“it was only 'a failure of animal spirits' (to use Keynes' description of the loss of confidence) that caused the 1930s economic depression.” ...It was the same economic measures of calling in their loans (as they are doing to Greece, Spain, etc.) and tightening the money supply as well as raising interest rates that caused the FED orchestrated “Great Depression” of 1929. This is what precipitated the Stock Market Crash – and then they used that as the excuse for further controls on the money supply, instead of doing what Keynes wanted: flow more money into the system to stop the growth of unemployment so as to kick-start the economy again. This time though they used the “bad debt trading of derivatives on the housing bubble” to orchestrate this upcoming depression. If the people of Ireland, Greece, Spain, Italy etc. were given a fair paper ballot referendum (not computers so easily manipulated as the Bush elections showed us in America) then I believe they would get out of the Euro. Argentina managed it, and now the IMF and the FED are seething and frothing at the mouth and taking them to court or rather suing them because they had the audacity to want their national sovereignty back! Check out "fractional reserve" lending on "The Money Masters" on You Tube to get a clear picture as to how the whole civilized world is being fleeced for the gain of a few private individuals. It is not a conspiracy theory, it is simple fact. Another of their goals is to have us fight amongst ourselves, instead of trying to solve the real problem which is “fractional reserve lending.” The German taxpayers, for example, are rightly angry but for the wrong reasons! The ECB is pulling the wool over their eyes just like the FED is pulling the wool over the eyes of America. The ECB is making out that they need money to bail out Greece, Spain, etc. when they have really lent out far more than they have in their vaults already! They are also being backed by the FED with “fractional reserve” dollars to the tune of 85% of their assets. The whole Ponzi scheme is based on thin air dollars – so in effect there is no need to fleece the German taxpayer as well. But it does serve to divert attention from the real culprits: private banking in the form of the ECB, the FED and the IMF! In this way the Greeks are seen as lazy, no-good for nothings to the Germans and the Germans are seen as “Nazis” by the Greeks. Divide and conquer is an age old adage and it is diverting attention from the real culprit: Private Banking in the form of the FED and the ECB and they are getting away scot-free when they are causing this depression in the first place. Since everything anyway is based on “fractional reserve lending” or “thin air” debt, then why are interest rates up and money tight in both America and Europe? This is the cause of the economic crisis – not because some Greek café owner didn’t give out a receipt to a customer! The FED did it in 1929 to cause the Great Depression: raise interest rates and tighten the money supply just when they should be doing the opposite according to Keynes to get out of this slump. Private banking is orchestrating this depression and it is getting worse and worse every day leading to more nations slowly falling under their total control. It is ironic that Greece is the first victim of this multi-headed Hydra from Greek Mythology composed of the IMF, the FED, the ECB, the NCBs, and others! Even Hercules would have a hard time with this one as there are too many heads working in concert this time to enslave the world in debt. Whenever nations or empires printed or coined their own money that was debt and interest free the world prospered. The Romans with their bronze coins, England with her Tally Sticks, and Lincoln with his “Greenback Dollars” printed directly by the US Treasury. Many would argue that money would be worthless if we cut out private banking to print our money, but just the opposite would happen. If a country can issue a debt-laden interest bearing bond on good faith to a private bank to print its money, it can also issue a debt-free paper note to the public directly!

Switzerland's oldest bank is to close permanently after pleading guilty in a New York court to helping Americans evade their taxes. Wegelin, which was established in 1741, has also agreed to pay $57.8m (£36m; 44m euros) in fines to US authorities. It said that once this was completed, it "will cease to operate as a bank". The bank had admitted to allowing more than 100 American citizens to hide $1.2bn from the Internal Revenue Service for almost 10 years. Wegelin, based in the small Swiss town of St Gallen, started in business 35 years before the US declaration of independence. It becomes the first foreign bank to plead guilty to tax evasion charges in the US. Other Swiss banks have in recent years moved to prevent US citizens from opening offshore accounts. US Attorney Preet Bharara said: "The bank wilfully and aggressively jumped in to fill a void that was left when other Swiss banks abandoned the practice due to pressure from US law enforcement." The closure of Wegelin is a watershed moment that has huge implications for the Swiss banking industry - and for Switzerland's famed banking secrecy. Wegelin's guilty plea included the admission that it intentionally opened accounts for US citizens to help them avoid tax. In court Wegelin's managers said they knew it was wrong, but thought they would not be prosecuted because it was legal in Switzerland, and common practice in Swiss banking - words which are causing something close to panic among other Swiss banks, including Credit Suisse, who are also being investigated by the US authorities. Until now everyone expected Wegelin to fight the charges - instead Switzerland's oldest bank will cease to exist. The message to the Swiss financial sector is clear - the US will not give up this fight over tax. The Swiss government has been trying for months to negotiate a deal with the US which would protect Switzerland's banking secrecy. The Wegelin case makes that look virtually impossible.

The British are solely concerned about their economic interests, nothing else...OOOOKKK !!!!

The former European Commission president, who is credited as the architect of the modern EU and the euro, has broken ranks with other European leaders to offer Britain an exit from the Union.

"The British are solely concerned about their economic interests, nothing else. They could be offered a different form of partnership," he told Handelsblatt, a German financial newspaper. "If the British cannot support the trend towards more integration in Europe, we can nevertheless remain friends, but on a different basis. I could imagine a form such as a European economic area or a free-trade agreement." The comments will add weight to growing demands from Conservative backbench MPs and Euro-sceptics for David Cameron to renegotiate Britain's relationship with Europe and to bring back powers from the EU to Westminster. The Prime Minister has said that he supports continued EU membership but wants a "new settlement" which will involve Britain opting-out of justice measures and seeking exemptions to any further centralisation of power in Brussels...at last an honest acknowledgement that the goal is a federal europe. if there was any doubt about it monsieur delors has settled it once and for all. So now the way forward is clear. the choice is between being part of this federation and losing our independence and sovereignty, or coming out and retaining our sovereignty. and it is for the british people to decide, not the politicians.  There can no longer be any attempts to bamboozle the electorate with hypocritical talk of renegotiation. it is time for a referendum without further delay. The future is not further 'integration' and the assembly of a colossal superstate - the future is independence and individuality. Nowhere in the world do people think the same way as politicians and bureaucrats. Everywhere you see that when left to themselves, people want their own unique identity, control over their own environment and their own destiny. Bureaucrats believe 'bigger is best' while people know that small is beautiful. That's why the Berlin wall fell, why Slovakia split from the Czech republic, why the Baltic states went their own way; why Belgium had no government for over a year; why Scotland wants independence and why even California and Texas talk about seceding from the Union. Then one and only treason why bureaucrats want bigger and bigger is because it means more money for them. Like lawyers, they'll happily sell you down the river in return for 30 pieces of silver, or in the case of the EU, 300,000 pieces of silver. They're nothing if not greedy.  Britain should find its own way in the world. As a nation we are more than capable. We don't need thousands of regulations, tens of thousands of bureaucrats, mollycoddling or being told what to do all the time. We want freedom - freedom to invent, to explore, to create, and determine our own future. The EU project is at an end - it is time for us to create a nation fit for the future, fit for all our people to live and thrive in - a nation where we alone hold the reins and guide our own destiny. Just leave, it is only the corrupt who want us to stay in this corrupt organisation. The EUSSR must be with out any doubt the most corrupt organisation in the world. Why was my father and millions of others killed for our freedom, as I was told as as child. Was this just a lie, if not was was it? Did our government say this so control of us could be done in different way? Our government only has a white flag to wave at the EUSSR. I would now take up arms against this invasion of England, but the young of this country are brainwashed in believing in a none existent country. Europe is not a country it is a continent. People should Think, Think, Think, but no, that is not allowed.

If Delors thinks ' the British are solely concerned about their economic interests, nothing else' he is deluded. The British are concerned about their increasing inability to make and uphold their own laws, control their own borders , have an elected Parliament accountable to the electorate not a foreign governing body, and all other issues resulting from having the jackboot of the EU on its neck. There is also the little matter, not often in the news, of the plan to abolish England! Prezza was merrily engaged in working on EU plans to split England up into EU departments when he wasn't chasing his secretary round his desk. Kept that one quiet, haven't you Jacques?,,,The UK shall not exist as a nation state if it remains in the EU. Instead, we shall be a northern province of centrally ruled state run by unaccountable people who consider themselves a special priestly caste with unique access to the truth and what is good for everyone. Little people will be expected to genuflect to these Platonic Kings who know the real world beyond the dark cave of ignorance which is our lot. Those who shout for democracy will be seen as trouble makers and silenced accordingly because they will be attacking the dear leaders who, by definition, know the truth and do not need or want to be pestered by shouts from the ignorant. We ditched this sort of disgusting ignorance when we kicked out King James 1 in the Glorious Revolution. And, now, Cameron, Clegg and Milliband seem to want to junk several hundred years of political evolution to return to a primitive, unstable and very dangerous form of government lacking, even, the checks and balances extant in the late 17th century...Delors is right.... but it seems the ignorant, selfish and small minded politicians in Westminster are still trying to tell the rest of us that the UK system is substandard and should be junked in favour of the political disaster that is the EU....Simple response to any EU apologist like Delors. Do not believe them, these are the people who have destroyed currencies, installed puppet governments, created poverty for millions and replaced national sovereignty with EU sovereignty through an authoritarian EU.

These politicians loathe normal people and have absolutely no regard for our right to vote them in and out and have persistently lied and covered up the systematic selling out of UK sovreignty over the last 45 years.  They have betrayed us and think our rights can be disposed of as quickly and with as little compunction as a knifeman slits the throat of a calf in an abbatoir.

Britain is expected to lose its AAA credit rating this year, dealing a blow to George Osborne's defence of deep spending cuts as the key to retaining Britain's status with global investors.
Many economists predict at least one of the three main credit ratings agencies – Moody's, Fitch or Standard & Poor's – will declare the UK a bigger lending risk in response to the chancellor's admission in the autumn statement that austerity will run for at least eight years, until 2018, rather than the original five.
Those same economists largely agree that in a world where most developed countries have found life tough going, there will be little impact on the UK's creditworthiness. Like the US and France, which have already seen their pride dented by a demotion to AA, the UK will still be a safe haven for foreign cash, and thereby enjoy relatively low interest rates.
But lower growth and bigger borrowing add up to a greater risk that the UK will find 2013 tougher than expected.
All the major forecasters have downgraded growth for the coming year, including the Treasury's own Office for Budget Responsibility. The OBR's most recent outlook put growth in 2013 at 1.2% – down from the previous prediction of 2%. Not until 2017 does the trend return to a point where unemployment comes down in any significant way.
Part of the downgrade in growth stems from expectations of lacklustre investment spending by business. Without investment in new equipment, the economy is likely to suffer over the longer term. Osborne has promised a rise in public investment this year, partly to make up the difference, but only enough to make up a quarter of the total he cut in 2010.
In budget terms 2013 will be characterised by social security cuts, which are due to take effect in earnest after an initial focus on tax rises (the increase in VAT to 20%) and job losses in the public sector (more than 700,000 so far).

Romanian President Traian Basescu signed on Monday the decree designating Victor Ponta, leader of the Social Democrats (PSD) and co-head of the Social Liberal Union (USL) as prime minister of Romania. The move comes as the USL, the alliance of PSD and the Liberals (PNL), obtained a large majority of votes in the December 9 parliamentary elections.

Ponta has been serving as prime minister for seven months. In spring this year, his alliance replaced a rightist government who had only spent several weeks in office. Over the seven months, USL's main focus was a battle with President Basescu, which included a failed and controversial referendum to remove him from office.

A presidential press release on Monday announced Victor Viorel Ponta was designated candidate for prime minister, in charge with forming a new government due to be validated by the Parliament.

The press release says that during consultations between political parties and the President on Monday morning there was only one proposal for prime minister. As a result, President Basescu designated Ponta as candidate for prime minister.

Ponta has ten days to form a government and come before the newly elected Parliament to receive the vote of support. The USL leader has said he wanted to move faster than that so that Romania have a government by Christmas.

Spain is being made to return to competitiveness through so-called internal devaluation. Wages are falling to offset their rapid appreciation relative to those in core Europe during the years leading up to the crisis. It would help Spain if inflation—and thus labor costs—were rising faster in core Europe, reducing the amount of domestic deflation needed. But that’s not happening—indeed core inflation is running below rates around the euro zone’s troubled fringe, in part because of austerity-related tax increases in the latter. Without German acceptance of higher inflation, Spain is looking at more of the same. More wage cuts, more unemployment, more contraction.

The country is already into its second recession since the financial crisis and forecasters have been paring back growth expectations for the coming year. Official unemployment makes up around a quarter of the potential labor force and continues to rise. Even ignoring that the data are probably distorted upward by overly generous employment protections that give firms strong incentives to use unreported workers, the jobless rate is unsustainably high. Social and political strife is already common.  Even where economic measures have improved, the turnaround isn’t all positive. For example, Spain has managed to turn its current-account deficit into a surplus, but only because domestic demand and thus imports have collapsed.  The ratings agencies don’t tell us anything we don’t know. Their downgrades have little or no significant bond-market impact. But they’re still relevant because they confirm an increasingly gloomy outlook.

In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph on the eve of the Tories’ annual conference in Birmingham the Prime Minister attacks Ed Milband for “signalling right but turning left” and makes a clear attempt to reclaim the “one nation” mantle from the Labour leader.

He admits he has not done enough to get out and “explain” his government’s programme at a time when the Tories are slumping in the polls and Whitehall is gripped by a series of crises.

Mr Cameron vows to put this right from this week with a bid to reconnect with the “striving” families who are facing tough times in the recession.  He will offer packages of financial help - including a new council tax freeze - without putting the coalition’s overall strategy of reducing Britain’s deficit at risk. The Prime Minister also vows today to use Britain’s veto, if necessary, to block “outrageous” attempts to increase the European Union’s overall budget in upcoming negotiations to set total spending for the years 2014 to 2020. “If it comes to saying 'no’ to a deal that isn’t right for Britain, I’ll say 'no’, he declares.....So in a nutshell Cameron's vision is "let's give the middle classes a few sops. threaten, but not mean, a veto on Europe, cut the Defence of the nation to an unsustainable low level so we can give £ 12 Billion to people who would prefer to slit our throats".  And he thinks this is "explaining" his vision? And that this will cause his support to increase? Is he mad, or just stupid?

He's been fighting back the second he got in office...fighting back to put the under class or the common man ...back in time,a victorian over lord...juicing out the masses, he does have a vision but it only includes himself and the making the rich wealthier and the poor more impoverished.

What is this man doing in politics,his interests are supposed to be for all classes...not sending money abroad,and to whom..Here we go again. Lots of sound bits and doubtless no action. What have we achieved so far? Deficit still out of control and growing. Local authorities' (who supply most services) budget's cut by circa 30% . Central government total budget cut by less than 1%

Much hyped bonfire of Quangos and red tape. There hasn't been even a spark yet, let alone a bonfire.

Focus on economic growth. Nothing, otherwise we would see some growth. Worse, more decisions that have a significant effect on the economy handed further down the "food chain" to local ill-informed nimbys, who's only reaction is ever "No" and who are naive (or less politely, ignorant) enough to vote for any politician who promises to "Give them more power"! This ensures the country is run by amateurs from top to bottom. Major projects that should have been accelerated on day one of government, 3rd runway, infrastructure construction, a scythe to anticompetitive employment, Health and Safety and other laws and regulations are still no where near meaningful discussion, let alone real action. In the meantime the far east creates and absorbs all the new world growth, laughing at our hopeless leadership and huge unnecessary costs Even self preservation policies such as boundary changes are stuck with inaction.  What exactly has this government done? Answer, next to bu--er all. Where are the men and women who really know the meaning of leadership, conviction, honour and love of country? Easy, they are all disenfranchised by a bunch of smug, hypocritical career politicians who have sown up their future and stitched up our country at the same time!

Prices rose faster in August across the 27 nations of the European Union (EU) compared with July, according to official figures. The EU statistics agency Eurostat said inflation hit 2.7% last month, compared with 2.5% the previous month. In the 17-nation eurozone, inflation also rose to 2.6% from 2.4% in July. Figures also showed that the number of people in work across the EU in the three months to the end of June rose to 223.4 million. Employment across the euro area remained stable at 146.4 million in the second quarter. The number of people out of work in July hit a record high of 18 million, prompting calls for the European Central Bank to cut the cost of borrowing, pump more money into the eurozone economy or both.

Major US banks are being investigated for insufficiently safeguarding against being used by drug dealers or terrorist groups to launder dirty money, it was reported Saturday.

An article in the New York Times suggested that federal and state authorities were ready to launch an aggressive crackdown on the failure to monitor transactions, in a move aimed at flagging to financial institutions that weak compliance is unacceptable. Officials told the Times that regulators are close to taking action against JP Morgan, while other firms including Bank of America are also being investigated over perceived shortcomings when it comes to putting a check on money-laundering activities. It comes just months after a Senate committee roundly criticized HSBC for ignoring warning signs that it was being used by money launderers and drug cartels in Mexico. US politicians also accused HSBC of circumventing US sanctions on countries including Cuba and Iran – a charge that has also been levied against JP Morgan. The Senate report was also highly critical of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), stating that the regulator needed to take "stronger action" on banks that exercise poor anti-money laundering controls. The OCC is now leading the crackdown on non-compliant banks, according to the New York Times report.

EUROPE - Official data released this morning showed that the Spanish economy shrank by 1.3% in the second quarter of 2012, on a year-on-year basis. That's worse than the first estimate, of a 1% drop in GDP. The contraction in the first three months of 2012 has also been revised down to -0.6% year-on-year, from -0.4%. On a quarterly basis, Spain shrank by 0.4% between April and June, and 0.3% between January and March. This comes a day after Spanish GDP data for 2011 and 2010 were revised down, showing that Europe's fourth-biggest economy is in rather worse shape than feared. The news comes as Spain prepares to welcome the EC president, Herman Van Rompuy. He will hold talks with the Spanish PM, Mariano Rajoy, today: another piece of euro-diplomacy in the approach to key events in September. Spain is also holding an auction of short-term debt this morning, but that should go smoothly, given the recent recovery in Spanish sovereign debt.Angela Merkel has urged other politicians to rein in their criticism of Greece.

Elsewhere, political tensions remain high in the eurozone after a war of words over the weekend in Germany regarding Greece's future. Alexander Dobrindt, general secretary of the Bavarian sister party to Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, began the spat by declaring that Greece would quit the single currency by 2013. But with the Bundesbank chair, Jens Weidmann, launching another full-throated attack on the European Central Bank's plan to buy Spanish and Italian debt – warning that bond-buying could be 'addictive, like a drug' – there's still no unity on how to address the crisis …

AP - The head of Belgium's federal agency for nuclear safety AFCN said on Friday he was "sceptical" that an ageing reactor closed over fears of cracks could be restarted.  "I'm fairly sceptical for the moment," Willy de Roovere told RTBF public radio, even if "the possibility remains that I am wrong."

According to French-language daily Le Soir, a crack of between 15 and 20 millimetres (0.6 and 0.8 inches) was discovered during a test in June. There has been no denial of this report.  According to the agency, repairs are "practically impossible" and are "not an option" for fear of creating new tensions "which we must avoid at all costs."  Installing a replacement meanwhile has never been attempted anywhere because of the problem of high radiation levels.

The AFCN revealed on Wednesday that the Doel 3 reactor, located 25 kilometres (20 miles) north of Antwerp, would remain closed at least until August 31 after the discovery of possible cracks in the protective vessel surrounding the core during routine June testing.  The agency is also mulling the permanent closure "in the worst case" of a second reactor in the country's south near Liege.

The tests showed "faults in the steel base material" on which the reactor vessel is mounted, the AFCN said.  The Dutch firm, Rotterdam Drydocks, that made the vessels is out of business, which has amplified concerns about others it delivered in Europe and in the Americas.

Spain has indicated it has two reactors in the same bracket, Switzerland and Sweden one each.  The firm supplied one to the Netherlands, but had not manufactured it. The government in The Hague said it has still to decide whether to test its nuclear facilities. The German government said reactors supplied by the defunct company were no longer in service.

Representatives of nuclear safety bodies from all the countries involved will meet in Brussels on August 16 to "exchange information," the AFCN said.

Horst Reichenbach - The Governor of Greece ...no comment !

Last week, Greek prime minister Antonis Samaras secured cross-party support for a further €11.5bn (£9.11bn) of cuts in 2013 and 2014 to keep the €130bn of international rescue funds flowing. The details must be agreed by early September if Greece is to receive its next bail-out tranche.

The divisions within Europe were laid out in the weekend’s German press, where German regional finance minister, Markus Soeder, said that aid to Greece should be stopped. “When a country like Greece on a continuing basis cannot pay back debts, it must leave the eurozone,” he said. “Greece should quit by the end of the year.”...  I read this and I couldn't see any real point in making any comment.  What can really be said..  I saw the figures that last week over 36 billion left EU in capital flight....And the Entire EU Banking and Govt debt climbed in just one week by a little over 40 billion.  Leaving in one week a net defecit of over 76 billio0n.  Considering the EU banks balance sheets are over 46 trillion and rising and the ECB is over 5 trillion .. And between them the have to find over 30 trillion just to reduce leverage DOWN to Lehman levels,   I wonder where, with 76 billion a week or 4 trillion a year defecit still going on they will find any real cash.  And with half of Europe unemployed and a third of SME's busted and destroyed and bankrupted thoughout Southern Europe, just where this 76 billion a week to stop the hole geting bigger will come from seems to me a teeny little problem. Of course even if they can agree, printing can fix it,, but come on,, 30 trillion just to reduce leverage to Lehman levels .  And not a drachma lira or peseta to be earned to pay for it.

You see the probem with this solution is that the EU has not yet passed any laws forbidding foreign ownership of any stocks and shares of EU companies.  And that is a must before starting his presses and felling 98.3% of the worlds forests to print said 30 trillion.  Because you see any foreigner can buy shares in EU companies with the prices demoninated in Euro vouchers..  And printing trillions more of these coupons or vouchers ......well would you want one.   And of course without strict regulations forbidding anyone outside Europe owning those shares, then it wouldn't be long before you get Ethiopian Goat herders and Tuareg carpet salesmen saving up for a couple of weeks and buying a Utility or BMW or a knock down IT like SAP or how about say Gucci, half a goat and its yours.. Of course the evil monkey Mugabe, whose blueprint for success that they are basing their plans on, had the sense to nationalise all foreign owned land and assets first.  Going by form this current shower of corrupt maggots passing themselves off as politicians will almost certainly f8ck the whole thing up and do it arse about face again.

Tum te tum, another day another debt.

HEY MERKEL ....Why don't you give it a rest?

ITALY AND THE E.U.--- Monti is desperate. Reform fatigue has breached breaking point," said a top Italian official. "There is a feeling here that the euro is basically dead already. Unless Germany offers a road map out of this crisis, Monti is not going to be able to hold it together much longer." The main Left and Right parties have until now backed Mr Monti's fiscal squeeze – a net tightening of 3.2pc of GDP this year – and radical reform of pension and labor markets. The implicit trade-off was that Brussels and the European Central Bank would in return intervene to keep the bond vigilantes at bay, if necessary. Germany has so far blocked such action. Yield spreads of 10-year Italian bonds over German Bunds neared a record 500 basis points last week. Party leaders fear an electoral massacre akin to the PASOK defeat in Greece if they back further austerity with no reward. Dissidents are near open revolt.  So, 'gentleman' Monti is in fact a 'double agent'!
Just a small correction on your otherwise excellent judgement. Italian labor so called reforms have been rubbish. They are no reforms at all and are made to appear so, as a bargaining chip with Merkel. HEY MERKEL ....Why don't you give it a rest? Europe is closer? Are you quite mad or just happy to peddle lies ? Every poll, every indication, every election shows that more and more people dislike the EU and are against further integration. You and your friends in the EU have become fascists, attempting to impose your One Europe fantasy on an increasingly resistant population. How does that feel?
The fact of the matter is that the Italian establishment is thriving on this euro adventure, Their over valued euros finance property investments abroad. Just to give you an example an ordinary Italian would rather spend €5000 on an English study holiday in America or Britain rather than spend €700 on a perfectly normal course in a language school in Italy. And at the other end of the scale the same course is offered through government and EU subsidies at €100 by local authorities. This confirms the personal wealth issue of Italians and of course the nonsensical spending patterns caused by an essentially corrupt administrative system.

June - the fifth consecutive month in wich activity across the 17-nation bloc has declining

June turns out to be the fifth consecutive month in wich activity across the 17-nation bloc has declining, dragging down heavyweights Germany and France and increasing pressure for the European Central Bank to take action to support the economy. Markit's Eurozone Composite Purchasing Managers' Index, a combination of the services and manufacturing sectors and seen as a guide to growth, held steady at 46 this month, the lowest since June 2009 when the bloc was mired in a deep recession. That was better than a slide to 45.5 predicted by economists but the index has been below the 50 mark that divides growth from contraction in all but one of the last 10 months......EUROCRISIS --- Sometimes there is no answer except just to tough things out. This is what the doctor often says. "Go home, kep warm, rest and drink plenty of water and you'll feel better in a few days." In this crisis everyone is thrashing around for an instant solution, especially a "magic solution"..... Well THERE ISN'T ONE. Therefore : - While you're waiting for an upturn, sort out your lunatic practices; specifically get your taxation, bureaucracy and civil services down to levels that apply in the successful countries - be patient - tough it out - share the pain more equally than  usual... - in the case of Greece - don't reelect the people who got you into this mess in the first place and at all costs stop these vastly-expensive summits that achieve nothing. By the way, WHY DID VAN ROMPO GO TO THE G20 ? He has NO POWER OF DECISION and NOTHING WHATSOEVER was or COULD HAVE BEEN decided by the G20 that depended on his presence. (this goes for his stooge Borrosso)....This WASTE is HORRENDOUS - and STUPID.

Yep, Stiglitz and Krugman have been shouting from the rooftops ... but they are on the outside of the System ... they are effectively economic dissidents.

Spain has given up the battle to rescue its ailing banks alone and accepted a European bailout of up to €100bn to join Greece, Ireland and Portugal in requesting outside aid to survive Europe's debt crisis.

European leaders hope a bailout will prevent a wider deterioration of the eurozone's fourth largest economy, which is paying punishing interest rates on borrowed money and is key to the survival of the single currency.

"The Spanish government states its intention to request European financing for the recapitalisation of banks that need it," the country's finance minister, Luis de Guindos, said after an emergency video conference with fellow eurozone ministers. It remained unclear, however, exactly how much of the €100bn Spain would need, with De Guindos saying it preferred to wait for two independent reports on its banking system before making a formal request. These reports would be ready within weeks or days, according to De Guindos, who implied that the final sum would be lower than €100bn. "The €100bn sum is a maximum figure," he stressed. "It includes a considerable margin of security."

Eurozone policymakers had been eager to shore up Spain's position before 17 June elections in Greece that could push Athens closer to a eurozone exit and unleash contagion. Various estimates have put the outside capital needed by Spanish banks at between €40bn and €100bn. "The loan amount must cover estimated capital requirements with an additional safety margin," the eurozone ministers said. (source : the guardian)

WELL ---the Spanish (and worldwide) Property Bubble. The gift that keeps on giving.  If the Spanish banks own all these properties (I presume they own them), wouldn't it make more sense to sell them off at some ridiculously low price simply to not be carrying these negative assets on their books? The banks are never, ever going to get the ridiculously over-inflated prices that were so common during the heyday of the global property bubble; far better off for the banks to sell these properties for €1,000 or so and clear them off the books. I would imagine if that you could purchase, let's say, a 3 room apartment on the Mediterranean Coast for €4,000 don't think for one minute they wouldn't have buyers.  Property prices aren't coming back, at least not in our lifetimes...THAT'S FOR SURE...

WASHINGTON—The Federal Reserve shocked bankers Thursday by approving a proposal that would force even the smallest lenders to comply with the elaborate international bank-capital standards known as Basel III.

The draft requirements would apply to all 7,307 U.S. banks, according to a proposal circulated by the Fed. Many bankers had expected regulators to exempt some small lenders from the new rules, which are aimed at shoring up the biggest global banks whose troubles fueled the financial crisis.

While the core Basel III rules will apply to all banks, other aspects of the new regime single out the biggest, most complex institutions and transactions.

BRUXELLES - Considering that the ESM currently has no money yet, and that many of the largest proposed contributors are actually those countries most likely to seek bail out, it appears to be a concept failed before its inception.

The only thing currently keeping the Euro afloat is bluff and bluster floating on a cycle of summits. News of the size of the Spanish bail out is being managed and uncovered in tantalising steps like a magician's trick

"JP Morgan is expecting the final package for Spain to rise above €350bn, while RBS says the rescue will "morph" into a full-blown rescue of €370bn to €450bn over time - by far the largest in world history." All this as Italian banks are on life support. "Italian banks tapped the European Central Bank for 272.7 billion euros ($343.1 billion) In May, a 0.6% rise from the previous month, said the Bank of Italy Thursday." All of this is held upright by IOU's whose credibility will come under serious scrutiny if Greece defaults.

The European Central Bank has announced its latest growth projections for the eurozone.

The European Central Bank has announced its latest growth projections for the eurozone. It expects growth of -0.5% and +0.3% this year, which I think is in line with the previous "central forecast" of -0.1%. For 2013, it predicts growth between zero and 2.0% (that's a downgrade on last time's forecast of 0.0% To 2.2%). The increased downside risks to the European economy, the ECB president says, come from the debt crisis in Europe and its growing potential to spill over to the wider economy. He cites unemployment as another threat to underlying growth in the Eurozone. The first key headline from the European Central Bank's press conference is that the ECB now sees "increased downside risks to economic outlook" (yet it didn't cut rates at today's meeting). .... Inflation, though, is likely to remain above 2% in 2012 -- i.e, above the ECB's target.... 

In The U.K - Most analysts expect the MPC to maintain its current policy at the June meeting, with interest rates staying at 0.5pc and the quantitative easing programme at £325bn. However, demands for more QE have started to rise due to the worsening crisis in the eurozone and signs that the US and Asian economies are slowing. More QE will have only marginal effects in boosting growth. But if the pressure facing Spanish banks puts the UK financial system at risk, an increase in QE may be necessary. In the meantime though, the MPC should focus on boosting the flow of credit to businesses. The European Central Bank held its key interest rates steady at an historic low of 1pc. All eyes are now on what Mario Draghi will say at his press conference. The bets are that he will indicate a cut in interest rates and keep pressure on eurozone leaders to act to stem the debt crisis.    The ECB has passed the buck to eurozone governments, warning that the single currency is under increasing threat. Mario Draghi talked down the chance of more cheap LTRO funding once the current batch runs out, saying it was wrong for monetary policy to fill a policy vacuum created by others: The issue now is whether these LTROs would actually be effective. Some of these problems in the euro area have nothing to do with monetary policy... and I don't think it would be right for monetary policy to fill other institutions' lack of action. The economic outlook for the euro area is subject to increased downside risks relating in particular to a further increase in the tensions in several euro area financial markets and their potential spillover to the euro area real economy.

Same , same, no answers , just tricks, smoke and mirrors...

Same crisis, different summit. What is estimated to be the 18th emergency summit of the eurozone crisis gets under way today. Rather than agree any constructive plans to alleviate the currency region's problems, the meeting will give vent to the new political divisions that have arisen since elections in Greece and France. In the spotlight will be the latest supposed panacea for the eurozone's woes - so called eurobonds. The idea is that eurozone countries club together and issue debt collectively which will ultimately carry a credit rating underwritten by Germany. That would help insolvent countries such as Greece borrow on the international capital markets and allow extremely hard up nations, such as Spain, raise capital to bail out their banks. What it won't do is address the fundamental imbalances and policy differences within the eurozone. Angela Merkel is implacably opposed to euorbonds while other major nations such as France and Italy are in favor, as are the likes of the IMF. What is new this morning is the personnel at the summit where Merkel will find herself increasingly isolated now Nicholas Sarkozy is out of office. His successor, Francois Hollande, will meet his Spanish opposite number ahead of the summit to agree tactics and agenda items. We are now witnessing the start of political fracturing within the euro system with the anti and pro-austerity camps creating two broad groupings which will shape the immediate debate around the currency and could provide an obvious fault line along which the eurozone may ultimately split.
Christine Lagard , managing director of the IMF, has told BBC Radio this morning that Greece will have to do more if it wants to stay in the euro. We have to be prepared for all situations, she said, referring to a possible Greek exit.
Adding to the sense of economic unease, the World Bank has cut its Chinese growth forecasts over night to 8.2pc from 8.4pc. That still sounds robust but the World Bank said a slowing China will drag growth in emerging East Asia to two-year lows this year, warning Europe's seething debt crisis could inflict even bigger damage if it worsens.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has mooted the idea that Greece should hold a referendum on the euro alongside its second round of elections next month. Mrs Merkel's proposal came up in a jaw-jaw with the country's president Karolos Papoulias earlier today, according to a spokesman for the Greek government. Official statement from the President of Hellenic Republic's office, concerning what Angela Merkel asked for this morning in their telephone conversation. Apparently, she asked for a referendum to be run concurrently with the next Greek elections, asking the question, "Do you want to stay in the euro?" Is she demented? Wasn't she the one along with Sarkozy that gave an ear ache to the ex Prime Minister of Greece, Mr George Papandreou for daring to ask the same thing in Greece a few months ago, and eventually forcing him to step down? In a statement, Dimitris Tsiodras said the proposal was "obviously" outside the scope of a Greek caretaker government. In Greece, Goldman Sachs got lots of Greek assets on the cheap in order to help the Greek government to massage its debt profile in order to qualify for the Euro.The fact is that in or out of the Euro, we are all being screwed by international financiers such as JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs. These fraudsters control the government, they control the regulators, the media ... and they rip us off and then demand austerity. They know that the Fed and the ECB will always cover their bets. Which means ultimately that we will cover their bets. In other words, ordinary Greeks and the rest of us are paying through "autierity" for the thieving and greed of usurers. Max Keiser on Russian TV is the closest you will get to an honest media commentator on the financial system.

Elswhere in Europe - More than 400 people have been arrested today while participating in an anti-capitalist protest outside the European Central Bank offices in Frankfurt, Germany. "Blockupy Frankfurt" protesters have been in the city since Wednesday, and have called for four days of protest against austerity measures in Europe.

Lies and lies again ...The poisen = is the euro ...it should go and Germany should be on trial again for the distruction of europe !!!

BS no 1. ----The news that the eurozone has avoided recession is politically tricky for the UK government, which has repeatedly blamed Britain's economic woes on the problems over the English Channel.

Just last night, chancellor George Osborne warned that the eurozone crisis was affecting the wider economy, saying in Brussels that:

The euro zone crisis is having a real impact on growth across the European continent, including Britain....

The British recovery has been damaged over the last two years not by Britain getting a grip on its public finances but by uncertainty in the euro zone.

So it's somewhat embarrassing to now find that the Eurozone managed to avoid contracting in the last three months, while the UK shrank by 0.2% (although, in the spirit of balance, many business leaders reckon that reading was too negative). Ed Balls, Labour's shadow chancellor, has already argued that today's GDP data shows the UK's double-dip was caused by domestic policy.

BS no. 2 ---- A strong performance by the powerhouse German economy, which grew by 0.5pc, helped haul the 17-members over the line and prevented the eurozone recording a second quarter of contraction in a row, according to the latest figures from Eurostat. In the fourth quarter of 2011, eurozone GDP shrank by 0.3pc.

Howard Archer, economist at Global Insight, said: “While it is welcome news that the eurozone avoided recession, its performance is hardly something to celebrate as GDP was only flat year-on-year in the first quarter of 2012. Furthermore, generally weaker latest data and, particularly, survey evidence suggests that renewed GDP contraction is very much on the menu for the second quarter.”

The debt crisis took its toll on the other core economies. French GDP failed to grow at all in the first three months of the year; Austria and Belgium showed modest growth; the recession in the Netherlands continued as its economy contracted 0.2pc quarter-on-quarter.

The Brussels top brass insist that we've entered a quiet patch. Yesterday, EC president Jose Manuel Barroso called for an end to "constant drama" over the euru. We'll see what we can do....Yes, it's a quiet patch. But it ain't going to last long. Greece has an awful lot of activities it's supposed to complete by end of march 2012. Now, call me cynical, but I don't think ministers minds are going to be on ticking off the action items for the Troika, with elections in late april / early may, and most of the electorate up for grabs.,,,,So come early april, the loud grumbling from Troika and various EZ finance ministers will resume.....A bit more on Evangelos Venizelos's resignation, which broke in the last few minutes. The finance minister made clear that he would resign by Monday, Helena Smith confirms. And here's a quote from the Pasok leader in waiting: I cannot continue to have a double role. As soon as I assume duties as the leader of the biggest party in parliament, I must dedicate myself to those duties. Helena adds that a poll in the satirical weekly To Pontiki, to be published tomorrow, shows that nine parties are expected to win seats in the next parliament -- a multi-party presence not seen since the 1950's in Greece. Speaking of double roles, I'm reminded that Mario Monti rebuffed the idea that he might chair the eurogroup (made up of eurozone finance ministers). Monti is a contender because he is Italy's economy minister, as well as being prime minister. The former European Commissioner has quite the CV, as financial reporter Fabrizio Goria of Linkiesta pointed out on Twitter last night.

Angela Merkel's constant mantra in recent months has been austerity, austerity, austerity. But apparently the German chancellor hasn't been quite as strict when it comes to her own country's budget. SPIEGEL reports this week that the German government didn't reach even half of its planned savings in the federal budget. Only 42 percent of the spending cuts named by Merkel's coalition government, comprised of the conservative Christian Democrats and the business-friendly Free Democratic Party, were actually implemented. Calculations made by the influential Cologne Institute for Economic Research indicate that only €4.7 billion ($6.16 billion) of the €11.2 billion in austerity measures stipulated by the savings package actually took shape in 2011. The government is also falling behind on its targets for this year. Of the originally planned €19.1 billion in savings, less than half has been implemented. For the coming year, the concrete measures that have been agreed on so far cover just one-third of the announced amount of savings. Merkel's cabinet is hoping to agree to the basic foundations of the 2013 federal budget in March.

34 Italian financial firms downgraded by Standard & Poor’s -- UniCredit SpA (UCG), Intesa Sanpaolo SpA and Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA (BMPS) were among 34 Italian financial firms downgraded by Standard & Poor’s, after the credit-ratings company reduced the nation’s grade last month. UniCredit, Italy’s biggest bank, and No. 2 Intesa had their long-term ratings lowered to BBB+ from A, S&P said yesterday in a statement. Monte dei Paschi, the No. 3 bank, was reduced to BBB from BBB+. All three have a negative outlook, S&P said. .....Italy’s credit rating was cut two levels to BBB+ from A on Jan. 13 as S&P said European leaders’ struggle to contain the region’s debt crisis would complicate the country’s efforts to finance borrowings. S&P yesterday revised its banking industry country risk assessment, known as Bicra, for Italy to group 4 from group 3, citing mounting risks. ...“Italy’s vulnerability to external financing risks has increased, given its high external public debt, resulting in Italian banks’ significantly diminished ability to roll over their wholesale debt,” S&P said in a separate statement on the country’s financial industry. “We anticipate persistently weak profitability for Italian banks in the next few years.” European nations are grappling with a debt crisis now in its third year as they seek to restore budget order and shore up the region’s financial industry. Spreads on some Italian banks are trading as if they were rated at the cusp of investment grade....go figure!?!?!?!...that means that either investors lost their marbels, or all the financial intitutions lost their credibility entireley !!!

On Sunday in a measured but pointed open letter to the government, the Association of Support and Cooperation of the State Armed Forces, the professional association of full-time staff, warned that the Greek Armed Forces are monitoring the government’s moves “with increased concern” and that their confidence in the “intentions of the state” have been “shaken”.