German Minister of Finance Wolfgang Schäuble was prepared “to give Greece €50 billion” had Yanis Varoufakis, his Greek counterpart at the time, agreed to his country leaving the eurozone, a high level source who recently spoke to Schäuble has revealed. The German minister was described by the source like “a true European” who had nothing… » read more
Archives for Greece
Greece Bailout: Hostage Crisis for Tsipras
July 16, 2015
The outcome of fiscal measures voting yesterday in the Greek Parliament was positive for Eurozone leaders. The measures passed with absolute majority as Syriza coalition partner Independent Greeks, the front opposition New Democracy, PASOK, and The River voted in favor. But Syriza had major losses, as 39 MPs voted against or abstain. Amid these MPs,… » read more
Austerity Politics, Bridging Europe, English, EU integration, Euro & Finance, eurocrisis, grexit, Social Cohesion, Tsipras |
The outcome of the 17-hour long meeting of Eurozone leaders last Sunday was a huge blow for the Greek government. Amidst rumors that the Greek PM Tsipras was blackmailed to agree with any measure put in the table, both by the United States and Eurozone leaders, and despite the outstanding support of Greek PM in… » read more
Austerity Politics, Bridging Europe, EU institutions, EU integration, Euro & Finance, eurocrisis, Global Financial System, grexit, Member States, Social Cohesion, Syriza |
My views on Grexit
July 13, 2015
With protracted negotiations still going on in Brussels, I would like to provide my readers with an opinion I have expressed in February this year, in an email exchange with my younger Blogactiv colleague Dimitri Rapidis from Athens. I still consider today that the total absence of a Plan B has severely weakened the position… » read more
E.U., Economy & Euro, EU Priorities and Opinion, External Relations |
The Twin Threats of a Grexit and a Chinese Crisis
July 9, 2015
Over the past few weeks, we have seen how two of the pillars of the world economy, Europe and China, have entered a phase of uncertainty about their future. The worries relating to the Chinese stock markets drop have been intersecting with those linked to Greek crisis in the global news. In fact, the dra(h)matic feelings’ buildup relies… » read more
SECS4: A world-beating New Euro would end Corruption, Dishonesty, and Marxist Blackmail
July 3, 2015
In world monetary history, some currencies have lasted more than a thousand years. That won’t happen with the present euro. Its self-destruction is as certain as anything in politics. What is now urgent is to reform the currency on a solid basis. It will be a world-beater. A sound currency must retain a long-term store… » read more
alter-globalist, corruption, Juncker, Marx, Schuman, Soviet, Syriza, Tsipras, Varoufakis |
The Christian Democrat EPP, Socialists and Liberals think they have the eternal right to select old and pensioned-off politicians to be their Commissioners. The European Commission, was once a politician-free zone. It was then much more effective politically. One Commission president was a law professor, another was an engineer, a third was formerly a trades… » read more
belgium, cartel, commission, Community, Czech, democracy, dirty trick, ep, european elections, fraud, Slovakia, trick |
Up until now, “connecting” was all about web 2.0. Initially, the connection dynamic was created through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN, Flickr, Delicious, Buzz, Myspace and a myriad other social media. Then, when in mid 2008 Groupon launched in Chicago, the next big thing in the tech world was something called “Group deals”, a service that basically… » read more
, Greece |
For Greece, it all started in late 2009. One bright day around mid-November, the now ruling Socialist government of G. Papandreou decided to take Greece out of the closet and reveal the true size of Greece’s deficit to the world. The funny thing is, back then no one was really shocked. “Greek statistics”, the constant… » read more
Cloud Computing, e-government, european economic governance , Greece |
Greek default and the risk of contagion: Has the time finally come for Fiscal Sustainability?
April 28, 2010
What can I say? There isn’t a person I know who didn’t see the impending Greek default coming. It’s a country that has had no strategy for generating growth, unfunded pension liabilities en masse, a bloated, inefficient state sector, poor educational institutions, and an abysmal demographic outlook. For years, these developments could be softened by… » read more
debt crisis, English, fiscal sustainability, Stability and Growth Pact , Greece |
Straßenschlachten vor dem Kanzleramt ?
April 8, 2010
Ein Report der BIZ lässt Übles für Europa ahnen: Entschuldung nicht ohne Unruhen Das jüngste Arbeitspapier der Bank für Internationalen Zahlungsausgleich (BIZ) trägt die harmlose Nummer 300. Doch dahinter verbirgt sich massiver Sprengstoff zur Frage, wie die führenden – vor allem europäischen – Länder jemals ihre Schulden abarbeiten können. Hier das Szenario der BIZ (in den Grafiken “BIS” abgekürzt,… » read more
average primary balance, BIS, BIZ, deficit, Finanzdienstleistungen, france, German, Griechenland, italy, Japan, Public Debt in Europe, Working Paper |
Modern-day odysseys, minus the romance
October 31, 2007
For us West Europeans, unless we are on our vacations, the Aegean sea seems to be pretty far away, tucked away in one of the most remote parts of Europe. We prefer to think of it in terms of dream islands swimming on a warm sea. The truth is much more brutal than that: On… » read more