New revelations about the extent of the tensions between the EU and the IMF. Speaking on Greek news channels, the economist Iannis Varoufakis said that officials at the IMF told him that in order to justify their participation in the bailout programme they used the wrong fiscal multiplier on purpose when calculating the terms of the Greek MoU. He suggested that powerful countries contributing to the fund have been putting pressure on the IMF to admit the mistake because it is now so blatantly obvious that the affects of the crippling austerity measures in Greece are in no-one’s interest.
The EU on the other hand are determined not to rock the boat before the German elections by admitting to a faulty policy that will inevitably lead to a huge debt write down (this time it will actually affect the ECB and large bond holders). Hence Oli Rehn’s statement yesterday that they don’t care what ‘mistakes’ have been made – the Greeks have to abide by the terms of the MoU.
Question: where does this leave the Greek people? How long can they carry on making such huge sacrifices to honour their commitments to a faulty fiscal programme which is ruining the lives of millions and driving the Greek economy into a depression of surreal proportions?
3 comments:
The fear among opposition organizations is palpable. "No chemicals in our earth", one group, called "Gegen Gasbohren" -- or "Against Gas Drilling" -- states on its web page. Another activist faction warns against an "attack on our drinking water supply." They are among a dozen or so citizen initiatives aimed at "fracking," a method for extracting natural gas from previously inaccessible stone deposits through the injection of pressurized fluids containing chemical agents. Most of those initiatives have illustrated their web pages with stop signs, gas masks and even skulls and crossbones.
ANZEIGE
For the moment, the various anti-fracking groups in Germany operate on their own, primarily taking action on the local level. Municipalities that could be affected if fracking were to be allowed in the country see it as a threat, with many worried about the impact the method could have on the environment.
Romanian film wins top Berlin prize
The Romanian film Child's Pose picks up the Golden Bear for best film at the Berlin film festival, while an unemployed Bosnian Roma wins best actor.
The figures from the Office for National Statistics surprised the City, which had anticipated a healthy bounce back from December's disappointing sales on the back of strong surveys and a robust performance by John Lewis, which said on Friday its sales in early February were up 22% on a year earlier.
However, evidence that the surge in consumer spending seen last summer at the time of the London Olympics faded in the autumn of 2012 and continued into 2013 rekindled fears of a third leg to the longest and deepest slump Britain has suffered since the 1920s. Jeremy Cook, chief economist at foreign exchange broker World First said: "These are truly horrible figures and alongside the revision lower of December's numbers, points to a retail landscape on its knees. Consumer spending, or the lack thereof, can be summarised by the recent high-profile high street closures with a low-spending Christmas unable to prop up companies that have been forced to cut prices through the year to combat low demand." Rob Wood, economist at Berenberg Bank, said: "The underlying picture is that the economy is bouncing along the bottom, so weather disruptions can easily tip it into negative territory."
Post a Comment