Re: New EC Thread

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Germany

President Gauck seeks to reconcile citizens with political class


19 March 2012

Der Spiegel Comment





Der Spiegel, 19 March 2012

"The preacher – How Joachim Gauck wants to change the country," runs the headline in German weekly Der Spiegel following the election to the German presidency of the 72-year old former pastor from East Germany. With 991 votes out of 1240, the ballot was a plebiscite for the man who gained national popularity by presiding over the opening up of the archives of the Stasi, the East German secret police.

Noting that Chancellor Angela Merkel did not back Gauck's candidacy, Spiegel writes that there are high expectations regarding this president, who is independent of all political parties. Having backed Gauck since June 2010, the Hamburg weekly wonders what influence this "apostle of freedom" will exercise in his new, purely honorific, post –


With his ideas on freedom, the new president will polarise the Republic. Unlike his predecessors, Gauck has no intention of paying tribute to the zeitgeist. Thus, he will inevitably become an opponent of the chancellor.

Reconciliation seems to appeal to the Italians also. According to an opinion poll published by La Repubblica, the demand for a "president without a party" continues to grow. Despite tensions around a project to reform labour markets, 60% of those polled have confidence in Prime Minister Mario Monti – a figure rarely achieved by any PM. The same percentage says that "caretaker" leaders are more capable of leading the country than are "political experts".

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Markus Krall, alone against the Big Three


16 March 2012
Die Zeit Hamburg Comment15



Reuters


The EU daydream of breaking the Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch Group monopoly on credit ratings may become a reality if a lone German consultant succeeds in creating a European ratings agency. Excerpts.

Arne Storn | Heike Buchter

Markus Krall is Europe's last hope. He knows that the continent needs a little success. And so the man from the consulting firm of Roland Berger has been crisscrossing Europe in airplanes for a few weeks now, visiting a bank, insurance company or investment fund almost every day. Almost every day, the 49-year-old talks to a CEO, makes a presentation and hands out a sheaf of paper. It’s worth working through it, to explain what’s at stake.

About 60 such visits are scheduled in total, and in the end Krall would like to have about 30 signatures – each worth, on average, ten million euros. Krall's goal is to come up with 300 million euros.

A European ratings agency built from scratch

The money will go towards building a European rating agency from scratch. Many others have failed in the effort to get such an agency off the ground in the past 20 years. Krall's trial is probably the last chance for Europe to put something in place to counteract the three Anglo-Saxon rating agencies, which dominate the credit-rating business globally: Standard & Poor's Ratings Services (S&P), Moody's Investors Service and Fitch Ratings – the Big Three, as they are known.

Markus Krall is buoyed by the feeling that the Big Three have very few friends in Europe these days. But Markus Krall's opponents wield a lot of power. Every company, every bank, every state that wants to get money from investors in the capital market needs a credit rating. The better the rating turns out, the more cheaply it can borrow the money.

And to get such a rating, almost all of them turn to the Big Three. Their power is deeply anchored in the regulations, and their popularity among investors remains undimmed. That makes Markus Krall’s battle an uphill struggle. But Krall wants to take them on.

[His] plan begins with establishing a European Rating Foundation. From 12 to 18 months after that day, Krall hopes to bring the first rating to the market. He wants to start with the ratings of states. Companies and banks will come later. Within three years, he hopes to hire 1,000 employees. After five years, the new rating agency ought to have a 25 percent market share in Europe. After ten years, 25 percent worldwide.

Competition? Yes, there are already other rating agencies. Overall, worldwide, depending on the source, from 70-150 rating agencies are in business, but they are working only regionally or in individual asset classes. Investors with billions in assets, though, like to spread their money around the world and across all asset classes, and so they prefer to get ratings from a single agency. Only the Big Three offer that.

Governments are railing against them, because a downgrade in their rating makes it much more difficult and expensive for them to borrow money on the capital markets. It almost seems paradoxical, but for all that, Athens and Lisbon pay out hundreds of thousands of euros a year – to the rating agencies. In the classical model, which Markus Krall will also have to follow at first, the agencies are paid by those they are called in to give a rating to.

Reducing the importance of the Big Three agencies

The fact that the Big Three are more or less alone in their field, and thus exposed to little competition, is reflected in their operating profits: in 2011 Fitch Ratings had an operating margin of 31 percent, S & P Ratings Services 41 percent, and Moody's Investors Service 44 percent.

Although a management consultant, Markus Krall isn’t taking aim at profits like those. The European rating agency is to be privately funded, for how else could it offer independent ratings of states? The new agency is not meant to be profit-oriented, as the Big Three are, and it will certainly not be listed, as Moody’s is. All together – the large number of 30 investors, its organisational form as a foundation and the absence of a profit motive – should ensure independence, Krall hopes.

In the U.S. and the EU the legislators want to reduce the importance in the regulations of the ratings from the Big Three. But what criteria can replace ratings? Simply doing away with them without bringing in a replacement will create new problems. A fund manager, for example, might be suddenly free to buy any securities he wanted to – and could be tempted to buy possibly more profitable yet riskier securities.

Here’s where the loyalty of investors plays a part. The Big Three are holding onto power today largely because pension funds, money funds, hedge funds, insurance companies and banks have gotten used to them over the decades.

Their ratings are simple. They reduce the complexity of the financial world and make securities comparable from nation to nation.

“The enormous influence of the Big Three is due simply to the fact that they have already been around as long as Wall Street,” says an experienced banker in New York.

Even if Markus Krall does succeed in creating a European rating agency, he’ll still be faced with the problem of winning over customers. Companies and banks bring in rating agencies only when the investors take those agencies seriously. Investors, however, take rating agencies seriously only when they are called in by a lot of companies and banks. It’s a closed circle.

Agencies rating their shareholders

But Markus Krall is keeping up the fight. For Roland Berger, the project has long been a matter of reputation, and the consultancy wouldn’t mind picking one or another lucrative contract, either. That’s why Krall has another trump card up his sleeve. A trump card that should help to change the rules of the game over the long run. It is a study by Roland Berger that shows that other American fund companies such as Vanguard, Capital World, State Street, Black Rock, to name just a few, own shares in Moody's and McGraw-Hill, the parent company of S & P.

This interdependence raises, firstly, the question of how great the conflicts of interest are, since the agencies are also rating firms that count among their shareholders. On the other hand, in view of the interdependence and the high combined market share, the study diagnoses “monopolistic structures” in the rating market.

Moody's and S & P reject the notion of a ‘harmonised’ American rating complex. “The mere fact that an investor is involved in Moody's and McGraw-Hill at the same time doesn’t mean there’s a conspiracy,” says Daniel Kolter, head of Moody’s German office.

His colleague from S & P is even clearer. “Not even my CEO has any influence over the decisions of our analysts,” says Torsten Hinrichs, head of S&P’s German office. “Analysis and business are strictly separated.”

Hinrichs looks on the efforts of Markus Krall and Roland Berger calmly. “We wish them a lot of success. I really mean that.”

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Portugal

Emigration – a beautiful mirage


19 March 2012
Público Lisbon Comment1




A street in Lisbon, Portugal.

Matilde B.


Along with a lost generation of young people in low-paid and insecure jobs, the crisis is now pushing couples with families to seek work elsewhere in Europe. Unfortunately, arriving in foreign countries ill-prepared, not speaking the language and low on funds, they often end up in the streets.

Patrícia Carvalho

“Silly emigration” [Emigração parva] is how Eduardo Dias, the representative of the Council of Portuguese Communities in Luxembourg, describes this new wave of Portuguese flowing into the Grand Duchy: couples between 35 and 50 years of age, arriving with children who are still minors, with no prospect of a guaranteed job, without speaking any of the local languages (French, German or Luxembourgish) and their only luggage the (mistaken) notion that finding a job will be easy.

This new and growing wave of Portuguese emigrants, adding to Portugal’s young graduates also trying their luck abroad, is overflowing elsewhere into Europe too: into England, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and, particularly sharply, into Switzerland. It was in Switzerland where the alarm was first sounded after Portuguese were found sleeping in the street in freezing winter temperatures. The general view is that the situation is not going to get better.

There is no shortage of statistics, and they all point in the same direction: more and more Portuguese are leaving the country. Late in 2011, the Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities, José Cesário, acknowledged that this year alone between 100,000 and 120,000 Portuguese had departed. On EURES, the European Union’s job mobility portal, Portuguese applications more than doubled between 2008 and 2011. And in just two years, from 2008 to 2010, Portuguese consulates abroad have seen 324,000 migrants come in to register.

Sleeping in a car

In Zurich, where he lives, Manuel Beja, the chairman of the Commission on Migration of the Council of Portuguese Communities, continues to see his compatriots pull up by the busload. The phenomenon began to grow in 2008, he recalls, and he passed the first alerts back to Portugal in 2010. “The José Sócrates government reacted very badly, and even accused me of being irresponsible, which was unfortunate. For sure, the outflow is hard to stop, but it could have been handled differently.”

In recent months Manuel Beja has witnessed a “total change” in the social makeup of newcomers to the big Swiss cities. This time it’s families, couples that are still young and unskilled and who have financial commitments in Portugal that have left home “in desperation”. Some arrive with a local telephone contact that often does not exist. Others come with nothing. “Since the scandal of the Portuguese sleeping in railway stations and homeless shelters erupted, things have calmed down. With good weather on the way, though, others will start to come again”, he worries.

Ending up in dramatic situations – no money for food, shelter or even to pay for a return ticket home – some have had to knock on the doors of Catholic missions established in various European countries. “They started showing up at the mission in Switzerland,” confirms brother Francisco Sales, Director of the Obra Católica das Migrações. “This is something new for us. We were not ready for it, and the phenomenon is very fresh. We are trying to build bridges to help these people.” It is in Switzerland, he said, where he has found “the most glaring example” of this migration that defies the usual patterns.

For Francisco Sales, those Portuguese who still believe in a Europe paved with gold should find out more about what to expect before they leave home. The churches, he assures, will pass the message along.

Another tale of poor Portuguese who have no money to return home after their failed attempt to emigrate came in from England last week. After leaving for London in January and failing to find jobs there, a foreman aged 54 and his wife were found sleeping in a car. According to Luís Ventura, president of the Portuguese Centre for Aid to the Portuguese-Speaking Community, “the situation is becoming alarming” in England too.

“They soon find themselves in a tough spot”

He has been observing “a very palpable and steady increase in the number of people” arriving there over the last two years. Domingos Cabeças, from the Neto employment agency in London, backs him up with figures. “We used to receive 20 or 30 job applications per day. Today we are getting from 80 to 90, from inexperienced people who don’t speak English and have almost no money. It's very difficult to find work for them. I’m convinced that many are looking for work just to get enough money to head back home.”

Their lack of preparation (combined with the deepening crisis in Portugal) is what Luis Ventura finds most worrisome – “We have an outflow of graduates, but also plenty of people who do not even speak the language, who arrive without any propsects and with no qualifications, and they soon find themselves in a tough spot. About a month ago we had a man who had landed at the airport with 50 euros and a phone number that didn’t work. He found himself alone in London, without being able to speak a word of English, and with just 50 euros in his pocket.”

If no one can provide an accurate number of the Portuguese who have left for another country in Europe in the past year, however, says Jorge Malheiros, a researcher at the Centre for Geographical Studies of the University of Lisbon, the numbers continue to point to “an outflow of more skilled and younger Portuguese.”

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European car makers slam on brakes


16 March 2012


Les Echos, La Repubblica Comment4




The European car market still hasn’t stopped tallying up the bad numbers: a fall of 9.7 percent for the month of February, writes financial daily Les Echos. At the forefront of this slide are the French car makers. Renault sales recorded a decline of 27.7 percent, Peugeot fell 20.9 percent and Citroën dropped by 12 percent (the PSA Group). It’s a situation that should keep alive the discount war between the major groups, who often sell at 20 percent below list price.

In Italy the situation is not much better, notes La Repubblica: in February 2012 Fiat sales fell by 16.6 percent over February 2011. Fiat Group CEO Sergio Marchionne is meeting with Italian Prime Mario Monti today (March 16) to discuss Fiat's strategy for the coming years.


Talks between Monti and the Italian Unions broke down yesterday and one of the Unions is planning an 8 hr strike.

President Kenny met Obama yesterday and when interviewed said full information will be given to the people before the Referendum so that they know
that to stay in the Euro they will have to accept the fiscal pact. ( Maybe now there is Oil 0ff the coast of irland, they won't need the EU.!!!)

Stocks in Spain and Italy fell today and Spain is increasingly vulnerable to default.

The Greek Economy is expected to contract 4.5% and Investors are pricing in another bailout.

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Spain’s Default Risk Is Rising, Buiter Says: Tom Keene

By Angeline Benoit and Tom Keene - Mar 21, 2012 4:17 PM GMT
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Spain has never been so close to default and Greece, Ireland and Portugal may need further bailouts, Citigroup Inc. chief economist Willem Buiter said.

“Spain is the key country about which I’m most worried,” Buiter, a former Bank of England policy maker, said in a radio interview today on “Bloomberg Surveillance” with Tom Keene and Ken Prewitt. “It’s really moved to the wrong side of the spectrum and is now at greater risk of sovereign restructuring than ever before.”













Demonstrators during a nationwide day of rallies to protest against cuts in education spending as Spain endures austerity and the prospect of recession in Madrid on Feb. 29, 2012. Photographer: Daniel Ochoa de Olza/AP Photo

Audio Download: Buiter Says Spain Default Risk Has Risen



Enlarge image









Willem Buiter, chief economist at Citigroup Inc. Photographer: Kerem Uzel/Bloomberg
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Two years of debt-driven stresses in European markets have eased as Greece avoided a disorderly default, the building blocks of a new euro economic management system fell into place and the European Central Bank pumped over 1 trillion euros ($1.3 trillion) into the banking system.

“The European Central Bank has drowned the markets and the banks in liquidity,” Buiter said. “There’s a general feeling of near euphoria at the moment which leads those drowning in liquidity to believe that all troubles are over.”

Spanish bonds fell, pushing 10-year yields to the highest level in more than a month at 5.388 percent at 5 p.m. Madrid time, widening the spread over similar German maturities to 3.4 percentage points, 20 basis points more than yesterday.

Overshooting Target

Spain sold 5.04 billion euros of 12-month and 18-month bills at the lowest rates in almost two years yesterday. Still, the budget deficit, the fourth-biggest in the euro area, will overshoot its target set by the European Union for the second year in 2012 and overall public debt last year surged to the highest in over two decades.

The economy, the fourth-biggest in the euro area, is set to enter its second recession since 2009 in the first quarter as the deepest austerity measures in three decades crimp domestic demand and a contraction in the region weighs on exports.

Spanish export growth slowed in January to 3.9 percent from a year earlier, compared with 6.6 percent in December. The government predicts a 4 percent fall in domestic demand in 2012.

“Spain is one of the big losers in the first quarter, it has replaced Italy as the lightening rod in the second tier of the periphery,” said Marc Chandler, the head of global currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman in New York.

Euro-area finance chiefs agreed on March 12 that Spain won’t achieve its budget goal for the second year in 2012, easing the target to 5.3 percent of GDP from 4.4 percent, after the shortfall came in at 8.5 percent last year, compared with a 6 percent goal.

Greece, Portugal, Ireland

Buiter said Greece may need another bailout before the end of the year and no later than next year.

“The Greek sovereign is by no means on a sustainable path so they will have to restructure again,” he said.

Portugal and Ireland aren’t out of the woods either, Buiter said. Portugal is at a “very high” risk of a restructuring, which may occur next year, and Ireland needs “additional official sector support,” he said.

“The efforts for recapitalization in the case of banks and deleveraging for governments tend to slacken off” when they are no longer confronted with extreme difficulties in funding themselves, Buiter said.

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Many countries, including Britain, look up to the Germans as a hard-working people. But such qualities belong to the distant past, points out a Guardian columnist.

Philip Oltermann

First, the cheery news: the Brits may finally be getting over the war. A YouGov survey published last week hints that the British view of Germany is less and less defined by sinister men in jackboots. Britain may still be overwhelmingly sceptical about the EU and Germany's role in it, but Brits have developed a serious soft spot for the way Germans run their country – their politicians, banks, schools and hospitals all rated more highly than their British equivalents. In fact, Germany is the second most admired country in Britain, ahead of the US and behind only Sweden.

The stand-out adjective the British associate with Germany now is "hard-working": ironic, given that a furious work rate used to be the reason people couldn't stand the place. In 1906 the sociologist Max Scheler explained international antipathy towards his countrymen, with their "pure joy in work itself – without an aim, without reason, without an end". Around the same time, his colleague Max Weber coined the phrase "Protestant work ethic" to highlight the quasi-religious aura surrounding labour in his motherland. Germany now promises to embody that ideal more than ever: as of Sunday its two highest posts are held by people from Protestant households: Angela Merkel is the daughter of a Lutheran pastor; new president Joachim Gauck is a former pastor himself.

So here's the bad news: having ditched a view of Germany that is about 50 years past its sell-by date, Britain appears to have embraced an even older stereotype. Truth is, Germans don't work harder than Brits. If anything, they are increasingly working less.

In a 2010 EU report on holidays, Germany came out top, with 40 days a year – compared with 33 in "work-shy" Greece. In the age of flexible working patterns and ever-flashing BlackBerrys, exact working hours are notoriously hard to pin down, but in no recent survey does Germany come out ahead of Britain, where office workers put in 43.6 a week, while the EU average is 40.3.

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Pimco Analyst says the mix of cheap money and Cpaital flight will be a big risk and stoke inflation in the Eurozone.

Ireland is to approach the ECB asking for a delay in settling debt.

Spain is risking a default more than ever.

Portugese are staging a strike in protest at austerity measures.

Draghi says worst of Euro crisis is over.

Bernanke and Gheitner uestioned about Europe say while progress has been made there is still a big risk Gheitner says the IMF will not lend any more money.

Estonian Finance Minister attending the Meeting in Frankfurt today during an interview says Greece must accetp the austerity measures, his Country
had to in the 90's and he doesn't have much sympathy because his Country managed a strong re-bound He also rubbished the proposal put forward
by Allande, rival to Sarkozy in the upcoming Election who says he is looking for an amendment in the fiscal compact to include growth .

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Separatists marching under the EU banner


21 March 2012
Uważam Rze Warsaw Comment5




Edinburgh, June 2010.

DR Jacklynntwelve


Scotland, like Catalonia or the self-proclaimed Padania in Italy, is now talking openly of its independence. For these regions the European ideal is a political argument, even if a place in the European Union would not necessarily be a good thing for them.

Marek Magierowski

Gerard Piqué owes his celebrity status to several things. Firstly, he’s an excellent footballer, a pillar of FC Barcelona and the Spanish national team. Secondly, he’s engaged to the Colombian star Shakira. Thirdly, Piqué is also a fierce Catalan nationalist, if not a chauvinistic, a foul-mouth and more.

During the famous "Clasico" match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid last spring, Piqué turned to his rivals while the players from both teams were leaving their dressing rooms and preparing to run out onto the field. “Hey, Spaniards,” he called, “with our eight-point lead we’ve already tied up the championship! All we have to do now is take the King’s Cup. Your King’s cup.”

Sporting events provide perfect setting

Piqué was just saying aloud what many players and supporters of Barça are thinking. Everyone wanted Barcelona to win its victories in the name of the Catalans, wanted the Catalan team to be able to play for the World Cup and wanted Piqué, Puyol, Busquets, Xavi and Fabregas to bring the trophy home not for Spain or for King Juan Carlos but for Catalonia. For now that’s not possible, since FIFA has refused to let the team enter international competitions.

The sport has always been an important element of national identity for Catalan nationalists. Especially under the Franco dictatorship, when Real Madrid was the favourite club of the regime, the goals scored against the "royalists" had the sweet taste of revenge for the years of humiliation and cultural discrimination.

It's the same with the Scots, who are calling more and more openly for a sovereign state [an independence referendum is planned for 2014] and who take football very seriously. They give their all to support their team, and cheer equally hard for everyone else who plays against England.

Sporting events provide the perfect setting for separatist demonstrations. The chanting, the waving flags, the highlighting of “national unity” are the fixed decor of stadiums in Catalonia, the Basque Country, Scotland and in Corsica. But this is only the backdrop to an acute political struggle over power and money. The street was, until recently, the favourite battleground for that war: in various corners of Europe separatists left bombs in department stores, killed policemen and staged hunger strikes. Often enough, fearing chaos and disintegration of the state, politicians – whether Spanish, British or French – responded with blind brutality.

Euro-enthusiast rhetoric

In recent years, though, political circumstances and customs have changed. Advocates of self-determination these days are rolling out their weapons in the comfort of ministerial offices and inside European institutions, as well as at cultural events and by promoting regional languages. It is a strategy that is more or less paying off: with elections coming up, or in order to keep a grip on a parliamentary majority, governments bend to separatist demands in exchange for their backing.

Language is also a redoubtable weapon in this battle, and the Catalans have been just as successful here as they have in football. Spanish is considered a foreign language in Catalonia, and Catalan schools are obliged to guarantee only four hours a week of Spanish. For those from Castile or Andalusia who arrive with their families in Catalonia, finding a school where all the lessons are taught in Spanish is a lost cause.

When it comes to negotiating with state authorities, the separatists are quick to bring up a tightly plotted pro-European argument. The independence of Catalonia, the Basque Country or Scotland, they claim, would do no harm to the British or Spanish nations, since the federalisation of the EU will in any case whittle away the powers of the nation states. And since the national capitals are yielding a little more power to the European Commission every year, why not also give some to Edinburgh and Barcelona?

With this Euro-enthusiast rhetoric the separatists have struck just the right tone for rubbing off the label of ‘dangerous and irresponsible fanatics’ that once stuck to their coats. Under these conditions the state finds it hard to denounce the separatist thesis, as that would bring it to attack pro-European ideas it so recently praised.

Running after the hare

The notion of "public authority" has been discredited in today's Europe. Far more pleasing to many, in turn, is fashionable talk of “decentralisation", the “defence of local languages", "protection of local products" and finally, "regional cooperation."

If Scotland, Catalonia and Padania were to become EU members, what political clout would they wield? They would find themselves somewhere between Luxembourg and Slovakia – certainly not an ideal position to defend their specific interests in Brussels very effectively. Paradoxically, these are best preserved by the much bigger Italy and much bigger Spain.

European separatists are running after the hare without really having to catch it: the bargaining tactic seems to be paying off much better. Indeed, the Northern League, while still in Silvio Berlusconi’s coalition government, managed to change the regional funding rules at the expense of poorer regions. In Catalonia, the Christian Democrats of CiU (CiU, Convergence and Union in Catalan), with their 16 deputies in the Spanish Parliament, have in turn made their support for Mariano Rajoy’s reforms hinge on concessions to Catalonia.

Gerard Piqué, it seems, has not finished making sacrifices in playing for the Spanish national team. Fortunately, last year he was spared from carrying the King’s Cup on his shoulders. It was Real Madrid who won the final.

On the web
Original article at Uważam Rze pl

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News about Ireland.

State seeks to avoid Anglo payout


The governor of the Central Bank, Patrick Honohan, is in negotiations with the EU authorities to avoid a EUR3.1 billion cash payment due on March 31st on the State?s bill for Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide.



Related
ECB is right in refusing to magic away promissory notes | 16/03/2012
EC calls for Irish debt repayments | 14/03/2012
Noonan revelations over talks on EUR3bn quite a turn of events | 22/03/2012
Noonan seeking to reduce rate on Anglo loan notes | 15/03/2012


SIMON CARSWELL Finance Correspondent

The Government is in negotiations with the EU authorities to avoid a €3.1 billion cash payment due on March 31st on the State’s bill for Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan said last night.

Mr Noonan told the Dáil the Government was principally in talks with the European Central Bank about settling the cash payment instead with a long-term government bond. Under the plan the long-term bond would not be payable until 2025.

“The details of the arrangement have still to be worked out but are being worked out,” he said.

The governor of the Central Bank, Patrick Honohan, is discussing the matter at the meeting of the ECB’s governing council, which took place yesterday.

The ECB must approve the deal, as the payment of €3.1 billion in cash by the Government to Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, formerly Anglo, would be used to reduce emergency loans from the Irish Central Bank.

The ECB today declined to comment on the outcome of the governing council meeting. The bank would only say that the technical discussions on restructuring the promissory notes were ongoing.

The €3.1 billion cash payment is due under the promissory notes, the State IOUs provided to Anglo and Irish Nationwide under which the Government promised to provide €31 billion of their €35 billion bailout spread out over time.

A deferral of the payment would buy time for the Government and the troika of the ECB, the EU Commission and the International Monetary Fund to devise a long-term deal to reduce the cost to the State of Anglo and Irish Nationwide.

Settling the €3.1 billion payment due this month with a long-term bond avoids a default by the State on the Anglo and Irish Nationwide notes and means there is no reduction of the cash in the State’s coffers.

The bond can be used instead by IBRC to borrow from the ECB.

The Government authorities and troika have been involved in discussions for several months to find a way to cut the annual cost to the State of the Anglo/Irish Nationwide bailout.

Mr Noonan said the discussions on reducing the burden of the bank debt on the State, in particular on the promissory notes, were continuing.

The promissory notes are used as collateral by IBRC to draw emergency loans from the Irish Central Bank. These loans stood at €42 billion at the end of last year.

Like a long-term mortgage, the promissory notes are structured to push out the cost of Anglo/Irish Nationwide through annual repayments running until the year 2031.

For the notes to be valued at €31 billion to IBRC, the Government must pay interest on the IOUs totalling €17 billion over the life of the annual repayments. The EU bailout funds may be used to fund a deal to reduce the bill for the failed lenders.

Restructuring the notes could help cut the Government’s deficit every year and improve the State’s chances of borrowing in the markets, said analysts in Goodbody Stockbrokers.

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The EU has banned Assads' wife from travel in EU Countries and her assets there seized. However, she is British born and holds a British passport,
so the ban may not be Legal.

120,000 young talented people have left Portugal for their former Colonies, Mozambiue, Angola and Brazil. Mozambiue has one of the fastest growing economies . The Portugese Government is enciouraging their leaving because it lowers the jobless figure.

Portugese Town Halls are seeking financial aid because they are in debt for E9 billion . Standard & Poors says the Portugese debt is as bad as Greece
but their Parliament is more capable of lowering the deficit.

Spain is holding a crucial Election in Andalucia which has autonomy and a budget deficit of 8.5% of GDP and controls 36% of Spain's total spending.

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The crisis, golden opportunity for employers


23 March 2012
Frankfurter Rundschau Frankfurt Comment



Pressed hard by the recession and national debts, European governments are rewriting the labour law, whether watering down job protection or cutting wages cuts. And employers are smiling.

Stephan Kaufmann

In Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal, the crisis is raging. All of southern Europe has been laid low. All of southern Europe? Not exactly. Some people in these countries are seeing long-cherished wishes come true. One is Juan Rosell, head of the Spanish employers' organization CEOE, who has been calling for a relaxation of job protection for years. Now the government has heeded his call. “It won’t be the last labour market reform,” prophesies Rosell, scenting victory. The crisis is his opportunity.

Businesses in Europe have the upper hand. Under pressure from recession and national debt, governments are rolling back workers' rights across the board and pushing down labour costs. The aim is to make locations for investors cheaper and therefore more attractive. “Europe is on its way to becoming an entrepreneur's paradise – on the backs of the workers,” complains Apostolos Kapsalis of the Research Institute of the Greek Trade Union Federation, GSEE.

Given skyrocketing unemployment rates and the cutbacks demanded by the European Union, trade unions are on the defensive. In Greece, the government has made drastic cuts to the minimum wage and to unemployment benefits. “Massive wage cuts will be the consequence,” says Michala Marcussen from French bank Société Générale.

Retirement age has also been pegged higher, which not only lets the state save on pension payments but also increases the numbers of job-seekers. This in turn fuels competition for those jobs. “In the European labour reforms, Greece is the laboratory rat,” says Kapsalis. “Here is where they’re testing how to carry out the rollbacks.” Similar moves can soon be expected in other countries, the trade unionist warns.

Employee rights on the chopping board

In Spain for example, where in February, and without negotiating with the unions, the government reformed the labour market – “extremely aggressively”, as even economics minister Luis de Guindos conceded. The big winners are the companies: “It's simply a matter of increasing their profit margins – and this, in the short term, can only be done by driving down unit labour costs,” says Patrick Artus, an economist at the French bank Natixis.

The wave of reform is washing across not just the smaller states. Even in Italy, Prime Minister Mario Monti is drawing up plans for swingeing cuts in traditional workers' rights. Iron-clad employee job protection is one of those rights on the chopping board. The government tried to get rid of it in 2002, but mass protests forced it to back down.

Today a new opportunity is dawning – and the Prime Minister intends to seize it. “When it comes to economic policy issues, Monti’s line is very close to ours,” says Emma Marcegaglia, head of the Italian industrial association Confindustria.

The model for EU politicians is Germany, where Agenda 2010 and wage restraint have been highly profitable for companies and where the crisis has long been over. “In international competition with rising powers like China and Brazil, Europe can stay in the race only if it’s as competitive as Germany,” Chancellor Angela Merkel said in January.

“The measures will turn out to be a burden on growth”

German wage levels and productivity have thus set the benchmarks for European competition – and in France too, which has seen its international market share drift to other countries, while Germany has been able to expand its market position. By Commerzbank's calculations, French and Italian car production fell between 2004-2011 by almost 30 percent, while in that same period the German car manufacturers saw their own output jump by 22 percent.

What’s already clear is that the labour market reforms are not short-term measures to tackle the crisis, but are here for the long run. The cost-cutting strategies are pitting the states against each other. Low-wage countries like Croatia and the Czech Republic are being forced to make their labour markets more flexible and push their labour costs downwards to become more competitive, says the IMF.

This competition between states is also desired by the EU, whose goal is to make Europe the most competitive region in the world by 2020. “We must come up with an agenda for growth,” said European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

This increase in competitiveness through lower labour costs comes at the expense of income – and thus consumer spending. “The measures will turn out to be a burden on growth and on the labor markets for years to come,” predicts Natixis economist Artus. The question is whether those affected will go along with it. The Portuguese trade unions have just called a general strike, and the Spanish unions are coming out next. In Greece, the trade unionist Kapsalis is also launching a call for solidarity from the Germans: “Today it’s us feeling the squeeze – tomorrow it’ll be your turn again.”

[Panda]

Libération Paris





Portugal

Portugal isn’t Greece, but yesterday it looked like it

The general strike organized by the CGTP union against the government's austerity measures saw a lower turn-out compared to the strike last November. The day ended with clashes between police and demonstrators in Lisbon and Porto. One person was arrested and three others injured, including an Agence France Presse photographer. Original article in ipt

i Lisbon





Portugal

150,000 emigrated last year

Figures for emigration from Portugal in 2011 are close to the peak exodus to France in the 1960s. Since 2007, half a million Portuguese citizens have left home in search of work. But the destinations have changed - Angola, Brazil and the United Kingdom. Original article in Diário de Notíciaspt

Diário de Notícias Lisbon





Romania

The Chevron government

Despite a protest against shale gas drilling in the south of the country, Romanian PM Mihai Razvan Ungureanu has agreed to grant the American company Chevron exploitation rights over a ​​270,000 hectare area. Original article in Jurnalul Naţionalro

Jurnalul Naţional Bucharest





Spain

30 billion “hispabonds” to rescue regions

The Spanish treasury plans to issue "Hispanic" government bonds in June to finance highly indebted regions. The high interest rates they currently pay prevent them from selling their own debt securities to markets. Government securities will be subject to lower rates.

El Mundo Madrid





Slovenia

Janez Janša threatens to dissolve government

The Slovenian PM is finding it difficult to reach agreement with the national social partners on a package of €818 million in budget cuts needed to comply with deficit reduction targets imposed by the European Commission. Original article in Dnevnik sl

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26 March 2012 Last updated at 07:09 Share this pageEmail Print Share this page


German Chancellor Angela Merkel has told the BBC it would be a huge political mistake if debt-stricken Greece was allowed to leave the euro.

In an exclusive interview, she said Germany would do everything it could to keep the eurozone together.

She also calmed fears of further bailouts for eurozone countries, saying important lessons had been learned.

And she applauded the UK government's austerity programme, saying "no country can live beyond its means".

Greece recently won approval for a second bailout of 130bn euros ($173bn; £110bn) intended to help keep it afloat until 2014.

Germany is having to pay more than any other country for the package - angering many German citizens and politicians.

Despite the measures, some analysts fear Greece might need even more help.

Asked how she saw the future for Greece, Mrs Merkel told the BBC's Newsnight programme that Athens had repeatedly said it wanted to remain within the eurozone.

"It has major weaknesses but it is trying to overcome them, be they in the administration or the competitiveness of their business community. It is going to be a long and arduous road," she said.

"We have taken the decision to be in a currency union. This is not only a monetary decision, it is a political one. It would be catastrophic if we were to say to one of those who have decided to be with us: 'We no longer want you'."

She said the eurozone would be "incredibly weakened" by a Greek exit.

"People all over the world would ask: 'Who will be next?'"

She added: "It would be a huge political mistake to allow Greece to leave. That is why we will be clear with Greece, we will say: 'If you want to be part of a common currency you have to do your homework but at the same time we will always support you.'"

Severe cutbacks across Greece have triggered widespread protests
Mrs Merkel said democracies had grown used to spending more than they earned, and had to be more careful to live within their means.

Asked to respond to those in Europe who feared further bailouts she said: "That is not how it is going to happen because there has been a rethink going on in Europe for some time.

"Some countries accepted the rescue package but they don't particularly relish it. They must follow conditions set out by the IMF, the ECB and the European Commission. What democratic government wants to be in that situation for the duration?

"Over the past two years in Europe, particularly in the eurozone, we have learnt a lot. We must reflect time and again, why are we together in Europe? Why are we a community that displays solidarity and bears responsibility for the others?"

Mrs Merkel said Europe - and particularly the eurozone area - had "slithered into crisis" as a consequence of a global financial downturn.

"It is a very tense situation right now," she said.

She said she believed that UK Prime Minister David Cameron "was right" to have embarked on an austerity drive.

Angela Merkel told Newsnight's Gavin Esler that Britain must decide how much it wants be part of Europe
"It is something that each country in Europe can do because we will all learn that no country can live beyond its means," she said.

"All European countries have understood this lesson. But we in the eurozone are convinced that together, we are so much stronger."

'Common ground'

Asked if she could envisage the UK playing a bigger role in Europe than it does now, she said: "Britain plays a very important role in Europe.

"Britain has a lot of common ground with Germany on how we see the future of free global trade, we all benefit from it.

"At the end of the day the British have to decide for themselves to what extent they wish to be part of Europe.

"It is a discussion that we have seen unfortunately taking a painful turn on the [recently agreed] fiscal compact but Britain needs to know that we in Germany want a strong Britain in the EU, we always have and we always will."

She added: "In Germany we will try to see that there is less red tape, more political decisions and more transparency. I think that we are at one on this with Britain."

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Rajoy fails to unseat Labour at Andalucian Election this is cause for concern since this region is apparently autonomous .

Mario Monti warns Spain that there is a high risk of contagion if the austerity measures are not fully implemented. It has failed to meet it's 2011
target , 5yr Bonds slight increase.

Angela Merkel's CDU party passes Electoral Test.
German confidence rises as ECB injection bolsters growth.

There is a meeting in Paris of World Government Financial Advisers to assesss the role of Central Banks. Do they lend to Business to bolster
production or keep the money from Government to retain liuidity.?

The ECB has tried to extricate itself from buying more Bonds , partly because it was not part of its remit and also because in the recent writedown
of Greek Bonds the Shareholders said the ECB had advantage.

There is a rumour that ECB bought Spanish Bonds recently to try to stave off contagion.

The Analysts are saying there is cause for concern that the firewall will not be high enough. The IMF and World Banks have said they will not lend any
more money . Germany also will not increase the EFSF.

[Panda]

Merkel considering Germany adding to the Firewall which would then total E700 million. This will not be enough , Spain and Italy owe E1.2 Billion between
them, will the IMF come to the rescue.

Spain has a deficit of 8.3% GDP and must come down to 5.3% . Rojay was upset about Monti's comment that the deficit MUST be reduced saying Spain has done all it can to meet the austerity measures required. The result of the Andalucia Election is a blow to Rojay because it means the Labour success
will probably mean more strikes. Monti fears a contagion for Italy.

The Chief of Central Banks said the conference was very successful and the CB has admitted their mistakes . The ECB has taken on assets , presumably
the purchase of Bonds, which proved to be not very lucrative. Spain, Portugal and Italy were discussed in private.

Euro area Ministers are to meet this week to discuss the current situation.

Santander a Spanish Bank is closing down 58 Branches in the U.K. but says the staff will be employed at other Branches.

[Panda]

Lufthansa strike grounds 475 flights.

The proposed EU ratings Agency for Euro Countries is intended to be used instead of the U.S. Rating Agencies appears to be faltering over the 6 month
rotation of Presidents of the Countries and is set to face defeat.

Demand for U.K. Hotels during the Olympics is set to affect European hospitality sales.

Spain sold bonds today, hoping to sell E3 million, in the event sold E2.6 million.

The Head of the OECD says there must be more effort to aid the Firewall which must be very high.

Draghi says EURO Governments must continue to take drastic action to reduce debt.

Greeces' Daskapoulos says Greece has been marginalised . Agrees it is their Governments own fault for the enormouse debt the Country is facing ,
but Europe should be treating the problem because it affects several Countries . Greece must re-engage with the rest of Europe and and remain in the
Euro Countries. He says the forthcoming elections will be the final step and the hardest part is still ahead.

[Panda]

Economy



Spain

EU gives Madrid hardest time of all


26 March 2012

El País Comment





“Brussels is imposing a larger cut on Spain than on Greece, Portugal and Ireland,” complains El País. The European Commission requires, in effect, that Madrid trim back its deficit from 8.5 percent to three percent of GDP in two years. This reduction is twice that demanded from Dublin and Lisbon – and higher than that required from Athens. According to El País –


There is no comparable adjustment in contemporary economic history [...] Spain is at a diabolical crossroads: the deficit, which has swollen, forces us to make cuts that will sicken the already ailing economy [...] If the deadline is not extended, experts say, Spain will be unable to meet its objectives.

A “snip of the scissors” of 55 billion euros through to the end of 2013 will start with the launch of the 2012 budget on Friday, March 30. El País suspects Spain is stepping onto a rocky road –


The recent disagreement between the Commission and Madrid and the outcry provoked in Spain by the austerity mantra of the most orthodox countries is making any easing off on the deficit targets all the more difficult.

As El Mundo announces, the party of Angela Merkel intends to examine the reforms Spain has initiated, and on 2 April a delegation of parliamentarians from the CDU will travel to Madrid –


Altering Spain’s deficit target has raised suspicions in Germany and in Merkel's party [...] The goal of the visit is twofold: to ensure that after the general strike of March 29 the reform programme will not shed a single gramme, and to verify that the change in the objective of the deficit is not a ruse to gain time, but a sign the country is doing its utmost.

[Panda]

Europeans See Crisis Near End, Bernanke Warns on Recovery

By Shamim Adam - Mar 28, 2012 7:23 AM GMT+0100
.





..
European leaders signaled rising confidence that their region’s crisis is near an end, while Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke warned that a U.S. recovery isn’t assured.

The euro area’s woes are “almost over” after a slow initial response by policy makers, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said in Tokyo today. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday that the crisis is ebbing and her country’s borrowing costs will probably rise as its status as a haven wanes.















Mario Monti, Italy's prime minister, delivers a speech at Nikkei Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Photographer: Kamoshida Koichi/Bloomberg












Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
.
Bernanke, who cited “green shoots” of recovery in the U.S. in March 2009 only to see his nation’s jobless rate climb to 10 percent seven months later, said in remarks published yesterday “it’s far too early to declare victory.” The jobless rate remains too high and policy makers don’t rule out further options to boost growth, he said in a transcript of an interview with ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer provided by the network.

Bernanke’s comments contrasted with a series of declarations by Monti during a visit to Japan, with the Italian leader saying a solution to Greece’s challenges is almost accomplished, Spain is employing discipline and Italian actions have helped stop deterioration in Europe’s woes.

‘Muddle Through’

“Anyone who pretends to know if we are out of the woods yet is clearly kidding themselves or misleading their audience,” said Glenn Levine, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics in Sydney. “Things have stabilized in Europe and it’s in their interest to be optimistic but the muddle-through is still on.”

Conclusions to Europe’s turmoil have been called prematurely before. In March 2010, former European Commission President Romano Prodi said the worst of Greece’s financial crisis was over and other European nations wouldn’t follow in its path. Since then, Portugal and Ireland needed bailouts.

“The euro zone has gone through a huge crisis,” Monti said in a speech today. “I believe that this crisis is now almost over.”

Stocks have risen on optimism the global recovery will be sustained, with the U.S. jobless rate dropping, the European Central Bank stepping up liquidity support and euro-region leaders sealing a second Greek bailout package. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 12 percent from the start of the year through yesterday, and is headed for the biggest quarterly gain since the three months through September 2009.

China Concern

Equities surrendered some of the advance today, with the measure dropping 0.5 percent as of 2:35 p.m. in Tokyo, undermined by the emergence of China’s slowdown as a new element for the global economy to contend with.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has pledged to maintain curbs on his nation’s property market, and set the lowest growth target since 2004 for this year in a speech this month.

Chinese corporate profits won’t grow at all this year, according to Societe Generale SA. The latest industrial profit figures suggest 2012 consensus earnings estimates for Hong Kong- listed Chinese companies are “far too optimistic,” Societe Generale strategists Guy Stear and Anthony Lee wrote in a note to clients dated yesterday.

Meantime, Monti today predicted a continued rally in Italian bonds. The country sold 3.82 billion euros ($5 billion) of zero-coupon and inflation-linked securities yesterday as borrowing costs fell to a four-month low. Yields have fallen as Monti’s efforts to spur growth and reduce the euro region’s second-biggest debt, coupled with the ECB’s unlimited three-year lending operations, shore up demand for bonds.

Fed Policy

In the U.S., while the best six months of job gains since 2006 have boosted consumer confidence toward a one-year high, Fed officials have said more monetary accommodation may still be needed to fuel the economic expansion.

“Bernanke is right to be more cautious,” said Tohru Nishihama, an economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute Inc. in Tokyo. “Most of the investors think the situation will not deteriorate but we are still far from saying the crisis is over.”

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said yesterday that he sees no scenario under which the current euro-area rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility, will have to issue new bailouts in the next three months. Schaeuble and Merkel spoke to lawmakers from their Christian Democratic Union, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the briefing was private.

Fed Mandate

“The world economy is recovering and though there obviously are risks, on balance we’re through the worst in Europe,” said Tim Condon, chief Asia economist at ING Financial Markets in Singapore. Bernanke may be more cautious because “the Fed has a dual mandate of inflation and unemployment and while they’re doing OK on the inflation metric, they’re failing dismally on the other,” he said.

The U.S. jobless rate is at 8.3 percent and Bernanke said in the interview that “it could still be a few more years” before unemployment returns to normal levels, and “until we get faster growth than we’ve been seeing, it is probably gonna take a while still.”

The Federal Open Market Committee in a March 13 meeting decided to leave policy unchanged and keep the main interest rate close to zero at least through late 2014.

Debate on Easing

Policy makers including Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren and Chicago Fed President Charles Evans have argued for more monetary accommodation if unemployment remains high. In contrast, James Bullard, president of the St. Louis Fed, and Atlanta’s Dennis Lockhart said last week that the improving U.S. economy is reducing the need for additional easing.

Bullard said today in Beijing that while the chance of a major financial meltdown in Europe is going down, risks haven’t completely disappeared. The U.S. economy is looking better this year than last year, and inflation is moderating while remaining a little above target, Bullard said to reporters.

Euro-area finance ministers are weighing their options on the EFSF, which manages rescue programs for Ireland, Portugal and Greece, and its permanent successor, the European Stability Mechanism. They may decide to increase their crisis fund to a total capacity of 692 billion euros from a current limit of 500 billion euros when they meet March 30, a euro-area official said.

Bank of Japan board member Ryuzo Miyao warned today that Europe’s fiscal woes aren’t over and continue to warrant close attention.

“Europe’s debt problems haven’t been resolved,” Miyao said at a speech in Chiba, outside of Tokyo. “We need to continue to pay close attention to the risk that economic stagnation will become chronic and prolonged.”

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Spain

We are building a “war economy”


28 March 2012
El País Madrid Comment





In the midst of deep recession and massive unemployment, with a higher than expected deficit and a general strike round the corner, Spain – despite reforms and deep budget cuts – is struggling to emerge from the crisis and is causing new concern within the euro area.

Joaquín Estefanía

One hundred days after the inauguration of his government with its absolute majority, Mariano Rajoy can point to at least three major economic reforms: in labour, in finances, and in budgetary stability. Looking beyond the opinions that might be expressed on each of them (all point in the same direction: to satisfy the obligations imposed by Brussels and to reassure the markets) the PP government cannot be accused of inaction.

The result so far, however, has not been the intended one. The EU is suspicious, and Spain has overtaken Italy at the forefront of problems associated with risk premium, moving into the red zone of eurozone investor concerns. Moreover, in recent days, the Spanish economy has come in for the severest attacks from the main bibles of the global economic press, from various reports by investment banks and, most ironically, from the Italian prime minister himself, Mario Monti, who said "Spain is giving Europe serious concerns".

Monti has probably pointed the finger at Spain to distract the eyes of the markets from Italy’s difficulties and the political fragility of his own reforms. Such policies – of deflecting harm onto one’s neighbour, of every man for himself – abounded in the Great Depression.

Managing distrust

The criticisms converging on Spain’s economic policy are of three kinds: the fear that deficit ceilings will not be met this year (since the delay in approving the budget means that cost-cutting and tax-hikes will have to be concentrated into just eight months); that financial reform is much less "extremely aggressive" [declaration of Minister of Finance, Luis de Guindos] than the labour reform and that it will slow down now that gloom continues to build and credit to retract; and that there is no indication in the government’s actions of any spurs to renewed growth.

The 2012 Budget will be rolled out on Friday against this disturbing backdrop. No one doubts that it will lay out a path for a kind of wartime economy, if the metaphor is permitted. The government will face two conflicting but legitimate claims. Firstly, from citizens, who want the gigantic unemployment market, bigger in Spain than in any other OECD country, to be tackled first, and the safety net to be maintained. Secondly, external demands, whose priority is to draw down the public deficit.

This contradiction, increasingly present, prompts Ivan Krastov, founder of the European Council on Foreign Relations, to define a growing dilemma: "We are witnessing a collapse of confidence in political and business elites (...) Elections are losing their significance as a choice between alternatives and are becoming processions of elites. Thus, democracy is no longer a matter of trust, but rather a matter of managing distrust."

We need a historic compromise

The idea of an exit that will not resemble the exit from the Great Depression is beginning to spread among some analysts. Depending on the impact of new contractionary shocks (oil, raw materials, emerging countries,...) the world may gradually recover from its problems, while the economies of a few countries (including Spain’s) stay trapped in long-term stagnation.

To avoid this would require a consensus on the diagnosis and an agreement among the major political, economic and social forces. Such is the degree of deterioration that not even the power of an absolute majority as large as that of the Spanish government may be enough.

We need a historic compromise between different forces that represent the majority of citizens, without subjecting that compromise to any ideology, and with mutual concessions: working for the welfare of the people with a comprehensive pact that covers the various regions and incorporates stabilisation measures and structural reforms, but policies for growth as well.

Translated from the Spanish by Anton Baer

On the web
Original article at El País es
El Mundo article es


Comment

“No other economic policy is possible”

For El Mundo, the general strike of March 29, Spain’s eighth since the return of democracy in 1975, is coming at the “toughest economic time in 30 years, with a government that is trying every day to show its European partners its resolve to honour all its commitments.” The conservative daily denounces the unions, for “protesting against a labour reform after having let unemployment pass the threshold of five million”, and the Socialist opposition, which – although it did not call for the strike – “has shown support."


Spain is at a crossroads. The economy has officially entered a recession; tax revenues continue to fall and the risk premium for debt has reached a level not seen for weeks. In addition, voting back in a socialist government in Andalusia that is in favour of increased public spending will make it even harder for central government to control the deficit. Because Spain is now in the [international] public eye, the unions and political parties should be aware that this strike will punish not the government, but the country. The fact is that no other economic policy is possible. [...] Although most Spaniards support the strike, the government cannot backtrack, because the European Commission is pushing it to take the reforms further, especially the labour market reforms and the cuts to the regional budgets. [...] The latter have become the Achilles heel of Spain’s economy and the government gives no impression of being able to get them under control.

[Badboy]

I READ IN THE GUARDIAN TODAY(BROUGHT MY COPY LATE BECAUSE IT WAS DELIVERED LATE) THAT IN PLACES LIKE ATHENS OR IS IT THESSALONIKI THAT A `CO-OPERATIVE' GIVES OUT POTATOES,ONIONS ETC AT DISCOUNTED PRICES,MONEY GOES DIRECTLY TO FARMERS,CUTTING OUT MIDDLEMEN.
PEOPLE SAY HOW MUCH THEY WANT IN PRODUCTS,THE FARMERS TURN UP AT A DESIGNATED PLACE(TOWN HALL PERHAPS),BUY THE PRODUCTS,THE FARMERS GET THEIR WONGA THERE AND THEN PUSHING PRICES DOWN,EVEN THE SUPERMARKETS ARE CUTTING THEIR PRICES TO COMPETE.

[Panda]

I READ IN THE GUARDIAN TODAY(BROUGHT MY COPY LATE BECAUSE IT WAS DELIVERED LATE) THAT IN PLACES LIKE ATHENS OR IS IT THESSALONIKI THAT A `CO-OPERATIVE' GIVES OUT POTATOES,ONIONS ETC AT DISCOUNTED PRICES,MONEY GOES DIRECTLY TO FARMERS,CUTTING OUT MIDDLEMEN.
PEOPLE SAY HOW MUCH THEY WANT IN PRODUCTS,THE FARMERS TURN UP AT A DESIGNATED PLACE(TOWN HALL PERHAPS),BUY THE PRODUCTS,THE FARMERS GET THEIR WONGA THERE AND THEN PUSHING PRICES DOWN,EVEN THE SUPERMARKETS ARE CUTTING THEIR PRICES TO COMPETE.

Yes Badboy, that's right. The trouble with Spain is that the Labour Party won the Election in Andalucia and a General Strike has been called which
will make the situation in Spain even worse.

[Badboy]

I READ IN THE GUARDIAN TODAY(BROUGHT MY COPY LATE BECAUSE IT WAS DELIVERED LATE) THAT IN PLACES LIKE ATHENS OR IS IT THESSALONIKI THAT A `CO-OPERATIVE' GIVES OUT POTATOES,ONIONS ETC AT DISCOUNTED PRICES,MONEY GOES DIRECTLY TO FARMERS,CUTTING OUT MIDDLEMEN.
PEOPLE SAY HOW MUCH THEY WANT IN PRODUCTS,THE FARMERS TURN UP AT A DESIGNATED PLACE(TOWN HALL PERHAPS),BUY THE PRODUCTS,THE FARMERS GET THEIR WONGA THERE AND THEN PUSHING PRICES DOWN,EVEN THE SUPERMARKETS ARE CUTTING THEIR PRICES TO COMPETE.

Yes Badboy, that's right. The trouble with Spain is that the Labour Party won the Election in Andalucia and a General Strike has been called which
will make the situation in Spain even worse.

BUYERS IN THE ABOVE PLACES SAVE 2/3 ON THE PRODUCTS AS WELL

[Panda]

Robert Nisbet
March 28, 2012 1:09 PM

Recommend post (0)
Lest we forget: Greece isn't out of the woods yet...


At a session in the European Parliament on Tuesday, representatives of the so-called Troika, which is keeping the country solvent, told MEPs that "there is no guarantee the programme will work."


Paul Thomsen from the IMF, the European Central Bank's Jorg Asmussen and the Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn delivered a series of thinly-veiled warnings that the Greek government needs to do more to deserve the next tranche of bailout cash.


Rehn told a joint committee meeting that "at the end of the day it is the Greeks themselves who need to take action to reform their country and carry the responsibility of it."


They were given something of a tongue-lashing by some of the MEPs from the left of the spectrum who argue the insistence on austerity is dragging the country down even further and stifling a return to growth.


The Greek MEP Nicolaos Chountis accused the Troika of "reducing Greeks to South East Asian conditions."


But the IMF's Mr Thomsen made it clear: "There are no more easy measures left for Greece. It is time for deep structural reform."



The tough talking from the Troika echoes what I am hearing from contacts inside the EU Task Force about the mess they've uncovered in departments of the Greek government.


They are the 50 or so bureaucrats who've been brought in to guide Greece as it tries to rebuild its economy. The Task Force boss Horst Reichenbach said last week that Greece has made progress in monitoring its finances, but I understand they've uncovered big problems in other areas including tax collection.



I've been told that several of those working in the Task Force believe the 'prior actions' - reform benchmarks which must be completed to spring more loan cash - are simply unrealistic, with completion dates fanciful.


This is why it may cause a problem: the bailout is paid in instalments based, in part, on the progress Greece is making in restructuring its economy.


Expect more crisis summits when Greece needs another cash injection.

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Monetary Union in Crisis: The European Union as Neo-Liberal Construction [Hardcover]
Bernard H Moss (Editor)

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That,s some price for a Book!!!!!

Gurria of the OECD says the mother of all firewalls is needed , over E3 trillion .Wall st. Journal says E5 Trillion

Steven Barrow of Standard Chartered says Portugal will need E78 Billion , Spain and Italy require far more help and much more than the E700 billion
available.

Martin Felstein , former Economic Advisor to a U.S. President says the economic problems in America are more than suggested and since the rest of the
World is looking to the U.S. to lead the it out of recession this may not happen. He says the 8% Unemployment is misleading, it doesn't take into account the 6% who have been forced to accept P/T employment in their firms and many others not looking for work.

ECB Weidmann says firewall will not solve crisis.

S & P Analyst Kramer says the EU may boost rescue funds to E940 Billion but how much longer can these crisis Countries be bailed out?

He says Greece may need restructure again.

Spain is next big problem , there is a strike today and budget tomorrow. will the rating be reduced to Junk status like Portugal?

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Arrests, injuries reported as Spanish workers strikeBy Al Goodman, CNN
March 29, 2012 -- Updated 1318 GMT (2118 HKT)
A "Guardia Civil" police officer walks along desmonstrators during a day of national strike in central Madrid.
A man is seen bleeding after being struck by police during a national strike in Madrid on March 29.
High-speed trains are blocked at Atocha railway station as a strike brings Madrid to a standstill on March 29.
People demonstrate in Madrid on Thursday during a national strike to protest the labour reforms.
Protesters walks past a waste container in Burgos during a national strike on March 29.

HIDE CAPTION
Spanish workers strike over cutsSpanish workers strike over cutsSpanish workers strike over cutsSpanish workers strike over cutsSpanish workers strike over cuts<<< 1 2 3 4 5 >>>STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Post offices, ports, auto factories and garbage collection all stop, a union says
Traffic jams snarl central Madrid as people drive instead of taking public transport
The unions are protesting government budget cuts to reduce the deficit
Spain has an unemployment rate of 23%
Editor's note: Are you there? Share your photos or video

Madrid (CNN) -- Huge traffic jams snarled central Madrid Thursday, as Spain's first general strike in more than a year kicked off with nine people slightly injured in demonstrations, including police officers, the Interior Ministry said.

Interior Ministry official Cristina Diaz said 58 people had been detained. The cause was not immediately clear.

Dozens of union members picketed outside the Agriculture Ministry before dawn, with dozens of riot police on hand. Picketers heckled and momentarily blocked a car trying to get into the ministry.

Spanish unions are protesting the new conservative government's labor reforms and austerity cuts.

The general strike is the first one against the government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, which was elected in November and took office in December, in the midst of Spain's deep economic crisis.



Strike to target Madrid fish market

Returning Spain's economy to growth

Spain's econ min: Reform is key to growth

Spain's challenge for tourism Spain's jobless rate is nearly 23% overall, and nearly 50% for youth. Nearly 5.3 million Spaniards are out of work.

The Socialist-leaning General Workers Union (UGT) said there was a "massive following" of the strike nationwide, with auto factories, ports, post offices and garbage collection all stopped by the industrial action.

The union also said wholesale food markets and large distribution centers for the big supermarket chains were disrupted.

The Interior Ministry said public transport was operating almost normally in Madrid and Barcelona, but in Madrid's Plaza Castilla, commuters said they waited up to two hours for public transport.

Some bus services which normally run every five minutes had service only every 30 minutes, according to a municipal bus employee who declined to give his name.

Madrid's traffic jams lasted beyond the normal rush hour, an indication that commuters who could not get public transport decided to drive in.

The last general strike, in September 2010, was against the then-Socialist government, which also had initiated austerity measures. That strike slowed industry and transport, but much of the country went to work and many analysts saw it as a kind of a draw between the government and unions.

Since then, the economic crisis has deepened.

Union protests across the nation this month and last drew large crowds, which analysts say emboldened the unions to move ahead with a general strike.

The government says the latest labor reforms are needed to bring flexibility to the workplace and to simplify the rules for employers. But unions say the effect will be to make it easier and cheaper to fire workers.

The unions' strike theme is: "They want to end labor and social rights and finish off everything."

At the MercaMadrid wholesale fish market, one of the largest in Europe, seafood wholesaler Alfonso Mozos, who employs 120 people, said before the union action that he doesn't think striking is good.

"It would be better if unions, the government and employers would negotiate and find a solution," he said.

Union picketers were expected at the entrance to the sprawling market on Madrid's south side, but some employees said they planned to work despite the strike.

"If the boss buys fish and we need to come, we'll come," said Pedro Marin, a worker at the wholesale market. "But if the union pickets outside won't let us in, we'll just have to wait, or maybe go home."

Many other Spaniards, who have already seen their salaries cut or frozen in the economic crisis, were debating whether to strike. If they walk out, they will lose a day's wage, which for government workers could amount to several hundred dollars.

Ahead of the strike, unions and government officials in many, but not all, of Spain's 17 regions agreed on minimum services, which generally call for about 30% of public transportation to run, while public hospitals and other essential services have reduced staff, similar to holiday levels.

The unions planned 80 demonstrations across the country Thursday, mostly in the late afternoon or early evening.

The strike comes one day before the government unveils its 2012 budget on Friday, with the aim of reducing Spain's deficit to 5.3% of gross domestic product this year, and to 3% next year, to meet European Union requirements.

The government already approved a $20 billion (15 billion euro) package of austerity cuts and tax hikes to reduce the deficit, and on Friday it is expected to announce a second package of the same size or larger. Government critics say it will be the first time the government really shows its hand on where to make deep cuts in specific programs and agencies.

Rajoy, at a recent European Union summit, was reported by Spanish media to be overheard on an open microphone telling another EU leader that the labor reforms would cost him a general strike.

The reforms were approved first as a decree law, with immediate effect, and the unions called on the government to make amendments as the bill moved through parliament. But the conservatives have a commanding majority in parliament and later approved the reforms unchanged.

The government says the labor reforms make up only a portion of the elements needed to spur an economic recovery. It predicts a 1.7% decline in the economy this year.

The government also has demanded reforms in the banking sector, with the aim of getting credit flowing again and to clean up the books of lenders stuck with huge uncollectible debts left over from Spain's real estate and construction boom that went bust, precipitating the economic crisis.

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