Rick Steves' Greece: Athens & the Peloponnese amazon.com
Bust: Greece, the Euro and the Sovereign Debt Crisis - By Matthew Lynn amazon.com
Greece's 'Odious' Debt: The Looting of the Hellenic Republic by the Euro, the Political Elite and the Investment Community - By Jason Manolopoulos amazon.com
Understanding the Crisis in Greece: From Boom to Bust - By Theodore Pelagidis amazon.com
The Imminent Crisis: Greek Debt and the Collapse of the European Monetary Union amazon.com
Eyewitness Greece - Athens and the Mainland - 352 Pages
Financial markets and economic growth in Greece, 1986-1999 [An article from: Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions & Money]
Athens Demographics:
The population count for Athens was 10,964,020 in 2001. According to eurostat, in 2008 Greece had a total estimated population of 11,262,000. Of this, some 695,979 are estimated to be non-Greek.
Perissa Beach on Santorini in Greece. Source: Big Stock Photo
June 10, 2010
Numbers continue to crumble on Greek economy: China may bring in $1 billion in investments
China may put $1 billion or more into Piraeus upgrades
Anthony Faiola at the Washington Post on the "modern silk road" of China pulling in the opposite direction of world investment trends:
"Nearly bankrupt and sullied in the eyes of foreign investors, Greece is moving to rebuild its economy by tapping the deep pockets of another ancient civilization: China.
Spurred on by government incentives and bargain-basement prices, the Chinese are planning to pump hundreds of millions -- perhaps billions -- of euros into Greece even as other investors run the other way. The cornerstone of those plans is the transformation of the Mediterranean port of Piraeus into the Rotterdam of the south, creating a modern gateway linking Chinese factories with consumers across Europe and North Africa.
...The Greek government, for its part, is taking on the powerful unions in a bid to ensure that the Chinese can introduce dramatic changes to increase efficiency and productivity. That effort has ironically turned the Greek Communist Party -- which is closely aligned with the labor unions -- into the fiercest critic of China's economic march on Greece.
...Greeks see Chinese investment as nothing short of a gift from the gods. The biggest question facing the troubled European Union is how nations with uncompetitive economies such as Portugal, Spain and Greece can reinvent themselves to be more on par with the successful nations of Northern Europe. Greek officials say Chinese investment is offering a glimpse into how this nation can do just that by building on its expertise in shipping.
Also see from 2009 "China to the Rescue?"
June 15, 2010
The upside is all Chinese
News that China would be signing on to a big improvement and upgrade deal at the port of Pireas has come to pass (AP story via yahoo.com):
"Debt-plagued Greece has been seeking to boost investments from China, and Chinese shipping and transport giant Cosco Group has said it is looking to expand its Greek operations. The company already operates two container terminals at Greece's largest port of Piraeus, on a 35-year concession worth $1 billion that was finalized last year."
And why is China interested in Greece?
"Shipping is one of Greece's main industries, with Greeks controlling nearly 20 per cent of the world's merchant fleet."
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