Greece’s reform job isn’t even half done

By Hugo Dixon NOVEMBER 11, 2013

Reuters

Greece’s reform job is not even half finished. The government hasn’t done enough to root out the vested interests that strangle the economy. Nor has it cracked down fully on tax evasion or pushed hard enough to privatise state-owned properties.

On the other hand, Antonis Samaras’ coalition is so fragile that it could collapse if the troika – the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund – forces it to impose more austerity. That could lead to a new phase in the Greek crisis. The government’s best bet is to make a sharp distinction between structural reform and austerity – and persuade its lenders that it’s so serious about the former that more cuts and taxes aren’t required.

Job Gap Widens in Uneven Recovery

Split in Employment Market Undermines Broader Economic Rebound

By BEN CASSELMAN CONNECT

The Wall Street Journal

Updated Nov. 11, 2013 9:45 p.m. ET

America's jobs recovery is proceeding on two separate tracks—a pattern that is persisting far longer than after past economic rebounds and lately has been growing worse.

Despite three years of steady job gains, and four years of economic growth, many Americans have yet to experience much that could be described as a recovery. That sort of pattern isn't unusual in the aftermath of a recession, but it usually eases as growth picks up steam.

China to unveil 10-year reform plan, expectations toned down

BY KEVIN YAO

BEIJING Mon Nov 11, 2013 4:14pm EST

(Reuters) - China's leaders will unveil a reform agenda for the next decade on Tuesday, seeking to balance the need to overhaul the world's second-largest economy as it loses steam with preserving stability and to reinforce the Communist Party's power.

Euro Zone’s Fizzling Growth Seen to Back Draghi Cut Case

By Stefan Riecher & Kristian Siedenburg - 2013-11-11T10:59:54Z

Euro-area growth data this week may show the region’s nascent recovery slowing to a crawl, supporting Mario Draghi’s case for an interest-rate cut to help the economy get back to its feet.

Gross domestic product in the region rose just 0.1 percent in the third quarter, according to the median forecast of 41 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. In the 3 1/2 hours before that report on Nov. 14, economists predict a series of data releases to show growth slowing in Germany and stalling in France, with Italy remaining mired in an unprecedented slump.

Ομιλία Τσίπρα σε Τέξας

11-2013

Σας ευχαριστώ κ. Frassoni για την εισαγωγή. Ευχαριστώ και το Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs για την πρόσκληση και για την ευκαιρία να συζητήσουμε για  την κρίση της ευρωζώνης, και την κατάσταση στην Ελλάδα, με ειδικούς και με φορείς χάραξης πολιτικής και από τις δύο πλευρές του Ατλαντικού.

Πρέπει να σωθεί η Ευρωζώνη;

Germany's Surplus Isn't the Problem

By SIMON NIXON

Nov. 10, 2013 9:06 p.m. ET

The Wall Street Journal

On almost any measure, the euro zone is in better shape than a year ago—and much better shape than many expected, not least those who were predicting its imminent collapse.

The currency bloc is out of recession; Spain and Portugal are growing; the Greek government expects growth to return next year. Yields on peripheral government bonds have fallen sharply. And the euro zone is embarking on a major integration project—banking union—that it hopes will restore confidence in the region's banking system and allow credit to flow again.

Hard-Wired for Tension in Greece

November 11, 2013

By NIKOS KONSTANDARAS

The New York Times

The brutality of the crime would be shocking anywhere: the gunman walked up to three young men, all members of Golden Dawn, on a busy neighborhood sidewalk and fired 12 bullets in seven seconds, finishing off two victims with bullets to the head and leaving the third seriously wounded before escaping on a motorcycle driven by an accomplice.

GREECE - Factors to Watch on November 11

Mon Nov 11, 2013 3:12am EST

ATHENS, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press

reports and events, which may affect Greek financial markets on

Monday:

   

    GREEK GOVT SURVIVES CONFIDENCE VOTE, KICKS OUT A DEPUTY

    Greece's conservative-led coalition defeated, as expected,

an opposition-sponsored motion to topple the government on

Monday, but lost one lawmaker who was expelled after backing the

opposition.

China Output Growth Tops Estimates as Recovery Sustains Momentum

By Bloomberg News - Nov 9, 2013 6:01 PM GMT+0200

China’s industrial output growth unexpectedly accelerated and inflation stayed below a government target, providing a boost to Communist Party leaders meeting in Beijing to chart the economy’s course for coming years.

Production rose 10.3 percent from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said yesterday, exceeding the 10 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of economists and the previous month’s 10.2 percent. Inflation was a less-than-forecast 3.2 percent and producer prices fell 1.5 percent.

TABLE-Greek October consumer prices mark biggest deflation in 50 yrs

ATHENS Fri Nov 8, 2013 5:15am EST

Nov 8 (Reuters) - Greece posted its biggest deflation since 1962 on Friday, as consumer prices fell 2.0 percent on an annual basis, data from the statistics service showed on Friday.

The EU-harmonised inflation reading fell 1.9 percent from 1.0 percent in September. The October reading was below a forecast of -1.5 percent.

The European Central Bank’s Inflation Conundrum

November 6, 2013

By JACK EWING

The New York T imes

FRANKFURT — The European Central Bank will meet on Thursday under renewed pressure to do more to stimulate the Continent’s sluggish economies, as evidence grows that the recovery is failing to pick up speed and that inflation has fallen so low as to become worrisome.

Mario Draghi, the president of the central bank, has already used a mix of threats, promises and cheap money to avoid a euro zone breakup and to help the most financially troubled governments get access to the borrowing they need. Now a growing chorus is hoping the central bank will signal a willingness to step in again.

Greece's PPC threatens to ditch top client Aluminium in price row

ATHENS Thu Nov 7, 2013 3:50pm EST

Nov 7 (Reuters) - Greece's dominant electricity producer PPC threatened on Thursday to ditch its biggest customer, Aluminium SA, upping the ante in a five-year row between the two firms over power supply prices.

The dispute, which threatens to disrupt production at Aluminium, southeast Europe's biggest aluminum smelter, is emblematic of the confused state of Greece's power market, one of the problems Athens needs to fix as part of its bailout by the International Monetary Fund and European Union.

Those Depressing Germans

November 3, 2013

The New York Times

By PAUL KRUGMAN

German officials are furious at America, and not just because of the business about Angela Merkel’s cellphone. What has them enraged now is one (long) paragraph in a U.S. Treasury report on foreign economic and currency policies. In that paragraph Treasury argues that Germany’s huge surplus on current account — a broad measure of the trade balance — is harmful, creating “a deflationary bias for the euro area, as well as for the world economy.”

The Germans angrily pronounced this argument “incomprehensible.” “There are no imbalances in Germany which require a correction of our growth-friendly economic and fiscal policy,” declared a spokesman for the nation’s finance ministry.

Greek Police Raid Occupied Broadcasting Station

November 7, 2013

By NIKI KITSANTONIS

The New York Times

ATHENS — Greek riot police officers raided the headquarters of the country’s former state broadcaster, ERT, on Thursday, forcibly removing dozens of staff members who had been occupying the building since June, when the authorities abruptly shut down the organization, citing wasteful spending.

Officers entered the building north of Athens shortly after 4 a.m. and removed around 50 former employees, four of whom were briefly detained for questioning, according to a police spokesman, who said the raid went smoothly. Officers fired tear gas to disperse about 200 protesters who had gathered outside the building, but demonstrators regrouped after the officers’ departure and continued their protest.

UPDATE 1-Rain dampens latest Greek strike against austerity

Wed Nov 6, 2013 7:53am EST

* Greek labour unions hold 24-hour strike against austerity

* Lower turnout at rallies due to heavy rain, resignation

* Thousands march to parliament after troika resumes review

By Renee Maltezou

ATHENS, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Thousands of striking Greek workers marched to parliament in pouring rain on Wednesday to protest against measures imposed by foreign lenders, whose inspectors are in Athens to review the country's bailout.

De Blasio Elected Next New York City Mayor in Landslide

First Democrat to Win City Hall Since David Dinkins in 1989

The Wall Street Journal

By MICHAEL HOWARD SAUL

Updated Nov. 6, 2013 12:29 a.m. ET

Bill de Blasio won a lopsided victory in the race for New York City mayor on Tuesday night after running a populist campaign that promised New Yorkers a clear break from Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration. He is the first Democrat to capture City Hall in 24 years.

Mr. de Blasio, the city's public advocate and a former City Council member from Brooklyn, defeated Republican nominee Joe Lhota, a former chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. With 59% of precincts reporting at 11:20 p.m., Mr. de Blasio led with 73% of the vote to Mr. Lhotoa's 25%.

Anti-austerity strike brings Greece to a halt during troika visit

By Renee Maltezou

ATHENS | Wed Nov 6, 2013 6:57am GMT

(Reuters) - Greek schools shut and flights were disrupted as workers held a general strike on Wednesday to protest austerity imposed by foreign lenders, whose inspectors were in Athens to review the country's performance under its bailout.

The 24-hour walkout by Greece's largest public and private sector unions brought much of the crisis-hit country to a standstill a day after officials from the "troika" of European Commission, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund resumed their latest bailout review.

Rehn Confident Greece to Meet Targets as Troika Talks Resume

By Marcus Bensasson & Christos Ziotis - Nov 5, 2013 3:20 PM GMT+0200

Bloomberg

European Union Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said he’s confident Greece can meet its fiscal targets as Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said the country can’t accept across-the-board wage and pension cuts.

Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras met today with the troika, comprising representatives of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, who are back in Athens following a five-week hiatus. As he seeks to convince them that Greece is complying with its bailout terms, one disagreement involves the extent of fiscal measures needed to achieve Greek budget-deficit targets.

Athens's Love Affair With the Euro Persists

The Wall Street Journal

Nov 3 2013

“…The current crisis may be Greece's last opportunity to turn itself into an effective modern state…”

After Delay, Lenders Set To Visit Greece for Audit

November 3, 2013

REUTERS

BRUSSELS — Inspectors from Greece’s international lenders have put a postponed visit to the country back on the agenda and will return early this week after Athens made a new proposal on filling a gap of 2 billion euros in the 2014 budget, the European Commission has said.