There is no German help that can solve the basic problem in Spain. Money, or access to it, is not the problem for the Spanish sovereign. It has had quitre literally hundreds of billions of euros thrown at it since it joined the EU a quarter of a century ago and it has still failed to develop a sustainable and functional economic model.   Fully a third of people in Madrid are employed by the state, many in utterly futile positions which are duplicated at regional and local model. Spain would be better off if it offered redundancy to all such public sector workers, with a view to cutting down numbers by say a third. Those who take up the offer should in addition to their redundancy pay be assured of loan and equity funding for business start ups to generate wealth that the country badly needs. And I'm not talking about property development projects on the coast which seems to be the default Spanish notion of entrepreneurialism.  All this schlepping up and down from one European capital to another by leaders and finance ministers is utterly futile. The fundamental problem will not be solved by finding some ingenious way of getting "free money" funneled from North to South. The basic problem is that, given developments in the East, not enough wealth is being generated to sustain our current economic and social model in both South and North. Countries such as Greece and Spain are being picked off in the same way that we see the least fleet of foot in the herd being picked off by the predator on those BBC wildlife programmes.   But if the basic problem is not tackled, what is happening in those countries will surely happen in countries such as France and the UK, which because of their proud histories implicitly believe that they are somehow immune, in a few years time. Let's stop sloganeering about bankers and tax evaders - for whom incidentally I have not an ounce of sympathy - and stop putting our faith in the chimera of revolution. Let us rather face up to the simple fact that if we want to maintain our existing social model we must start to generate wealth or within a generation we ALL will be eking out our livings on the verge of grinding poverty.

...54% of Germans are in favour of the court blocking the legislation,

Fate of eurozone rests in the hands of German judges. The decision is likely to give financial rescue fund the go-ahead against a background of German disillusion with single currency. They have the potential to throw the stock exchange into turmoil, trigger frenzy on bond markets and bring down the German government. So the eyes and ears of the eurozone will be on the eight red-robed judges of Germany's highest court this week when they deliver a long-awaited verdict over whether a financial rescue fund considered crucial to the future of the euro gets the green light.

The constitutional court is under international pressure to rule in favour of the European stability mechanism and fiscal pact. A dissenting ruling from the court, based in Karlsruhe, southwestern Germany, would probably cause havoc on money markets and cast doubt on the future of Europe's single currency.  "The German constitutional court cannot afford to be seen as not being independent, but it also cannot afford to be seen as the court that brought down the government," said Constanze Stelzenmüller, a senior transatlantic fellow at the German Marshall Fund in Berlin. "They're going to have to try to square the circle; in other words, not bring down the government at the same time as asserting their independence."

The ruling, due on Wednesday, is expected to give the go-ahead to the ESM, a permanent bailout mechanism, and the fiscal pact, but with caveats such as constraints on future decision-making or a ruling that Germany's basic law has to be rewritten if there is to be further EU integration.

A government insider told the Observer, on condition of anonymity, that the court "is very independent and always good for a surprise. Nobody knows what will happen on 12 September." A poll published on Friday on Spiegel Online showed that 54% of Germans were in favour of the court blocking the legislation, reflecting the degree to which public opposition to bailouts is increasing.

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.

Germany's main opposition, the Social Democrats, have upped the ante, saying that Chancellor Angela Merkel must assume greater risks to avert a breakup of the single currency.

Bloomberg has a report on an interview the SPD floor leader, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, gave to the Rheinische Post newspaper.

He raised the pressure on Mrs Merkel to agree to more burden-sharing to stem the euro crisis, claiming that Mrs Merkel, while rejecting euro-region bond sales, fails to say that Germany is already exposed to losses from the debt crisis through the European Central Bank’s bond purchases:

The government should finally be honest about it to the people. If we want to prevent the breakup of the euro zone, it won’t be without risks for Germany.....I have been following the EU. crisis for the last three years and the Muppets in Brussels still have no idea what to do. It gives me no confidence at all in our leaders in Brussels. The numpties in Westminster are not too bright but they beat the nutters in Brussels and Strasbourg hands down.

From debt crisis to food crisis. The UN's food agency has warned today that the world could face a food crisis like that of 2007/08 if countries restruct exports on concerns about a drought-fuelled grain price rally. In its latest update, the Food and Agriculture Organisation said its food price index climbed 6pc last month, after three months of decline, driven by a surge in grain and sugar prices.

Anxieties over extreme hot and dry weather in the US Midwest sent corn and soybean prices to record highs last month, driving overall food prices higher.  Grain markets have also been boosted recently by speculation that Black Sea grain producers, particularly Russia, might impose export restrictions after a drought there hit crops.

The FAO's senior economist and grain analyst Abdolreza Abbassian told Reuters:  There is an expectation that this time around we will not pursue bad policies and intervene in the market by restrictions, and if that doesn't happen we will not see such a serious situation as 2007/08. But if those policies get repeated, anything is possible.

In theory, Europe's leaders created...bla,bla, bla - in fact the concoring of Europe !

In theory, Europe's leaders created the temporary euro rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and its successor, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), both headed by Germans (though some have different citizenships but the same origin) precisely to support countries facing financial bottlenecks. But providing more help for Greece would be a very tough sell for Europe's politicians. Chancellor Angela Merkel would have to get the consent of the German parliament, the Bundestag, which could prove tricky. And Merkel's junior coalition partner, the conservative Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), has been adopting an increasing shrill tone against Greece lately -- meaning that the government could plunge into crisis if the chancellor supports more aid for Athens. For some weeks now, it has been clear that the Greeks would run out of money this summer. And there is no emergency backup plan in place. Everyone has instead counted on the ECB. For his part, ECB chief Mario Draghi seems to have accepted this and allowed the leaders of the euro-zone countries to force him into the role of the pragmatic emergency helper. ... For now, the priority for Greece is to keep its head above water until it receives its next planned bailout payment. The troika overseeing Greece's aid package, comprised of the European Commission, the ECB and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and headed by Horst Reichenbach, The German Governor of Greece is expected to decide on the payment of the next tranche of €31 billion in September. In terms of communication, it appears that the troika is already trying to pave the path for a "yes" on the tranche payout. Recently, it gave unexpected praise for an agreement that would see Greece introduce additional austerity measures worth €11.5 billion in 2013 and 2014. "Talks went well, we made good progress," the IMF's mission chief for Greece, Poul Thomsen, told reporters. And the troika has stated that progress has been made with Greece's plans to privatize state-owned assets. The Greek government is claiming it will have binding offers for the sale of state gas company Depa and the gas grid operator DESPA by the end of September. The message is meant to be that things are moving forward. Meanwhile, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras wants to do a bit of hustling before the governor of Greece Mr Horst Reichenbach issues his decision. He is planning visits to Germany and France at the end of August. The Greek media have already reported on his plans for the trip: Samaras wants to ward off Greece's "quick euro death."....well there is no "troika" - there is a 4th Reich however and Greece is a test site for what it is to follow for Europe.

It will be an entertaining spectacle. ....

I don't give damn what Edgar Jones, Johnny Smith, Kevin Ross or whatever other American company with a fancy name say. Sooner rather than later the PIIGS will dump the euro, the EU and the west forever, strengthening ties with emerging south American emerging countries, with which they share language and culture, other Mediterranean nations, with which they share geographic interests and I bet Russia and China too.All the US will have accomplishment is to lose its geopolitical grip on yet another area in the planet and all Germany will have accomplished is being despised south and not only east of its borders. Your opinions, your comments, your ratings will become totally irrelevant to us. Moody's can downgrade us to ZZZZ if it wants, we'll keep on eating good food, enjoying good climate, making love with gorgeous women and have a higher life expectancy than Germany, the US and the UK. ... Bye bye loser....

I will be laughing my aSs off when Frau Merkel starts begging Italy and Spain not to leave the euro offering them billions in bail-outs with no conditions attached, having to explain her countrymen how the euro was the fundamental element behind german economic miracle and how export would collapse and unemployment jump to 10% or above without it...... It will be an entertaining spectacle. All Italy and Spain need to do is to threaten exit FOR real. France, having their same economic fundamentals, cannot afford them to have a weaker currency and will have to follow suit. One second after, the German bluff will be exposed. I propose Cascos for Spanish PM and Grillo for Italian PM. Rajoy and Monti simply don't have the balls to do that.

La Signora No in Italy

HAVE NO DOUBT : EUROPE IS BEEING RULED BY THE FOURTH. REICH - - -THERE IS NO ESCAPE !!!!

Mrs Merkel -- or La Signora No in Italy -- doused hopes of a break-through on proposals by the "Latin Bloc" leaders of Italy, France, and Spain to deploy the funds (EFSF and ESM) to cap the bond yields of "virtuous" countries vulnerable to contagion, or to re capitalize banks directly to take the strain off sovereign states. "If I give moneystriaght to Spanish banks, I can't control what they do. That is how the treaties are written," she said, before racing off to Danzig to tonight for Euro 2012 quarter final between Greece and German.. Christine Lagarde, the head of the IMF, warned before the summit that the eurozone is under "acute stress" and at risk of a downward spiral. "The viability of the European monetary system is questioned. There must be a overcapitalization of the weak banks, with preferably a direct link between the EFSF/ESM and the banks, in order to break the negative feedback loop that we have between banks and sovereigns."

"Angela Merkel defies Latin Europe and the IMF on bond rescue". The headline says it all - AEP seeds hate between European nations to obfuscate the fact that people the as well in Latin Europe as in Germany are enslaved by a financial system that plays dirty against the people. And the people can't win the game because mathematics always wins, no chance against compound interest on hot-air-money. But wait - the lenders are only a few, and the people are millions, and the lenders reside in big buildings in the center of towns. Just like Alexander solved the Gordian knot without dealing with the mathematical intricacies, the people of Europe might solve their problem with extremely leveraged private banks that enslave whole populations to pay compound interests on money that was simply created by a keystroke with no productive effort whatsoever - with the sword.

Now the party is over.....

Even a default , bank bankruptcies and a return to original currencies would be only a temporary relief for the economies of the countries of Europe. The rot would continue because the monetary system that has been in place since 1971 is unworkable in the long run. By this I mean the issuance by central banks of irredeemable digital "money" as debt allied with fractional reserve banking and a macroeconomic theory that justifies the price fixing of the rental of this "money" which comprises one half of every transaction. For the most part, most countries got what they wanted from the Euro, initially at least. The PIIGS (and Belgium) gained a stronger currency, easy access to the capital markets and an ability to borrow - unchecked - France checked Germany and Germany both moved to the center of Europe and her exporters benefited from a currency devalued by 30-40%. Now the party is over, but there are still now there are no discernable, serious voices in Europe's major democracies that wish to leave the Euro...Indeed, it's difficult to see what the process would be that leads to a Euro unwind. I'm not sure that Frau Merkel has the political mandate to start writing checks to individual countries without further surrender of sovereignty by those countries to the EU/EC, so I don't think that there is much point in brow-beating her over it. .... In short, her hands are tied: the paradox here being that the [German] political system that produces weak coalition governments incapable of making decisions was part of the post WW2 settlement for Germany. What the world needs is to recognize that this "big picture" thinking is delusional. It is all a dream of perpetual prosperity that has turned into a nightmare. We must as soon as practicable introduce competing currencies with sound money, traditionally gold and silver, free banking, removal of legal tender laws and abolition of fractional reserve banking. This can be accompanied by the re-introduction of real bills trading with 91 day maturities into gold or silver on commodities in most urgent demand. This market was closed during WWI and not re-opened because it would have given Germany the opportunity to recover quickly through fluid multi-lateral trade. It provides the wage fund without which we descended into the Great Depression. It would also serve every nation to abandon the so-called free trade agreements and initiate true free trade. All of these measures would ultimately lead to the disintegration of artificial treaty unions like the EU and the return of truly sovereign nations. The present political class would also be swept away in the hurricane of real change.

The Nobel-prize winning economist and Keynesian supporter Paul Krugman, has weighed in on the Irish referendum over the EU fiscal compact, saying he would vote no. Speaking on the Today Program on Radio 4, Krugman argued that Ireland could send a "helpful message" to Brussels by rejecting the proposal for closer fiscal ties across the eurozone, when they vote tomorrow. Last night, Krugnam criticized George Osborne's approach to the crisis, arguing that the Britsh government should become play the role of 'spender of last resort'. In a speech at the London School of Economics, Krugman said increased government spending and 'exotic' monetary policy was the best way to rise out the crisis: If you want to worry about debt and deficits, fine, but this is the time, to quote St. Augustine, to say 'Oh Lord, make me chaste and continent, but not yet."

The ECB told Madrid that a proper capital injection was needed for Bankia and its plans were in danger of breaching an EU ban on "monetary financing," or central bank funding of governments, according to two European officials. But where else can Spain get the money from? The capital markets aren't exactly desperate to lend to the country, with bond yields already close to the 'danger zone....."This is like a game of poker now," one government adviser told the FT, "and I don't think Spain is bluffing". The ban on monetary finance is a cornerstone of conventional central bank thinking -- governments rescue banks, not the other way around. But the sovereign debt crisis now so severe that some economists, such as Robin Bew of The Economist Intelligence Unit, believe "monetisation" of national debts may soon be the only way forward. The ECB bought up billions of euros of Spanish and Italian sovereign bonds through its Securities Market Programme (SMP) a few months back, so you could argue that its already pushing the bounds of non-monetisation.

The report card for the eurozone as a whole is gloomy. The EU says that over the last year the crisis in the euro area went through its most acute phase to date.Brussels has released its financial reports on eurozone countries.

Euro has spiked on that release, FTSE 100 claws back losses to trade down 1.3pc, IBEX doing better at 0.6pc down. EU adds that the 17 countries that use the euro should consider setting up a “banking union” that allows them to share the burden of bank failures.

To further stop expensive bank bailouts from pulling down governments’ own finances, allowing the eurozone’s new rescue fund to directly boost the capital of banks “might be envisaged,” the European Commission said. Spain called for this measure earlier in the week. The European Commission also highlights “structural challenges” for the UK:
• Private debt levels are still too high.
• The economy has too many people with low skills
• There is a lack of high-quality and affordable childcare
• There is a significant shortage of housing and house prices remain too high
• A persistently negative net export position has hit competitiveness.
Other highlights from the EU's report:
SPAIN In 2012, Spain's economic activity is expected to contract by 1.8pc, and by 0.3pc in 2013. Unemployment is foreseen to increase further to 25.1pc in 2013, also for the young.
FRANCE In 2012, France's economic activity is expected to grow by 0.5pc, before regaining momentum in 2013 to reach 1.3pc. Unemployment is foreseen to increase further to 10.2pc.
GERMANY In 2012, Germany's economic activity is expected to significantly slow down as compared to 2011. Real GDP is projected to increase by 0.7pc. Unemployment is foreseen to further drop to 5.5pc.
GREECE The recovery previously announced for next year will be further delayed with, at best, a stagnation of activity in 2013. It is only in 2014 that positive annual growth rates are expected to return.
IRELAND Ireland’s economy returned to modest, export-driven growth of 0.7pc in 2011. While employment contracted by 2.1pc in 2011 as a whole, it grew by a seasonally adjusted 0.6pc in the final quarter of 2011. Unemployment is expected to reach 14.3pc in 2012.
ITALY In 2012, Italy's economic activity is expected to contract by 1.4pc, and gradually recover in 2013. The unemployment rate is foreseen to increase further to 9.5pc this year and 9.7pc in 2013.SPAIN: In 2012, Spain's economic activity is expected to contract by 1.8pc, and by 0.3pc in 2013. Unemployment is foreseen to increase further to 25.1pc in 2013, also for the young.

In the UK this year, economic activity is expected to remain subdued, with growth of 0.5pc, before regaining momentum in 2013. Unemployment is forecast to reach 8.5pc.
At its centre was a dangerous feedback loop between sovereigns, the banking system and the deteriorating economic outlook. As banks in Europe hold large amounts of domestic sovereign debt, concerns about the sustainability of sovereign debt spilled over to the banking sector. In turn, banks’ limited capacity to absorb losses added to the sovereign risk as governments were perceived as ultimate backstops for ailing financial institutions. Finally, feeble growth prospects – weakened further by private and public deleveraging – increased the concerns about debt sustainability and banks' profitability, led to higher debt refinancing costs and endangered debt sustainability in a self-fulfilling way.
The report highlights the spread of contagion to vulnerable euro states that has revealed or compounding various home-grown problems.
Markets remain exceptionally tense and vigilant and confidence is still weak, it said, stressing the need to continue with reform efforts to address the medium- and longer-term challenges of the euro area, in particular to:
• revive growth and increase growth potential
• reduce the high debt burden in the public and private sector in a well-coordinated manner across countries in a way that does not excessively constrain economic growth
• continue financial repair in particular to ensure a sound banking sector, able to provide healthy financing to the economy.
However, the report concludes more steps will be necessary in the medium term.
Citigroup says €800bn+ ECB support required in event of contagion.

I wouldn't be surprised to hear that Greece has already started printing Drachmas in secret and that Germany had been printing DMs

The Pew Global Attitudes Project polled 8,000 people in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece, Poland, Britain and the Czech Republic from mid-March to mid-April and identified unprecedented levels of discontent with the EU. "The European project, which began with the creation of a small common market in 1957, grew to a larger single market in 1992 and then created the single currency in 2002, is a major casualty of the sovereign debt crisis," the report concluded. "Majorities or near majorities in most nations now believe that the economic integration of Europe has actually weakened their economies." At a time when the EU is pushing closer to an economic and fiscal union for the eurozone, popular opinion is pulling the other way. That contradiction has led to electoral upsets across Europe, from Greece to the Netherlands and France in the past three months alone. Majorities in most countries now blame EU integration for damaging their economies, but the figures hit 70% in Greece, 63% in France and 61pc in Italy, all countries once regarded as staunchly pro-European. Just one third of the people – 34% – believe that economic integration, a central plank of the EU's raison d'etre, is a benefit.
De La Rue, the money printer, failed to dampen speculation that it has been secretly awarded a contract to start printing drachmas the moment Greece is forced out of the euro. The company said that its order book had increased by 14pc, to £248m, but its policy was to never reveal which specific contracts it was working on. The chief executive Tim Cobbold said: “We have people in every region in the world. We are very close to all geopolitical conditions that develop.”

He said, however, that in most circumstances it took six months between an initial order being placed by a central bank or government, and the notes being delivered. This was the time it took when South Sudan introduced the South Sudanese pound after it gained independence last year.

To print a new currency in the space of a couple of weeks “would be impossible”.

Sergey Shvestov, the vice president of Russia’s Central Bank, said that Greece already has a plan to introduce its own currency, in parallel to to the euro. He said it with high certainty.

Making contingency plans for different options is the right thing to do for anyone, but saying it about Greece and with such a degree of certainty is new.

Shvestov didn’t want to share more details, but said that leaving the euro-zone is a necessity for Greece. He said it would be a “good example” for other countries.

The Russian Center for Strategic Studies in Moscow said that a Grexit will ignite a global crisis affecting the price of oil. They see a a chance of more than 50% that Greece will leave the euro-zone and that it will cause other countries will leave as well. El Economista brings this report. Rumors about fresh polls show that anti-bailout SYRIZA is in the lead, with 30% support. The situation in Greece is so bad that the country may leave the zone even if pro-bailout parties win.

EUR/USD is struggling between 1.25 and 1.26. Is another fall coming?

The summit was a polite showdown between Germany and the emerging "Latin Bloc"

In what appeared to be a shot across the bows of the French, meanwhile, Germany's central bank warned for the first time that if the Greek crisis came to a head, Germany's and the eurozone's interests would be best served by Greece's exit from the currency. According to the Reuters news agency, the 17 governments of the eurozone were told on Monday to draw up individual contingency plans for a Greek exit. The Greek government denied that such an instruction was issued, but not before investors, fearful of a disorderly break-up of the euro, led a sell-off on global stock markets. The FTSE 100 fell 136 points, or 2.53%, while the leading indexes in France and Germany saw similar declines The Bundesbank in Frankfurt said that Greece was threatening to renege on the terms of its €130bn (£104bn) euro bailout. "The challenge this would create for the euro area and Germany would be considerable but manageable," the statement said. "By contrast, a significant dilution of existing agreements would damage confidence in all euro area agreements and treaties … calling into question the institutional status quo."....The timing of the Bundesbank warning appeared to be directed at the talks. It said that given the risks involved in bailing out Greece, eurozone governments should reconsider their lifeline to Athens. No decisions were expected. Herman Van Rompuy, who was chairing the summit, said there should be no taboos and appeared to support French pressure for a discussion of eurobonds by calling for a debate on longer-term integration measures in the monetary union.  Merkel and Hollande disagree on tactics towards Greece, with the French favouring sending a signal on easing the schedule for Greek deficit reduction while the Germans believe this would encourage Athens to compromise on the austerity measures....Disarray in Europe and fears of an unstoppable Greek exit sent markets into a tailspin. The FTSE 100 lost 2.53pc, and the German DAX dropped 2.3pc. Spain's IBEX slumped 3.3pc to a nine-year low. The euro tumbled almost a cent to $1.2566 against the dollar, the lowest since August 2010. Spain's 10-year bond yields jumped to 6.14pc.

The summit was a polite showdown between Germany and an emerging "Latin Bloc" led by France, Italy and Spain, determined to force a change in the Europe's strategic direction. The Latin coalition wants eurobonds to kickstart growth and mutualise debts, anathema to Germany, as well as EMU-wide deposit guarantees and an activist ECB. Chancellor Angela Merkel has ruled out eurobonds, although there could still be room for project bonds or short-term "euro-bills".

Greeks needed a programme that supported growth, creation of work places and investment, Tsipras said....

UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo announced on Tuesday night that they intend to sell their holdings in the LSE to institutional investors.

Combined, their stakes account for more than 11pc of LSE shares. Morgan Stanley has been appointed to act for both banks and the sale is expected to take place via an “accelerated bookbuild”, where most shares are likely to be offloaded overnight. It is understood the shares have been offered at between 960p and £10.00, a sizeable discount to Tuesday’s closing price of £10.21.....UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo have been shareholders in the LSE since 2007, when the exchange bought its Italian equivalent, the Borsa Italiana, for €1.63bn (£1.31bn). Neither bank offered a reason for the surprise sale but the move comes a week after they were both downgraded by rating agency Moody’s amid mounting gloom over the stability of Italy’s financial system. Today starts the most important EU- Summit-since the last G8-summit three days before. In line with his few days as new French president, Hollande will convince all other Presidents, that he is unable to marshal the French economy as he is lacking any experience and training and interest in economy, which is normal for a Socialist, but he feels fully committed to the Socialist principle of pick pocketing, now in the wallets of the rich North, Britain included, and spending the picked money for the poor in the South, France included...In the mean time - what was his "price" ..."The leader of Greece's radical left coalition, Alexis Tsipras, has appealed to Germans to show solidarity towards the embattled, debt-ridden Greeks, telling them that his country's economic woes were those of a whole continent.  On the Berlin leg of a charm offensive to win over European politicians, the 37-year old, whose Syriza coalition has a good chance of securing victory at a repeat election on 17 June, stressed that he wanted to work with the Germans to "find a solution to our joint problem". Following a visit to Paris on Monday, Tsipras met likeminded, anti-capitalist far-left politicians in Berlin.  He said the trenchant views of Angela Merkel's German government on the eurozone debt crisis and her adherence to unpopular austerity measures were part of the problem. "It would be helpful if we focused on this as a geographical problem facing the whole of Europe rather than concentrating on one country and looking to destroy a nation of peoples," he said.

World leaders meeting at the weekend’s G8 summit in the US are to focus heavily on the European crisis Saturday, after President Barack Obama aligned himself with the new French president’s drive for more economic stimulus. ...AFP - Leaders of the world's most powerful nations were to focus their attention on Europe's economic woes Saturday after President Barack Obama threw his weight behind French calls for more pro-growth policies. Obama set the stage for a fractious G8 summit here by forging an alliance with new French President Francois Hollande over the need to jolt Europe back to growth. Fearing Europe's economic crisis is poised to worsen -- with dangerous repercussions for the US economy and perhaps his chances of re-election -- Obama weighed in, risking the ire of German Chancellor Angela Merkel who has championed an austerity-first approach. Shortly before welcoming Merkel and other leaders to the famed presidential retreat outside Washington, Obama noted Friday that events in Europe held "extraordinary" importance for the United States. The G8 needs to discuss "a responsible approach to fiscal consolidation that is coupled with a strong growth agenda," he said. To kick-off the summit a tie-free Obama greeted leaders shortly after dusk Friday at the threshold of his wood cabin for an informal dinner that lasted more than two hours. But the dressed-down atmosphere did little to relieve tensions, which have been stoked by the belief that two years of painful cuts demanded by Germany and others have undercut Greek growth and made recovery more difficult. In what may have been a telling moment, Obama greeted Merkel at his Laurel Lodge with a cordial: "How've you been?" When her response came: a shrug and pursed lips, Obama conceded: "Well, you have a few things on your mind." Publicly European leaders have attempted to smooth over the splits within the G8, insisting austerity and stimulus need not be mutually exclusive. "We need to take action for growth while staying the course in terms of putting our public finances in order. Stability and growth go together, they are two sides of the same coin," European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said ahead of the summit. But with Greece's fiscal crisis apparently approaching denouement, those good words may be sorely tested....
The euro zone crisis is set to dominate four days of intense diplomacy which began in Washington Friday morning and continued through a meeting of G8 leaders at the presidential retreat Camp David on Friday evening. Discussions will continue there on Saturday and on to a Nato meeting in Chicago.
In talks at the White House, only hours before the Camp David summit, Obama met the new French president, François Hollande, for a one-to-one conversation in which he explored the possibility of a new approach to the eurozone crisis based on a pro-growth, stimulus strategy. Obama has been pressing for such a strategy for the past three years and has a potential ally in Hollande.
The White House welcomed what it sees as a change in the debate since Hollande's election that tilts the balance slightly more in favour of a growth strategy. The French president is proposing an EU-wide financial transaction tax (FTT) that could raise up to €57bn a year that could be used to stimulate the 27-nation bloc. After meeting Obama, Hollande was scheduled to meet David Cameron in Washington before flying to Camp David.
However on arriving in the US, Cameron said: "On the financial transactions tax I'm very clear. We are not going to get growth in Europe or Britain by introducing a new tax that would actually hit people as well as financial institutions. I don't think it is a sensible measure. I will not support it."

We are constantly told that if we don't all neoliberalize everything, screw the poor to give to the rich and destroy all civilized parts of our society then the clever wizards say that TERRIBLE THINGS will happen. The "markets" and the "euro" and other abstractions will PUNISH US. No mechanisms are ever explained. Funny how much this resembles the wizards and magical shamans of the middle ages saying that God is on their side. If we don't give our tithes to the church then God will punish us, little children. ... One estimate put the cost to the eurozone of Greece making a disorderly exit from the currency at $1tn, 5% of output. This is exactly the kind of economic prediction that I'm talking about. How on Earth can they predict this with any degree of remote accuracy? It's like trying to predict the exact results of every match at the upcoming European Championships. Still, you can be virtually certain about one thing in both the football and the economy. Greece will eventually get knocked out.  ----  THE FACTS ARE :...If Greece decides to leave the euro it'll certainly make sense in the longer term-- the macroeconomic conditionality attached to the euro by the ECB is a 'one size fits all' framework designed to promote the economies of the EU's richer countries, and Greece is never going to derive any benefit from being in the euro. But for now economic catastrophe looms since Greece's current debt is denominated in euros, and the new drachma will involve a swift and drastic devaluation. There is no way Greece can pay its euro debt using the new drachma. The humane solution would be for the richer nations to cancel Greece's debt the moment it leaves the euro. To not do so would be to punish millions of ordinary people who did nothing to cause this crisis.

Outgoing PM Lucas Papademos has warned it would be "disastrous" for Greece to reject the austerity measures, which come as a condition of its bailout cash: Any modification... must be pursued in a spirit of consensus and with the full agreement of European peers. A unilateral rejection of the country's contractual obligations would be disastrous for Greece, leading unavoidably outside the euro and possible outside the European Union....The decisions we take could seal Greece's course for decades. They could lead the country to the fringe, canceling historic national achievements of the last 38 years.

GREECE HAS A GERMAN GOVERNOR - HORST REICHENBACH ...IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW !!!!

 THE PEOPLE OF GREECE SHOULD KEEP VOTING OUT THESE TRAITORS - Panos Kammenos, leader of a conservative party that opposes Greece's international bailout deal, emerged from the presidential mansion where the talks had been held and said that no deal had been reached. Greek socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos ( who is not a socialist in fact, but more of a Merkel slave infiltrated among the real socialists) backed up the report. "We are going again towards elections, in a few days, under very bad conditions," he said, while a statement from the president's office noted simply that efforts to form a government had failed.. Left-wing leader Fotis Kouvelis added: "I did everything I could to avoid new elections. From the very first moment some parties had chosen to go for new elections."...The leaders of Greece's main political parties have been trying to form a coalition since elections nine days ago. The anti-austerity Left Coalition party Syriza, which is widely expected to win the new elections in June, refused to take part in this week's discussions.

Party spokesman Panos Skourletis said: "It is obvious that there is an effort to bring about a government that will implement the bailout. We are not participating in such a government."

Spain reintroduced checks at the border with France ahead of the meeting, temporarily suspending the Schengen agreement. So far reports say 17 arrests have been made at the border and 43 people denied entrance because of previous police records involving "violent protest". Authorities want to avoid clashes staged by "anticapitalist" protestors who may travel from abroad for the event. However, students from Barcelona University are staging a "strike" today and have taken to the streets to protest education cuts announced by Mariano Rajoy's conservative government last month. Streets have been blocked by the demo in the centre of the city. Some 8,000 police are on the streets of Barcelona during the ECB meeting to prevent trouble. Snipers visible on rooftops, armoured vehicles and riot police at the ready and helicopters flying overhead. The sunny city is on lockdown with some twitter uses dubbing the Catalan capital "carcelona" - carcel means prison in Spanish. No signs of any trouble as yet.... Mr Draghi's predecessor, Jean-Claude Trichet (below) has told German TV that Europe is "only halfway" through the crisis. In an interview with he said: Hard work has been done, but we are only halfway, and a lot still has to be done [...] As the leader of the Governing Council which has taken all those difficult decisions, yes they are doing a very good job... Mario Draghi will tonight hold a private meeting with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in which the Spanish leader is expected to ask for affirmation that the ECB can be relied on to provide liquidity boosts for Spain’s ailing banks. Mr Draghi’s had some positive things to say about Spain. In the press conference he recognised that Spain had “carried out significant reforms in a short time” though insisted that “perseverance was needed to push through more structural reforms” especially in the banking sector. ... The online edition of Spain’s financial newspaper Expansion chose to highlight his comments on further reforms. “Draghi calls for more forceful measures: ‘If you have a problem with the banks, confront it’” said the headline. Overall the paper said there were no surprises in decisions taken during by the ECB governing council.

The People’s Bank of China said that from Monday it will double the trading band, so that the yuan can fluctuate by 1pc every day from a mid-point, compared with its previous limit of 0.5pc. The move demonstrates Beijing’s belief that the yuan is now stable enough to handle major structural reforms, despite slowing growth of the Chinese economy.  Analysts said the slowdown may have actually spurred Beijing to make the change, because the Chinese government knew it could introduce the larger band without causing a spike in the yuan’s value. "The central bank chose a good time window to enlarge the trading band. The market's expectation for a stronger yuan is weakening," said Dong Xian'an, chief economist at Peking First Advisory in Beijing.  Nonetheless, The People's Bank of China took the unusual step of issuing its announcement in English rather than Mandarin. Sources said China wanted to deflect criticism of its currency policy ahead of the International Monetary Fund's annual spring meeting in Washington next week.
Datele anunţate de Banca Spaniei au împins costul de asigurare a datoriilor ţării la un nou nivel record şi ar putea influenţa planurile guvernului de la Madrid de a vinde săptămâna următoare obligaţiuni.   În februarie, băncile spaniole au împrumutat 169,8 miliarde de euro de la BCE.
BCE a împrumutat băncilor din zona euro aproximativ 1.000 de miliarde de euro prin două licitaţii în decembrie şi februarie.  Chiar dacă programul de lichidităţi al BCE s-a dovedit un sprijin important pentru instituţiile de credit din Spania, finanţarea nu poate fi decât o rezolvare temporară a expunerii puternice pe piaţa imobiliară şi a declinului încrederii, consideră economiştii.

"Condiţiile de finanţare s-au îmbunătăţit ca urmare a lichidităţilor nelimitate oferite de BCE, dar nu tot ce străluceşte este aur. Lichiditatea ieftină şi nelimitată poate rezolva parţial problemele de lichiditate pe termen scurt, dar a te baza pe BCE pentru finanţare este, în opinia noastră, un model de afaceri discutabil, care pe termen lung impune un cost mai ridicat al capitalului", potrivit unei note către investitori a Exane BNP Paribas. Analiştii consideră că Spania a intrat deja în a doua recesiune din ultimii trei ani, în contextul recuperării dificile a economiei după prăbuşirea pieţei imobiliare în timpul crizei financiare din 2008. Guvernul a cerut băncilor să-şi consolideze nivelurile de capital, lovite puternic de criză. Vulnerabilitatea băncilor este, alături de îndatorarea ridicată a statului, printre principalii factori care ar putea forţa Spania să ceară ajutor european.
Spania a revenit puternic în centrul crizei datoriilor suverane din Europa, ca urmare a încercărilor noului guvern de a convinge investitorii că îşi poate controla deficitul bugetar, iar băncile spaniole se pot refinanţa singure, fără ajutor de stat sau european.

The Bank of Portugal said the use by domestic banks for the various facilities available from the ECB rose to €56.3bn in March – up from €47.5bn in February and greater than the previous record level of €49.1bn in August 2010.

Bailed out by the EU and International Monetary Fund in April 2011 for €78bn, Portugal has €12bn earmarked for bolstering its banks' capital positions if necessary in the months ahead. The plight of Portugal's banks was revealed following the cash injection by the ECB in February when the central bank lent €529bn to 800 banks across the eurozone through its long-term refinancing operation (LTRO).  Portuguese banks were among those frozen out from the wholesale funding markets – where banks borrow from each other or professional investors – during the height of the eurozone crisis and as a result are among a number in the eurozone that utilise ECB funding.  "I think it's natural and reasonable for banks to have taken advantage of these funds under the circumstances, especially after the ECB relaxed some collateral requirements before February's injection," Teresa Gil Pinheiro, chief economist at Banco BPI in Lisbon, told Reuters.  "The LTRO injection was in late February so it's natural that it is registered in March," she said.  The Portuguese continued reliance on ECB funding comes amid fresh concerns in the eurozone about the price at which the governments of Spain and Italy can borrow on the markets.  A weak auction of Spanish government bonds last week – when some €2.5bn rather than €3.5bn were sold – was regarded a sign that the initial confidence the ECB created through its injections of cheap cash was evaporating.

The Greek prime minister Lucas Papademos has conceded that the crisis-plagued country could require a third bailout only weeks after it secured a second package of rescue funds following months of hand-wringing in Brussels. Athens may have received the biggest bailout in history but another lifeline could not be ruled out, the technocratic leader said in an interview. So far, the EU and International Monetary Fund have committed a total €240bn (£200bn) to the near-bankrupt nation.  "Some form of financial assistance might be necessary but we have to work intensely to avoid such an event," Papademos told the Italian business daily Il Sole 24 Ore.  Addressing the Greek parliament on Friday he warned of further spending cuts, saying whatever government emerged after forthcoming general elections it was vital that it prepared for the measures.  "In 2013-2014, a reduction in state spending of about €12bn is required under the new economic programme," Papademos told MPs in what is expected to be one of his last appearances before the 300-seat house.

"Every effort must be made to limit wasteful spending and not to further burden salaries of civil servants."Well-placed sources said the prospect of further aid would be "a given" if Greece was unable to service its debt by borrowing on international markets. Papademos, a former vice president of the European Central Bank, said even if Athens enforced all the reforms being demanded by its "troika" of creditors at the EU, ECB and IMF, it remained far from certain that it would be able to access capital markets by 2015, when the country's latest financial support program ends.

It's very simple but few seem to learn - don't use a bank.

Credit card companies are using "shameful practices" to maximise profits from customers on interest-free balance transfer deals, the managing director of a bank has claimed. Brian Cole, of Capital One in the UK, the bank that first introduced zero-interest balance transfers to Britain in the 90s, says: "There's a lot of practice in the [banking] marketplace that is shameful, and credit card companies are not immune. [Balance transfer] customers think they're going to progress in getting out of debt, and get some relief from interest payments. But make a mistake and you will end up making money for your credit card company." Cole stopped Capital One making interest-free balance transfers available to mainstream customers in 2008. He says: "When we first introduced the interest-free balance transfer it was a very different product to now. The interest-free period lasted six months and it was a loyalty based play: we hoped the customer would stay at the end of the interest-free period, but if they didn't, we didn't lose lots of cash." Borrowers loved the idea of interest-free credit, and soon banks were vying for business by extending the interest-free period. The longer it became, the more difficult it was to make money, says Cole: "The pressure for issuers to find that revenue intensified, and on the back of that came sharp practices." Andrew Hagger of product comparison website MoneyNet says he was surprised that credit card companies not only continued offering zero-interest balance transfers after the credit crunch, but extended the length of the deals. In September 2007 there were 86 deals on offer with an average interest-free term of 9.14 months. Now there are 74, but the average term has increased to 12.64 months and Barclaycard and the Halifax are both offering 22-month deals. "It's surprising to see the balance transfer market still apparently thriving in this post-crunch era – however, while the number of deals remains high, the volume of people being declined is likely to have increased markedly as borrowers focus on consumers with a squeaky clean credit history. Offering long-term 0% balance transfer deals is a great way for card providers to get free advertising via the best buy tables," says Hagger. So how do banks make money out of what seems to be such a bargain for those who qualify? Banks lose money during the interest-free period, as they will be paying interest on the money lent to you. But they can recoup some of that with the balance transfer fee. Cole says: "If you're transferring £10,000 with a 2% balance transfer fee, that's costing you £200. That's quite a sizeable amount, but it still doesn't feel much to the customer because it doesn't come directly out of their pocket – it's added on to the credit balance.".....It's very simple but few seem to learn - don't use a bank. You want a better life - don't use banks. This is your choice. Credit Card use fuels the fractional reserve banking system which is the root of all the debt issues.