Greek Crisis Exacts the Cruelest Toll

The Wasll Street Journal

By MARCUS WALKER

HERAKLION, Greece—The first time he despaired of his debts, Vaggelis Petrakis drank a poisonous brew of beer and gasoline.

A note he left didn't mention the financial woes of his fruit and vegetable business, of which his family was well aware. Instead, he left instructions for his children on how to look after his animals. "Put mother rabbit in a different place from the little rabbits," the note began.

Then he had second thoughts and called his son, Stelios, who took him to a hospital. Mr. Petrakis survived that suicide attempt. But Greece's collapsing economy and the ruin of his business would soon push him to a more determined effort.

Γιατί αποτυγχάνουν οι ελληνικές μεταρρυθμίσεις;

Από την μία υπάρχει «ροπή προς την αμυντική ακινησία, προς διασφάλιση των κεκτημένων... Από την άλλη, βουβή συσσώρευση ενός άμορφου αιτήματος μεταρρυθμίσεων».

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Το ερώτημα «Γιατί αποτυγχάνουν οι μεταρρυθμίσεις;» τέθηκε από τον κ. Νίκο Μουζέλη τον Ιούνιο του 2003. Το άρθρο γράφτηκε σε μια περίεργη συγκυρία. Κατ’ αρχήν οι μεταρρυθμίσεις της προηγούμενης δεκαετίας απέδιδαν καρπούς: η χώρα με την κολοβή, έστω, απελευθέρωση της

Greece Eyes Fresh Cuts as Default Fears Grow

The Wall Strreet Journal

By ALKMAN GRANITSAS And STELIOS BOURAS

ATHENS—Greece will announce the closure of several state-linked organizations this week and make further spending cuts in its 2012 budget, the finance minister said Monday, as the government scrambles to meet conditions for a fresh infusion of aid.

Greece Eligibility for Next Aid Payment Under Scrutiny

Bloomberg

By Maria Petrakis and Natalie Weeks - Sep 19, 2011 12:01 AM GMT+0300

Greece’s ability to avoid default hangs in the balance this week as international monitors get set to assess whether Prime Minister George Papandreou can meet the conditions of rescue loans.

Greece Seeks Further Cuts

Pressured by Peers, Government Meets; Minister Lashes Out at the Euro Zone

By COSTAS PARIS, ALKMAN GRANITSAS and CHARLES FORELLE

ATHENS—Greece's government held an emergency cabinet meeting Sunday to plan new measures to bring its unruly budget deficit into line, after heated warnings from the other euro-zone nations over the weekend that its efforts were insufficient and might threaten the delivery of future aid.

Geithner presses euro zone to leverage bailout fund

(Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner pressed euro zone ministers on Friday to leverage their 440 billion euro bailout fund and free up more resources to tackle a two-year-old debt crisis, a senior euro zone official said.

Washington set up an emergency fund to support U.S. lenders during the global credit crisis but the official told Reuters Geithner made no reference to the 2008 TALF program, which sources had said could be a model for the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF).

Analysts say the EFSF must be increased in size to build market confidence that the euro zone debt crisis can be contained.

Does the euro have a future?

By George Soros

Reutrers

The opinions expressed are his own.

The euro crisis is a direct consequence of the crash of 2008. When Lehman Brothers failed, the entire financial system started to collapse and had to be put on artificial life support. This took the form of substituting the sovereign credit of governments for the bank and other credit that had collapsed. At a memorable meeting of European finance ministers in November 2008, they guaranteed that no other financial institutions that are important to the workings of the financial system would be allowed to fail, and their example was followed by the United States.

Debt-Crisis Summit Aims to Bridge Divide

The Wall Street Journal

By MATTHEW DALTON And RIVA FROYMOVICH

WROCLAW, Poland—Euro-area finance ministers will gather here Friday to seek agreement on several crisis-fighting measures left unresolved despite weeks of talks, amid mounting worries that governments lack the political will to prevent financial catastrophe from striking the southern euro zone.

The celestial economy

The Economist

By 2030 China’s economy could loom as large as Britain’s in the 1870s or America’s in the 1970s

IT IS perhaps a measure of America’s resilience as an economic power that its demise is so often foretold. In 1956 the Russians politely informed Westerners that “history is on our side. We will bury you.” In the 1980s history seemed to side instead with Japan. Now it appears to be taking China’s part.

Greece 'integral' to the eurozone, say European leader

The leaders of Greece, France and Germany have said that Greece is an "integral" part of the eurozone.

It follows a telephone call between Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Geithner to Take Crisis Message to Europe Talks

Bloomberg

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner plans to urge European Union finance ministers to step up their crisis-fighting strategy when he meets with them this week in Poland, a euro-area official said.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because preparations for the meeting, which takes place in Wroclaw, Poland, on Sept. 16 and 17, are confidential. It will be the first time Geithner has attended a session of Europe’s Economic and Financial Affairs Council, known as Ecofin.

Merkel Lessens Fears Over Greece

The Wall Street Journal

German Leader Rejects Suggestions Athens Be Allowed to Default or Leave Currency Bloc, Reassuring Nervous Market

By MARCUS WALKER and NOÉMIE BISSERBE

BERLIN—German Chancellor Angela Merkel rejected suggestions that Greece could be forced into bankruptcy soon or even leave the euro zone, lifting European banking shares and broader financial markets that have been gripped in recent days by fears of an imminent Greek meltdown.

The World Isn't Up to Global Coordination

The Wall Street Journal

By PAUL HANNON

The global economic crisis seemed very far away as the sun blazed down on Marseille's old port Friday. But such is the depth of the gloom surrounding the economic outlook, finance officials from the Group of Seven leading developed economies must have envied the carefree souls piloting their yachts out of the harbor and onto calm blue seas.

Merkel Eschews ‘Uncontrolled Greek Insolvency’

Bloomberg

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Greece is taking the right steps to get its next bailout payment, warning against allowing a Greek default because of the risk of contagion for other euro-area countries.

Merkel, in a German radio interview to be broadcast today, said that an “uncontrolled insolvency” would further roil markets spooked by the prospect of a Greek default. The euro region currently has no system for “orderly” insolvency until the permanent rescue fund is established in 2013, she said.

Europe's Galileo sat-nav spacecraft ready to fly

BBC

By Jonathan Amos

Europe's first two Galileo satellite-navigation spacecraft are ready for launch.

The platforms passed a key technical review at the weekend, paving the way for their flight to orbit on a Russian Soyuz rocket on 20 October.

One satellite has already made the journey to the launch complex in French Guiana; the second will ship this week.

Greece Won’t Default, Yet

The Wall street Journal

Germany has been a rich source of saber rattling over Greece, much of it for domestic political consumption.

In the end, Germany will have to give in and let Greece have its September bailout installment, giving Athens until the next tranche in December to see if its new taxes can work off a dangerously widening budget deficit.

Senior IMF officials now acknowledge as much, sympathizing with the headwinds Greeks face with their economic recession. The alternative is too terrible to contemplate, with crumbling European credit markets in recent days giving only a pale hint of what a Greek default would wreak.

Greek default jitters hammer French banks, euro

(Reuters) - Growing fears of a Greek default sent a hurricane through heavily exposed French banks on Monday and hit the euro as investor confidence in the European currency area's ability to surmount a sovereign debt crisis ebbed.

Bad News Could Force Some Real Decisions

The Wall Street Journal

Sometimes the really bad news is good.

Jürgen Stark's decision to resign from the board of the European Central Bank, not too long after Axel Weber quit as Bundesbank president, just might put paid to the dithering that has characterized euro-zone policy making for too long. And the equally disturbing news that the Greek economy is in virtual collapse, shrinking by 7.3% in the last quarter, puts more than a little pressure on euro-zone politicians to abandon the notion that press releases are synonymous with action, and austerity with prudence.

Supercomputer predicts revolution

BBC

Feeding a supercomputer with news stories could help predict major world events, according to US research.

A study, based on millions of articles, charted deteriorating national sentiment ahead of the recent revolutions in Libya and Egypt.

Europe's Markets Slump

The Wall Street Journal

By TOBY ANDERSON

LONDON—European stocks opened sharply lower Monday amid deepening concerns about a possible Greek default, while the euro slumped to a 10-year low against the safe-haven yen.

London's FTSE 100 index was 1.9% lower at 5114.72, Frankfurt's DAX index dropped 2.5% to 5061.87 and the CAC-40 index in Paris fell 3.3% to 2875.28.