Re: New EC Thread

[Badboy]

IN ITALY TODAY?,THERE WILL BE A MARCH BY THE MORTI BLANCHE.
THESE ARE WIDOWS OF WORKERS AND BUSINESSMEN WHO HAVE COMMITTED SUICIDE BECAUSE OF THE RECESSION.

ALSO VENIZELOS? HAS LEND HIS SUPPORTE TO HOLLANDE THE FRENCH PRESIDENTAL CANDITATE.

[Panda]

IN ITALY TODAY?,THERE WILL BE A MARCH BY THE MORTI BLANCHE.
THESE ARE WIDOWS OF WORKERS AND BUSINESSMEN WHO HAVE COMMITTED SUICIDE BECAUSE OF THE RECESSION.

ALSO VENIZELOS? HAS LEND HIS SUPPORTE TO HOLLANDE THE FRENCH PRESIDENTAL CANDITATE.

It is interesting Badboy that now Merkel can see the danger of the Extreme Right gaining in popularity , she has softened her stance. Worth remembering
that in the 30's Germany was so poor that their currency, the Mark, could fill a wheelbarrow and only be worth about £5. this is how the Nazis came to
power because the Jews were blamed for everything that was wrong with Germany .

[Badboy]

I REMEMBER THAT I READ TODAY THAT ONE RESTAURANT IN LA MARCHE REGION OF ITALY HAS PUT UP A SIGN SAYING NO POLITICANS.

[Panda]

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Euro-region unemployment rose to a 15- year high and manufacturing contracted for a ninth month, adding to signs the economic slump is deepening.

The jobless rate in the 17-nation euro area increased to 10.9 percent in March from 10.8 percent in February, the European Union statistics office in Luxembourg said today. That’s the highest since April 1997, according to Bloomberg News data. Separate reports showed euro-area manufacturing contracted more than initially estimated in April and unemployment in Germany, the region’s largest economy, unexpectedly increased.





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Spain had the region’s highest unemployment rate in March, at 24.1 percent. Photographer: Angel Navarrete/Bloomberg
.
Rising joblessness will keep pressure on politicians to find ways of boosting growth as austerity measures designed to stem the debt crisis push economies into recession and provoke a backlash among citizens. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi last week called on leaders to create a “growth compact” to complement an agreement on fiscal rules. The ECB will probably keep its benchmark interest rate at a record low of 1 percent tomorrow.

“The grim unemployment figures for March will likely encourage talk about a long overdue ‘growth pact’ for the euro zone,” said Martin van Vliet, an economist at ING Group in Amsterdam. “Survey measures of hiring intentions point to further increases in unemployment over the coming months, so we would expect unemployment to breach the 11 percent threshold.”

Euro Drops

The euro declined against the dollar today and was down 0.8 percent at $1.3137 as of 10:30 a.m. in London. The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index pared gains to 0.1 percent.

The euro-area jobless rate matched the median forecast of 31 economists in a Bloomberg survey. In the 27-nation European Union, the unemployment rate was 10.2 percent in March, unchanged from the previous month and up from 9.4 percent a year earlier. Italy said today its jobless rate jumped to a 12-year high of 9.8 percent in March.

In Germany, the number of people out of work in increased a seasonally adjusted 19,000 in April to 2.87 million, the Nuremberg-based Federal Labor Agency said. Economists forecast a decline of 10,000, according to the median of 34 estimates in a Bloomberg survey. The adjusted jobless rate was unchanged at 6.8 percent, a two-decade low.

Declining unemployment has helped gird Germany against the debt crisis by bolstering household spending as export growth slows. Frank-Juergen Weise, the labor agency’s president, said the “positive trend on the labor market remains intact, but the economy has lost momentum.”

Manufacturing Slump

A manufacturing gauge in the euro region fell to 45.9 in April, a 34-month low, from 47.7 in March, Markit Economics said today. Readings below 50 indicate contraction. The report also indicated that job losses at factories increased and there was “weak” demand from both domestic and export customers.

The index contrasts with a similar gauge in the U.S. released yesterday showing manufacturing growth accelerated last month in the world’s largest economy.

A Chinese manufacturing index from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics today rose to 49.3 from 48.3 in March. That’s above a preliminary 49.1 reported April 23. A separate index released yesterday by China’s statistics bureau and logistics federation was at 53.3, indicating the fastest growth in a year.

In Europe, the debt crisis is curbing demand for goods. Manufacturers are also facing pressure from rising costs as oil prices increase. Stuttgart, Germany-based Robert Bosch GmbH, the world’s biggest car-parts supplier, said on April 26 that it will be harder to meet profit targets as high raw-material costs and spending on new business areas hurt margins.

“Economic uncertainties remain high,” Bosch Chief Executive Officer Franz Fehrenbach said.

Spanish Unemployment

The unemployment data showed that the number of people out of work in the euro area rose by 169,000 in March to 17.4 million. From a year earlier, unemployment increased by 1.73 million.

Spain had the region’s highest unemployment rate in March, at 24.1 percent. Data on April 30 showed that the Spanish economy contracted 0.3 percent in the first quarter, putting it into its second recession since 2009. The lowest jobless rates were in Austria and the Netherlands, at 4 percent and 5 percent respectively.

The labor-market and factory reports “underline the enormity of the challenge facing policy makers to respond,” said Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist at Capital Economics in London. “‘There may be a growing ‘consensus’ on the need for growth in the euro zone. But with unemployment rising and industry slumping, a prolonged recession looks much more likely.”

[Panda]

German unemployment has risen , much to the surprise of the Investment Managers'

Hollande's lead over Sarkozy is 8% at the moment but there is to be a televised discussion which may shift the balance.

Pene says she will not give the votes of her Party to either Candidate but keep a blank sheet.

French and Italian Exports are rising , but France suffers from high labour and manufacturing costs.

Hollande wants to keep industrial sites going but some analysts say this is protectionism.

Euro Area unemployment rises to 15% and is cause for concern The EC is meeting at the moment and are considering 3 new rules, two of which are
for Banks to retain 7% liquidity which is not receiving 100% agreement and another is for Banks to receive smaller bonuses which is not very popular
with Bank Staff.

[Panda]

2 May 2012 Last updated at 11:59
.Greek debt raised out of default by Standard and Poor's Greek construction workers are among those who have taken to the streets to protest
Greece has had its government debt rating raised out of default by credit rating agency Standard & Poor's.

S&P upgraded the crisis-hit nation to "CCC" from "selective default" after the country completed the biggest debt restructuring in history earlier this year.

"While the exchange has, in our view, alleviated near-term funding pressures, Greece's sovereign debt burden remains high," it said.

Greece has been bailed out twice.

The nation received loans totalling 110bn euros in 2010 and, following the debt restructuring, secured another 130bn euros in March 2012 from the eurozone and International Monetary Fund.

The rating of CCC means, according to S&P, that Greece is "currently vulnerable and dependent on favourable business, financial and economic conditions to meet financial commitments".

In March, rival agency Fitch also raised its rating of Greece out of default.

Risks

The country goes to the polls for national elections on Sunday, and has been racked by continual street protests over its austerity cuts.

"The fiscal consolidation underway is largely premised on tax hikes and improved tax collection, an extensive privatisation programme, and wholesale cuts in government spending," S&P said.

"We believe this adjustment has implementation risks given the likely further contraction of the sovereign's GDP this year and next, which will likely result in persistent social pressures."

The aim is to cut the Greek government's total indebtedness from 160% of GDP now to 120.5% by 2020.

To get the second bailout, in February, Greece agreed with most creditors to cut its debt burden in half.

It worked out a cut of 53.5% in nominal terms - which works out to a real loss of about 74% after taking into account the loss of future interest payments.

[Panda]

Both candidates accused each other of lying - Courtesy TF1
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his challenger Francois Hollande have traded insults in their only TV debate of the election campaign.

The president called Mr Hollande a "little slanderer", while his rival said Mr Sarkozy shirked responsibility.

Mr Sarkozy defended his record and said he had kept France out of recession. But Mr Hollande said France was going through a "serious crisis" and was struggling with slow growth.

The run-off vote takes place on Sunday.

The BBC's Gavin Hewitt says it was a long, bad-tempered debate that left the impression that neither candidate liked each other.

There were plenty of angry exchanges, with both candidates accusing each other of lying.

Mr Hollande accused President Sarkozy of "ruining the French economy", prompting his rival to say he had been unfairly blamed.

"It's never your fault," Mr Hollande responded, to which Mr Sarkozy said: "It's a lie, it's a lie!"

Verbal slugfest

Analysts said neither candidate landed a knock-out blow - which may be to the advantage of Mr Hollande, the favourite for Sunday's vote.

Opinion polls suggest the Socialist candidate has a lead of seven percentage points.

Mr Hollande said he would work to help those in need, saying that those "with privileges" had been protected under Mr Sarkozy.

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Barricades have been put up outside the Building where the ECB is holding a meeting in Barcelona because of Spanish outrage at the austerity measures.

It is accepted that the ECB measures have not worked , buying Bonds , as proved with Greece could lose money for the ECB. Cheap loans to Banks
has done little to alter the situation and these Banks could buy Bonds which poses a risk for the ECB.

Societe Generale will report a fall in profit.

Metro Supermarkets, a German Company with branches around Europe is feeling the pinch, even in Germany , because shoppers are only buying
essentials.

The EU, after 16 hours failed to reach agreement on the proposed Capital rules for Banks.

[Panda]

Europe Urged to Quell Crisis as IMF Wins $430 Bln Boost

By Simon Kennedy and Sandrine Rastello - Apr 21, 2012 3:59 PM GMT+0100

..
European policy makers were urged to be tougher and more agile in their efforts to end two years of debt turmoil as the International Monetary Fund won more than $430 billion to safeguard the world economy.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde’s push for a doubling in lending power paid off despite complaints from emerging markets wanting more say in how the fund is run and calls from some richer nations for aid to be more tightly controlled.





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International Monetary Fund (IMF) Governors have their group photograph taken during the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank annual spring meetings in Washington. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg





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April 20 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg's Sara Eisen reports that governments are leaning toward committing more than $400 billion in fresh funding for the International Monetary Fund, nearly doubling the fund's lending capacity to help it protect the world economy against more debt turmoil in Europe. She speaks on Bloomberg Television's "InBusiness With Margaret Brennan." (Source: Bloomberg)





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April 20 (Bloomberg) -- Angel Gurria, secretary general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, talks about efforts by the International Monetary Fund to raise funding for lending resources, the outlook for Spain and Italian debt, and the role of the European Central Bank in the euro crisis. Gurria, speaking with Bloomberg's Sara Eisen in Washington, also discusses the presidential election in France. (Source: Bloomberg)





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April 20 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg economist Joseph Brusuelas talks about the outlook for the Group of 20 nations meeting in Washington. Brusuelas also discusses the U.S. economy and Federal Reserve monetary policy. He speaks with Mark Crumpton on Bloomberg Television's "Bottom Line." (Joseph Brusuelas is a Bloomberg economist. The opinions expressed are his own. Source: Bloomberg)





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April 20 (Bloomberg) -- As governments concluded their meetings on April 20, more than $430 billion in new funds for the International Monetary Fund were committed to help it protect the world economy against deepening debt turmoil in Europe. (Source: Bloomberg)





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April 20 (Bloomberg) -- Stephen King, chief economist at HSBC Holdings Plc, talks about the European sovereign-debt crisis and growth outlook for the U.S., U.K. and China. He speaks with Owen Thomas on Bloomberg Television's "Countdown." (Source: Bloomberg)





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April 20 (Bloomberg) -- Julian Callow, chief European economist at Barclays Capital, talks about Spain's budget crisis and the French election. He speaks with Tom Keene on Bloomberg Television's "Surveillance Midday." (Source: Bloomberg)
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That left finance chiefs from the Group of 20 stressing that Europe must now justify the show of solidarity by doing even more to restore fiscal health, help banks and spur economic growth. Failure to do so could make it harder for countries such as Spain to secure aid if they falter and imperil a global recovery the G-20 labeled modest and subject to downside risks.

Europe’s leaders and central bankers must deploy their “tools and processes creatively, flexibly and aggressively to support countries as they implement reforms and stay ahead of the markets,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said today in Washington at the IMF’s spring meeting.

Although Geithner made no specific proposals, the IMF this week advised the European Central Bank to cut interest rates and inject capital directly into banks. Brazil yesterday pressed Germany, Europe’s linchpin economy, to spend more and the U.K. today backed a proposal for euro-area governments to issue joint debt.

More Work

“The firewall is a necessary, but far from sufficient condition to resolving this crisis,” said Tharman Shanmugaratnam, the finance minister of Singapore who chairs the IMF’s policy panel. “The real solution has to do with the fiscal and structural reforms that address the real causes of this crisis.”

European officials chafed at criticism they have not done enough weeks after they bowed to overseas pressure by lifting their own rescue funds to the symbolic $1 trillion level. The ECB also lent banks more than that amount in long-term loans.

“We can tell the world with full conviction that the Europeans have met their commitments,” German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said. ECB President Mario Draghi argued Spain and Italy have done “remarkable work” in tackling their fiscal woes and that the ECB officials have not recently considered heeding the IMF’s call for more stimulus.

“The problems in Europe can’t be solved by monetary policy,” Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann said in an interview today. “Monetary policy has already made a great contribution to stabilize the situation and is expansionary for the euro region as a whole.”

Negotiations over the second replenishing of the IMF’s coffers in three years dominated yesterday’s meeting in Washington of G-20 finance chiefs. It didn’t come without a fight and fell short of Lagarde’s initial goal of $600 billion in new resources to bolster a lending capacity currently at $380 billion.

U.K., Australia

While countries from the U.K. to Australia pledged money, emerging markets from China to Brazil held back details of their commitments as they tied them to securing more heft within the IMF. A 2010 plan to reduce the power of rich nations has yet to be ratified, leading Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega to complain that progress “has been limited and slow.”

The G-20 conceded in a statement that votes at the fund “should better reflect weights of IMF members in the world economy, which have changed substantially in view of strong growth in dynamic emerging markets.”

Such economies also are concerned that the latest boost of cash will lessen pressure on European authorities to take the “painful and politically difficult reforms” still needed, said Eswar Prasad, professor of trade policy at Cornell University and a former IMF official.

Rich Nations

Some rich countries including the U.S. have also balked at contributing more, arguing the IMF already has enough cash and that the relatively-rich Europe should do more to save itself.

With 80 percent of the IMF’s credits set to be tied up in Europe by 2014 and its executive board heavy with voices from that continent, Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty proposed non-Europeans wield a veto over future aid to the region. He also attacked the IMF for acting alongside European authorities in orchestrating loans to the likes of Greece.

“Every borrowing country should be treated the same,” Flaherty said. “This means that conditionality for any program should be set solely by the IMF.”

Lagarde stressed the new money won’t be earmarked for Europe, noting “the fund is here for all the membership” and future loans will come with tough conditions.

Bigger Backstop

The promise of an even bigger financial backstop failed to placate investors as Spain’s notes extended the longest run of weekly declines in five years amid questions about whether the euro-area’s fourth largest economy can slash its budget deficit. The country’s 10-year bond yield this month neared the level which triggered bailouts of Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

The combined IMF and euro-area cash piles are still not enough to save Spain and Italy if both required help, said Andrew Kenningham, an economist at Capital Economics Ltd. in London. Countries will also struggle to make spending cuts and tax increases without driving their debts even higher by harming growth, he said.

“If the crisis does re-escalate in earnest, we suspect it will not be contained to just one of the two countries,” said Kenningham, a former U.K. government official. “We doubt that a combination of austerity and large bailouts will solve the region’s problems.”

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Angeliki Papathanasopoulou was killed days after Greece got its first bailout, when the bank she worked in was torched during protests. She married Christos Karapanagiotis -- her partner of 13 years -- in September 2009, nine months before she died.
Angeliki's mother Tota, photographed at the family home in Aigio on March 31, 2012, remembers her daughter.
Haris Papathanasopoulos with a photograph of Angeliki, the younger of his two daughters. Christos sits on the right.
Tota and Christos remember Angeliki as a sophisticated, witty woman who excelled in mathematics. She was educated at London's Cass Business School and returned to Greece because she wanted to contribute to her home country.
Sissy Papathanasopoulou with photographs of Angeliki. Her younger sister, four months pregnant when she died, was "very happy," Sissy says.
Photographs of Angeliki on the table of her family home in Aigio, on Greece's Peloponnese Peninsula. Marfin Egnatia Bank, in Athens, photographed after it was burned in the protests of May 5, 2010.
A picture of a rioter during the protests of May 5, 2010, on the corner of Patission and Kapodistriou Streets, Athens.
The covered up exterior of Marfin Egnatia Bank in Athens, Greece, photographed on March 30, 2012. It has not been used in the two years since the fire.
On May 6 Greece will have its first election since it was forced to take a bailout two years ago. Here, riot police guard the area where PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos gave a speech at an rally in Athens on April 19, 2012. Crosses reading "Solidarity," "Dignity"' and "Freedom" are placed before Greek parliament during a gathering at Syntagma Square on April 8, 2012. Protesters gathered after the suicide of pensioner Dimitris Christoulas, who cited austerity measures as a reason.
Police arrest a protestor in the streets during a demonstration against austerity measures on February 12, 2012 in Athens. Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos is an unelected politician who was sworn in as head of an interim government on November 11, 2011, after four days of political wrangling. His mandate was to implement Greece's second bailout package.
Greece's conservative New Democracy party leader Antonis Samaras arrives at Zappeion Hall before a pre-election speech, in Athens on April 22, 2012. Support for the major parties, New Democracy and PASOK, has plummeted.
Greek socialist PASOK party leader Evangelos Venizelos speaks at a election campaign rally in an indoor stadium in Athens on April19, 2012. Greek far right LAOS party leader George Karatzaferis arrives for a pre-election speech at the Zappeion Hall in Athens on April 23, 2012. Smaller parties have enjoyed a surge as disenchanted voters turn away from the main parties. Pepi Spiliotopoulou, owner and editor of Filodimos newspaper and Radio Egio, photographed on April 1, 2012. "Angeliki was sacrificed for a good future," she says. "But the better future never came."
Greek journalist Pavlos Tsimas says the country's election will be decided by one of two sentiments: Anger and fear. The former will vote for the fringe parties, the latter the establishment.
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Greece's pain Greece's pain Greece's pain Greece's pain Greece's pain Greece's pain Greece's pain Greece's pain Greece's painGreece's pain Greece's pain Greece's pain Greece's painGreece's pain Greece's pain Greece's painGreece's pain Greece's pain <<< 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 >>>STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Angeliki Papathanasopoulou died when Marfin Egnatia Bank was firebombed during protests against Greece's first bail-out
Investigations into the incident continue, while bank employees accused of neglecting safety duties are going to trial
On May 6 Greece will hold its first elections since the financial crisis exploded, but the country is deeply fractured
The first bail-out was meant to save the country, but instead it has spiraled further into economic despair
Aigio, Greece (CNN)-- The bank where she died in Athens is still shrouded in green tarpaulin and boarded off with corrugated iron. Graffiti scrawled in black across the front reads: "Traitors" and "killers."

This is where Angeliki Papathanasopoulou put in 12-hour days as a financial analyst at Marfin Egnatia Bank, working not only for the benefit of her family but also with a desire to contribute to the country she loved.

The site -- in the center of Athens, just minutes from Syntagma Square and in a commercial hub of the city -- is one door down from the historic Attikon Cinema, one of dozens of buildings torched during the city's explosive protests of February this year.

Now, two years since Greece took its first bailout and Angeliki died, the country is going to the polls. The election is expected to produce the most fractured result in decades.

My sister is around me all
the
time. I think about her every minute of
the
day. She is beside me and next to me, her spirit is around me.


Sissy Papathanasopoulou, sisterAt 8am on May 5, 2010, Angeliki's husband Christos dropped her at the bank, on Stadiou Street. The couple lived just five kilometers away, in Vyronas, in the small apartment they had purchased a couple of years earlier.

Around 11am, Angeliki chatted on the phone with her mother Tota, then her older sister Sissy an hour later. Sissy was due to drive from her home in Patras to Athens that afternoon, before flying to meet her husband in Milan. The sisters discussed where they might eat together that evening. By then, Angeliki would have exciting news to share.

Four months pregnant with their first child, Angeliki and Christos were scheduled to learn the sex of their baby at an appointment that afternoon.

The plan was for Christos to pick her up at 3pm for the 4pm appointment, then they would see Sissy later. But, around 2pm, Christos took a call from his 32-year-old wife.

The bank was on fire.

A promising life remembered

Two years later, at the family home, an inches-deep pile of photographs frames the country's tragedy through a personal lens:

Angeliki as a baby, holding herself up by the tapestry chair where her father now sits to remember her; leaping across the stage in a white tutu during a ballet production as a young girl; sporting a Jackie O-esque hair-style in a photograph her father raises to his face to kiss.

Angeliki is with us all
the
time.


Haris Papathanasopoulos, fa
the
rThe family has gathered in Aigio, two and a half hours by road from Athens, up a coastline flanked by the Ionian Sea and scattered with olive groves, lemon and orange trees.

On the dining table are delicate yellow freesias, brightening a room which is dense with love, and loss.

Sissy, who comes to the door with a wide smile, has made the short drive from Patras with her husband, Nikos Vasileiou.

Angeliki's mother, Tota, elegant in black with a simple silver cross around her neck, enters the living room carrying home-made yogurt cake, followed by braided koulourakia [Greek biscuits] and black coffee. The patriarch of this proud family, Haris, a retired lawyer, enters a few minutes later.

They greet Angeliki's husband, Christos Karapanagiotis, who has driven from Athens where he works for a shipping company, with kisses.

It is hard not to look at him without also glancing at the photograph of Angeliki on their wedding day in Loggos, the day she told her mother, "I feel like a princess," like "the center of the world."

The family recalls childhood summers, when the sisters spent the hot months of June to September with their cousins, Zeti and Angelina, at the family's beach-house in Loggos. "We would play grown-ups... from morning to midday, afterwards we were swimming and in the afternoon we would play in the mud," says Sissy, who is now a lawyer. "That was the program."

The sisters were close, exchanging letters and cards weekly and talking daily after Sissy moved to Athens to study. When Angeliki turned 18, they traveled to Paris together and spent 15 "perfect, perfect" days, says Sissy.

We were
the
closest friends.


Sissy Papathanasopoulou, sisterIn Paris, they practiced their French, fell in love with the ancient Greek statue of Aphrodite of Milos at the Louvre, and bought posters of Monet and Manet to decorate their flat in the Exarcheia area of Athens. When the sisters were in their teens and their early 20s, the family traveled together to Italy, Austria and Switzerland.

"We were the closest friends. I knew everything about her and she knew everything about me," says Sissy. They would cover for each other when their parents called. "I was going out late, they would call and she would say 'no she can't [talk] she is sleeping'."

Angeliki grew up to be a sophisticated, erudite and witty woman who excelled in mathematics. She studied actuarial science at Cass Business School in London before returning to Athens in mid-2004, when the country was flush with the glory of the Olympic Games.

"That was a very, very good period for Greece," Christos says. "We wanted to come back. If you have a good job [in Greece], you can have a very good life. And we had the view that it was better to spend your efforts for Greece -- we wanted to spend our efforts for Greece."

Of his wife, Christos says: "It is difficult to find people who are so intelligent and well-balanced at the same time." With a quiet smile he adds, "Einstein was a genius but he was a genius in mathematics. Angeliki was not only a genius in mathematics -- she was a genius in everything. That is something you don't find easily in real life."

Christos and Angeliki both grew up in close families, and holidays were often spent with relatives.

She was a very sweet child.

Tota Papathanasopoulou, mo
the
rSissy saw Angeliki for the last time during Easter, which coincides with Sissy's "name day" -- a tradition to celebrate the provenance of one's name. Around 30 family members had gathered in Loggos to feast on oven-baked lamb and salads put together by Sissy and Angeliki. The sisters had both observed Lent by declining meat for seven days. Angeliki retired early that day, as her pregnancy was fatiguing. "She was sleeping all the time," says Sissy. But her sister was "very happy."

Angeliki and Christos were rooted. "We had no plans to leave," Christos says. "We are Greek citizens, and we would like to support ...Greek society. This is a beautiful country."

But by 2010, the country was in desperate financial trouble.

Rebellion sparks violence

On Sunday May 2, 2010, the eurozone's finance ministers declared they would inject €110 billion into Greece to save it from bankruptcy. Greece had finally capitulated to the demands of its eurozone peers. "The alternative course would be a catastrophe and greater pain for all," declared then-Prime Minister George Papandreou.

The situation was threatening global stability. The bailout was meant to save the hard-fought "European project," but it would leave the Greek people paying dearly for their boom times. In return for the funds, the government agreed to cut and freeze pension payments and public sector pay wages. Christmas, Easter and summer bonuses were abolished and taxes were raised.

A nationwide strike was called for May 5.

Angeliki and Christos were not worried. The streets were often rowdy with protests, but it was directed at government, and attacks against people were rare. Angeliki was in a "very big company," Christos says. "We thought it was safe," Sissy adds.

Angeliki was a genius in everything.

Christos Karapanagiotis, husbandThere had been dozens of marches up Stadiou Street, Christos says. "Everybody had the feeling [Angeliki] was working in a safe environment. You could never forecast what might have happened."

Greece's history of being ruled by others -- invaded by Italy in 1940 before being occupied by Germany, then shredded by civil war, ruled by a military dictatorship between 1967 and 1974 and now at the mercy of the European Troika of financial masters -- has traditionally set its people against the state.

"What makes Greece different from other European countries is that the state has always been an alien," says journalist Pavlos Tsimas. "The average citizen who pays taxes doesn't feel like they are doing good for society. They feel like they are being robbed. [Because] it is not the state we ourselves made out of our revolution.

"There is always ...this resistance. This gives any part of rebellion against the Greek state some kind of legitimacy."

But this time, violence would erupt against fellow Greeks.

Protests explode

Greece's economic demise
January 1, 2001Greece drops its currency, the drachma, to join the eurozone.

November 15, 2004 Greece admits that it gave misleading information to enter eurozone.

November 2009PM George Papandreou says the 2009 budget deficit will be 12.7% of GDP, far above EU limit of 3%.

May 2, 2010 Greece gets a three year aid package from the International Monetary Fund and other eurozone countries, worth €110 billion.

July 21, 2011 European leaders agree to a second bailout package.

March 9, 2012 Creditors agree to restructure Greek government bonds, meaning the country can access its €130 billion bailout program Marfin Egnatia -- like most banks -- was a target for attacks.

At around 1:30pm on May 5, 2010, about 50 masked and gloved protesters -- one group among tens of thousands of people who protested in Athens that day -- were charging up Patission Street, recalls photographer Giorgos Moutafis. They turned left into Stadiou Street, toward Angeliki's workplace. Moutafis swung in behind them, snapping pictures until he felt it was too dangerous to continue.

Moutafis recalls the group -- who he says did not belong to any political movement -- bragging of 150 molotov cocktails, chanting "burn them, burn the rich." When the group got to Marfin, other protesters begged them not to attack the bank: "No, there are people in there." But they were ignored: "F**k them, burn it, burn the rich," the cries continued. The windows were smashed, gasoline splashed over the bank's floor and Molotov cocktails lobbed in. The protests rolled on toward tear gas being exploded in Syntagma Square.

Black smoke began pouring out of the windows of Marfin Egnatia Bank. Angeliki and two colleagues, Paraskeui Zoulia and Epameinondas Tsakalis, were killed by the toxic fumes.

Court documents allege a series of failings by a bank executive, the bank's external health and safety consultant and two managers -- including asking staff to remain inside and locking the main doors during the riots -- that contributed to the tragedy.

The documents say the staff were unable to access an emergency exit, with a door for disabled people that could be used in an emergency blocked by the fire. Further, they said the bank did not have a fire safety certificate, unbreakable windows, or security shutters drawn in readiness for the riots.

The bank rejects these allegations. Thirteen days after the fire, the then non-executive chairman of Marfin Popular Bank Group, Andreas Vgenopoulos, released a letter to staff denying liability. In it, he said the bank had all the statutory measures in place, including reinforced glass and an emergency exit.

What makes Greece different from o
the
r European countries is that
the
state has always been an alien


Pavlos Tsimas, journalist It said the staff were not pressured to work or prevented from leaving, but had decided to stay inside for safety reasons. It also said the bank cooperated with external consultants, who reported to them every month and had not noted a problem. The letter said the attack was "murderous" and "wouldn't stop unless there were dead people."

A representative for Marfin said the bank maintains that position. He said the bank was in compliance with all statutory requirements, including those for emergency exits, and that there had been no request for staff to lock the doors. The representative also said the bank did not require a fire safety certificate, due to it being built before 1989.

Further, he said, the bank was confident the courts would rule in favor of the executives and there was "surprise" those who caused the incident remained free.

Within the labyrinthine interiors of the Athens courts, investigations into Marfin Egnatia Bank case inch along.

On June 18 the four employees will go to trial in Athens, accused of causing the three deaths by neglecting safety duties.

If convicted, the executives each face a sentence of three months to five years, which can be suspended, for each death. They also face charges in connection with the injuries of 21 people.

Up to five protesters are also being investigated for the fire-bombing of Ianos, the bookstore opposite Marfin Egnatia Bank. The inquiry remains in the preliminary stages but investigators suspect this group may also have been involved in the attack on Marfin Egnatia Bank.

Greece fractured

Angeliki was sacrificed for a good future. But
the
better future never came.


Pepi Spiliotopoulou, Filodimos newspaperToday, Greece's social and political landscape is splintered, with support for the old guard of New Democracy and PASOK plummeting as parties on the edges attract votes from the disenchanted.

Last month, after Greece had been forced into taking its second bailout, 77-year-old retired pharmacist Dimitris Christoulas killed himself in Syntagma Square, leaving a suicide note citing pain from the austerity measures.

Tsimas believes the election will be decided by one of two sentiments: Anger and fear. The former will vote for the fringe parties, the latter the establishment.

Either way, the Greek people face a fifth year of recession, and the country remains at risk of being expelled from the eurozone.

"The numbers of really poor people has doubled," Tsimas says. "And the middle classes, who established themselves in the 80s, have lost their sense of security. They have the fright of the fall that could come every other day. " Further, he said, "there are millions in the public sector who feel betrayed."

Pepi Spiliotopoulou is owner and editor of newspaper Filodimos and Radio Egio, and went to the same school as the Papathanasopoulou sisters. Since the crisis hit, she has watched Aigio diaspora return, seeking solace in family plots which can produce the food they can no longer afford to buy.

But the country's struggles continue. Yorgos Avgeropoulos, of documentary production house Small Planet, says the greatest fear now is of "social explosion. You cannot stop hungry people entering, breaking into a supermarket. Right now if the police tear gas [people] they run. But in one moment they will stay because they have nothing to lose."

Says Pepi: "Angeliki was sacrificed for a good future. But the better future never came."

The Papathanasopoulou family do not know who was guilty of throwing the firebombs. But Christos questions a system that -- two years later, as buildings are again being torched -- is unable to assuage the country's pain. "We ask why. Who is responsible for that? Someone must be responsible for that. Some families have been destroyed. This is still recurring."

In Aigio, Angeliki's close family will gather to mark the second anniversary of her death by attending church and placing flowers at her grave.

For Sissy, Angeliki has never left. "My sister is around me all the time," she says. "I think about her every minute of the day. She is beside me and next to me, her spirit is around me. This is the way I see it, and the way I want to see it."

Teo Kermeliotis, Theo Nikolaou and Elinda Labropoulou contributed to this story

[Panda]

Euro Risks Highlighted as Elections Show Political Swing

By James G. Neuger - May 4, 2012 10:03 AM GMT+0100
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Four elections this weekend have the potential to reshape the European political map and show how the response to the financial crisis remains hostage to the whims of voters on both sides of the region’s economic divide.

Recession-weary Greeks will pick a new government and polls show the French will probably install a Socialist president for the first time since 1981. Local elections will test Italy’s political pulse, and voters in a northern German state may deal a symbolic blow to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition.













Antonis Samaras, leader of the New Democracy party, speaks during a pre-election rally at Zappeion hall in Athens. Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
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The May 6 elections capture the popular agitation in debtor and donor countries alike, after emergency loan packages worth 386 billion euros ($507 billion) and a focus on deficit reduction failed to halt the debt crisis. Instead, Europe has been sundered in two economically, with Greece’s unemployment rate of 21.7 percent contrasting with Germany’s 6.8 percent.

“We have to look out for political risk still in Europe,” Julian Callow, chief European economist at Barclays Capital in London, said on Bloomberg Television. “We’ve been in a situation frankly in the last year where the politics has really been quite favorable to push through structural economic reforms, to push through fiscal tightening. My concern is the political pendulum is starting to swing back.”

Market Unease

The gathering political storm has already swept away the phase of calm in financial markets that was ushered in by the European Central Bank’s lending of more than 1 trillion euros to banks in two operations in December and February.

Bond yields in Spain, which ousted its Socialist government in November, have become a day-to-day barometer of whether Europe is climbing out of the crisis or sinking back into it. Ten-year yields rose above 6 percent on April 23 and were at 5.80 percent at 10:45 a.m. Brussels time today. The euro headed for its biggest weekly decline in a month, trading at $1.3129, down 0.8 percent for the week.

The vote in Greece, the epicenter of the euro crisis, may amplify the mutiny against the wage and spending cuts and tax increases that are conditions for drawing on financial aid and staying in the currency.

“The biggest risk for markets is that in Greece we just don’t get a government and it becomes completely unclear whether or not Greece will be able to comply with the austerity program,” said Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg Bank in London. “If we’re unlucky on Monday morning, markets may wonder whether Greece will be out of the euro within a few months.”

Political Horse Race

Greece’s first ballot since then-newly installed Prime Minister George Papandreou uncovered a 20 billion-euro budget hole in October 2009 may yield a parliament with as many as 10 parties, making it hard to form a government with a clear mandate.

Papandreou was replaced by non-partisan former central banker Lucas Papademos last November after an aborted call for a referendum on budget cuts led Germany and France to make a precedent-setting threat to expel Greece from the euro.

Greece’s best-case scenario would be a coalition of convenience between Pasok and New Democracy, the two parties that have alternated in power since military rule ended in 1974 and are signatories of the austerity program, Schmieding said.

The two parties, never before joined in a unity government, would combine for 32.6 percent of the vote, possibly enough to eke out a majority under Greek electoral rules, according to the final pre-election poll on April 20.

‘Merkozy’ Doubts

Europe’s crisis pervades the presidential campaign in France, with incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy vowing to match Germany’s economic successes and claiming that Socialist Francois Hollande would make the country look more like Greece.

France’s loss of its AAA rating from Standard & Poor’s in January and Sarkozy’s vote-seeking tilt against austerity have shattered the image of the German-French “Merkozy” duo in command of Europe’s crisis management.

Sarkozy began the campaign planning on joint appearances with Merkel to burnish his European leadership claim, only to end it by denouncing Muslim immigration and bashing the ECB’s German-tinged inflation-fighting orthodoxy.

Hollande, ahead in the polls throughout the campaign, has echoed the criticism of the central bank and promised to renegotiate a deficit-limitation pact at the core of Merkel’s approach to the crisis.

In the only pre-election debate, on May 2, Hollande claimed credit for shifting the conversation from “austerity” to “growth.” The challenge to Merkel is mostly rhetorical, said Mujtaba Rahman, an analyst at Eurasia Group in New York.

“It’s going to be easy for Merkel to sign up to Hollande’s growth agenda because it means very little in terms of actual substance,” Rahman said. “However, on the fiscal side, much of Merkel’s agenda is now codified in EU legislation.”

State Votes

Merkel has her own electoral business to attend to, with her party vying to hold on to a share of power in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein and to re-enter the government of North Rhine-Westphalia, the largest state, a week later.

In Italy, mayoral elections on May 6-7 in more than 1,000 cities will be a first gauge of the mood since Mario Monti took over from Silvio Berlusconi as prime minister in November and a corruption scandal shattered the top ranks of the Northern League, Berlusconi’s former coalition partner.

Monti’s technocratic government has imposed 20 billion euros in savings, deepening Italy’s fourth recession since 2001. An economics professor and former European commissioner, Monti has said he won’t run in national elections due by May 2013.

“It is rare that a single day offers the chance to gauge the political mood in the euro zone so widely,” Janet Henry, chief European economist at HSBC Holdings Plc, said in a research note. “This election blitz could have far-reaching consequences for further efforts to tackle the debt crisis.”

[Panda]

4 May 2012 Last updated at 10:10 Share this pageEmail Print Share this page

The eurozone's private sector contracted sharply in April and by more than initially thought, a survey says.

The Markit eurozone composite purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 46.7 in April from March's 49.2. Any figure below 50 suggests contraction.

This is the sharpest fall since October last year, and one of the steepest contractions in almost three years.

"Marked declines in new business" and weak manufacturing exports were largely to blame for the falls, Markit said.

Markit said the figures suggested the eurozone economy as a whole contracted at a quarterly rate of 0.5% in April.

'Truly dire'

Italy saw output from its manufacturing and services sectors hit a three-year low, while Germany, Europe's economic powerhouse, slipped "towards stagnation".

New business contracted for the ninth straight month, while employment fell for fourth month in a row.

The eurozone's services sector PMI dropped to 46.9, down from 49.2 in March, a figure described by Howard Archer from IHS Global Insight as "truly dire".

Markit's chief economist Chris Williamson said business and consumer confidence "appears to have deteriorated markedly across the region since the upturn at the start of the year".

"The final PMI came in well below the [initial] estimate. The survey suggests that the economy was contracting at a quarterly rate of around 0.5% in April, extending the downturn into a third successive quarter," he said.

"Growth has practically ground to a halt in Germany and France has joined Italy and Spain in seeing a strong rate of economic decline."

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Berlin (CNN)-- There has been a great deal of austerity-bashing -- that is to say Germany-bashing -- this French election season. Buoyed by his success in the first round, socialist contender Francois Hollande declared last Thursday: "It is not for Germany to decide for the rest of Europe." Vowing to reset Europe on a growth path, he said, "we're not just any country, we can change the situation."

As for French President Nicolas Sarkozy who's leading Hollande in the polls, he was quick to throw off the "Merkozy" mantel early on in his campaigning once he realized that vaunting his friendship with the German chancellor was the last thing his electorate wanted to hear.

Merkel has stood by her one-time ally, saying she continues to support him in his re-election bid. This comes despite increasingly anti-immigrant, protectionist rhetoricfrom the Sarkozy camp in order to appeal to voters on the far-right that must sit uncomfortably with Berlin.



French presidential rivals trade insults

French election: View from Asia Much has been made of the fact that the German chancellor's office has made no official overtures to Hollande. The chairman of Germany's Social Democrat party Sigmar Gabriel called his socialist counterpart in Paris a "victim of slander" by the ruling coalition and by Merkel personally in a recent interview with German daily Die Welt. "She knows perfectly well that it is a lie that Hollande want to scrap the fiscal compact and incur mountains of debt."

Whether or not she is sure of that, Merkel has made it quite clear that Hollande cannot scrap the fiscal pact. Not up for renegotiation, she said. But it is also clear that Berlin recognizes the writing on the wall. "Germany is clever enough to adapt its position to a new political constellation in France," said Etienne Francois from the French Center at Berlin's Free University. "Germans are not people to improvise."

And Merkel has already responded with more talk of growth, although she's at pains to argue this isn't a new position on her part. "It is important that we break with the idea that growth always costs a lot of money and must be the result of expensive stimulus programs," she told the Hamburger Abendblatt. The way out of this crisis has always rested on two pillars: "solid finances and measures for growth and employment."

Hollande for his part has said if he does become president, his first trip will be to Berlin. This is a man who does not underestimate the strength of the Franco-German alliance. Plus he's of a more similar temperament to the German chancellor than Sarkozy ever was. "He's pragmatic, prepared to compromise, accepts budget discipline and he'll be under enormous pressure from the markets," says Claire Demesmay, French expert at the German Council on Foreign Relations. "Once the summer's over, once the parliamentary elections have happened, he will have to start saving and he will have to push through reforms."

Germany is clever enough to ad
ap
t its position to a new political constellation in France


Analyst Etienne FrancoisFor now, expect small modifications to the fiscal pact but no rewrites. "Germany will be clever enough to accept little changes in formulation in order to help Hollande tell French voters that he's been victorious," Francois said. "But it's just tactics." Merkel is already talking about more flexible use of EU infrastucture funds to spur growth, a strengthened role for the European Investment Bank. But that is a long way from meeting any future French leader on proposals such as eurobonds or a European Central Bank lending directly to governments, both anathema to Berlin.

How far the German chancellor will be forced to compromise to Hollande's growth mantra may well depend on matters outside France. Greece also holds elections on Sunday. Greek voters stung by austerity are turning to extremist parties on the left and right. Recession is biting across Europe, swingeing cuts making electorates restive in Spain, Portugal and Italy. The more support Hollande gets from other disgruntled eurozone countries, the less lee-way Berlin has to stick to its tough belt-tightening course.

But that is still some way off. Sunday's election outcome is not a done deal. Greece will vote, Merkel has two crucial state elections coming up in the next two weeks and the Netherlands goes to the polls in September. If the past decades are anything to go by, it is more than likely the Franco-German alliance will remain an anchor of stability amid all the uncertainty, whoever holds the reins of power in each country.

[Badboy]

I READ IN GUARDIAN ABOUT A TOWN CALLED JARAIZA IN EXTRAMADURA THAT HAS CIRCA 33% UNEMPLOYMENT,EXTRAMADURA HAS ABOUT 31% UNEMPLOYMENT.

AN ISLAND CALLED AMORGOS IS UNABLE TO AFFORD TO HAVE DOCTORS BECAUSE OF CUTBACKS IN HEALTHCARE, THE ISLAND ALSO HAS A BUDGET OF 300,000 EUROS INSTEAD OF THE 1MILLION EUROS IT WANTS TO SPEND.
10,000 TOURIST VISIT,PARTLY BECAUSE IT WAS THE SETTING FOR THE BIG BLUE.

[Panda]

I READ IN GUARDIAN ABOUT A TOWN CALLED JARAIZA IN EXTRAMADURA THAT HAS CIRCA 33% UNEMPLOYMENT,EXTRAMADURA HAS ABOUT 31% UNEMPLOYMENT.

AN ISLAND CALLED AMORGOS IS UNABLE TO AFFORD TO HAVE DOCTORS BECAUSE OF CUTBACKS IN HEALTHCARE, THE ISLAND ALSO HAS A BUDGET OF 300,000 EUROS INSTEAD OF THE 1MILLION EUROS IT WANTS TO SPEND.
10,000 TOURIST VISIT,PARTLY BECAUSE IT WAS THE SETTING FOR THE BIG BLUE.

Badboy, the way things are going the Euro will collapse, even Germany now is starting to feel the pinch. With all these Elections coming up it is likely
no one Party will get a majority which means any changes will be hard to achieve .

[Badboy]

I READ IN GUARDIAN ABOUT A TOWN CALLED JARAIZA IN EXTRAMADURA THAT HAS CIRCA 33% UNEMPLOYMENT,EXTRAMADURA HAS ABOUT 31% UNEMPLOYMENT.

AN ISLAND CALLED AMORGOS IS UNABLE TO AFFORD TO HAVE DOCTORS BECAUSE OF CUTBACKS IN HEALTHCARE, THE ISLAND ALSO HAS A BUDGET OF 300,000 EUROS INSTEAD OF THE 1MILLION EUROS IT WANTS TO SPEND.
10,000 TOURIST VISIT,PARTLY BECAUSE IT WAS THE SETTING FOR THE BIG BLUE.

Badboy, the way things are going the Euro will collapse, even Germany now is starting to feel the pinch. With all these Elections coming up it is likely
no one Party will get a majority which means any changes will be hard to achieve .

I FORGOT TO MENTION JARAIZ HAS A FOOD BANK WITH INCREASING NUMBER OF PEOPLE TURNING UP.
MANY MIGRANTS WHO CAME WHEN TIMES WERE GOOD ARE NOW UNEMPLOYED AND SOME ARE LOOKING TO PLACES LIKE FRANCE FOR JOBS.

[Panda]

5 May 2012 Last updated at 02:10 Share this pageEmail Print Share this page
The leader of Greece's Pasok party Evangelos Venizelos has said Greece faces a choice between austerity and "mass poverty" in elections on Sunday.

"On Sunday, our people's fate is at stake," Mr Venizelos told the closing rally of his campaign in Athens.

The leader of the centre-right New Democracy party, Antonis Samaras, said the Left was "playing games with the country's European future".

Both parties are set to lose votes to those opposed to austerity measures.

"Our place in Europe and the euro will be decided on Sunday," Mr Venizelos told supporters in Athens' central Syntagma Square.

Mr Venizelos served as finance minister until standing down in March to take over the leadership of the centre-left Pasok party.

He said Greeks should opt to stay "on a course that is difficult but safe, after having covered most of the distance, to finally emerge from the crisis.

"Or... we embark on an adventure, sliding back many decades and taking the country to default, to leave Greeks facing mass poverty," he went on.

Speaking at his own closing rally in the city of Alexandroupolis, New Democracy leader Mr Samaras said "the Left "wants to destroy everything... The Left feeds off the crisis."

Fringe parties to gain

New Democracy is expected to emerge from the poll as Greece's largest party, but with only around 22% of the vote.

Pasok, which has been governing in coalition with New Democracy since last November, has been in second place in opinion polls with around 18%.

Parties opposed to the austerity measures that the Pasok-New Democracy coalition have been imposing are expected to gain votes.

The ability of the new government to carry on with the austerity programme will be crucial for Greece's continued access to bailout funds from the EU, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund - the so-called Troika.

Left-wing parties opposed to the terms of the bailout deal have collectively scored around 30% in opinion polls.

There are fears that the far-right Golden Dawn party could gain more than 5% of the vote and enter parliament for the first time.

[Panda]

22 December 2011 Last updated at 10:59 Share this pageEmail Print Share this page

1.1KShareFacebookTwitter.What really caused the eurozone crisis?World leaders probably spent more time worrying about the eurozone crisis than anything else in 2011.

And that was in the year that featured the Arab Spring, the Japanese tsunami and the death of Osama Bin Laden. What's more, 2012 looks set to be not much different. But as eurozone governments hammer out new rules to limit their borrowing, are they missing the point of the crisis?

Follow the path to find out.

Continue reading the main story The eurozone has agreed a new "fiscal compact"Eurozone leaders have agreed to a tough set of rules - insisted on by Germany - that will limit their governments' "structural" borrowing (that is, excluding any extra borrowing due to a recession) to just 0.5% of their economies' output each year. It will also limit their total borrowing to 3%. These rules are supposed to stop them accumulating too much debt, and make sure there won't be another financial crisis.But didn't they already agree to this back in the '90s?Hang on a minute. They agreed to exactly the same 3% borrowing limit back in 1997, when the euro was being set up. The "stability and growth pact" was insisted on by German finance minister Theo Waigel (centre of image). What happened?So who kept to the rules?Italy was the worst offender. It regularly broke the 3% annual borrowing limit. But actually Germany - along with Italy - was the first big country to break the 3% rule. After that, France followed. Of the big economies, only Spain kept its nose clean until the 2008 financial crisis; the Madrid government stayed within the 3% limit every year from the euro's creation in 1999 until 2007. Not only that - of the four, Spain's government also has the smallest debts relative to the size of its economy. Greece, by the way, is in a class of its own. It never stuck to the 3% target, but manipulated its borrowing statistics to look good, which allowed it to get into the euro in the first place. Its waywardness was uncovered two years ago.3/9 Italy
Worst offender5/9 Germany
First to break rules6/9 France
Offender9/9 Spain
Top of the ClassBut the markets have other ideasSo surely Germany, France and Italy should be in trouble with all that reckless borrowing, while Spain should be reaping the rewards of its virtue? Well, no. Actually Germany is the "safe haven" - markets have been willing to lend to it at historically low interest rates since the crisis began. Spain on the other hand is seen by markets as almost as risky as Italy. So what gives?So what really caused the crisis?There wasa big build-up of debts in Spain and Italy before 2008, but it had nothing to do with governments. Instead it was the private sector - companies and mortgage borrowers - who were taking out loans. Interest rates had fallen to unprecedented lows in southern European countries when they joined the euro. And that encouraged a debt-fuelled boom.Good news for Germany...All that debt helped finance more and more imports by Spain, Italy and even France. Meanwhile, Germany became an export power-house after the eurozone was set up in 1999, selling far more to the rest of the world (including southern Europeans) than it was buying as imports. That meant Germany was earning a lot of surplus cash on its exports. And guess what - most of that cash ended up being lent to southern Europe....bad news for southern EuropeBut debts are only part of the problem in Italy and Spain. During the boom years, wages rose and rose in the south (and in France). But German unions agreed to hold their wages steady. So Italian and Spanish workers now face a huge competitive price disadvantage. Indeed, this loss of competitiveness is the main reason why southern Europeans have been finding it so much harder to export than Germany....and a nasty dilemmaSo to recap, government borrowing - which has ballooned since the 2008 global financial crisis - had very little to do with creating the current eurozone crisis in the first place, especially in Spain (Greece's government is the big exception here). So even if governments don't break the borrowing rules this time, that won't necessarily stop a similar crisis from happening all over again.


Spain and Italy are now facing nasty recessions, because no-one wants to spend. Companies and mortgage borrowers are too busy repaying their debts to spend more. Exports are uncompetitive. And now governments - whose borrowing has exploded since the 2008 financial crisis savaged their economies - have agreed to drastically cut their spending back as well. But...Cut spending......and you are pretty sure to deepen the recession. That probably means even more unemployment (already over 20% in Spain), which may push wages down to more competitive levels - though history suggests this is very hard to do. Even so, lower wages will just make people's debts even harder to repay, meaning they are likely to cut their own spending even more, or stop repaying their debts. And lower wages may not even lead to a quick rise in exports, if all of your European export markets are in recession too. In any case, you can probably expect more strikes and protests, and more nervousness in financial markets about whether you really will stay in the euro.Don't cut spending......and you risk a financial collapse. The amount you borrow each year has exploded since 2008 due to economic stagnation and high unemployment. But your economy looks to be chronically uncompetitive within the euro. So markets are liable to lose confidence in you - they may fear your economy is simply too weak to support your ballooning debtload. Meanwhile, other European governments may not have enough money to bail you out, and the European Central Bank says its mandate doesn't allow it to. And if they won't lend to you, why would anyone else?

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Rakovski, Bulgaria (CNN) -- Greece's economic problems may be having a negative impact across much of Europe, but one country could be benefiting from its troubles.

Greek investors are said to be jumping across their neighboring border to Bulgaria, money in hand.

"It's a very sad reason but it is happening actually," says Georgy Ganev, an economist from the Center for Liberal Strategies. "Even some Greeks are transferring their monetary balances from Greece to Bulgaria -- obviously hedging the risk for Greece leaving the eurozone."

Leaving the eurozone is the solution to Greece's troubles, according to markets analyst Louise Cooper, from BGC Partners. "Greece has to exit the Euro, it has to get competitive, has to devalue currency and then almost needs a Marshall Plan," she says. "Austerity has destroyed the country."

Tough measures brought in to rescue the Greek economy have seen a massive drop in the standard of living, and it's brought pressure on the interim government.

Whoever wins the national elections on May 6, the government needs to impose more austerity measures -- worth 5.5% of GDP, or $14.4 billion, plus a further $4 billion in taxes -- conditions of the EU/IMF bailout that is keeping Greece from going bust.

Greek businesses are now looking at Bulgaria, to take advantage of its lower taxes and wages -- and to be more competitive.

Staff Jeans is one Greek company that is making the move. Part of its production is already carried out in Bulgaria but after sales in its home country plummeted by 40% last year, it is now looking at moving all of its manufacturing across the border.

"What is happening in Greece right now is a tragedy," says Joseph Komninakidis from Staff Jeans. "We are losing a lot of revenue and at the same time have large costs bringing our products back and forth between Bulgaria and Greece."

He says his company needs to reduce these costs to be more competitive in Europe.

It's not just business that is shifting, but also private investors. Real estate brokers have noticed an influx of Greek buyers. "It is not so far to travel for them," explains Boyko Boykov from B & H Real Estate. "It's because of the prices and because of the location."

[Panda]

May 5, 3:43 AM EDT


Analysis: Sarkozy hit by crisis, Merkel strong

By DANIEL WOOLLS
Associated Press





MADRID (AP) -- Attention Nicolas Sarkozy of France: Don't look over your shoulder on election day Sunday.

The political cemetery behind you is crowded.

Indeed, the feisty Frenchman is keenly aware of all the leaders who got the ax from voters fed up with Europe's economic crisis and the austerity remedies that have stung them so acutely since the sovereign debt crisis began in Greece in late 2009.

It has spread far - to Europe's western most extremity in Portugal and north to green Ireland - claiming governments as people see cherished social welfare benefits wiped away, pensions slashed after a lifetime of work and savings evaporate.

"We are seeing real punishment of those governments which were saddled with handling the economic and financial crisis. And France is no exception," said Jorge Crespo, a professor of political science and public administration at Complutense University in Madrid.

"Whatever your political stripe, it is about punishment for how the crisis is being handled."

Overseeing the drive for austerity to reduce debt and cut deficits has been German Chancellor Angela Merkel. She won re-election in 2009, a month before Greece revealed it had been fudging its deficit figures and the real numbers caused investors to panic.

Her hold on power has remained strong as Germany's economy - Europe's largest - has grown robustly and unemployment stayed low. That's largely because of her skillful stewardship of the economy after the global financial crisis broke out in 2008. Another reason is the labor reforms that her predecessor Gerhard Schroeder - a Socialist - implemented while in office.

After the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers, Merkel cushioned Germany with stimulus spending. It's one of the ironies of the crisis that she is the biggest champion of austerity.

But Crespo said now even Merkel's job is not secure.

"People are disconcerted. They know what they don't want, but they do not know exactly what they want from whatever leaders come to power," Crespo said.

---

Woolls is AP's Madrid news editor. Jorge Sainz contributed to this report from Madrid.

[Panda]

May 5, 2012 -- Updated 1812 GMT (0212 HKT)
Experts say mainstream political parties such as the conservative New Democracy may be 'punished' by angry voters. STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Greek voters go to polls Sunday in first election since euro crisis
Journalist Pavlos Tsimas says electorate will be "sending out an SOS"
Tsimas: Mainstream parties likely to be punished for their role in the financial crisis
Extremist political movements may benefit from voters' anger
Editor's note: Pavlos Tsimas is a journalist and presenter at Greece's MEGA Channel, and author of the book "Diary of the Crisis" about Greece's financial meltdown.

Athens, Greece (CNN) -- While the election of a new French President will be making headlines around the world on Sunday night, it may well be that the Greek parliamentary election results -- marginal as they may be, obscure and hardly decipherable -- will turn out to be more important for the future of the EU and the euro.

French voting might alter the core European policy mix. Voters in Athens will be sending out an SOS.

What the exact results will be is very hard to tell. Experienced Greek pollsters fear their data might this time prove unreliable: People tend to fume anger instead of discussing politics when called for a poll.


Greek journalist Pavlos Tsimas says the Greek election will be decided by one of two sentiments: Anger or fear Their findings keep predicting, though, that the two "establishment parties" -- conservative New Democracy and socialist PASOK -- who have previously notched up 78% to 86% of the vote between them, might well lose almost one in two of their 2009 voters.

Faithful voters who have never betrayed their allegiance to one of the two main political families, descendants of the Royalists and Republicans of the 19th century divide, are for the first time considering going against tradition.

The left wing vote is expected to double, and extreme right wing votes may triple.

Lackluster politicians who, overnight, turned from obscure backbenchers to leaders of new, radical, parties are dreaming of double-digit scores.

And a gang of black-clad Nazi admirers who polled just 0.2% in 2009 is threatening to pass the 3% threshold and make a violent entry in parliament.



Greek voters prepare to go to polls

'Old way of life in Greece is over'

Austerity impacts suicide rate in Greece There is a sense of déjà vu to all that. All elections in crisis hit countries, during the current Great Recession, from Iceland to Hungary and from Ireland to Portugal, have fallen under the same pattern: Government washed away, governing party defeated, extreme, nationalistic parties on the rise. Greece wouldn't be an exception.

But it is not just a repeat. This time is different.

Greece is the first country to head for elections with its economy not just in recession but in a full-on depression.

Greece will have lost 20% of its pre-crisis GDP by the end of 2012. The economy has lost in 24 months a number of jobs equal to those created over the last decade, with unemployment over 21%.

Labor costs are expected to fall by over 20% and the tax burden on labor income has become the highest among OECD countries.

Was this the expected outcome of the austerity program attached to the bailout and applied by the euro-partners and the IMF two years ago?

Not really.

The recession was initially predicted by the IMF to be -7.5%. The rise in unemployment was under-predicted by half.

Greece was supposed to have regained its credibility and return to the bond markets by early 2012 with its economy back on growth.

A failure of predictions, mass impoverishment and destitution, a recession that leads to failure to meet fiscal targets, growing social unrest: Greece, the poster child of austerity as cure-cum-punishment, is becoming the clear proof of the recipe's shortcomings.



Fringe views gain popularity in Greece

Greece, France prep for crucial votes

Greek PM calls elections for May 6 How does that translate into politics?

In all the previous cases of elections in these times of recession, the parties that were unlucky enough to be in power when the crisis struck were punished, and alternative governments that did carry on with fiscal adjustment replaced incumbent governments.

It happened in all cases under IMF or joint IMF-EU programs from Reykjavik to Lisbon to Dublin.

In the Greek case, for the very first time, we might see a disapproval of both governing and opposition parties.

PASOK, the party in power when the country suffered its debilitating heart attack, will take a beating.

But the alternative party, the conservatives, discredited by its pre-crisis record in power and doubly discredited by its participation in a coalition government implementing austerity measures, might be beaten too.

The two of them, together might, and probably will have enough seats in parliament to form a coalition government, but their combined score will send a warning throughout Europe.

Austerity and no growth, recession and unemployment, dictates from Brussels and Frankfurt and Berlin and no consensus building at home, carry a real risk of de-legitimizing not just the euro project but European democracies as such.

It should be read as a democratic SOS.

Not as a sign that the country does not acknowledge the fact that it is facing (alone, with Portugal) a true debt crisis and has a genuine need for fiscal adjustment, but as a sign that if Europe does not change its austerity dogma and invent new, more European, ways of decision making, even a small country like Greece, where 80% of the electorate still believes in the European project and the euro, recession will win over politics.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Pavlos Tsimas.

[Panda]

Germany's Merkel faces poll test in Schleswig-Holstein The main contenders for governor are the SPD's Torsten Albig (L) and the CDU's Jost de Jager (R) Merkel dealt Berlin poll setback

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) are facing a tough test in regional elections in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein.

The governing Christian Democrats and the opposition Social Democrats (SPD) are neck-and-neck in opinion polls.

The CDU and its struggling coalition partner, the Free Democrats, look set to lose their majority in the state legislature.

But the SPD and the Greens could also struggle to muster a majority.

The vote comes ahead of another vital electoral test for Mrs Merkel - elections in Germany's most populous state, North-Rhine Westphalia.

The collapse of the liberal FDP in recent opinion polls could deprive Mrs Merkel of her coalition partner in federal elections due in 2013. The party has now lost all its seats in five state legislatures.

The vote in Schleswig-Holstein is seen as hinging on whether the Free Democrats can achieve the minimum 5% of the vote needed to gain representation.

In the latest state election, in Saarland in March, the FDP only won 2% of the vote. Early polling in Schleswig-Holstein indicated the FDP would fail to reach 5%.

But the latest surveys suggest they could just scrape in.

Another deciding factor could be the performance of the new Pirate Party, which looks likely to win seats in the state parliament.

The party, which campaigns on "digital rights" issues, has already pulled off a string of surprise state election successes, winning seats in Saarland, as well as in Berlin last year.

However, a party representing the state's small Danish-speaking minority, which has guaranteed representation, could also help the SPD and the Greens to form a government.

[Panda]

May 6, 9:50 AM EDT France chooses a new president during tough times By GREG KELLER Associated Press AP Photo/Christophe Ena World Video Advertisement Buy AP Photo Reprints Interactive Surviving Normandy E. Dehillerin Truffles Draw Crowds, High Prices Transportation Workers Strike in France Sarkozy, Wife Divorce Sarkozy's Inauguration France's New President Latest News France chooses a new president during tough times At a glance: France's presidential election PARIS (AP) -- France voted in a presidential run-off election on Sunday that could see Socialist challenger Francois Hollande defeat incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy by capitalizing on public anger over the government's austerity policies. The election outcome will impact efforts to fight France's debt crisis, how long the nation's troops stay in Afghanistan and how France exercises its military and diplomatic muscle around the world. Hollande voted in his electoral fief of Tulle, in central France. Live television coverage showed the 57-year-old politician shaking hands and chatting with voters on his way into the polling station. "It's going to be a long day," Hollande told reporters gathered to watch him vote. "It's up to the French people to decide if it's going to be a good day," he said. Sarkozy, accompanied by first lady and former supermodel Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, voted at midday in Paris' 16th arrondissement. Scores of television cameras surrounded the couple, and members of the public could be heard chanting "Sarkozy! President!" But Sarkozy, 57, chose not to speak on live TV. Under Sarkozy, France pledged to rein in its spending while the rest of 17 countries that use the euro embark on a strict period of belt-tightening. In France, that has included programs designed to reduce government employment. Sarkozy, disliked by many voters for his handling of the economy and brash personality, promised he could produce a surprise victory on Sunday. Speaking on Europe-1 radio Friday, he said much will depend on whether French voters bother to cast ballots in an election that polls have always predicted Hollande would win. Turnout was a suprisingly high 79 percent in the first round April 22, and polls suggested that Sarkozy's best chance of an upset would come from even greater voter turnout Sunday. Preliminary figures from the Interior Ministry suggested voters were turning out in greater numbers. At 1000 GMT (6 a.m. EDT), turnout was 30.66 percent, up from 28.29 percent at the same time two weeks ago. Polling stations opened in mainland France at 0600 GMT (2 a.m. EDT) Sunday, a day after voting got under way in France's overseas territories. Preliminary results in the French election are expected around 1800 GMT (2 a.m. EDT) Sunday. French law bars the publication of results before all polling stations have closed to avoid swaying the outcome, and the fine for doing that is euro75,000 ($98,145). Still, many expect Sunday's election results to be leaked early via Twitter or other online methods, as they were during the first round two weeks ago. Asked Friday what he would do if he loses, Sarkozy said simply: "There will be a handover of power." "The nation follows its course. The nation is stronger than the destiny of the men who serve it," he said. "The fact that the campaign is ending is more of a relief than a worry." Hollande was benefiting from anti-Sarkozy fervor, with some voters saying their choice was more a vote against him than one for Hollande. Stephanie Debaye, 32, said she was voting for "the departure of Nicolas Sarkozy." "On behalf of my compatriots, I felt quite insulted. He was so aggressive. I hope things will calm down," Debaye said outside a polling station in Paris. Another Paris voter highlighted this anti-Sarkozy vote, saying she's backing Hollande, even though his program is "suicidal." "He'll raise the minimum wage, increase civil servants. But France is already in debt," said Florence Macrez. His fiscal reform project will only increase the pressure especially on the middle class, she added. Nearby the Socialist Party headquarters in central Paris, Sunday morning churchgoers said the next president must focus first on fixing France's sputtering economy. "We hope that the next president will fix the economical position of France which was not properly handled by the previous president," said Dominique Grange, a retiree. In a sign of the attention the campaign has attracted, Google's home page in France was redesigned with one of its ever-changing "doodles" devoted to the election. In Hollande's town of Tulle, residents who got up early to vote offered mixed messages about him. He has been a local official and lawmaker for years in the town and its surrounding Correze region. "I don't know if he's capable of being president. I just don't know because here we just bump into him on the street. With us, he's like that," said Lydia Sobieniak, 65, a former factory worker, outside the polling station where Hollande was voting shortly after it opened. "It's going to be hard. Whoever it is (who wins) ... there will be no miracles," said Sobieniak, who added that Hollande helped her get a contract job in education in 2004 after she left her private sector job. Hollande beat Sarkozy by about half a million votes in the first round of voting on April 22, which saw 10 candidates competing for the job of running this nuclear-armed country with a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council for the next five years. Hollande urged his followers against complacency. "Victory is within our grasp!" he said in a rousing rally in the southern city of Toulouse on Thursday night. Polls released Friday and Thursday showed the gap between the candidates shrinking but results still solidly in Hollande's favor. The polls were carried out after the candidates' only debate Wednesday night, which Sarkozy had hoped would be the knockout blow he needed. Hollande has received the support of a prominent centrist who won 9 percent of the vote in the first round of presidential elections, Francois Bayrou. Bayrou said Thursday night he would not give his voters specific guidance for Sunday's vote - but that he will cast a ballot for Hollande. Bayrou criticized Sarkozy's campaign rhetoric as too violent. Sarkozy has sought to lure far-right voters who supported anti-immigrant candidate Marine Le Pen in the first round. Sarkozy kept it up anyway Thursday at a big campaign rally in Toulon. "We don't want different tribes, we don't want ethnic communities to turn in on themselves, we don't want (non-citizen) immigrants to vote," he said. Critics of Sarkozy have often faulted him for his brash style, alleged chumminess with the rich, and inability to reverse France's tough economic fortunes and nearly double-digit jobless rate. Hollande has promised more government spending and higher taxes - including a 75-percent income tax on the rich - and wants to re-negotiate a European treaty on trimming budgets to avoid more debt crises of the kind facing Greece. --- Jamey Keaten in Tulle, France, and Paolo Santalucia, Sarah DiLorenzo and Elaine Ganley in Paris contributed to this report. © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast

[fuzeta]

It is quite extraordinary is'nt it that the minting of a one size fits all coin has caused such chaos, poverty and distruction of nations that the euro has. Mind you anyone with half a brain cell could see it would. What a total catastrophe it all is. It just makes me so sad to watch it happen.

It is all about power and control but when all is laid waste what will there be?

[Panda]

It is quite extraordinary is'nt it that the minting of a one size fits all coin has caused such chaos, poverty and distruction of nations that the euro has. Mind you anyone with half a brain cell could see it would. What a total catastrophe it all is. It just makes me so sad to watch it happen.

It is all about power and control but when all is laid waste what will there be?

Moprning fuzeta, I thoing this is the beginning of the end of the Euro.

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