Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Paris on Sunday to protest against the spread of economic "austerity" in France and Europe. Chanting "resistance, resistance", the crowds had been rallied by around 60 organisations, including the leftwing Front de Gauche and the French Communist party, which oppose the European budget treaty. "Today is the day the French people launch a movement against the politics of austerity," said the Front de Gauche president, Jean-Luc Mélenchon. A few hours before the protest started Jérome Cahuzac, a junior budget minister, described the demonstration as a "fundamental" error. "I think they are committing a fundamental error in thinking that the policies we are following are weakening France, when in fact these policies are strengthening it," he told Europe 1. The French prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, defended the European budget treaty and accused the protesters of taking a risk with history. "To take the risk of aggravating the crisis, which is not only an economic crisis but also a euro crisis … The ambiguity of saying 'non' is also something that could lead to the end of the euro."
He added that he and the president, François Hollande, "would never be responsible … for the disappearance of the euro. The support of the majority in these circumstances is essential. We can't swerve away, the future of the euro as well as growth and prosperity are in doubt," Ayrault added.
For Annick Coupé of the Solidaires union, the demonstration on Sunday was aimed at creating a "show of force for the weeks to come" in which the government will consider pension, social security and employment reforms. "Just because we helped defeat Nicolas Sarkozy [the former right of centre president] doesn't mean we're now going to shut up," she said.
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Comisia Europeană urmează să decidă, în aceste zile, dacă taie definitiv toate fondurile alocate României pe programul destinat dezvoltării resurselor umane (POSDRU) – vreo 3 miliarde de euro – sau doar ne aplică nişte „corecţii”, adică vom fi obligaţi să returnăm banii fraudaţi în diferite proiecte. Ministrul Afacerilor Europene, Leonard Orban, a răspuns interpelării unui deputat PSD, Dumitru Chiriţă, şi i-a explicat acestuia că fondurile pentru POSDRU sunt deocamdată „pre-suspendate”, adică nu se mai efectuează plăţi, dar mai avem o şansă să corectăm situaţia.
Greek Trade Deficits
1980 till 2008 Greece’s trade deficit with the rest of the world went up 9 times
In current prices from £5.2b in 1980 it reached E44b in 2008 and E34b in 2009
In 1980 Greece had a surplus in its farming budget at 3.3b Drachmas but from 1981 the year it first joined the EU it went to a deficit to E290m. The deficit has now gone to E3b Euros an increase of 934%
Foreign Loans by Years
Foreign loans taken out in 1990 were equivalent to E694m
In 2000 equivalent to E7.16b
In 2009 equivalent to E85b
So by 2009 the Greeks were 1,009% more in debt than in 2000 (decade of the Euro!!)
Public Debts
In 1980 it was E600m
Three decades later it was E298b
The debt went up 497times in joining the EU
EU ‘AID’ to GREECE
Four major packages
-1986-1993 for E471m
-1994-1999 E12.3b
2000-2006 E26.1b
2007-2013 E27b
If one aggregates them all they equal to about E65b
In a period of 33years from the joining the EU Greeks ‘received’ ‘aid packages’ equivalent to 196Euros a year or 0.54c a day!
Greeces Trade Deficits with the EU
Imports equivalent to E379b for the three decades of entrance
Exports equivalent to E125b
Conclusion we gave them E254b for imports received E65b in ‘aid’.
In other words for every Euro we received we gave back 5
Christine Lagarde = Greece’s Deficits are Germany’s Surpluses Oct 2010
Taken from the Greek book Ειναι ο Καπιταλισμος Ηλιθιε "Its Capitalism Stupid" Nick Bogiopoulos
Greece is a dud and globally irrelevant. Spain is a guaranteed bail out victim. Italy is a 50-50 and depends on events.
The one place that is due to get maximum publicity within days is France. It's PMI manufacturing is well below EU's dreadful levels. All indicators are tanking, Hollande has put his suicide pact into action and the unions are bound to strike.
Wait for services PMI tomorrow which will send France into recession...
It looks like an Iberian day.
Portugal is braced for details of new austerity measures, which will be announced by finance minister Vitor Gaspar this afternoon (probably at 4pm BST).
Gaspar is expected to announce cutbacks, to address a budget shortfall following its u-turn on a hugely unpopular decision to hike social security taxes.
Having bowed to the will of the people, the Lisbon government must now find the money elsewhere. That could include an income tax hike, and increases to capital gains and asset taxes.
Meanwhile, Spain's decision to keep resisting a bailout has disappointed the financial markets. As we reported last night, prime minister Mariano Rajoy insisted last night that a bailout was not imminent.
But how long can Madrid hang on for?....
In Greece, negotiations with the Troika will resume (again....) We'll be watching to see what new measures are being forced on Athens in return for its financial aid.
It's also another big day for economic surveys, with monthly Service Sector data from around the globe released. They should shed light on the state of the world economy.
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