The European Monetary Union (the Euro) was never going to work without full political union first. For the EU to be able rob Peter to Pay Paul and have the public support, without democracy getting in the way, they needed political union. They decided they could not wait for it, and went ahead with the Euro anyway. They now think they can use the Sub Saharans with welfare tickets & babies in hand as a weapon to bring this about by demoralising and destroying the homogeneity of the nations.

The EU's lack of patience to get the political union in place before the economic union, could cost them everything. I do not think importing 2,500,000-5,000,000 Muslim/Sub Saharans every year is going to save it either. This could trigger the end sooner than it would have occurred otherwise. I hope they have the EU army ready, cause they are going to need it.euro union...It's for the greater good.''- of the unelected, undemocratic, nepotists, submarxist/corporatist, sovereignty scamming, 19th cent social engineering 'Elite' who control the EU...Surely the strangest thing is that anyone in their right mind in the 21st cent would want to be part of a 19th cent POLITICAL social engineering retread like the European Union masquerading as a 'Trading Block' which doesn't believe in democracy, the sovereignty of the individual or the democratically expressed will of the people...but rather that all should be controlled by an unelected, nepotistic, self -serving EU 'elite' ? David Cameron is one of those brainwashed shallow submarxist/corporatist minded weirdos who bought into this '80's cultural marxism claptrap...

.''The most puzzling development in politics during the last decade is the apparent determination of Western European leaders to re-create the Soviet Union in Western Europe.”― Mikhail Gorbachev

- and he should know eh?

Did the U.S. government really seal the fate of the U.S. economy back in March 2010, when it passed H.R. 2847? On July 1, 2014, H.R. 2847, better known as HIRE (the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act) goes into effect. On the surface, the bill provides payroll tax breaks and incentives for businesses to hire unemployed workers. But it’s a little-known provision within Bill H.R. 2847 that is causing some financial pundits to predict the end of America. The provision known as FATCA (the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) insists foreign banks keep better track of the flow of money owned by U.S. citizens.  FATCA requires banks in other countries to send the IRS personal information (name, address, and account information) about transactions their American customers make. If a bank fails to comply, the U.S. will impose a 30% withholding tax.  The fear is that foreign banks will not want to have to deal with the IRS and instead will choose to take the path of least resistance by avoiding American customers, and by extension, their U.S. dollars altogether. At the same time, FATCA could also be cost-prohibitive for small- and medium-sized foreign banks; meaning it’s cheaper and easier to just divest from U.S.-based assets.  Why would any bank willingly refuse to do business with a U.S. customer? Because there are more financially secure markets elsewhere for foreign banks to invest in: China, Russia, Germany, Australia, France, Canada…the list goes on. How is that possible? After all, the U.S. dollar has been the world currency since World War II, and being the world’s currency means Americans can deal directly with any country with their own currency.In effect, the U.S. doesn’t need to produce anything to create wealth; it can just print more money to get out of debt or create the illusion of liquidity. The same cannot be said for the rest of the world, however, If Germany wants to buy oil from Russia, it has to exchange its currency for U.S. dollars; it can only do this by generating revenue from products and services others want to buy.  Why will the world no longer want to favor the U.S. dollar as the reserve currency? Simple: the Federal Reserve has, with its quantitative easing policy, dumped more than $3.0 trillion into the U.S. economy since 2008. Where did it get the money? It printed it out of thin air. Its simple math: the more there is of something, the less value it has. Not only has the U.S. dollar been devalued, the country has seen its national debt soar. Before the markets crashed in 2008, the U.S. was in debt to the tune of $10.0 trillion; today, the U.S. holds debt of $17.7 trillion! With the U.S. dollar losing favor as the reserve currency, countries will no longer want to hold large quantities of U.S. dollars and foreign businesses will turn their backs on U.S. markets. With fewer people wanting to hold U.S. currency, the U.S. will no longer be able to print its way out of debt.

And with fewer foreign banks willing to take U.S. deposits, Americans, with their fists full of devalued currency, will be unable to exchange it for more stable currencies.  So, will H.R. 2847, once implemented on July 1, 2014, lead to the end of America? No, for many reasons. First, the U.S. is the world’s biggest economy; we produce and consumer more than anyone else. While the U.S. dollar has been devalued, it still holds value compared to other currencies and economies.  The U.S. government is also transparent. Foreign institutions can access our economic data and forecasts and rely on the data; the economic data provided by certain other global powerhouses is not quite as trustworthy or transparent.  Instead of concentrating on July 1, 2014 and H.R. 2847 being the end of America, it might be better to look at what America will look like at the end of 2014.  According to the mainstream media, the U.S. economy is back on track after weathering the biggest financial meltdown since the Great Depression. Wall Street pundits and even the U.S. government point to a number of factors suggesting the U.S. economy is back on solid footing: the five-plus-year bull run on the stock market, the major indices trading at record highs, housing prices having rebounded, and the job market improving.  Unfortunately, those numbers do not tell the full story. The major U.S. indices may indeed be trading at record highs, but the economic foundation holding those stocks up is shaky at best.  Since the beginning of 2013, quarter after quarter, more and more companies on the S&P 500 have revised their earnings guidance lower. To compensate for weak results, companies masked their poor earnings and revenues with cost-cutting measures and near-record stock buyback plans. The unemployment rate is 6.3%, but the underemployment rate is an eye-watering 12.3%. On top of that, 46.1 million, or 14.5% of the country, receive food stamps. And more and more Americans are in debt; according to the most recent data, Americans owe $11.65 trillion in debt. The average credit card debt is $15,191, the average mortgage debt is $154,365, and the average student loan debt is more than $33,000.  What about U.S. housing? Housing prices have risen 25% since the beginning of 2012, but still need to increase more than 20% to reach their pre-recession highs. And the U.S. housing market is too expensive for most first-time home buyers.  In fact, first-time home buyers, the barometer for how well the U.S. economy is doing, accounted for around 16% of new-home purchases in April, down from a range of 25% to 28% between 2001 and 2007. As for existing home sales, first-time buyers made up just 29% of purchases; the 30-year average for first-time homebuyers, and a number economists consider healthy, is 40%. And overall, the homeownership rate in the U.S. is at its lowest levels in almost 20 years.  Bill H.R. 2847 will not be the end of America; on July 1, 2014, America will look identical to the way it does now. But as for America at the end of 2014, that’s another story. The surface data appears really great, but it’s not a true reflection of Main Street. Take a closer, more detailed look at the economic data and you’ll see that the U.S. economy will be much worse on December 31, 2014 than it is today.  To get a handle on debt and raise the standard of living on Main Street, the broader U.S. economy needs to experience sustained growth—and that just isn’t in place yet.

A BRAIN-DEAD idea...

What EU leadership has offered to the world : ... The whole idea of creating the Euro without consolidating the debts was the BRAIN-DEAD idea of academics with ZERO trading experience and lawyers. We really cannot afford these types of people making financial decisions about how the run the world. Whatever Brussels could have done wrong, they did. (It was the idea of brain-dead french politicians with zero experience in almost anything except scooter driving and handling - not too well - multiple mistresses. The idea was to disarm the German Bundesbank by design and concept. A very french approach).   The EU politicians have assumed that they can dictate to the free markets by decree and suppress the right to freedom of choice, vote, and to just live un-harassed. The EU politicians have disregarded the people with the arrogance that they know what is best. The EU politicians are helping to destroy the world economy because they have tied the bank reserves to their own folly and then exempted them from mark-to-market to hide their track record. These politicians can hide their head in the sand to pretend they have not yet failed. However, the free markets ALWAYS win.  Well the free markets have voted. The Euro has crashed to the 1.15 level so far. A monthly closing BELOW 1.18 is a long-term sell signal; and support lies at 1.1375 A monthly closing beneath this level confirms the Euro is dead and should fall back to the 1.03-.96 area.  You just can’t make up this stuff. There should be a law against UNQUALIFIED people taking office. Enough is enough. These people create wars to cover up their mistakes. We have an ABSOLUTE right as a people NOT to be economic slaves to fools.

It sounds at first like a crazy thought experiment: One morning, every resident of the euro zone comes home to find a check in their mailbox worth over €500 euros ($597) and possibly as much as €3,000. A gift, just like that, sent by the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt.  Currently, the inflation rate is barely above zero and fears of a horror deflation scenario of the kind seen during the Great Depression in the United States are haunting the euro zone. The ECB, whose main task is euro stability, has lost control.  In this desperate situation, an increasing number of economists and finance professionals are promoting the concept of "helicopter money," tantamount to dispersing cash across the country by way of helicopter. The idea, which even Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman once found attractive, has triggered ferocious debates between central bank officials in Europe and academics. For backers, there's more to this than just a new instrument. They are questioning cast-iron doctrines of monetary policy.  One thing, after all, is becoming increasingly clear: Draghi and his fellow central bank leaders have exhausted all traditional means for combatting deflation.  The failure of these efforts can be easily explained. Thus far, central banks have primarily provided funding to financial institutions. The ECB provided banks with loans at low interest rates or purchased risky securities from them in the hope that they would in turn issue more loans to companies and consumers. The problem is that many households and firms are so far in debt already that they are eschewing any new credit, meaning the money isn't ultimately making its way to the real economy as hoped.  In response to this development, Sylvain Broyer, the chief European economist for French investment bank Natixis, says, "It would make much more sense to take the money the ECB wants to deploy in the fight against deflation and distribute it directly to the people." Draghi has calculated expenditures of a trillion euros for his emergency program, funds that would be sufficient to provide each euro zone citizen with a gift of around €3,000.

The European Central Bank head Mario Draghi is expected to make good on his promise to “do whatever it takes” to save the deflating euro and sagging economy and introduce US-style quantitative easing to the tune of €500 billion in bond purchases. The sovereign bond purchases could inject €550 billion ($650 billion), according to a survey of economist by Bloomberg News. The bank meets Thursday and will make a rate decision announcement at 13:45 CET in Frankfurt, which will be followed by a news conference at 14:30 CET.  A non-standard monetary policy to purchase bonds and asset-backed securities is likely to be announced, and will include sovereign debt purchases, but not gold. It is very similar to the US stimulus scheme to ease the money supply. Declining prices and low growth have brought the EU economy, and its currency, to a sluggish stasis. Record low interest rates of 0.05 percent haven’t boosted the economy, either. This extra cash liquidity measure in the banking system will be instead of the current support program known as “suspending sterilization,” which amounted to about €175 billion in weekly fund extractions from EU banks over the last 4 years. This money won’t disappear, but will stay in the banks, and possibly be leant out, thus stimulating growth.   Germany has been against the stimulus, as it believes it could further agitate highly-indebted EU countries, and the German authorities have argued the bond buying program is illegal. Under EU law it is illegal to finance governments and debt. However, the ECB is allowed to buy government bonds in the secondary market and the move wouldn’t be in violation of any eurozone law. At December’s meeting, the ECB Governing Council said it will reassess the monetary stimulus package “early next year.”

 

...what a mess...now we'll see the "benefits of the EU"...

Getting the American or British or European public deeper into debt via QE bond buying schemes by their respective governments, has already put them or will put them into further "hock" for generations! And all this just to pump up "bank balance sheets" is ludicrous! It's far better to get rid of the vampires at the central banks and have governments everywhere start printing their own currency on good faith - without all the ridiculous debt!

Minimum wage, temporary jobs and wild speculation in the markets have replaced “real growth” while central banks such as the BoE, the FED, the IMF and the FED-backed ECB have created “A sow’s ear from a silk purse” when it comes to the major and minor economies of the civilized world!

The stockholders of the central banks' main concern is not the public interest or the general welfare - but to enslave Europe further into debt with the backing of the "hot air" dollar! This they have already achieved...and now they want everyone begging for QE as well! This just means more astronomical debt for all European governments and final control by the bankers!

Jackson was the only president to successfully get rid of the central bank of the United States and enjoy debt free currency for a generation. Lincoln also successfully funded the civil war with debt free currency! Kennedy also injected billions of debt-free silver certificates into the economy before the bankers had his brains blown out by a hit team! It's time to get rid of the buggers at the central banks for a more decent and fair world! The stockholders of the central banks need to be thrown into jail for crimes against humanity and then drawn and quartered for a start!...

So, it was 1,25 Francs for the euro. Now is 1 franc for the euro. The Real Euro Central Bank- The Swiss central Bank,the Rock of Money knowledge, having more euros than the ECB , got richer, very liquid....The more the ECB prints,the richer they go. ... Ok, they had to disclose for that many info,almost loose the banking secret, but they stash for the bad times. And there are ways for the safe haven to keep on.   The people who were betting on the Euro against the Franc were delusional years ago.  How it will backfire, this denial, in which the Eurozone is?... Well, they think they will sell more - to the Apache Indians.  And something will trickle down to the....... ( object missing).....?

The same goes with the other pals in the story- The QE Delirium Tremens syndrome is approaching, especially if you do not eat after you drink a lot.

European Union officials take three times more sick days off work than an average British worker in the private sector, research by The Telegraph suggests.

According to official figures, European Commission officials took an average of 14.6 days off sick last year, with one in seven staff absent for more than 20 days.

By contrast, a survey by the Confederation of British Industry found that British staff working in the private sector took around five sick days a year.

European officials even outstripped Britain's civil servants and public sector staff, who took half as many days off work.

Peter Bone, a prominent Eurosceptic Conservative MP, said the figures were "disgraceful". He said: "I'm appalled at the waste of money. It is unbelievable that they are taking so much time off. However, nobody in truth would notice whether they are there or not. They have no real job, they are just pushing bits of paper around and costing taxpayers billions of pounds." EU officials are well paid, according to British figures, 16 per cent of administrative staff at the commission earn more than 100,000 or £84,000 a year, paid at low "community" tax rates of around 20 per cent.

The high wages comes on top of annual holidays of 24 days as well as seven days off for public holidays, and this year eight "non-working" days out of the office when the Brussels institutions are closed in summer and at Christmas.

Many commission staff are also eligible for a "flexitime" scheme that gives an extra 24 days off work every year for those that put in an extra 45 minutes a day in the office.

The holiday and flexitime allowances meant that in 2010, many EU staff were entitled to 66 days or a quarter of the year off work, without taking time off sick.

A spokesman for the European Commission said: "We don't have high sickness absence rates.

"The standard comparison is percentage of working days lost to sickness. While this varies very slightly from year to year, for the Commission it is generally 3.5 -3.7 per cent." "We find that in fact the commission compares very, even extremely, favourably to national administrations. That is the inconvenient truth."

Bitcoins tumbled in value after Chinese authorities acted to curb trading in the virtual currency.

The government has banned domestic third-party payment companies from providing clearing services for virtual currency trading platforms, according to a report in the China Business News.

BTCChina, the country's biggest Bitcoin trading platform, and other Bitcoin exchanges in the country rely on third-party providers to handle the transactions for bitcoin trading as they are not licensed to handle clearing services that enable investors to deposit and withdraw their money.

BTCChina, on its Twitter-like Weibo account, told users it "has no choice but to stop accepting yuan deposits".

Although traders can still make deposits in other currencies, the move has pummelled volumes on BTC and slashed bitcoin's value.

Prices on BTCChina stood at 2845 yuan ($468) each early on Wednesday, down 60pc from their high of 7,588 yuan in November. 

^{Chart from BTCChina showing sharp fall in value of Bitcoins}

Chinese speculators have poured money into Bitcoins this year, driving the BTCChina price up 9,122pc from January 1 to November 30 and making the country at times the world's biggest Bitcoin market.

Authorities have raised concerns and two weeks ago China's central bank ordered financial institutions not to provide Bitcoin-related services and products and cautioned against its potential use in money-laundering.

Bitcoin is a form of cryptography-based e-money that offers a largely anonymous payment system.

China’s central bank has rushed to pump money into the stalling banking system but markets across Asia still fell sharply amid fears that the world’s second-largest economy faces a credit crisis.

Cash rates on China’s money markets jumped after the move by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) to ease a liquidity squeeze on banks. Both the Shanghai Composite Index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index also fell amid concerns over structural problems in China’s financial system.

The Chinese seven-day bond repurchase rate, which essentially measures liquidity in the financial system, climbed to 7.6pc its highest since fears over a banking crisis in China first emerged over the summer.

State media in China had reported that the PBOC has unexpectedly pumped $33bn (£20bn) into the domestic money market through what it refers to as “short-term liquidity operation”.

“The focus is again on China where there is plenty of discussion on the squeeze in interbank funding markets,” said Deutsche Bank in a note to investors Friday. “The repo rate is now higher than yesterday amid market talk of a missed payment at a local Chinese bank. This is something to monitor over the next few days.”

Fears over a looming Chinese debt crisis spurred by a poorly regulated and opaque financial system stoked fears over the summer that the Asian powerhouse could finally be on the brink of a sharp slowdown in growth.

Much concern also surrounds what has become known as the “shadow banking” system that allows the Chinese to borrow money beyond their means.

EXPORT-IMPORT BANK BOARD ADOPTS REVISED ENVIRONMENTAL GUIDELINES TO REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS  Washington, DC — The board of directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) today adopted revisions to its environmental procedures and guidelines governing high-carbon intensity projects, aligning the Bank with President Obama’s goal of reducing carbon pollution, while maintaining the Bank’s focus on continuing to help create and support American export-related jobs.

“No one has been more supportive of U.S. exports and the American jobs they produce and maintain than this Bank and this board. Since 2009, we have supported nearly 1.2 million jobs.” said Fred P. Hochberg, Ex-Im chairman and president. “We can’t do it, however, without considering the environmental costs associated with transactions.”

The revised guidelines adopted today require carbon capture and storage in most countries in order to secure Bank financing for coal-fired power plants, but would provide flexibility for the Bank with respect to the important energy needs of the poorest countries in the world.

The policy revisions were drafted by Ex-Im Bank staff and reviewed extensively by exporters, the public, leading environmental groups, the Administration and other federal agencies through an extensive and transparent vetting process.

“The Bank engages in an important balancing act — in supporting our exporters, we have to weigh the potential impacts on the environment associated with our financing,” Hochberg said. “This balancing act is a Congressional mandate, is a directive in our Charter, is part of our mission and it is something we at the Bank take seriously.”

Hochberg noted that: “Our proposed guidelines would balance the Bank’s obligations to its many different stakeholders and also its efforts to support the growth of export-related U.S. jobs.”

“Without guidelines or limits, ever-increasing numbers of new coal plants worldwide will just continue to emit more carbon pollution into the air we breathe,” said Hochberg. “But America cannot do this alone. I strongly support the Administration’s efforts to build an international consensus such that other nations follow our lead in restricting financing of new coal-fired power plants.”

Ex-Im has been a leader among the world’s export credit agencies (ECAs) in adopting measures to protect the environment while financing exports.

In 1995 the Bank was the first ECA to adopt environmental procedures and guidelines governing its export financing. In 1999 the Bank began tracking and publicly reporting projected carbon emissions produced by projects it financed. Even today Ex-Im is the only ECA that tracks and reports carbon emissions. In 2009 the Bank approved a formal carbon policy, and in 2010 it approved supplemental guidelines for high-carbon intensity projects.

The guideline revisions approved today are not designed to impact mining projects or coal exports produced by American coal miners. Ex-Im staff have worked with other agencies to ensure that the flexibility of these guidelines would be consistent with those of other federal agencies.

In addition to approving the revisions to its environmental guidelines, the board today approved seven transactions that together will support more than 11,200 U.S. export-related jobs.

ABOUT EX-IM BANK:

Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that creates and maintains U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. In the past five years (from Fiscal Year 2008), Ex-Im Bank has earned for U.S. taxpayers nearly $1.6 billion above the cost of operations. The Bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms, including working capital guarantees, export-credit insurance and financing to help foreign buyers purchase U.S. goods and services.

Ex-Im Bank approved $35.8 billion in total authorizations in FY 2012 – an all-time Ex-Im record. This total includes more than $6.1 billion directly supporting small-business export sales – also an Ex-Im record. Ex-Im Bank's total authorizations are supporting an estimated $50 billion in U.S. export sales and approximately 255,000 American jobs in communities across the country.

Berlin - A new bargaining chip has emerged in the ongoing German coalition talks: the idea of holding referendums on major EU decisions - be it bailouts, enlargement or more transfers of sovereignty to Brussels.

The idea was formulated in a joint working paper drafted by Hans-Peter Friedrich, a member of Angela Merkel's Bavarian sister party (CSU) and currently the country's interior minister, and Thomas Oppermann, a member of the opposition Social Democrats (SPD).

A grand coalition would be a unique opportunity for "modernizing our democracy," they wrote.

More referendums - which currently can be held only on constitutional matters or if the country's borders are changed - would give voters the chance to "influence political decisions also in-between elections," they added.

In their leaked paper, the two politicians argue for a "careful transition to direct democracy," for instance when 1 million people gather signatures on a matter or if the parliament wants to consult the population on a specific law.

The paper also argues that referendums should be held on EU matters of "great significance" - such as EU enlargement, transfer of powers to Brussels or another eurozone bailout.

Merkel's Christian Democrat party (CDU) was quick to dismiss such wide-ranging plebiscites, saying there was a risk of them being hijacked by populist campaigns.

"There are still serious doubts about the introduction of referendums at national level," said Guenter Krings, the deputy leader of the CDU in the Bundestag.

The chairman of the EU affairs committee in the parliament, Guenther Krichbaum, said such a change would bring about the "advent of populism" in Germany.

The Social Democrats have also distanced themselves from referendums on EU matters.

They say plebiscites should be held on internal matters and formulated in a way that would not give a platform for anti-European campaigns.

"One can leave out certain questions that touch on the core principles of the EU," said SPD secretary general Andrea Nahles.

The issue will form part of coalition talks on Wednesday.

The negotiations are expected to last at least until the end of the month, with a final round expected on 27-28 November. The new government should be in place by mid-December.

Borrowers across the struggling eurozone economies received an unexpected fillip on Thursday when the European Central Bank cut interest rates to a fresh record low, in a bid to stave off a slide into deflation.

After its monthly policy meeting in Frankfurt, the ECB's governing council announced that it would reduce its key refinancing rate to 0.25%, from 0.5%.  While the economy of the 18-member single currency area clambered out of recession earlier this year, Mario Draghi, the ECB's president, warned that the outlook could deteriorate in the coming months.  "The risks surrounding the economic outlook for the euro area continue to be on the downside," he said. "Developments in global money and financial market conditions and related uncertainties may have the potential to negatively affect economic conditions. Other downside risks include higher commodity prices, weaker than expected domestic demand and export growth, and slow or insufficient implementation of structural reforms in euro area countries." As well as the rate cut, which took financial markets by surprise, Draghi said the ECB would continue making low-cost loans to eurozone banks until at least mid-2015, to try to prevent the financial sector from seizing up.

Howard Archer, of consultancy IHS Global Insight, said: "The fact that the ECB chose to act now rather than wait until December when the governing council will have the ECB staff's new eurozone GDP and consumer price inflation forecasts suggests that the bank felt there was a compelling case for prompt action."

With inflation running well below the ECB's 2% target, at just 0.7% in October, a growing number of analysts have started to warn that deflation – which can be disastrous for economies carrying a heavy debt burden, as prices and wages fall while debt-levels remain fixed – is a real threat. Draghi suggested at his press conference that, "we may experience a prolonged period of low inflation".

BLOWIG HOT AIR ... Greece is far form being OK...Greeks are though...

GERMANY BLOWING HOT AIR - "Greece is getting on track," German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said in Brussels as the meeting ended. "It is not easy for them."  The agreement reached on Monday night foresees an initial payment of €2.5 billion this month to be followed up by more payments in subsequent months. Greece's creditors are primarily concerned by the slow progress Athens has made on downsizing its public sector, with thousands of additional layoffs pending. The country's privatization program has also generated much less cash than expected, most recently as a result of the government's inability to find a buyer for the natural gas company DEPA. Tax reform and the pursuit of tax dodgers is another area where Greece's creditors have demanded improvement. "It's time to step up the momentum of reform in Greece," said European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn.  Still, the public sector cuts are controversial in Greece, with thousands of teachers and municipal workers taking to the streets of Athens on Monday and Tuesday. Some 12,500 state employees are to be placed on administrative leave by the end of September with an additional 12,500 to join them by the end of the year. They will receive 75 percent of their salary for eight months. If they haven't found a new job by then, they will be unemployed.

There is concern that the additional cuts could further damage the country's fragile economy which, while slowly improving, is still stuck in its sixth straight year of recession. Economists forecast that the country could return to growth next year -- a tiny increase of just 0.6 percent -- but some worry that dividing up aid payments could derail the slow recovery. The agreement to continue funding Greece, however, was by no means unexpected. Despite widespread concern with Athens' slow pace of reform, there is little appetite for risking a return of the euro crisis by withholding funding. The situation in Portugal has made European finance ministers even more cautious. Political instability in Lisbon last week recently triggered a spike in the interest rate on Portuguese sovereign bonds. The country was able to avoid a collapse of the government, but Lisbon must nevertheless push through an additional €5 billion austerity package in the coming months, and there are concerns that political worries might return.

Greece too has seen its share of political instability in recent weeks, with the government of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras almost collapsing due to its sudden and controversial shutdown of public broadcaster ERT. One of the parties in his three-party coalition left, leaving him with a tiny three-seat majority in parliament.

It is unclear whether France's proposal to provide direct aid to Greek banks will gain much traction. Some €60 billion of the €500 billion ESM fund has been made available to provide direct assistance to euro-zone banks that need it. But it remains controversial. Furthermore, European leaders only recently agreed to involve shareholders, creditors and individual countries should large banks find themselves in need of help. It remains unclear whether that agreement applies to existing cases like Greece.

Berlin - The German Constitutional Court is not interested whether the European Central Bank's (ECB) actions in the euro-crisis were successful, but whether they were legal, the court's top judge said on Tuesday (11 June) in a public hearing. "Otherwise the end alone would justify the means," Andreas Vosskuhle, the presiding judge, noted. In the run-up to the hearing, ECB chief Mario Draghi had called his bank's bond-buying programme "the most successful monetary policy undertaken in recent time.  "It recently bought some €1.1 billion of troubled bonds, helping Italy and Spain to keep their heads above the water.The plaintiffs - a group which has so far challenged almost every euro-rescue step taken by Germany - also asked the Karlsruhe-based court to look at the ECB's Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) scheme.  Under the OMT, the bank is to buy "unlimited" bonds from troubled euro-countries, provided they sign up to strict reforms.   In this respect, the programme is different to the other bond-buying scheme, which comes with no strings attached on reform.  OMT has never been activated.

The German central bank, the Bundesbank, will have a central role in this week's Federal Constitutional Court hearing on complaints filed against the permanent European bailout fund known as the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) and the bond purchase program of the European Central Bank (ECB). It makes clear in its written statement that the bond purchases announced by the ECB are "to be judged critically."  The Bundesbank concedes that the purchase of bonds by central banks is a common practice, but notes that in the case of the United States, Japan or the United Kingdom, central banks only buy bonds of high creditworthiness. The ECB, by contrast, plans to buy bonds of "poorly rated member states" in order to reduce their high-risk premiums, writes the Bundesbank.   In doing so, Bundesbank officials are deliberately ignoring the fact that the budget deficits and debt levels of the aforementioned three countries are in some cases considerably higher than in the crisis-hit nations of the euro zone. The "high creditworthiness" doesn't reflect budgetary discipline there. Rather, it stems purely from the fact that the central banks in question opted for large-scale bond buying to give a clear signal to market participants: the US, Japan and the UK will never suffer a liquidity problem in the bond markets.   The Bundesbank also questioned the central line of argument of the ECB, which mainly justifies its bond purchase program by saying that the monetary transmission process in the euro zone has been interrupted. The Bundesbank gives a very good description of how such a disruption can be diagnosed. It depends, the Bundesbank writes, on whether the financing conditions in the real economy move in harmony with the ECB's leading interest rates. Which would mean in practice that companies throughout the entire euro zone could obtain bank credit at comparable interest rates.

Surprise, the European Commission is in favor of banks

Austerity is just a cover to allow Europe's right to privatize essential public services, Use taxpayers money to protect private casino banks shareholders from losses and to create so much unemployment that Europeans are prepared to work for the price of a Coolie. In Germany real wages lagged productivity in the euro era. the excess output of Germany was mopped by others who imported it. Germany was being over-competitive in the 00s.  There is also a mythology that the Greek productivity fell during the Euro era, Read this article and you will see that the OECD data shows that Greek productivity was increasing consistently at rates faster than that of Northern Europe during the EURO era. that is until 2009. Since then productivity fell. Also, from the same source, for the period between 2004 and 2011: Average Greek labour productivity was 73% of the EZ. Average Greek labour cost 76% of the EZ....So there is no justification for the teratologies written in the press regarding the party of the unproductive and overpaid Greek workers during the EURO era.  I won't get into detail regarding the rest of the "facts" you mentioned like Greek train drivers getting 50K (I have seen up to 70K) and people retiring at 50 on average. All these have been repeatedly proved wrong with facts (Greek used to retire on average at the same age as Germans - now I am sure later).  There is of course benefit abuse in Greece, and there are various weaknesses in the public sector but even in 2009 the public sector spending in Greece was the average European in relation to GDP. The key problem is Greece was poorer tax collection than other places. I also quote from the OECD report for 2011 on public sector employment - another big myth there : all Greeks work in the public sector.  "Greece has one of the lowest rates of public employment among OECD countries, with general government employing just 7.9% of the total labour force in 2008. This is a slight increase from 2000, when the rate was 6.8%. Across the OECD area, the share of government employment ranges from 6.7% to 29.3%, with an average of 15%. The Greek government has plans to further decrease this share, by replacing only 20% of staff leaving on retirement. Public employment is also highly centralised in Greece, with over 80% of staff working at the central government level".

Finally, the damage is done now - so instead of continuing to attack Greeks and others for their incompetence and corruption and to prevent further nationalism and damage in Europe - let us all agree to call it a day and go back to our national currencies. This would be better than a prolonged disaster in which country after country falls out of the currency....well

Surprise, surprise, the European Commission in favor of banks again!
With over 3 million empty properties in Spain and hundreds of evictions occurring everyday of people who can't keep up with their mortgage payments due to the massive unemployment rate, a few days ago the gvnt of the autonomous region of Andalusia approved a decree to allow for the temporary expropriation of empty homes from banks in order to house the increasing number of homeless people.
Well, Brussels has replied with a letter to the Spanish central government warning them that they are studying whether the decree is contrary to the Memorandum of Understanding that Spain was forced to sign last year to bailout the banks. The letter also warns of the risks of these expropriations to the Spanish financial system.
Bruselas se entromete en el decreto andaluz de Vivienda y se pone del lado de la banca
We must destroy this EU before it destroys us all.

Speaking ahead of a confidence vote in the lower house, Mr Letta said Italy could not afford to focus simply on trying to cut its huge public debt and needed a new emphasis on lifting the economy out of recession. He will be backed by his own center-left Democratic Party, Silvio Berlusconi's center-right People of Freedom (PDL) party as well as centrists led by former prime minister Mario Monti, with a second vote in the Senate on Tuesday.

"We will die of fiscal consolidation alone, growth policies cannot wait any longer," Mr Letta said, noting that the country's economic situation remains "serious" after more than a decade of stagnation.

However he pledged to stick to Italy's budget commitments to its European Union partners, announcing he would visit Brussels, Paris and Berlin this week. Financial market reaction to Letta's appointment and the end of months of political stalemate after last February's inconclusive election was positive, with bond yields falling and shares rising....So Letta thinks he can revive the economy! How pray? Any fool can see that Italy can't even find breathing space while it remains strapped into the "Gold-Standard" like EMU straight jacket and shackled to the brick wall of Germanic inspired demands to collapse public spending, aka austerity. 

Until this otherwise clever nation comes to its senses and exits EU/EMU, Italy seem destined to continue its underworld sojourn in the dank dungeons of economic bondage and fiscal discipline. 

Responding to Berlusconi's demands for an unpopular housing tax to be scrapped, Mr Letta said payments due in June would be halted prior to a wider overhaul of property taxes but he did not promise to abolish the tax altogether. He also said he hoped an increase in sales tax, which would see the main rate rise from 21pc to 22pc planned for July, could be delayed. In a speech laying out an ambitious programme of reforms, Mr Letta said the welfare system would have to be strengthened, taxes weighing on employment and young people would be cut and measures to get more women into the workforce would be passed. He promised to change the current electoral law, which contributed heavily to the inconclusive election result in February and left Italy in political limbo for two months as the parties wrangled over forming a government. He also said he would review the progress of reforms in 18 months' time and if he felt that he had been blocked by other parties he would not hesitate to assume the consequences, an apparent suggestion that he would resign.

The next Country to be delapidated by the 4th Reichi is

The European Commission has recommended opening EU membership talks with Serbia, following Friday's landmark deal to normalize Serbia-Kosovo ties. Serbia's government has approved the EU-brokered deal with its former province of Kosovo. Both Serbia and Kosovo want to join the EU. There has been sporadic violence in Kosovo since the 1999 conflict. Many countries recognize Kosovo as independent, but Serbia is among those, including Russia and China, who do not.

Five of the 27 EU countries do not recognize Kosovo: Spain, Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Cyprus.

Serbia insists that Friday's deal, granting a high degree of autonomy to Serb-majority areas in northern Kosovo, does not mean that it has recognized Kosovo's independence.

The Commission, which steers EU membership negotiations, said it "recommends that negotiations for accession to the European Union should be opened with Serbia". EU foreign ministers will consider the issue on Monday.

In a report the Commission said Serbia had "actively and constructively" engaged in dialogue with Kosovo and had improved its co-operation with Eulex, the EU rule-of-law mission in Kosovo.

In a separate report the Commission also recommended opening talks with Kosovo on reaching a Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU - a key step towards full EU accession negotiations.

The European Commission also proposed allowing Kosovo to participate in 22 EU programmes. The proposal requires approval from EU governments to go ahead.

It has been clear for some time that the euro is overvalued and not just by a little bit as suggested by Wolfgang Schauble.

I think that we are talking a 20-30% devaluation to save club med and keep them in the EZ. Germany of course would end up with high inflation.  I cannot see dropping interest rates a little bit will have much effect. Quantative easing might be difficult as this increases liquidity and there is too much money squishing around in the EZ already. The situation in the EZ is now so bad that drastic action is necessary to correct it. What sort of action can replace breaking up the whole sorry thing is beyond me.

It is worth pointing out again that Germany is only 27% of the EZ. EZ economics need to be aimed at the remaining 73%. If you make economic policy that only benefits Germany then you should expect the rest of the EZ to be in the state that it is.

As to why the euro is so overvalued, I am as at much a loss as everybody else.

I do however suspect that ECB operations are at the root of things. Their sole objective is to keep prices down which is mainly due to German fears of hyper-inflation. The problem  is that playing artificially with one part of the economic equation has a knock on effect with rest of the equation.

I fear that the economic equation in the EZ is now so far out of kilter as to be uncorrectable.

The pain and suffering in the EZ will continue until it is broken up,  either partly or wholly, and the disparate economies allowed to recover via traditional means.

I would like to say this to the europhiles. Your stupid project has caused this problem. All across europe the people are suffering as a result of your hubris.  This cannot be allowed to continue. The day of your reckoning is coming. You have been warned......

It’s a spectacle that Germans are getting tired of: southern European protesters burning their flags and waving placards comparing Chancellor Angela Merkel to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, all in reaction to Berlin’s insistence on reforms and austerity in return for bailout funds.

And it’s enough to make people such as Berlin businessman Horst Freiberg, who never felt much love for the euro currency, pine more than ever for the return of the German mark.

“I’d immediately vote for a party that wants to abolish the euro,” said Freiberg, who has run a small business selling ink stamps in central Berlin for more than 40 years. “How can you have one currency with banana republics like Cyprus and Greece? And they always accuse us of being Nazis. It’s sick.”

Such sentiments are still the exception in Germany, where a sense of obligation to help fellow Europeans in distress is rooted in shame for the crimes of the Third Reich. But a new political party hopes to capitalize on simmering fears that the euro crisis could deepen and drag down Europe’s biggest economy. It aims to garner enough votes from people like Freiberg in September elections to reach the 5 percent minimum needed for seats in Parliament.

Called Alternative for Germany, the main goal of the party founded by academics and economists is the “orderly dissolution” of the euro.  The stance puts the party in sharp opposition to Merkel’s position that there can be no Europe without the preservation of the single currency, with her repeated insistence that “if the euro fails, Europe will fail.” While still a fledgling movement, the new party could hurt Merkel by sapping support from her main coalition partner _ which she has relied on for a stable government.

“Because of the euro, people in southern Europe don’t hesitate to express their disgust toward Germany, using old Nazi comparisons,” party founder Bernd Lucke said Sunday in a speech to about 1,500 cheering Alternative For Germany members at the party’s founding congress in Berlin.

“The euro was a failure and it would be bad if we continue to believe in this fairy tale,” he said. “If the euro fails, Europe doesn’t fail.”

Alternative for Germany wants to introduce Swiss-style national referendums so voters can have a say on important matters _ including economic rescue packages. The party congress, at Berlin’s upscale Intercontinental Hotel, plans to adopt a program and vote for a party board on Sunday.