THE AMERICAN WAY...

A company doesn’t find its way on Fortune‘s 100 Best Companies to Work For list by skimping around bonus time. That goes double for Houston-based Hilcorp, which landed at No. 20 on this year’s list on the strength of its generous bonus policy. The company told us earlier this year that if employees meet certain goals, that every one of them would receive a generous $100,000 bonus.  Well, it would appear that Hilcorp employees have fulfilled those goals because the firm just issued the bonuses as an early Christmas present, according to a report on KTVU in Houston.  “It’s just a true gift and I don’t think that myself along with everyone is not going to give less than 100% every day,” receptionist Amanda Thompson told the TV station.  This isn’t the first time that Hilcorp employees have been treated so generously by CEO Jeff Hildebrand. Fortune described the company’s attitude toward compensation earlier this year:  A “we are all in this together” culture, installed by Jeff Hildebrand when he founded this oil and gas company in 1989, manifests itself in open book management, rich bonuses averaging 33% of pay and outrageous rewards for meeting certain goals. In 2011 every employee received a voucher for $50,000 to buy a new car, or $35,000 cash (prorated based on hire date).  Fortune has reached out to Hilcorp and will update this story if the company responds.

(Reuters) - A war of words between Greece and EU paymaster Germany escalated on Tuesday with Athens' new leftist prime minister rejecting what he called "blackmail" to extend an international bailout and vowing to rush through laws to reverse labor reforms.  A source close to the government said Greece intends to ask on Wednesday for an extension for up to six months of a loan agreement with the euro zone, on conditions to be negotiated. The source drew a distinction between a loan agreement and the full bailout program which the government insists is dead.  However hardline German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble dismissed the Greek gambit, telling broadcaster ZDF: "It's not about extending a credit program but about whether this bailout program will be fulfilled, yes or no."   Financial markets held their nerve after the latest talks among euro zone finance ministers broke down late on Monday and EU partners gave Greece until the end of the week to request an extension or lose financial assistance.   Many investors believe that whatever the rhetoric, both sides will find a face-saving formula before Athens' credit lines expire in 10 days. If they fail, Greece could rapidly run out of cash and need its own currency.  Greek banking sources said outflows of deposits increased on Tuesday after the failure of Monday's talks, but were not as severe as on some days last month around the election of a radical anti-austerity government.  The European Central Bank will review emergency funding for Greek banks on Wednesday but should not cut the lifeline this week, a source familiar with the situation said.   Both sides continue to insist Greece will remain in the euro.  Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told lawmakers in his Syriza party that the government - elected to scrap the bailout, repeal hated austerity measures and end cooperation with the "troika" of EU, ECB and IMF lenders - would not compromise.

Greece’s finance minister, Gikas Hardouvelis, argued in talks with the IMF boss, Christine Lagarde, that Athens can do without further loans from the Washington-based lender of last resort. Emergency bailout funds have propped up the Greek economy since it came close to crashing on a mountain of deficit and debt in 2010.

“Not only do we not need a new memorandum [loan agreement],” said prime minister Antonis Samaras, addressing parliament hours before his government survived a crucial vote of confidence early on Saturday. “We don’t need the rest of the money that from the start of next year we were on course to get from the current memorandum. We can leave it one and a half years earlier … that is our goal.”

Funding from the IMF had been due to expire in March 2016, while funds from the eurozone end this year. At €240bn (£188bn), the lifeline was the largest rescue programme in global financial history and was aimed at preventing the debt crisis that affected Athens from spreading to the rest of the eurozone.

Samaras denies that Greece wants an acrimonious break from the IMF. The organisation, perhaps more than the EU, has insisted on tough reforms and austerity measures in return for the rescue funds. These have exacerbated a six-year recession, the worst on record, left a quarter of the workforce unemployed, and seen support for Samaras’s fragile coalition plummet.

Hardouvelis, who met Lagarde with his predecessor, the governor of the Bank of Greece, Yannis Stournaras, is thought to have presented a plan detailing the country’s ability to cover its financing needs from bond markets. But the IMF chief has already signalled that she does not share such confidence. Although the IMF is also keen to disengage from the programme – and is under pressure from member states to focus on countries in the developing world – Greece is faced with a financing gap of about €15bn next year.

Ukraine has launched an "anti-terrorist" operation against pro-Russian separatists occupying government buildings in many of its eastern cities

Police arrested 70 pro-Russian demonstrators in Kharkiv on Tuesday, as protesters in two other cities held similar standoffs. Ukrainian authorities gave few details of the "operation that cleared the building in Kharkiv but said two police had been wounded by a grenade.

Ukrainian special forces in combat gear, helmets and balaclavas and carrying machine guns stood guard outside the building early on Tuesday. A partly destroyed sign near the main door read: "Avakov – to jail", a reference to the Ukrainian interior minister, Arsen Avakov.

Avakov made mention of the operation to clear the buildings on his Facebook page: "An anti-terrorist operation has been launched. The city center is blocked along with metro stations. Do not worry. Once we finish, we will open them again."

The Interfax-Ukraine news agency quoted the interior ministry saying those detained were suspected of "illegal activity related to separatism, the organization of mass disorder, damage to human health" and breaking other laws.

Ukraine's acting president, Oleksander Turchinov, made a televised address to the nation in which he accused Moscow of orchestrating the protests in an attempt to repeat "the Crimea scenario".

Russia has denied Ukrainian charges of involvement but warned Kiev against any use of force against Russian-speakers. On Tuesday, Russia's foreign ministry called on Kiev to stop massing military forces it said were tasked with suppressing anti-government protests in the south-east of the country.

"We call for an immediate halt to military preparations which could lead to an outbreak of civil war," the ministry said in a statement.

The pro-Russian protesters still barricaded inside official buildings in Luhansk and Donetsk demanded that referendums be held on whether to join Russia, similar to the one that preceded Moscow's annexation of Crimea.

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).

The reporting in germany on the government response to developments at the IMF conference:

-Merkel refused to comment on the suggestion of a two year extension, saying she'd await the troika report.
-Schäuble ruled out OSI, sounded extremely unconvinced about a two year extention for Greece, and basically said things were going better than the media presented it.
-Brüderle (FDP Floor-Leader) said that he didn't see a majority in the Bundestag for a 3rd Greek Bailout. Which is polite language for "we're not voting for it". The CSU would be against, but has made no public comment. Plenty in the CDU would be against too, but the majority will hold to Merkel's line. The SPD are for it, as I think are the Greens.

So it looks like another one of those wrapped-together-with-sticky-tape temporary coalitions, to get it through the Bundestag. And probably bundled together with other applications from Spain, Slowenia, Cyprus.

European Central Bank policymaker Jörg Asmussen has argued against Greece leaving the eurozone, at the IMF/World Bank shindig in Tokyo.   Asmussen argued that Athens was making good progress.  The Greek authorities have to demonstrate that they can continue to stick to their commitments... This is the best way out of its crisis: for Greece to reform within the euro area....CNN is also focusing on the growing divisions between the IMF and the eurozone over austerity....Its correspondent, Andrew Stevens, writes from Tokyo:The EU will produce its own conclusions about the impact of austerity measures next month. Whether that brings us any closer to a consensus is hard to judge.....Remember the old joke about economists: if you laid all the economists in the world end-to-end you still wouldn't reach a conclusion.  But this is no joking matter. Millions of Europeans have fallen into poverty or at least economic hardship as a result of the current austerity programs.

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!

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.

Matters are worse in the banking sector. Each country's banking system is backed by its own government; if the government's ability to support the banks erodes, so will confidence in the banks. Even well-managed banking systems would face problems in an economic downturn of Greek and Spanish magnitude; with the collapse of Spain's real-estate bubble, its banks are even more at risk. In their enthusiasm for creating a "single market", European leaders did not recognise that governments provide an implicit subsidy to their banking systems. It is confidence that if trouble arises the government will support the banks that gives confidence in the banks; and, when some governments are in a much stronger position than others, the implicit subsidy is larger for those countries.

In the absence of a level playing field, why shouldn't money flee the weaker countries, going to the financial institutions in the stronger? Indeed, it is remarkable that there has not been more capital flight. Europe's leaders did not recognise this rising danger, which could easily be averted by a common guarantee, which would simultaneously correct the market distortion arising from the differential implicit subsidy.  The euro was flawed from the outset, but it was clear that the consequences would become apparent only in a crisis. Politically and economically, it came with the best intentions. The single-market principle was supposed to promote the efficient allocation of capital and labor. But details matter. Tax competition means that capital may go not to where its social return is highest, but to where it can find the best deal. The implicit subsidy to banks means that German banks have an advantage over those of other countries. Workers may leave Ireland or Greece not because their productivity there is lower, but because, by leaving, they can escape the debt burden incurred by their parents. The European Central Bank's mandate is to ensure price stability, but inflation is far from Europe's most important macroeconomic problem today.
AP - The European Parliament has overwhelmingly defeated the international ACTA anti-piracy agreement, after fears that it would limit Internet freedom mobilized broad opposition across Europe.
The vote Wednesday was 39 in favor, 478 against, with 165 abstentions.
The defeat means that, as far as the EU is concerned, the treaty is dead - at least for the moment - though other countries may participate.
A spokesman for the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said it may try again after it obtains a court ruling on whether the agreement violates fundamental EU rights.
Supporters said ACTA - the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement - was needed to standardize international laws that protect the intellectual property rights.
Opponents feared it would lead to censorship and a loss of privacy on the Internet

Barclays is named as one of around 20 defendants, which also include Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC, as well as US lenders

One of the biggest class-action claims has been filed in New York by the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore and the City of New Britain Firefighters and Police Benefit Fund. Damages claims running to billions of dollars against the world’s biggest banks have been given fresh “credibility” by Barclays £290m Libor settlement, lawyers said. The cases are being brought under the Sherman Act, America's anti-trust legislation, which allows for triple damages. Lawyers for the banks are due on Friday to file an attempt to have the Baltimore case thrown out. But Mr Hausfeld said Barclays' settlement “should undermine any effort to dismiss the claim on the basis that it is implausible that the alleged events took place”. Barclays is named as one of around 20 defendants, which also include Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC, as well as US lenders Bank of America, Citigroup and JP Morgan. The action is co-ordinated with five other lawsuits, including a claim by discount brokerage Charles Schwab against 11 banks, including Barclays. The sums involved are potentially vast. Libor is used to price various financial products. The Bank for International Settlements calculates that the market for over-the-counter interest rate derivatives, such as swaps, had a notional value of more than $500 trillion in 2011. Just a small element of proven mispricing could trigger billions of dollars of claims.

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.

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...

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.

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.

Tensions within the zone are mounting as we enter this week

Tensions within the zone are mounting as we enter a week in which Italy, Belgium, Spain and France plan to tap the markets for some €17 billion ($22 billion) in new loans and, says Goldman Sachs, the European economy slides into recession. Bankrupt Greece; junk-rated Portugal pleading with Angola for inbound investment; jobless Spain, facing some interest rates that have doubled in the past month; and recovering Ireland have already fallen to the bond vigilantes. Growth-free Italy is fighting a rearguard action, facing unsustainable interest rates despite the stellar reputation of its newly appointed technocrat prime minister, Mario Monti; Belgian debt, now equal to its GDP, has been downgraded, in part because of the inability of this seat of the EU to form a new government. France, consumer confidence dropping, is likely next. Some German IOUs were unsold, and prices of bunds are slipping. No euro-zone country and no euro-zone company can any longer escape the consequences of the structural flaw in the euro-zone architecture. German Chancellor Angela Merkel opposes measures that might stem the tide that is about to engulf the euro. Nor can countries outside the euro zone. Great Britain, with high deficits, mounting debt, and a deficit-reduction plan that just might not work, retains its triple-A rating because it has its own currency and the rating companies increasingly consider governance when deciding whether to downgrade.
Britain is considered governable, but that might change after Wednesday's strike of public service workers shuts down the country. The failure of the super committee to find some trivial deficit reductions means America might also slip into the ungovernable category. And the Federal Reserve Board is imposing new stress tests to determine whether leading banks can withstand a wave of sovereign- debt and bank defaults in Europe. One thing is certain: The euro cannot survive without a major change in the governance structure of the euro zone. The first prescription for what ails the zone was "austerity", but that has produced recessions and government oustings. Then came the European Financial Stability Facility, but it turns out to be too puny to halt the bond vigilantes' rampage through the euro zone, and anyhow rests in part on France's waning ability to join Germany as a guarantor by retaining its triple-A credit rating. The European Central Bank, operating within the legal limits imposed on it by thetreaties that govern the European Union, is providing some liquidity to the banks and a bit of relief on the interest-rate front for sovereign borrowers, but it cannot do much to prevent the insolvent from being forced to default. Ms. Merkel, Germany's latest Iron Chancellor, has set her face against any of the measures that might stem the tide that is about to engulf the euro. She is against allowing the ECB to become the lender of last resort, aka printer of money. She refuses to share her balance sheet with stressed countries by allowing the issuance of euro-bonds, until they reform, even though such reforms cannot be implemented in time to head off sovereign defaults that would take down many under-capitalized European banks, now desperately juggling their books to inflate their capital ratios.

Misha Japaridze/AP . -0 Hopes that BP could take the focus away from its failure to tie-up a ground-breaking deal with Rosneft in Russia were crushed on Wednesday when black-clad special forces raided its main offices in Moscow. The law enforcement officers were acting with the consent of a court in Tyumen, where minority shareholders are pursuing a $3bn (£1.8bn) compensation claim against BP over the collapse of the share swap with Rosneft. The move comes less than 24 hours after the Russian state-owned oil company triumphantly unveiled an alternative strategic alliance to explore the Russian Arctic with BP's rival ExxonMobil. Lawyers acting for Andrei Prokhorov, a disgruntled shareholder from BP's Russian joint venture TNK-BP, said the raid was a reaction to BP's failure to provide documents on the proposed tie-up between the UK firm and state-owned Rosneft. "We therefore applied once again to the court of arbitration of Tyumen region to have the measures to secure evidence replaced, and on 30 August the court permitted the bailiff to examine documents held by BP Exploration Operating Company Limited," said Dmitri Chepurenko, a partner in the Liniya Prava legal practice which represents Prokhorov but also – allegedly – the Alfa Access Renova (AAR) consortium led by oligarchs such as Mikhail Fridman. BP dismissed the raid as unnecessary and said there were no grounds for anyone to seek compensation over the collapse of the Rosneft deal. "We do not believe there is any legitimate basis whatsoever for the claim launched against BP in the Tyumen court and we intend to defend our interests vigorously," said a spokesman at BP's London headquarters, adding: "We do not believe there are legitimate grounds for today's raid."

The US faces the prospect of a "catastrophe" as President Barack Obama stands firm against Republican demands for deep spending cuts without any tax increases as the condition for raising the country's borrowing limit and avoiding a debt default. With Washington gripped by a growing sense that it may be too late to avert a crisis, the president has said he will give the increasingly rancorous negotiations until the end of next week to reach agreement on the terms for raising the US's $14.3 trillion (£8.9tn) debt ceiling. The White House has said that if there is no agreement by 22 July, then discussion about budget cuts and taxes should be abandoned in favour of legislation dealing solely with raising the debt ceiling before the borrowing limit is reached on 2 August. But the Republicans have rejected legislation without agreement on budget cuts. With European leaders also facing a potentially ruinous debt crisis, a leading Wall Street figure described the prospect of a US default as catastrophic. Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JP Morgan, one of Wall Street's biggest banks, said: "No one can tell me with certainty that a US default wouldn't cause catastrophe and wouldn't severely damage the US or global economy. And it would be irresponsible to take that chance." On Wednesday, Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, warned of a "huge financial calamity" if a political agreement is not reached. He told Congress a default would "send shockwaves through the entire financial system". Hours later, the credit ratings agency Moody's warned that it may downgrade the US's AAA credit rating, saying there is a "rising possibility" that no deal will be reached by next month's deadline. (source the guardian.uk)

Eurozone finance ministers are sharply divided over how to handle the spiralling Greek debt crisis, Dutch finance minister Jan Kees de Jager revealed as he attacked France's plans for a new rescue package. Speaking in London after a meeting with the chancellor, George Osborne, de Jager said it was "illusory" to hope that Europe's banks would voluntarily bear their fair share of the costs of a new bailout for Athens, and that President Sarkozy's current proposals let Greece's private sector creditors off too lightly. Any evidence of a fresh split among European policymakers will increase anxiety in the financial markets, which were rattled on Wednesday by news that ratings agency Moody's had downgraded Portugal's debt to junk status. "We do have concerns about the French scheme," de Jager said. "I think it's illusory to think of such a scheme as voluntary, so we have to work on solutions so that banks reach a level playing field." As a non-eurozone member, Britain is on the sidelines of talks about a new bailout for Greece, but de Jager said Osborne was "very close to our position". The cost of insuring Portuguese government debt through credit default swaps hit a record high after the downgrade, while the yield on Portuguese 10-year bonds jumped by more than a percentage point to 12.07%, ratcheting up the pressure on Lisbon. European commission president José Manuel Barroso criticised Moody's announcement, saying: "In this context, and the absence of new facts on the Portuguese economy that could justify a new assessment, yesterday's decisions by one rating agency do not provide for more clarity. They rather add another speculative element to the situation."