Πατριώτες με το αζημίωτο

Πάσχος Μανδραβέλης

Κυριακή, 30 Οκτώβριος 2011 10:22

Να συμφωνήσουμε ότι το ιδανικό θα ήταν να διαγράψουν όλο το χρέος, να μάς έδιναν περί τα διακόσια δισ. για τα έξοδά μας μέχρι το 2020 και χωρίς να ρωτάνε πολλά, πολλά. Το τελευταίο είναι πολύ σημαντικό για την εθνική μας κυριαρχία, η οποία πλήττεται αφάνταστα κάθε φορά που η τρόικα ρωτάει τι κάναμε την προηγούμενη δόση και ζητάει συγκεκριμένες ενέργειες για τα λεφτά της επόμενης. Για πολλούς -πολύ αριστερούς, ή πολύ δεξιούς- η εθνική κυριαρχία δεν πλήττεται όταν έχεις απλωμένο το δεξί χέρι στη ζητιανιά· ενισχύεται με το αριστερό υψωμένο σε γροθιά.

Greek Vote Threatens Bailout

Premier Calls for Surprise Referendum Days After European Leaders OK Aid Deal

The Wall Street Journal

ATHENS—Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou stunned Europe by announcing a referendum on his country's latest bailout—a high-stakes gamble that could undermine the international effort to preserve the euro.

EU Sets 50% Greek Writedown, $1.4T in Rescue Fund

Bloomberg

By James G. Neuger and Stephanie Bodoni - Oct 27, 2011 9:11 AM GMT+0300

European leaders persuaded bondholders to take 50 percent losses on Greek debt and boosted the firepower of the rescue fund to 1 trillion euros ($1.4 trillion), responding to global pressure to step up the fight against the financial crisis.

Statement for the EU agreement on debt crisis

'via Blog this'

A Greek Short Back and Sides

Would a 50% cut in the value of Greek debt be enough?

The wall street journal

That depends on who’s losing out.

If Greece’s obligations to the European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund are considered inviolable, while Greece at the same time uses existing resources to recapitalize its banks, a 50% default will result in only a quarter of Greece’s debt load being lifted, according to a recent UBS note.

EU Signals Fund Leverage Needs More Talks

Bloomberg

By Brian Parkin and Rainer Buergin - Oct 25, 2011 9:57 AM GMT+0300Boosting the effectiveness of Europe’s bailout fund will require further talks with investors as German lawmakers prepare to vote on its new powers tomorrow, a European Union document showed.

Capitalism and its critics

Rage against the machine

The Economist

People are right to be angry. But it is also right to be worried about where populism could take politicsFROM Seattle to Sydney, protesters have taken to the streets. Whether they are inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York or by the indignados in Madrid, they burn with dissatisfaction about the state of the economy, about the unfair way that the poor are paying for the sins of rich bankers, and in some cases about capitalism itself.

Germany, France Delay Euro Rescue Plan

Leaders of Currency Zone's Two Largest Economies, at Odds Over Rescue Plans, Say No Pact Possible by Sunday Deadline

The Wall Street Journal

BERLIN—Europe's efforts to deliver a comprehensive plan to resolve the euro-zone debt crisis were in danger of unraveling Thursday as disagreement between Germany and France over virtually every point forced the 27-nation bloc to concede a much-anticipated summit of European Union leaders on Sunday won't produce an agreement.

China’s economy: Hitting the kerb

A squeeze on lending hits China’s entrepreneurial heartland

TAXI drivers, to the puzzlement of economists, often work long hours on slow days and clock off early in busy periods. In Wenzhou, a city in China’s Zhejiang province famous for its entrepreneurs, drivers are cannier. At busy times, they keep their “For hire” lights on even after picking up a passenger, hoping to find another fare going in the same direction. That way, they double their money—although only one fare registers on the meter. With lots of bustle and a little hustle, Wenzhou businessmen have contributed enormously to China’s economic progress. That success continued in the third quarter, when China’s output grew by 9.1% compared with a year earlier (see chart 1). But the threats to growth are mounting, and Wenzhou symbolises one of the dangers.

Wanted: Plans for the Euro's Demise

A £250,000 reward for the least-bad euro-zone doomsday scenario.

A breakup of the euro zone has been the political and economic nightmare for European policy makers since Greece's troubles began in the spring of 2010. EU leaders are holding yet another summit this weekend in a bid to keep the euro zone together. Yet given the way the crisis has been mishandled so far, failure can't be ruled out.

Το χρέος, η τρόικα και οι ελληνικοί μύθοι

Πάσχος Μανδραβέλης

Κυριακή, 16 Οκτώβριος 2011 13:05

Τα παλιά χρόνια τα πράγματα ήταν σχετικώς απλά. Αν κάποιος δεν μπορούσε να αποπληρώσει τα δάνειά του, άρπαζαν τη γυναίκα και τα παιδιά για να τα πουλήσουν στα σκλαβοπάζαρα ώστε να αποπληρωθεί το χρέος. Ή, έστω, έστελναν τις κανονιοφόρους στον Πειραιά και υπαγόρευαν τους όρους αποπληρωμής των δανείων.

We are the 99%

Straining for the populist mandate

The Economist

Oct 14th 2011, 13:21 by W.W. | IOWA CITY

A SERIES of tweets yesterday from Chris Hayes, presenter of MSNBC's "Up With Chris Hayes", about the "We are the 99%" rhetoric associated with the Occupy Wall Street movement led me to a perhaps obvious thought I think is nonetheless worth pursuing toward some non-obvious conclusions.

Merkel Tempers EU Summit Hopes

By TOM FAIRLESS And RIVA FROYMOVICH

The Wall Street Journal

As investors look toward a Sunday meeting of European leaders for a sweeping solution to Europe's debt crisis, a spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday warned against hoping that all the euro-zone's debt woes would be resolved by then.

Ο Γεωργιος Ραλλης ειχε προειδοποιήσει…

 του Ανδρέα Ανδριανόπουλου

Μια χώρα μικρή, σχετικά φτωχή, αλλά νοικοκυρεμένη, με μικρές σχετικά δυνατότητες αλλά με αισιοδοξία, σχέδια, αυτοπεποίθηση και προοπτικές. Αυτή ήταν η Ελλάδα του 1981. Μια χώρα κατεστραμμένη, διεθνώς ανυπόληπτη, με καταρρακωμένη υπερηφάνεια και δίχως σχεδόν καθόλου αυτοεκτίμηση κι εμπιστοσύνη στον εαυτό της. Αυτή η περιγραφή σκιαγραφεί την Ελλάδα του σήμερα – του 2011. Μέσα σε τριάντα χρόνια τα φιλόδοξο ταξίδι προς την ευημερία κατέληξε σε εφιάλτη βγαλμένο μέσα από τις σελίδες μυθιστορήματος φρίκης. Τι πήγε στραβά; Τι ακριβώς έφταιξε;

G-20 Gives EU One Week to Fix Debt Crisis

Bloomberg

By Simon Kennedy, Theophilos Argitis and James G. Neuger - Oct 17, 2011 5:58 AM GMT+0300

European leaders have one week to settle differences and flesh out a strategy to terminate their sovereign debt crisis as global finance chiefs warn failure to do so would endanger the world economy.

Turkey and Europe

An uncertain path

Faltering membership talks are reducing the European Union’s influence

Oct 15th 2011 | ISTANBUL | from the print edition

The Economist

WITH Turkey vaunting itself as a model for the Arab world, the tendency is to see its 50-year-old goal of joining the European Union as dead. When you have a booming economy, secular democracy and new regional clout, goes a common refrain, “who needs Europe?”

Το κράτος κατοχής και η δυναστική κομματοκρατία.

'Η πώς η αλλοτρίωση λειτουργεί ως  πρόκληση.

Η περίπτωση των "απολαβών" των βουλευτών και των υπουργών

 Γ. Κοντογιώργης

Πολλοί πιστεύουν ακόμη ότι η κατοχή της ελληνικής κοινωνίας είναι εξωτερική. Μέγα λάθος. Η εξωτερική κατοχή συμπληρώνει και νομιμοποιεί το καθεστώς της εσωτερικής κατοχής επί της ελληνικής κοινωνίας που συντηρεί η δυναστική κομματοκρατία με όχημα το κράτος της νεοτερικότητας.

An Ancient Greek Debt Solution

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011, 5:39 AM ET

The Wall Street Journal

The blade of sovereign default is hanging unsteadily over the neck of the euro zone. Greece will be first – of this investors are certain. But fears are rising that Ireland and Portugal will follow soon after.

So what should be done?

China trade surplus shrinks as global woes deepen

(Reuters) - China's trade surplus narrowed for a second straight month in September to $14.5 billion, with both imports and exports lower than expected, reflecting global economic weakness and domestic cooling that will deepen policy quandaries facing Beijing.

Here we go again

The Economist

The Europeans are pushing the global banking system to the edge

YOU know something bad is going to happen in a horror film when someone decides to take a late-night stroll in a forest. The equivalent in finance is a bank boss insisting that his institution is completely solid.