A US appeals court panel has said that federal officials must reconsider their decision not to regulate the size of airline seats as a safety issue. In a ruling on Friday, one of the judges called it “the case of the incredible shrinking airline seat”.  The Flyers Rights passenger group challenged the Federal Aviation Administration in court after the agency rejected its request to write rules governing seat size and the distance between rows of seats.  New York senator calls for FAA action over 'shrinkage' of airplane seats A three-judge panel for the federal appeals court in Washington said the FAA had relied on outdated or irrelevant tests and studies before deciding that seat spacing was a matter of comfort, not safety.  The judges sent the issue back to the FAA and said the agency must come up with a better-reasoned response to the group’s safety concerns.  “We applaud the court’s decision, and the path to larger seats has suddenly become a bit wider,” said Kendall Creighton, a spokeswoman for Flyers Rights.  The passenger group says small seats bunched too close together slow down emergency evacuations and raise the danger of travellers developing vein clots.  FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said the agency was considering the ruling and its next steps. He said the FAA considers the spacing between seat rows when testing to make sure airliners can be evacuated safely.

The International Monetary Fund, the third pillar of the creditors' Troika, has not yet accepted that and continues to ask for the application of a new debt reduction, so that it becomes bearable, as well as the continuation of the austerity programs. Even though the authorities in Athens have accepted the measures adopted in the Eurogroup meeting, once they got home they also "discovered" their true meaning. The measures for relieving the burden of the public debt will be applicable until 2060 and are subject to achieving the creation of a budget surplus of approximately 3.5% of the GDP over a ten year period, which will begin after the completion of the current bail-out program, in 2018.  Apparently no one knows why the new proposals of the European creditors are realistic. What will be extremely realistic and painful will be the new taxes provided in the draft budget for 2017. According to an article from French newspaper Le Monde, new taxes will be introduced for personal vehicles, landline phones, TVs, fuel, tobacco, coffee and beer.  Unfortunately, those taxes are missing one item, because there haven't been dance taxes introduced, as is happening in Brussels, where the local authorities have "rediscovered" a tax that was approved in the "50s and they send people undercover in bars and restaurants to make sure it is paid.  Of course, the "optimism" displayed by the European and the Greek authorities is completely out of place. "The agreement of the Eurogroup represents a chance for Greece to turn a corner", said Euclid Tsakalotos, finance minister in the government led by Alexis Tsipras, except his statement was made in spring this year, according to daily Kathimerini. Nobody expected miracles right away back then, but there are no signals that Greece is ready to turn a corner, just like nobody expects the new tax hikes and the newly introduced taxes to generate a virtuous circle of growth. As strange as it may seem, the notion of "virtuous circle of economic growth" actually exists in the discourse of the authorities in Athens. As always their optimism runs smack dab into the attitude of German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble. On the day of the referendum in Italy, Schäuble said, in an interview he gave Bild am Sonntag, that "Athens needs to finally apply the necessary reforms, or else it has no room in the Eurozone".

The "Entrepreneurs" provide us with critical innovation and keep us at the forefront of global markets and they also create ways (for individuals)to gain financial independence. So why has the percentage of start-ups in the U.S. dropped significantly in the last 35 years? This is particularly worrisome in light of the healthy state of the stock market and the many new ways to raise capital. Without the impetus of more business formation, how will we ever lift up the 40 million people currently living below the poverty line... I think there are three factors contributing to the decline of entrepreneurship. For starters, the slow recovery of the economy and stagnant wage levels have caused widespread risk aversion, especially among millennials. With a trillion dollars of college debt weighing them down, they seek the security of a paycheck, even if the pay is low. While a majority (55%) hopes to start a business one day, their dreams remain on hold.

A second reason for the decline is the lack of an early introduction to the possibilities and benefits of starting a business. For the last several years, the emphasis has been mainly on postsecondary education. University and community college programs in entrepreneurship have proliferated. Top academic schools like MIT now offer courses such as "Entrepreneurial Finance" and "The Nuts and Bolts of New Ventures/Business Plans." At the University of Maryland, students can select from more than a hundred courses geared toward starting a business. And at the #1-rated Santa Barbara City College, an entire academic center is devoted to entrepreneurship and innovation. There's even an organization called the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE), which brings entrepreneurial programs at the community college level together to try and link traditional roles of workforce development with entrepreneurial development.

Dezaster ??...or onother theory??

The plot with Comet ISON thickens! We have been speculating for a few weeks now about the whereabouts and path of the incoming interstellar object. We know that both the United States and Russia have been preparing for an October 1 disaster preparedness deadline. We also know that the comet in question will pass by Mars on that date and then begin to make its pass by earth before making its way around the sun and slingshotting itself out of our solar system. Will it even make it all the way through our solar system, though? What if it were to strike Mars, Earth, Venus or Mercury? How big is it? This too will affect how it makes its pass and the effect it has on these planets. According to the video seen here, Comet ISON is much larger than NASA would have you believe. In fact, the data seems to indicate that it may be as big as half the size of Jupiter! What does this mean? Well, for one, it dwarfs earth in terms of its actual size, making it about 650 times larger than earth in terms of its volume! If this is true, it could be catastrophic for life on earth. We will soon know the full impact of ISON’s arrival. Will you be ready?

Super speach...watch IT IS A GOOD ONE !

HAHAHA...Francois Hollande, said its troops “have been put in a position to respond."

Britain is now in the German camp and the French, once decried as "surrender monkeys" over Iraq are stepping up to the plate...It sounds like The French are getting ready to invade Syria...they plan on firing "Troops" at the country, instead of cruise missiles.
Let me see how this goes. France, which has banned women from wearing the burka, intends to provide Military support to The Syrian Rebels while extremist elements of their numbers that are killing people indiscriminately for their religions beliefs, to get the people's mind of the mass unemployment in France.

Obama proceeds with an attack on Syria as soon as UN weapon inspectors leave, and somehow in the mix, British forces providing "consultation" and support to our allies, find themselves under attack with no option but to "retaliate".
Britain is left with "no alternative" but to respond to these "acts of aggression" carried out by Assad in response to a US Bombardment of his country, and  The Prime Minister, David Cameron makes an emergency statement saying Britain has begun bombing Syria as a "humanitarian peace effort"....
The German government however, says it currently has no plans to join military action against Syria. Government spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters in Berlin today that "we haven't considered any German military participation and still aren't doing so". His comments follow an interview Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle gave to the daily Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung in which he said Germany hadn't been asked to contribute to military action against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad following the alleged chemical attack that killed hundreds of civilians last week.

They're not going to stop are they?.
They're really going to try and find a way to try and Start World War III.  
These Maniacs are going to try and start World War III.

 

History teaches us that politicians never learn from history.

If Arabs want to go around slaughtering each other it is best to let them get on with it. They been doing it forever, and will continue to do so.  They will turn on us if we intervene, and when we give it up as a  hopeless task (Iraq ?) they will go back to killing themselves again. They all hate us in the West because we have what they do not. Let them get on with it...
The Kremlin has welcomed the British parliament's rejection of a military strike against Syria...
The US military have deep doubts about the impact and wisdom of a US strike on Syria, writes the Washington Post (which, incidentally, has been very hawkish editorially on Syria). It says:Former and current officers, many with the painful lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan on their minds, said the main reservations concern the potential unintended consequences of launching cruise missiles against Syria. Some questioned the use of military force as a punitive measure and suggested that the White House lacks a coherent strategy. If the administration is ambivalent about the wisdom of defeating or crippling the Syrian leader, possibly setting the stage for Damascus to fall to fundamentalist rebels, they said, the military objective of strikes on Assad’s military targets is at best ambiguous. “There’s a broad naivete in the political class about America’s obligations in foreign policy issues, and scary simplicity about the effects that employing American military power can achieve,” said retired Lt Gen. Gregory S. Newbold, who served as director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the run-up to the Iraq war, noting that many of his contemporaries are alarmed by the plan ...A young army officer who is wrapping up a year-long tour [in Afghanistan]...said soldiers were surprised to learn about the looming strike, calling the prospect “very dangerous.” “I can’t believe the president is even considering it,” said the officer, who like most officers interviewed for this story agreed to speak only on the condition of anonymity because military personnel are reluctant to criticize policymakers while military campaigns are being planned. “We have been fighting the last 10 years a counterinsurgency war. Syria has modern weaponry. We would have to retrain for a conventional war.”

There is no alternative other than let the free market loose and wait for the consequences.

The Governments prevented a crash by Q.E. and bail outs. Government action has saved the day. Left to the "free market", would have resulted in catastrophe. The USA is still pumping Billions every month into the system to prevent a crash....to keep the system going. There is no alternative other than let the free market loose and wait for the consequences. Obviously this cannot be allowed to happen, so we are living through a era o protectionism....the phrase "kicking the can", just means keeping the system going....stock markets and house prices are maintained because the alternative is too frightening. What is the alternative, to maintaining the "free market" and low wages in the face of global competiveness...

Answer... a global depression with mass unemployment.

Why is the free market having to be supported and "too big to fail" having to be bailed out.?...This is the new phenomenon...a game changer...Governments propping up a market that cannot be allowed to fail...How long can this be maintained or is the patient cured,?

I would hazard a guess and say that the real cause of all this is due to....

• 1)  DEBT of unimaginable proportions...AND GROWING.
• 2) Unsustainable growth...we are at a tipping point in human history...where resources are unable to meet demand...Peak oil, peak food production etc.....the importance of the exponential, when there is a limit....The limit has been reached.
• 3)  We now live in an overpopulated World.
• 4)  The lack of productive jobs...With the advent of the computer and the internet (another game changer), millions of "workers", for want of a better word, are now sitting in front of a computer screen...the operative word here is "sitting".
• 5)  The consumer society cannot continue consuming and growing with limited resources.
• 6)  The rise of the city...Now nearly half the world's population are concentrated in cities...These cities are pure consumers../they don't produce anything and are not self sustaining. As these growing cities compete for resources, there could be trouble.
• 7)  The rise of China...the tiger awakes...So what is the answer.?....Austerity...we must learn to live within our means....painful but necessary....otherwise it is keep printing the money and propping up dinosaurs...as we are seeing today.

The Bank of International Settlements did nothing to prevent this crisis, which it failed to foresee. On the contrary, it and its members in the 'central bankers' club' supported and promoted the economic dogmas, such as the 'efficient market', that led to the crisis. Why should anyone have faith in what in now says about how to get out of a mess it helped to create? We must learn to live within our means...but we won't.

Trouble ahead.

USA-Fiscal cliff deal in peril as Senate negotiations enter standstill... Obama says he intends to strong-arm Congress into scaled- back measures if no deal can be reached by the end of SundayHopes of a last-minute deal to avert the fiscal cliff faded on Sunday when Senate leaders failed to meet a target for agreement and said they remained far apart on key issues.

Harry Reid, the Democratic Senate majority leader, and Mitch McConnell, who heads the Senate's Republican minority, emerged from closed-door talks shortly before 3pm to inform colleagues in the chamber they remained deadlocked.

McConnell said no single issue remained an "impossible sticking point" and blamed Democrats for not responding to a Republican offer made on Saturday evening.

"It's now 2pm and we've yet to receive a response to our good-faith offer. I'm concerned at the lack of urgency here."

He said he called vice-president Joe Biden, with whom he has worked before, to try to "jump start" negotiations. "I'm still willing to get this done but I need a dance partner."

Reid said the Republicans had a made a good-faith proposal but that both sides remained apart on "pretty big issues" and that Democrats could not respond.

We've been negotiating now for 36 hours or thereabouts. We've been trying … but at this stage we're not able to make a counter-offer."

As such, the 3pm target for them to present a framework agreement to colleagues passed with no hint of a deal forthcoming.Here's the problem in terms even liberals can understand:

* U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
* Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000
* New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000
* National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
* Recent budget cuts: $ 38,500,000,000

Let’s now remove 8 zeros and pretend it’s a household budget:

* Annual family income: $21,700
* Money the family spent: $38,200
* New debt on the credit card: $16,500
* Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
* Total budget cuts so far: $38.50

Make sense now?

There isn't a banking union, and no chance it will happen

As regards any idea of a Federal Europe is concerned it's interesting to see what's happening in Spain which is apparently in danger of fragmentation......"Hundreds of thousands of Catalans took to the streets of Barcelona  in an unprecedented show of mass support for autonomy from Madrid, blaming Spain’s economic crisis for dragging their wealthy region down.The central government said the crowd was 600,000 strong. Catalan police gave figures as high as 1.5 million...They held up banners and signs saying “No to the Fourth Reich”, “No to Europe”, “Independence Now!” and “Catalonia: the New European State”.  Catalans complain of paying billions of euros more in taxes than they receive back from Madrid, even as their regional government has been forced to fire workers and cut services."  In general people don't like the idea of supporting other populations, even within their own country. Asking nations to do it within a federation simply won't work.  There isn't a banking union, and no chance it will happen. They're talking about common banking regulation and Germany has said 'Nein' to Draghi's suggestion.....Reuters - Schäuble said that, despite the current crisis in the Euro zone, the Euro will ultimately emerge as the common currency of the entire European Union. He said he “respects” Britain’s decision to keep the pound, but insisted that the survival and eventual stabilisation of the Euro will convince non-members to join the currency club. “This may happen more quickly than some people in the British Isles currently believe,” he added....I say: Yet another example of the EU apparatchiks trying to gain control of the UK's financial structure by stealth....(and the other non Euro countries) - but the UK is the big target here.   Come on Great Britain! ... cut the head off this serpent and tell the EU to bugger off ... you'll be doing yourselves a great favor, not to mention the rest of Europe...Does anyone in their right mind think trade with the UK will stop if they leave the EU?   The vast majority of UK exports come here to the USA, Germany second, then France. A vast majority of UK imports come from Germany, USA second, then China, Netherlands, Norway, and France.  50 million quid a day dumped into this black hole the EU, and for what?!  Will Germany stop selling to the UK if they drop out of the EU?
Hell no! it's a major part of their economy.

The Bundesbank remains critical of the purchase of euro system sovereign bonds

Europe's most powerful central bank kept up its opposition even after Germany's political leaders voiced some support for ECB President Mario Draghi's plan to resume buying bonds. "The Bundesbank remains critical of the purchase of euro system sovereign bonds, which comes with considerable risks for stability," the Bundesbank wrote in its monthly report. "Decisions about a possible broader mutualisation of solvency risks should be... with the governments and parliaments, and should not occur via central bank balances."Mr Draghi indicated earlier this month the ECB could intervene in debt markets but he held back from announcing concrete steps. The Bundesbank retains substantial influence within Germany and across financial markets due to its inflation fighting credentials, but it is unlikely it could scupper Draghi's plan, given the German central bank is only one of 17 constituents at the ECB. This will have the same effect like Eurobonds - No safe haven any more, borrowing costs for Germany (and the UK) will rise and the costs for Italy and Spain will be lower, as investors start already now buying their bonds.

Menwhile, an interview being published today with Asmussen from the ECB...."Greek exit manageable but not preferable (reuters)"

1. He indicates support for Draghi's dual-path bond-buying program, in contrast to the Bundesbank's Weidmann. (From Handelsblatt) He considers it firmly within the ECB's mandate, as "only a currency whose existence is not in doubt, is monetarily stable. "Precisely this doubt in the Euro's continuing existence is what we want to remove from the market" ...The other German on the ECB sides with Draghi.

2. On Greece. Staying in the Euro is his preference, but a Grexit would be "manageable".

3. On the costs of a Grexit. "It would be associated with a loss of growth and higher unemployment and it would be very expensive - in Greece, Europe as a whole and even in Germany.". Handelsblatt adds: the ECB is worried about the effects on other countries. One shouldn't act "as if one knows with certainty what would happen the day after". That's relevant because Asmussen, according to persistent German media reports, is the ECB board member responsible for contingency planning for a Grexit - although it's something he refuses to discuss with the media.

STEP BY STEP ..." goose" step that is ...!!!

The German military will in future be able to use its weapons on German streets in an extreme situation, the Federal Constitutional Court says. The ruling says the armed forces can be deployed only if Germany faces an assault of "catastrophic proportions", but not to control demonstrations. The decision to deploy forces must be approved by the federal government. Severe restrictions on military deployments were set down in the German constitution after Nazi-era abuses. The court says the military still cannot shoot down a hijacked passenger plane - fighter jets would have to intercept the plane and fire warning shots to force it to land. After World War II the new constitution ruled that soldiers could not be deployed with guns at the ready on German soil, the BBC's Stephen Evans reports from Berlin. The court has now changed that, saying troops could be used to tackle an assault that threatens scores of casualties. The judges had in mind a terrorist incident involving armed attackers in public places. German troops have been deployed abroad since the war, but it has been a gradual process. German warplanes have been used in the Balkans and troops are on the ground in Afghanistan, protecting construction workers, but able to return fire if attacked.

I've been wondering about Norway; for many the model to emulate. Many of the numbers here come from Norsk Industris Konjunkturrapport 2012. It's an employers' association, so expect a center-right bias. I'd be delighted if a Norwegian were to comment.

Norway's Sovereign Wealth Fund means the country has no insolvency problems. Unemployment is a low 3%. One out of three jobs is in the public sector. The Norwegian oil industry is expected to show a revenue growth of 15% next year, and is hiring. But Norway's traditional export sectors - industry and mining - will grow only 0 to 2%, and are firing people. And these traditional sectors employ about five times as many people as the oil sector.

There is a clear dichotomy in Norway's industry: on the one hand a booming oil sector which keeps the currency strong and wages high; and on the other hand an export-oriented industry which are suffering from the combined effect of the high kronor and high wages.  Surprisingly enough, given the strong sense of crisis in Europe, Norwegian companies actually increased their exports to the EU in 2011 by 12%. Exports increased to all EU countries except the PIGS countries in the south. Norway is not whining demand is weak. Exports to the UK increased +6.2%. Exports to the US dropped -4.3%. These are data for the whole of 2011. 80% of Norwegian exports go to the EU, 2% to China. Being outside the EU, Norway is free to make its own free-trade agreements with China, but China is not interested. Negotiations broke off when Norway gave Liu Xiaobo the Nobel Prize back in 2010. Norway had its banking crisis, following a period of financial deregulation. Small banks began to fail in 1988. The crisis peaked in 1991, and ended in 1994, six years after it began. Just imagine the Guardian running a "Norwegian Banking Crisis Live Blog" six years on end.
What's my take on Norway?

There are two Norways. The oil industry is booming; the export-oriented industry is suffering. The kronor-euro exchange rate is causing discomfort for Norway's export industry.  When a overvaluation of the Swiss franc threatened Swiss exports the Swiss National Bank intervened, and the Swiss franc has been at exactly 1.20 euro since. Of course, this means a large part of Swiss monetary policy is no longer determined in Bern, Switzerland but rather in Frankfurt, Germany. Nevertheless, pegging the franc to the euro is seen by many Swiss as a pragmatic solution.  Norway's future may be Switzerland's past. We may see the Norwegian kronor pegged to the euro sooner than we think. Yes, such a move would be political suicide in the UK. So what?

The introduction of eurobonds – joint, aggregate eurozone liabilities – could be part of the solution, if designed properly. There is certainly demand for them in China and other major emerging countries, which are desperate for an alternative to low-yielding US government securities.... But Germany remains opposed on moral-hazard grounds: a joint guarantee of eurozone members' liabilities would strengthen individual national governments' incentive to spend beyond their means. Indeed, this version of eurobonds would fail, both economically and politically. But a different version has begun to gain traction in Germany. The German Council of Economic Experts has proposed a European Redemption Fund (ERF). The plan would convert into de facto 25-year eurobonds the existing sovereign debt of member countries in excess of 60% of GDP, the threshold specified by the Maastricht criteria and the SGP. Steps toward this solution to the short-term debt problem would be paired with implementation of the "fiscal compact," German leader Angela Merkel's proposed solution to the long-term problem.

But this seems upside down. To use eurobonds as the mechanism for eliminating the big sovereign-debt overhang jeopardizes the longer-term objective of eliminating moral hazard: it offers absolution precisely on the 60%-of-GDP margin where countries will have the most trouble resisting temptation. After all, there is little reason to believe that the fiscal compact or proposed "debt brakes" will succeed where the Maastricht criteria and the SGP failed. Rules need a credible enforcement mechanism....It is about German imperialism acquiring a captive market through an undervalued currency, while the poorer countries of Europe have overvalued currencies, the Euro's value being between the two poles of real necessary currency value. Its a mechanism for redistributing wealth from poorer countries to richer ones. Germany wants the benefits of a currency union in this way, but not the responsibility to drag up the poorer nations to its level which it would be obliged to do if it was part of a common state and fiscal union. .... It just shows that capitalism cannot unite Europe because the ruling classes are stuck fast to the nation-state, which is obsolete. Only socialism can do unite Europe.
AMUZING ...ISNT' IT ?...Mrs Merkel warned the policies of the new Socialist president could destroy the eurozone by bringing the sovereign debt crisis to France itself. The bleak assessment came on the eve of an important weekend that will see elections in Greece and France and a key G20 meeting of world leaders in Mexico. "Europe must discuss the growing differences in economic strength between France and Germany," she said. Tensions are running so high that Jean-Marc Ayrault, the French prime minister, was forced to deny that Paris had broken off the Franco-German partnership, following Berlin anger at a Franco-Italian summit in Rome on Thursday. There was a growing sense of crisis in European capitals after David Cameron, the Prime Minister, took part in a tense conference call with Mrs Merkel, Mr Hollande and Mario Monti, the Italian prime minister. ... Well done Merkel for telling this idiot Hollande you might be able to fool your own electorate that everything is rosy but if you expected the Germans to foot the bill for your fantasy growth plan & to bail out your bankrupt banks well you've just had your answer.As one of the German finance ministers said last week "let France & Italy go to the markets on their own with their plans & see how they get on.".Hollande will be the next European leader denying his country require a bailout....I'm sure !

IMF - John Lipsky, the acting managing director of the International Monetary Fund, has taken a tougher approach than his predecessor, Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Photograph: Aleofficials and diplomats in Brussels confirmed that the IMF threat to pull the plug on its funding – in stark contrast to the more emollient line of Strauss-Kahn – had been defused because of a German climbdown. As political turmoil continued in Greece on Thursday, with the prime minister, George Papandreou, scrambling to form a new government, the stage was being set for a political struggle between Europe's powerbrokers over the fine print of the proposed new €100bn-plus rescue of Greece. Berlin is deeply at odds with France and with the key EU institutions – the European Central Bank (ECB), the European commission, the presidency of the EU and the head of the eurozone, Jean-Claude Juncker, prime minister of Luxembourg – over the terms of a new deal. Germany was forced to agree to bail out Greece for the second time in a year under strong pressure from the International Monetary Fund following the resignation last month of its head, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the Guardian has learned. Under its acting chief, the American John Lipsky, the IMF has taken a more hardline stance and it warned the Germans in recent weeks that it would withhold urgently needed funds and trigger a Greek sovereign default unless Berlin stopped delaying and pledged firmly that it would come to Greece's rescue.

AsiaNewsAgencies - China: Xintang: police and army occupy city to stop protests. Climate akin to martial law, with police patrolling every street, road blocks, orders for shops and restaurants to close early, people advised not to go out at night. Tens of thousands of migrants are ready to protest on the streets for justice and recognition, tired of constant harassment.Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The police are now patrolling the streets and putting roadblocks on main thoroughfares of Xintang in the city of Zhengcheng, to end to urban guerrilla warfare that first broke out June 10. But it is a deceptive calm, with tens of thousands of immigrants ready to explode with further protests and violence. Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The police are now patrolling the streets and putting roadblocks on main thoroughfares of Xintang in the city of Zhengcheng, to end to urban guerrilla warfare that first broke out June 10. But it is a deceptive calm, with tens of thousands of immigrants ready to explode with further protests and violence. summoned the managers of 1,200 companies in the area telling them to "pay close attention to their employees." In an atmosphere akin to martial law, shops and restaurants have been ordered to close early. Residents have been "advised" not to go out at night and not to post pictures of the clashes on line.
http://www.eucouncilfiles.eu/

George Papandreou should resign

George Papandreou pledges to form a new government - After a day which saw world stocks tumble, on which tens of thousands marched on parliament to oppose the swingeing austerity measures designed to stave off bankruptcy, George Papandreou effectively conceded that he had not been able to muster enough support in parliament for the cuts required by international creditors to enable Greece to balance its books. Papandreou has told his conservative opposite number, Antonis Samaras, that he would stand aside and make way for a new leader if the opposition joined his party in a national unity government committed to sweeping reform to pull Greece's economy out of its tailspin. It remained unclear whether the opposition New Democracy party would agree to the move. Party insiders indicated that it would only do so if the government renegotiated the terms of last year's €110bn (£96bn) international bailout package, designed to save Greece from default. "The most important member of a ship's crew is the captain, and the captain has to go," conservative deputy Theodoros Karaoglou said, according to Associated Press. "If we joined forces, we could go to our [creditors] together to negotiate and the results of course would be better." Greece's economy is drowning in more than €300bn of debt – around one and a half times more than the country's entire annual output. Unemployment has rocketed to 16.2%, and the economy is predicted to contract by as much as 3% this year, making it Europe's worst performing economy – and one of the worst in the world.

With Europe's debt crisis intensifying by the day, fear appears to be the single biggest factor motivating those in charge of policy on the common currency. But as finance ministers from the 17 euro countries debated how to bail out Greece for a second time in a year, before an EU summit on 25 June, the signs are not promising. In Athens, a day after Standard and Poor's gave Greece the lowest rating of any country it covers – lower even than Pakistan and Ecuador – the omens appeared to be particularly poor. Differences over involvement of private investors in the rescue package – which is seen as the key to getting Europe's paymaster, Germany, to agree to it at all – this week pushed the cost of insuring Greek government debt against default up to 1,600 basis points, a record high even by the standards set so far. More than ever, Papandreou appears stuck between a rock and a hard place. Faced with a €340bn (£300bn) debt projected to hit 160% of GDP by 2012, Greece is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. In a country plagued by a shadow economy that accounts for almost 30% of GDP, the medicine prescribed by the EU, IMF and ECB in exchange for €110bn of emergency loans last May, has resulted in a deeper than expected recession with further cost-cutting measures now seen as crucial if Greece is not only to rein in its debt but make it sustainable.

- Romania’s major grain traders such as Cargill, Alfred C. Toepfer, Glencore and Nidera exported grain worth EUR1.3 billion from June 2010 through 2011, according to Victor Beznea, president of the Romanian Association of Farm Product Traders (ARCPA).

- The record-high EUR1.5 billion raised by the Finance Ministry last week from the foreign markets brings to over EUR4.5 billion the foreign currency debt accumulated by Romania since the beginning of the year.

According to the source, the U.S. carmaker will produce over 70 B-Max prototypes in Romania this summer. The car parts needed to assemble the B-Max models were produced at Ford's car plants in Germany. The B-Max minivans will be tested soon in Belgium, at Ford Lommel Proving Ground and in other countries. After tests are finished, the cars will be dismantled. Ford Romania will start the production of the new car model next year. B-Max will be produced exclusively in Romania. At the end of March, Ford finished installing the production lines for B-Max and a new family of engines at the Craiova car plant. Ford produced about 3,000 Transit Connect light commercial vehicles in Romania. The U.S. carmaker has invested EUR450 million so far in operations carried out in Craiova.

European Union - EU solidarity ?!...

French banks lead exodus of EU lenders from hardest-hit European economiesEuropean banks increase pressure on Greece and other struggling economies by refusing support for business dealsThe crisis enveloping Greece, Ireland and Portugal appeared to deepen after figures showed EU banks were refusing to support business deals in the EU's hardest-hit economies. Figures from the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) show French, German and UK banks have embarked on a mass exodus from Greece, Portugal, Spain and Ireland, in what analysts see as an effort to bolster their balance sheets and conform to new rules designed to protect financial institutions from going bust. The move is expected to add to tensions in Brussels over how to prevent Greece defaulting on its loans because vital business contracts will cost more to insure. French banks cut their exposure to Greece from $92bn (£57bn) to $65bn in the last three months of 2010. They also reduced their involvement in Ireland, Portugal and Spain, slicing their total exposure to the four hardest-hit economies by $112bn. Richard Batty of Standard Life Investments said the reduction in credit derivatives issued by French banks was due to "the reduced risk appetite of the major banks, and in parallel, a shift to bolstering capital positions to reflect the requirements of the Basle III rules". He said stress tests planned by Brussels for the summer could lead to a further exodus as banks sought to insure only the safest risks.

German and French banks held over two-thirds of the Greek government bonds at the end of last year, accounting for 70% of the $54.2bn owned by banks from 24 countries that report to the BIS.

Romania's Government will seek a confidence vote in Parliament to adopt the act on the country's administrative reorganization, Democratic Liberal Party general secretary Ioan Oltean announced in a press conference on Friday. The government's proposal is to reorganize the country into eight counties, from the current 41. According to Oltean, this new system would improve European Union fund absorption and increase the efficiency with which these funds are used. He pointed out that the EU has not explicitly asked Romania to implement a new territorial organization. The new counties would have their capitals at Cluj-Napoca, Brasov, Timisoara, Craiova, Constanta, Iasi, Ploiesti and Bucharest. The ministries' decentralized services would have eight local offices, instead of 41, bringing the authorities closer to the citizen, according to Oltean. He added that many matters handled by these services and by the county councils would be transferred to commune, town and city halls. Oltean added that the ruling coalition wants the 2012 local elections to use the eight-county administrative organization. Asked why the government has not held a public referendum or a survey on the issue, Oltean replied that they would block or delay reform.