Friday, December 28, 2012

How Europe's Currency Survived 2012 Intact

The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323300404578205580657203900.html

Leaders Muddled Through, but Bought Time for the Euro Area, Which Enters 2013 With All 17 Members Along for the Ride
With three days left of the old year, there's still time for even this prediction to go awry. But let's stick our necks out: Contrary to some expectations, the euro zone will end the year as it entered it—with 17 members.
 

Education falls victim to Greek debt crisis


Deutsche Welle
http://www.dw.de/education-falls-victim-to-greek-debt-crisis/a-16481846
As part of Greece's austerity policies, salaries for teachers and educational funding have dropped rapidly. Students who can afford private tutoring may come to depend more heavily on tutors than teachers.

Greek Bank Capital Needs at EU27.5 Billion, Bank of Greece Says


Bloomberg
By Marcus Bensasson & Christos Ziotis - Dec 27, 2012 7:34 PM GMT+0200
Greece’s four largest banks need to boost their capital by 27.5 billion euros ($36.3 billion) after taking losses from the country’s debt swap earlier this year, the largest sovereign restructuring in history.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Greek prosecutors send Swiss account list to parliament



ATHENS | Thu Dec 27, 2012 2:11pm GMT
(Reuters) - Greek prosecutors sent a list of possible tax cheats to parliament, court sources said, in a case that has highlighted Athens' failure to crack down on the tax evasion that has contributed to the country's financial crisis.

German economy to grow "decently" in 2013 - Finance Minister


BERLIN | Thu Dec 27, 2012 12:37pm GMT
 (Reuters) - Germany's economy will expand at a decent rate next year, underpinned by exports to countries outside the euro zone, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Bleak Christmas in Greece

deutsche welle
Cheerful decorations, good food and gifts for the children are part of the traditional Greek Christmas. But as the country's financial crisis continues to wreak havoc, the country is in for a scaled-back holiday in 2012.

Monday, December 24, 2012

Greece Urged to Get Tough on Tax


The Wall Street Journal
By STELIOS BOURAS And PHILIP PANGALOS

ATHENSGreece's international creditors have called on the country to do more to tackle tax evasion, particularly among wealthier residents, as Athens scrambles to check up on thousands of taxpayers suspected of having sent money abroad illegally.

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Greeks flock to informal work as recession deepens


By Renee Maltezou
ATHENS | Fri Dec 21, 2012 9:59am EST
(Reuters) - Greek dietician Reggina knew she had little choice when her boss told her she could keep her job at a health center only if she agreed to getting part of her salary off the books.

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Greece's Top Banks Need $36 Billion Boost


By STELIOS BOURAS and NEKTARIA STAMOULI
The Wall Street  Journal 
ATHENSGreece's four largest banks need a capital boost of €27.4 billion ($36.29) to overcome the impact of the country's sovereign debt write-down as they battle to stem growing losses in the rapidly shrinking domestic economy.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Greece facing critical year, says finance minister: FT


LONDON | Wed Dec 19, 2012 7:27pm EST
(Reuters) - Greece is facing a critical year that hinges on its three-party ruling coalition sticking together and following the bailout program agreed with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras said in the Financial Times on Thursday.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Struggles Mount for Greeks as Economy Faces Winter

By MARCUS WALKER and MARIANNA KAKAOUNAKI
The Wall Street Journal
...Ms. Katri had a Dickensian image of the former orphanage, she says, as "a place where children are punished." However, she says the foundation has been good to her son,...
...The slumping economy and the retreat of the welfare state under austerity has caused a wave of requests to take children into care...
...Since 2011, more than 700 families have asked the Greek branch of international charity SOS Children's Villages to take in a child for economic reasons...

Monday, December 17, 2012

Special Report: Greece's triangle of power


A nexus of media, business and politics lies behind the country's crisis, say critics.
 
By Stephen Grey and Dina Kyriakidou

Friday, December 14, 2012

Europe Wins a Battle, but Not Yet the War


(to)...create a new common bank-resolution authority for the euro zone...
The first is political and Italian
The next risk is political and German
A further risk is technical and possibly Spanish
The next risks are Hellenic

Thursday, December 13, 2012

EU, IMF agree to lend Greece 49 bln euros by March


BRUSSELS | Thu Dec 13, 2012 6:59am EST
(From the administrator: This article is from Reuters, and at the end you can find the link, the names of the authors and the adresses of their blogs)

Dec 13 (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund have agreed to release 49.1 billion euros in aid to Greece by the end of March, with most of that sum flowing immediately, senior EU officials said on Thursday.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Greece Can Grow Again

Red tape, corruption, tax evasion—and a failure of marketing. Despite being the world's third largest olive oil producer, Greece sells 60% of its olive oil in bulk to Italy, where it is packaged and sold at a premium.
The Wall Street Journal
By JOHN SFAKIANAKIS
 

Thursday, December 6, 2012

For Greece, Oligarchs Are Obstacle to Recovery


By RACHEL DONADIO and LIZ ALDERMAN
The New York Times
ATHENS — A dynamic entrepreneur, Lavrentis Lavrentiadis seemed to represent a promising new era for Greece. He dazzled the country’s traditionally insular business world by spinning together a multibillion-dollar empire just a few years after inheriting a small family firm at 18. Seeking acceptance in elite circles, he gave lavishly to charities and cultivated ties to the leading political parties.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Greece takes bottom EU spot in global corruption index


Greece replaces Bulgaria as lowest-ranking EU state
* Italy below ex-communist Romania in global league table
* China realises tackling graft in its own interests-TI
* Russian NGO curbs make it harder to check corruption -TI

By Gareth Jones

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

History Shows Why Germany Should Help Greece


By John Sfakianakis Dec 4, 2012 1:37 AM GMT+0200
Bloomberg
Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel has at last opened the door to the possibility of writing off Greek debts, but only several years from now. As they decide on the right thing to do, Germans should take a close look at their own history.

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Merkel says understands Germans' frustration over Greece: paper



                     
              FILE - In this Nov. 30, 3012 file picture German Chancellor Angela Merkel casts her vote at the German federal parliament, Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Nov. 30, 2012. The German Parliament has given its overwhelming backing to a deal aimed at trimming Greece's debt load and keeping the country financially afloat. Lawmakers voted 473-100 on Friday to back the complex deal reached by European finance ministers earlier this week. Germany's chancellor says in an interview published saturday Dec. 1, 2012  she understands the frustration felt by many Germans over the repeated bailout programs for Greece.  But Angela Merkel also insists that helping debt-ridden Greece is in her country's self-interest because it helps stabilize the 17-nation eurozone on which Germany's prosperity depends.  (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, File)
 (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, File)
BERLIN| Fri Nov 30, 2012 6:01pm EST
(Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she understood her compatriots' doubts about a bailout deal for Greece, but insisted in an interview that aid for Athens was in the interests of Berlin and all euro zone members.