Monday 26 January 2015

What Does Syriza’s Victory Mean for Greece and the Eurozone?



Greece must bow to austerity or go bust, says EU » Bruno Waterfield, Brussels | Monday January 26, 2015

'Hospitals with No Medicines, Graduates with No Jobs, Children with No Hope'


THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Nick Squires witnesses unheard-of poverty and long-gone diseases return to Greece, the birthplace of the European ideal

On a dusty street corner in a grimy port on the outskirts of Athens, a public health crisis that has no precedent in Europe is unfolding.

After five years of unrelenting austerity, doctors working in a charity-run clinic are witnessing daily what they never thought they would see in their entire careers - children and adults suffering from malnutrition.

In Perama, one of the poorest parts of Athens, unemployment has reached 60 per cent and many families do not have enough money to put food on the table.

The town once prospered on the back of building and repairing ships but it has been hammered first by a drastic contraction of the sector and then by the unremitting tax rises, pension cuts and other austerity measures introduced by the government at the behest of its international creditors.

The health clinic was originally set up to provide free health care and medicines to the growing number of poor, but now it hands out emergency boxes of food as well. » | Nick Squires, Perama | Sunday, January 25, 2015

Sunday 25 January 2015

Greeks Hand Stunning Victory to Anti-austerity Syriza


THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Greece on collision course with rest of Europe after handing general election victory to far-left party that has vowed to reject austerity

Greece set itself on a collision course with the rest of Europe on Sunday night after handing a stunning general election victory to a far-Left party that has pledged to reject austerity and cancel the country’s billions of pounds in debt.

In a resounding rebuff to the country’s loss of financial sovereignty, Greeks gave Syriza 36.5 per cent of the vote, according to the first official projections.

It means they will be able to send between 149 and 151 MPs to the 300-seat parliament, putting them tantalisingly close to an outright majority.

The final result was too close to call - if they win 150 seats or fewer, they will have to form a coalition with one of several minor parties. » | Nick Squires, Athens | Sunday, January 25, 2015

Thursday 22 January 2015

Greek Election: Rena Dourou of Syriza Poised to Sweep Away Austerity

Newly[-]elected governor of the wider Athens region
Rena Dourou, who was backed by leftist Syriza party,
waves to supporters in front of the University of Athens
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: “Is it really right for thousands of people to commit suicide because of austerity policies?" asks Syriza's most senior politician ahead of Sunday's general election

After her mother’s pension was cut over 30 times, Rena Dourou knew that Greece could no longer cope with austerity.

Now, as Syriza, her political party, leads the polls ahead of the country’s general election on Sunday, she stands ready to reverse the five years of pain imposed by the European Union.

“Since the beginning of the implementation of the austerity policies, many people have had the experience of becoming second-class citizens, with no access to health care or education,” she said.

“We want to create a shield of protection for the most vulnerable.”

Ms Dourou, 40, is the only member of Syriza, a radical left-wing coalition, to hold high office. Since she was elected as governor of Attica, the vital region that surrounds Athens, last May she has increased the state’s budget for social welfare more than six-fold, from a mere Eu1.9 million (£1.46 million) to Eu13 million. It is a premonition of the huge spending splurge that Syriza has promised if it is elected nationally. » | Nick Squires, and Menelaos Tzafalias in Athens | Thursday, January 22, 2015

Saturday 17 January 2015

Entscheidung der Schweizer Notenbank: Was Sie über die Franken-Aufwertung wissen müssen


SPIEGEL ONLINE: Der Mindestkurs von 1,20 Franken je Euro ist Vergangenheit. Warum hat die Schweizer Notenbank so entschieden, was bedeutet das für die Schweizer Wirtschaft, und welche Folgen hat das für die Eurozone? Die Antworten im Überblick.

Zürich/Hamburg - Mehr als drei Jahre lang hielt die Schweizerische Nationalbank (SNB) den Franken mit Euro-Käufen künstlich billig. Seit Donnerstag ist das vorbei, völlig überraschend gab die SNB ihre Politik des Mindestkurses auf - mit erheblichen Auswirkungen auf Finanzmärkte und Realwirtschaft.

Wer profitiert, wer verliert, und was hat die Notenbank konkret beschlossen? Antworten auf die wichtigsten Fragen: » | fdi/dpa | Freitag, 16. Januar 2015