Greece flirts with tyranny and Europe looks away

Greek democracy is in peril and much of the fault lies with the EU's hard stance

Nick Cohen

The Observer, Sunday 4 November 2012

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/nov/04/nick-cohen-greece-democracy-in-peril

Tax Evasion Case Emerges as Latest Headache for Greece’s Coalition

November 1, 2012, 2:23 PM

The Wall Street Journal

http://blogs.wsj.com/eurocrisis/2012/11/01/tax-evasion-case-emerges-as-latest-headache-for-greeces-coalition/?mod=google_news_blog

By JENNY PARIS

A Greek journalist at the center of a tax evasion and media censorship controversy has emerged as the latest headache for Greece’s fragile ruling coalition.

Greece Needs a Writedown, Not a Buyback

By the Editors Nov 2, 2012 12:30 AM GMT+0200

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-01/greece-needs-a-writedown-not-a-buyback.html

The prime minister of Greece took a large political risk Oct. 31 to keep Greece in the euro, just as other euro area leaders appear to be recognizing that the country needs more time and more relief from its debt obligations to survive.

Germany, France Say November Key to Keeping Greece in Euro

By Tony Czuczka and Brian Parkin on October 30, 2012

France and Germany will strive over the next four weeks to stop Greece from unsettling markets as officials work to put the country’s faltering bailout plan back on the rails, French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said.

'EU Should Admit that Greece Will Need Debt Cut'

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/german-press-comments-on-report-that-greece-will-need-more-aid-a-864010.html

Greece's international creditors have proposed that the country receive another debt writedown, this time from EU governments. That, say German media commentators, is hardly a surprise. Fresh aid for Athens, they argue, has been inevitable for months, but leaders have shied away from telling the truth.

Greece to vote on labor reform despite coalition split

ATHENS | Sat Oct 27, 2012 2:30pm EDT

(Reuters) - Greece's government plans to put labor reforms demanded by foreign lenders to a parliamentary vote despite a junior coalition partner's refusal to back them, the finance minister said on Saturday.

Europe's carmaking crisis

Forward and reverse

Oct 24th 2012, 11:54 by P.C.

The Economist

 CAR sales in the European Union have been falling for five years, and there seems no end in sight to the slump. Official figures out a few days ago showed that registrations were down almost 11% in September compared with a year earlier. In France the fall was 18%, in Italy 26% and in Spain a staggering 37%. Britain was the only significant market to enjoy a small rise.

Euro zone seeks to give Greece more time to cut, find more money

By Jan Strupczewski

BRUSSELS | Thu Oct 25, 2012 7:13am EDT

(Reuters) - Euro zone officials are expected to press ahead on Thursday with plans to give Athens two more years to meet its budget goals as well as examine ways of closing the yawning gap in Greece's finances.

Racist attacks in Greece hit "alarming" levels: UNHCR

ATHENS | Tue Oct 23, 2012 1:29pm EDT

(Reuters) - Racially motivated attacks have risen to alarming levels in Greece and authorities are doing little to tackle the problem, the U.N. refugee agency said in a report on Tuesday.

Greece Earns A Laurel From The World Bank

By Sudeep Reddy

The Wall Street Journal

Greece has won plenty of unpleasant distinctions while struggling to right itself over the course of its three-year debt crisis. Now it has a modest achievement: It’s among the world’s most improved economies in easing the path for businesses in the country, according to a new World Bank report.

Greek savings are a 'sensational achievement'

EUROZONE CRISIS

DW.DE

http://www.dw.de/greek-savings-are-a-sensational-achievement/a-16322050

European parliament member Jorgo Chatzimarkakis explains why the Greek government has done a good job in handling the state debt crisis so far - but why it also needs more time.

Money edges back to Greece as euro exit fear wanes

By Tom Bill and Chris Vellacott

LONDON | Mon Oct 22, 2012 9:49am EDT

(Reuters) - After scrambling to get their money out of Greece as the economy collapsed, Greeks abroad are regaining an appetite for shares and property at home, spurred on by bargain prices and a bet that their country will stay in the euro zone after all.

Greece Austerity Diet Risks 1930s-Style Depression: Euro Credit

Bloomberg

By John Glover and Radoslav Tomek - Oct 22, 2012 11:23 AM GMT+0300

Greece is spiraling into the kind of decline the U.S. and Germany endured during the Great Depression, showing the scale of the challenge involved in attempting to regain competitiveness through austerity.

DER SPIEGEL: Germany Is Considering A Buy-Back Plan To Slash Greece's Huge Pile Of Debt

Alexandra Hudson, Reuters   | Oct. 21, 2012, 8:11 AM

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Finance Ministry is considering a debt buy-back as a possible way of reducing Greece's huge debt pile which threatens to rise well above a target level of 120 percent of GDP by 2020, according to German news magazine Spiegel.

EU leaders clash on fiscal powers as Greeks protest

Nikolia Apostolou and Sumi Somaskanda Special for USA TODAY

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2012/10/18/eu-debt-crisis-greece-protest/1641571/

European leaders meet to discuss fiscal unity amid disagreement over how to achieve it and protests over budget cuts in Greece.

Greek Euro Exit Unavoidable if IMF, Euro Zone Can't Agree

The Wall Street Journal

By COSTAS PARIS

The International Monetary Fund and Europe are still far from finding a common formula to tackle Greece's explosive debt crisis, with the IMF insisting on a "haircut" on the principle that Athens owes its creditors, while euro-zone governments dismissed the proposal because of political repercussions.

Greece faces anti-austerity shutdown as EU meets

By Karolina Tagaris

ATHENS | Wed Oct 17, 2012 6:09pm EDT

(Reuters) - Greek workers will walk off the job for the second time in three weeks on Thursday, hoping to show EU leaders meeting in Brussels that a new wave of wage and pension cuts will only worsen the plight of a people worn down by five years of recession.

Greece close to €31bn bailout deal

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/oct/17/greece-close-31bn-bailout-deal

As European leaders prepare for summit, troika says broad outlines agreed on austerity measures Greece must impose

Greece, lenders declare progress as inspectors depart

By Renee Maltezou

ATHENS | Wed Oct 17, 2012 9:33am EDT

(Reuters) - Inspectors from Greece's international lenders will leave Athens after making substantial progress on talks to unlock aid for the near-bankrupt country but without agreement on crucial labor reforms, officials said on Wednesday.

"Grexit" could spark global economic crisis: German think tank

(Reuters) - A Greek exit from the euro zone could trigger a global economic crisis of dire proportions and must be avoided at all costs, a respected German think tank said in a study published on Wednesday.