Monday, November 26, 2012

GLOBAL MARKETS-Shares, euro fall on Greece, U.S. fiscal talks


Mon Nov 26, 2012 2:48pm EST
* U.S. stocks fall as fiscal talks set to resume
 * Market focus on outcome of Greece aid negotiations
 * Euro edges down vs dollar
 NEW YORK, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Stocks around the globe and the euro were mostly lower on Monday, with investors cautious over whether Greece will receive emergency aid to keep it financially afloat and no signs of progress by U.S. lawmakers to avoid the U.S. "fiscal cliff."

Friday, November 23, 2012

Analysis: Greek economy pays high price for its high prices


By Alan Wheatley and Karolina Tagaris
ATHENS | Thu Nov 22, 2012 12:02pm EST
(Reuters) - Signs across Athens advertise property for rent or sale. One in three shops has closed. At those still open for business, turnover has slumped.

So it is one of the mysteries of Greece's economic depression that prices of some things - milk and the new iPhone, for example - are among the highest in Europe.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Standoff on Greece Driven by Short-Sighted Europolitics



Forbes
Karl Whelan, Contributor
Economist focused on European macro issues
As Greece comes ever-closer to running out of money, the Eurozone finance ministers and the IMF have now met for two weeks in a row and failed to agree a new deal to loan Greece any additional funds.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Your Cheat-Sheet to Greece


By Matina Stevis
The Wall Street Journal
Another week, another euro-zone finance ministers’ meeting on Greece. Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, has flown back from Asia to attend the meeting starting later today, while European Central Bank president Mario Draghi and the European Union’s economics commissioner Olli Rehn are also due to be there.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Euro zone, IMF make progress on Greece: Juncker


By Matthias Inverardi
BIELEFELD, Germany | Sat Nov 17, 2012 9:12am EST
(Reuters) - Euro zone governments and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are making headway in settling a row over how to make Greece's debt manageable, Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Saturday.

Friday, November 16, 2012

Greece: It’s Not About the Numbers


The Wall Street Journal
http://blogs.wsj.com/eurocrisis/2012/11/16/greece-its-not-about-the-numbers/
The spreadsheets spell it out clearly. Billions of euros of austerity measures on top of an already fast shrinking economy have made the country’s growing debt pile unsustainable.

IMF's Lagarde says important for euro zone to forge deal on Greece


(Reuters) - A crucial Eurogroup meeting next week on Greece should forge a deal that will put the insolvent country's economy on a sustainable path, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Friday.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

On Greece, Christine Lagarde Is the Grown-Up at the Table


By the Editors Nov 14, 2012 1:30 AM GMT+0200
One way or another, the governments and other official lenders that have bailed out Greece and now hold its debt are going to lose some or all of that money.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Europe Gives Greece 2 More Years to Reach Deficit Targets


By James G. Neuger and Stephanie Bodoni - Nov 13, 2012 5:09 AM GMT+0200
Bloomberg
Euro-area finance ministers gave Greece two extra years to wrestle down its budget deficit, pledging to plug the resulting financing gaps in order to keep the country in the single currency and prevent a renewed flareup of the debt crisis.

Friday, November 9, 2012

UPDATE 2-Greece will roll over T-bills due to aid delay


Fri Nov 9, 2012 8:06am EST
* More than 5 bln euros in T-bills due on Nov. 16

* Greece expects aid tranche only after bills mature

* ECB expected to let Greece raise ceiling on amount of T-bills allowed

By Lefteris Papadimas

Greece Drinks the Hemlock


EDITORIAL
The International Herald  Tribune
Published: November 8, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/09/opinion/greece-drinks-the-hemlock.html#h[]
Greece’s Parliament did what it had to do on Thursday. Despite some defections from the ruling centrist coalition, lawmakers narrowly approved a $23 billion package of new austerity measures, including further spending cuts to social services, pensions and public salaries, as well as tax increases demanded by Greece’s European lenders.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Barack Obama's second term


Now, hug a Republican
A budget deal makes sense for the re-elected president, his opponents, his country and the world
Nov 10th 2012
The Economist

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Europe, Central Bank Spar Over Athens Aid


Discord Over Who Should Shoulder Burden of Giving Greece More Time to Repay Loans Comes Ahead of Crucial Deadline
By BRIAN BLACKSTONE and GABRIELE STEINHAUSER

Europe's governments and the European Central Bank are at odds about who should shoulder the financial burden of giving Greece more time to repay its loans and remain part of the euro zone.

Η Ελλάδα στους πέντε πρώτους προμηθευτές αγροτικών προϊόντων


του Δημητρα Μανιφαβα
Από τη διπλανή μας Βουλγαρία μέχρι τη μακρινή Αυστραλία ταξιδεύουν τα ελληνικά αγροτικά προϊόντα και τρόφιμα, καθιστώντας την Ελλάδα έναν από τους κυριότερους προμηθευτές στον κόσμο στην κατηγορία αυτή.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

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

Friday, November 2, 2012

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


November 1, 2012, 2:23 PM
The Wall Street Journal

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
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.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

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'



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.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

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.