March 19, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: George Papandreou has threatened to turn to the IMF in exasperation with the EU's lack of clarity on a plan to resolve the Greek crisis
Greece raised the stakes in the row over how to stabilise the euro today when prime minister George Papandreou set European leaders a deadline of next week for unveiling rescue plans for his battered economy and threatened to turn instead to the International Monetary Fund for help.
Clearly exasperated by the lack of clarity from the EU on what it might do to help resolve Greece's ballooning debt and deficit crisis, Papandreou effectively told European leaders it was time to put up or shut up.
The 16-country eurozone had to deliver on its pledge last month of coming to Greece's rescue if need be by putting a "loaded gun on the table" which would deter speculators betting on a Greek sovereign default and reduce the punitive rates on Greek borrowing.
"This is an opportunity we should not miss," Papandreou told the European parliament in Brussels. "We are expecting this from the summit next week."
Papandreou's remarks put him on a collision course with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, who became the first European head of government on Wednesday to demand that the rule book for the euro be rewritten to enable the ejection of persistent fiscal delinquents. >>> Ian Traynor in Brussels | Thursday, March 18, 2010
March 17, 2010
BBC: Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel says she wants the eurozone to be able to exclude one of its members in future if that is necessary to avert a crisis.
Mrs Merkel told the German Bundestag (parliament) that existing EU rules were not strong enough to deal with the current crisis triggered by Greece.
Exclusion from the 16-nation eurozone would be a "last resort", she said.
Germany, seen as the driving force of the euro system, is reluctant to bail out Greece's debt-laden economy.
But Mrs Merkel said no eurozone country would be left on its own to deal with the current crisis. Greece's budget deficit - four times higher than EU rules allow - has raised fears of possible contagion in the eurozone. >>> | Wednesday, March 17, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: More than one in four adults in Britain are not working, after a record number left the workforce in recent months, official figures indicated.
A total of 10.6 million people either did not have a job, or have stopped looking for one, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics, which indicated that more people than ever before had abandoned the workplace – choosing instead to study, go on sick leave or just give up searching for a job.
A record 149,000 left the workforce and became "economically inactive", between November last year and January, the ONS said. These people more than offset the fall in the headline unemployment.
Unemployment fell for the third month in a row, dropping by 33,000 to hit 2.45 million. It has yet to breach the symbolic 2.5 million mark, let alone the 3 million barrier that haunted the recessions of the early 1990s and 1980s.
However, economists immediately expressed caution about the monthly figures from the Office for National Statistics.
The total number of economically inactive hit 8.16 million, the highest since the ONS started recording this measure in 1971.
The number out of a job, or econically inactive totals 10.6 million, or 28 per cent of adults of working age. >>> | Wednesday, March 17, 2010
March 16, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Petrol is due to hit a record of 120p a litre in a matter of days, even though the price of oil is little more than half the levels it was at its peak, the AA motoring group has warned.
Senior MPs and motoring groups said that oil companies were "mugging motorists on the forecourt" and urged Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, to delay next month's planned increase in petrol duty as well as investigate why drivers were paying so much.
The average petrol price across the country is 115.9p for a litre of unleaded and 116.6p for a litre of diesel, according to Petrolprices.com. However, the Treasury is due to add a further 3p on April 1.
Even without this increase the price at forecourts is due to hit 120p very soon, according to the AA. This would overtake the previous high of 119.7p, which motorists suffered from in July 2008.
At the time the high price of petrol was blamed on the surging price of crude oil, the key raw material in petrol, which within weeks of the record petrol price hit its own record of $147 a barrel.
However, crude oil is now $78 a barrel and there are more than 250 petrol stations charging more than 120p a litre for unleaded and diesel.
Lindsay Hoyle, the senior Labour MP on the Business Select Committee, said: "This is a complete disgrace. Yes, crude oil has gone up this year, but nothing like the rise in petrol prices. Motorists are being legally mugged at the forecourt by petrol companies." >>> Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Editor | Monday, March 15, 2010
March 15, 2010
DIE PRESSE: Gemäß einer Umfrage kann sich die Mehrheit der Deutschen vorstellen in einem sozialistischem Land zu leben, solange für Arbeitsplätze, Solidarität und Sicherheit gesorgt wäre.
Eine große Mehrheit der Deutschen könnte sich einer Umfrage zufolge vorstellen, in einem sozialistischen Staat zu leben, solange für Arbeitsplätze, Solidarität und Sicherheit gesorgt wäre. Die "Bild"-Zeitung berichtete, damit hätten sich bei einer Emnid-Umfrage achtzig Prozent in Ostdeutschland und bis zu 72 Prozent in Westdeutschland einverstanden erklärt. Anlass der Befragung war die Ausstrahlung des Fernseh-Zweiteilers "Die Grenze". Eines der Ergebnisse ist, dass jeder Vierte es unter Umständen befürworten würde, die Mauer zwischen West- und Ostdeutschland wieder zu errichten. >>> Ag. | Montag, 15. März 2010
LE MONDE: Les ministres des finances de la zone euro, réunis lundi soir à Bruxelles, sont tombés d'accord sur les modalités d'un plan d'aide financier à la Grèce qui pourra être mis en place "rapidement", a annoncé leur chef de file, Jean-Claude Juncker. "Les propositions que nous ferons seront totalement en ligne avec les dispositions afférentes du traité et avec les législations nationales", a-t-il ajouté, sans donner de détails sur les mesures contenues dans l'accord. Seule certitude avancée par le président de l'Eurogroupe, le mécanisme retenu ne consistera pas en des prêts garantis.
Le premier ministre luxembourgeois a ensuite précisé que la décision ultime de recourir à cette aide serait prise par les dirigeants de l'Union européenne lors d'un prochain sommet européen, si nécessaire. >>> Le Monde.fr avec AFP et Reuters | Lundi 15 Mars 2010
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Europe's leaders will do their best to put on a show of unity as early as Monday when they announce that they stand ready to help Greece recover from its financial disaster.
But the deal is just a thin veneer over permanent disagreements about how to run the European Union, and Brussels is about to embark on another round of damaging internal debate which will further distance it from the bloc's 500 million citizens.
Greece is the weakest but not the only member of the 16-country eurozone in deep trouble. It must borrow over 50 billion euros on the international markets this year or else it could go bust. The other countries that use the euro, led by Germany and France, are likely to say that their private banks will guarantee to help meet those financing needs should willing investors turn out to be in short supply. That, allied to a massive round of spending cuts inside Greece designed to reduce the budget deficit, should be enough to calm markets and stabilise the situation.
It won't stop Greeks from rioting, however. Just as in the UK, US and everywhere else, ordinary workers can't see why they have to swallow pay cuts, tax rises and cuts in services as a result of incompetent politicians and mendacious bankers. Greece's socialist government, recently elected, is suffering from internal dissent at the price to be paid for outside help. The deficit is more than four times higher than eurozone rules allow, but reducing it could be a dangerous process in a country plagued by social unrest and which was under military rule as recently as the 1970s.
As for the rest of the eurozone and the European Union, the big beasts of the continent - the UK, France and Germany - have never seen eye to eye on the level of economic oversight and political interference they would countenance from Brussels. It was hoped that the passage of the Lisbon Treaty, the reforms of the EU's rules and institutions just enacted after much pain, would still that debate and end internal wrangling for a decade.
Instead, Greece's problems, and those yet to be played out in full in Spain, Portugal, Ireland and elsewhere, have exposed the messy and inadequate compromises agreed for the co-ordination of vastly disparate economies. It hasn't worked; a new framework is required. >>> Adrian Michaels and Bruno Waterfield | Sunday, March 14, 2010
March 12, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: Exclusive: Germany plays pivotal role in potential eurozone rescue package for Greek debts
The eurozone has agreed a multibillion-euro bailout for Greece as part of a package to shore up the single currency after weeks of crisis, the Guardian has learnt.
Senior sources in Brussels said that Berlin had bowed to the bailout agreement despite huge resistance in Germany and that the finance ministers of the "eurozone" – the 16 member states including Greece who use the euro – are to finalise the rescue package on Monday. The single currency's rulebook will also be rewritten to enforce greater fiscal discipline among members.
The member states have agreed on "co-ordinated bilateral contributions" in the form of loans or loan guarantees to Greece if Athens finds itself unable to refinance its soaring debt and requests help from the EU, a senior European commission official said.
Other sources said the aid could rise to €25bn (£22.6bn), although it is estimated in European capitals that Greece could need up to €55bn by the end of the year.
Germany, the EU's traditional paymaster, but the most reluctant to come to the rescue of a fiscal delinquent in the current crisis, has played the pivotal role in organising the rescue package, the sources added. >>> Ian Traynor in Brussels | Friday, March 12, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Family homes in Detroit are selling for as little as $10 (£6) in the wake of America's financial meltdown.
The once thriving industrial city has suffered a dramatic decline following the global economic crisis.
According to Tim Prophit, a real estate agent, the crisis has led to a unprecedented portfolio of homes, but they are failing to sell.
He said there were homes on the market for $100 (£61), but an offer of just $10 (£6) would be likely to be accepted.
Speaking on a BBC 2 documentary, Requiem for Detroit, to be screened on Saturday, Mr Prophit said: "The property is listed by the city of Detroit as being worth $35,000 (£22,000), but the bank know that is impossible to ask.
"This part of town has got a lot of bad press in the media because it featured in Eminem's film 'Eight Mile', but that particular road is fifteen minutes up the road and that is a long way in Detroit."
Homes offered in viewing brochures as early 1920s example of colonial architecture would once have made handsome homes but are no longer sought after. >>> | Friday, March 13, 2010
I’ll be on air today at 12 noon PST, 3pm EST, 8pm GMT, and 9pm CET. Always On Watch, WC, and I will be discussing growing anti-Semitism in Europe, JihadJane, and much else besides. I'll be on for the full hour. We do hope you can join us. ALL are welcome. The number to call is (646) 915-9870. Click HERE for the show.
NZZ ONLINE: Nach dem verpassten Rüstungsgeschäft für die Lieferung von Tankflugzeugen für die US-Luftwaffe durch den EADS-Konzern hat es Vorwürfe aus Frankreich und Grossbritannien gegeben. Der britische Premier Brown und Frankreichs Präsident Sarkozy warfen den USA Protektionismus vor.
Der französische Staatspräsident Nicolas Sarkozy und der britische Regierungschef Gordon Brown haben den USA im Streit um einen verpassten Rüstungsauftrag für den europäischen EADS-Konzern Protektionismus vorgeworfen.
«Nicht die richtige Art»
«Das ist nicht die richtige Art, wie die USA ihre europäischen Verbündeten behandeln sollten», sagte Sarkozy am Freitag nach einem Besuch bei Brown. Der Brite erklärte, er sei wegen der entstandenen Situation enttäuscht. >>> ddp/sda/Reuters | Freitag, 12. März 2010
March 11, 2010
LONDON EVENING STANDARD: Wealthy Brits are among 24,000 clients of HSBC's Swiss private bank who had their details stolen by an employee and given to the French authorities, the bank admitted today.
The theft, which took place three years ago, could give tax authorities around the world access to data about their citizens who have tried to evade tax using Swiss accounts.
The bank admitted today that about 15,000 current clients and 9,000 who had accounts before 2006 had been affected.
HM Revenue & Customs today said it was aware of the case and while declining to comment on whether it would pay money to get hold of the data added: “We would not rule anything out and are constantly gathering information.”
The UK taxman paid a reported £100,000 for similar data stolen by an employee of a Liechtenstein bank two years ago.
The HSBC employee, who worked in the bank's IT department, has already “sold” some of the data to French authorities in return for police protection and to prevent him being returned to the Swiss authorities who want to prosecute him. >>> Nick Goodway | Thursday, March 11, 2010
DAILY EXPRESS: LABOUR wants to hammer every home owner in Britain with a spiteful 10 per cent death tax, it emerged yesterday.
The levy would be charged on all estates up to the current inheritance tax threshold of £325,000.
Any amount above the existing threshold is already taxed at 40 per cent. But the extra charge would add a huge £32,500 on top of the tax bill for such properties.
It means people with an estate valued at £500,000 would find their relatives hit with a bill of £102,500 after their death. >>> Sarah O’Grady | Thursday, March 11, 2010
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