the Greek Parliament in central Athens yesterday, while... Read More
"We had to choose between the certainty of disaster and the doubt of salvation. You can't be independent when you have...
Greeks expect to agree a deal with the Eurozone leaders today, Monday, that will cede much of their country's independence. Greece will become an economic – and to a large extent a political – colony of Germany and its allies. Berlin will have a say in everything from the choice of prime minister to the... Read More
What's Inside the New "Austerity Measures"
On Sunday, the Greek parliament approved a new round of austerity measures that will further deepen the 5-year depression and sever the last fraying threads of social cohesion. In order to secure a 130 billion euro loan, Greek political leaders agreed to comply with a "Memorandum of Understanding" (MOU) that will not only intensify the... Read More
"No disbursement before implementation" (No Bailout Before Budget Cuts)
While EU banks have borrowed more than $600 billion at rock bottom rates (1 percent) for up to 3 years with no-strings-attached, eurozone finance ministers are threatening to push member-state Greece into default over a paltry 325 million euros. A German-led coalition within the Eurogroup has set a 6-day deadline for Greece to agree to... Read More
“Give the spivs your taxpayers’ money or we’ll bring down your banking system.”
An American took his phlegmatic English friend to see the Niagara Falls. “Isn’t that amazing?” said the enthusiastic American. “Look at that vast mass of water dashing over that enormous cliff!” “But what,” replied the unimpressed Englishman, after viewing the sight for some moments, “is to stop it?” I owe the story to my father,... Read More
"Do you think we are the parasites of Europe?"
Athens Greece last week was paralysed by a 48-hour general strike that began Wednesday and cast doubt on the unpopular government's ability to implement reforms demanded by the European Union in return for further bailout money. Black-masked youths hurled chunks of marble and petrol bombs at riot police in front of the parliament building in... Read More
Naxos Hangs On By Its Fingernails
Naxos "People are coming back to farms around here that they abandoned years ago so they can grow potatoes, cabbages and vegetables to help them survive the crisis," says Petros Citouzouris, as he pruned his vines high in the mountains of Naxos, the largest island in the Cyclades. The financial catastrophe in Greece is engulfing... Read More
Without a national referendum Iceland-style, EU dictates cannot be binding
The fight for Europe’s future is being waged in Athens and other Greek cities to resist financial demands that are the 21st century’s version of an outright military attack. The threat of bank overlordship is not the kind of economy-killing policy that affords opportunities for heroism in armed battle, to be sure. Destructive financial policies... Read More
CounterPunch Diary
How many nails does it require to whack down forever the coffin lid on European social democracy? Lenin, outraged in 1914 at the sight of Social Democratic parties across Europe rallying behind their national flags and voting war credits to unleash the horrors of the First World War, would have been caustically unsurprised just over... Read More
Something's Got to Blow
Stocks dropped on Monday as Europe's sovereign-debt crisis deepened and bond yields across the EU periphery headed sharply higher. The euro fell hard against the dollar ($1.40) while the Greek 10-year bond spiked to 17 per cent before mounting a modest comeback. The situation is getting desperate. Most economists now believe that Greece will have... Read More
Slash-and-Burn Economics
Angela Merkel has let a minor brush-fire on the periphery turn into a raging inferno that's sweeping across the continent. Absent Berlin's fumbling diplomatic effort and its ferocious attachment to Hooverian economics, the Greek matter would have been over by now. Instead, the fire continues to burn while the German Chancellor pushes the eurozone closer... Read More
"Thumbs Down" on EU Bailout
Barack Obama must have been very frightened, indeed. Otherwise he never would have inserted himself so forcefully into Greece's debt crisis. The truth is, there's much more at stake then people seem to realize. A Greek default would be a major blow to the banking system and the damage would not be limited just to... Read More
The wealthy won’t pay their taxes, so labor must do so.
As published in Counterpunch The “Greek bailout” should have been called what it is: a TARP for German and other European bankers and global currency speculators. The money is being provided by other governments (mainly the German Treasury, cutting back its domestic spending) into a kind of escrow account for the Greek government to pay... Read More
Can Greece Get What It Wants?
Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou has the European Central Bank over a barrel and doesn't even know it. If he had a handle on the situation, he'd thumb his nose at the ECB's austerity measures, and demand a no-strings-attached loan package to help his country get through the current rough patch. Instead, he's carrying on... Read More
Can Greece Get What It Wants?
Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou has the European Central Bank over a barrel and doesn't even know it. If he had a handle on the situation, he'd thumb his nose at the ECB's austerity measures, and demand a no-strings-attached loan package to help his country get through the current rough patch. Instead, he's carrying on... Read More