Online Journal of Politics and Foreign Affairs
My previous two posts on Greece reminded me of something I meant to comment upon the other day. On Friday’s Morning Edition there was a story on the Greek crisis that had the following observation that struck me: Resolving this crisis has taken years, and there’s a reason: a debt crisis has never really been [...]
Via the BBC: Greek MPs pass austerity plan amid violent protests Greece’s parliament has passed a controversial package of austerity measures, demanded by the eurozone and IMF in return for a 130bn-euro ($170bn; £110bn) bailout to avoid default. [...] The austerity measures include: 15,000 public-sector job cuts liberalisation of labour laws lowering the minimum wage [...]
Via the BBC: Greece bailout: Coalition fails to agree cuts Greek PM Lucas Papademos has failed to secure the support of his coalition for a raft of new austerity measures, after more than seven hours of talks. [...] A statement issued by the prime minister’s office said the aim of the meeting with the troika [...]
Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti admits that the fight over the eurozone crisis is opening some old wounds.
Via the BBC: Eurozone unemployment hits new record The jobless rate in the 17 countries that use the single currency was 10.4% in December, unchanged from November’s figure which was revised up from 10.3%. Some 16.5 million people were out of work in the eurozone in December, up 751,000 on the year before. The highest [...]
It isn’t often when a Presidential primary debate causes an international incident, but Rick Perry managed to do it last night when he asserted that Turkey was now ruled by “Islamic terrorists” and that it should be kicked out of NATO: BAIR: Governor Perry, since the Islamist-oriented party took over in Turkey, the murder rate [...]
A testament to the state of the banking industry in Italy and the resilience of a criminal network declared dead many times over the years (Reuters) – Organized crime has tightened its grip on the Italian economy during the economic crisis, making the Mafia the country’s biggest “bank” and squeezing the life out of thousands [...]
At the very least, something tells me this is a really stupid thing to do when you are running a country that has no money: The Greek government is being denounced by the National Confederation of Disabled People after it added pedophiles, exhibitionists, and kleptomaniacs to the list of disabled people entitled to state benefits. [...]
The problem with Europe may not be the Euro, but the fact that there really aren’t any Europeans.
Philip Hammond addressed the Atlantic Council this morning in advance of a meeting with Leon Panetta.
Vaclav Havel, who spent the 70s and 80s as a playwright-turned-dissident protesting in his own way against the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia and then became leader of the country in the 1990s, has died at the age of 75: PRAGUE — Vaclav Havel, the dissident playwright who wove theater into politics to peacefully bring down [...]
Paul Krugman’s latest column, “Depression and Democracy,” is simply bizarre.
After stints in Florida and France, he now heads to Panama. Via the BBC: Ex-ruler Noriega heads for Panama to serve jail terms The 77-year-old has already spent more than 20 years in French and US prisons. Last month, a French court approved a request from Panama to send him back home to be jailed [...]
Exit polls for Duma elections show a loss of seats for Putin’s United Russia. Via the BBC: Putin’s United Russia party suffers exit poll blow Exit polls in Russia’s parliamentary elections point to a sharp drop in support for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party. Polls for Russian state TV and the state-backed polling [...]
The British government has reacted pretty quickly to yesterday’s embassy attack in Teheran: The UK is to expel all Iranian diplomats following the storming of its embassy in Tehran, Foreign Secretary William Hague has announced. He said he had ordered the immediate closure of the Iranian embassy in London. Tuesday’s attack by hundreds of protesters [...]
Well, this sounds familiar: Dozens of hard-line Iranian students stormed the British Embassy in Tehran on Tuesday, bringing down the Union Jack flag and throwing documents from windows in scenes reminiscent of the anger against Western powers after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The mob moved into the diplomatic compound two days after Iran’s parliament approved [...]
That’s what Wolfgang Münchau at The Financial Times says: Technically, one can solve the problem even now, but the options are becoming more limited. The eurozone needs to take three decisions very shortly, with very little potential for the usual fudges. First, the European Central Bank must agree a backstop of some kind, either an [...]
“The debt crisis is burrowing ever deeper, like a worm, and is now reaching Germany.”
Interesting and significant goings on in Italian politics.
Last night, most of the leading Republican candidates for President acted as if Europe was on another planet.
My latest for the New Atlanticist, “Italy Too Big To Fail, Too Big to Save,” explores the fact that overnight, Italy has replaced Greece as the poster child for the Eurozone crisis. I’ve for some time been bemused that journalists and other informed observers are shocked as each new European country follows Greece in crisis. [...]
With the final resolution of Greece’s problems still up in the air and by no means settled, Europeans are already dealing with a new crisis in Italy: ROME — Italy’s financial crisis deepened on Wednesday despite a pledge by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to resign once Parliament passes austerity measures demanded by the European Union. [...]
Via the BBC: Italian crisis: Silvio Berlusconi vows to resign Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will resign after key economic reforms have been approved, the country’s president says. Mr Berlusconi’s decision follows a vote on the budget in parliament, in which he appeared to lose his majority. [...] Both coalition ally Umberto Bossi of the [...]
Tyler Durden at Zero Hedge points out a story that the mainstream press isn’t noticing yet. The Greeks are, perhaps not surprisingly, pulling their money out of Greek banks: According to just released data by the Bank of Greece, the September collapse in gross deposits from €188.7 billion €183.2 billion was the largest ever, and [...]
Via the BBC: Italy: Umberto Bossi urges Silvio Berlusconi to quit Northern League leader Umberto Bossi is a volatile ally who brought down Mr Berlusconi’s first government in 1994. Mr Berlusconi’s majority has crumbled ahead of the vote, with several MPs defecting or saying they will rebel. Until now he has insisted he has enough [...]
As the political drama in Greece continues to play out, it is worth noting that to the west more troubles are brewing. From the BBC: Italy government borrowing rates hit euro-era high The markets are viewing Italy’s ability to repay its debt as increasingly doubtful. The spread between Italian and German 10-year government bond yields [...]
My latest for The Atlantic: “For Europe, Some Fear a Conflict Between Union and Democracy”
"I am wondering; Mr Papandreou almost destroyed Greece and Europe, the euro, the international stock markets, his own party in order to ensure what? So that he could blackmail me and the Greek public? Or to ensure what I had already said several days ago; that I accept the bailout agreement as unavoidable?"—Antonis Samaras, leader [...]
While I was in the process of posting the no confidence story, the BBC updated their story on Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou: Greek crisis: Papandreou ‘to offer to resign’. Mr Papandreou will meet Greek President Karolos Papoulias immediately after an emergency cabinet meeting has finished. He is expected to offer a coalition government, with [...]
Via the BBC: Greek referendum: Papandreou losing MPs’ support Greek PM George Papandreou appears to be heading for defeat in a confidence vote after growing opposition within his own party to a surprise referendum call on the EU bailout plan. Mr Papandreou’s Pasok party holds a slim majority, 152 out of 300 seats. The Greek [...]
The Greek referendum could be a disaster for the global economy. And might be the right thing to do.
The Eurozone deal reached over the weekend, already in doubt for the reasons that James Joyner noted on Sunday, fell into further doubt today when the Greek Prime Minister decided to schedule a referendum to get the approval of the Greek people for the austerity deal that Europe is seeking to impose on them: ATHENS [...]
European leaders continue to kick the can down the road on a crisis that could bring down the global economy.
In Scotland, posting stupid things on Facebook is a “hate crime” punishable by serious jail time.
Slovakia seems to be determined to make a point about the Eurozone bailout, and it’s unclear what the consequences will be: WARSAW — Europe’s efforts to stem the sovereign debt crisis suffered an embarrassing and potentially costly setback on Tuesday night when the Slovak Parliament failed to approve the expansion of the euro rescue fund, [...]
It’s time to start being concerned about Europe.
The fight for marriage equality may be on the verge of a significant victory across the pond, if this excerpt from David Cameron’s speech to the Conservative Party is any indication: I once stood before a Conservative conference and said it shouldn’t matter whether commitment was between a man and a woman, a woman and [...]
