NEWS ARCHIVE - October 2013

October 30, 2013

Pangalos on claims Greece spied on US ambassadors - eKathimerini

"Pangalos, who was Greek foreign minister between 1996 and 1999, said the eavesdropping concerned Washington's apparent opposition to Cyprus's membership of the European Union without a prior peace settlement.

“At that time the EU was facing a dilemma of whether Cyprus should be accepted as a member without a solution to the political problem or, as the Turks – with fervent support from the Americans – wanted, give priority to Turkey over Cyprus,” Pangalos said.

“...Why should Greece always be the victim?” Pangalos, a veteran socialist, told Vima radio on Thursday.

“We were tapping them because it was necessary to do so,” he said.

“...The former foreign minister has no business saying these things,” Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis said on Wednesday, reflecting the conservative-led government’s frustration with Pangalos.."

From Athens in 1998 to Istanbul in 2013 - eKathimerini

"History goes in cycles and while this is one of its most charming features if you’re a scholar, it is not so pleasant when you’re actually experiencing it.

A few days ago I was in Istanbul to attend an event held in memory of the late Turkish journalist Mehmet Ali Birand. I remembered the expression on his face when he first visited Athens around 1998. He was impressed by the wealth, the dynamism and the air of Europe that was evident everywhere.

“Wow, you guys have really progressed. You’ve left us far behind,” he told me after a long walk through central Athens. Had Birand been alive today, I may very well have uttered the same words to him about Istanbul.

Turkey today is a country that exudes confidence and has made marked leaps forward.

...On the other hand, while Turkey may be in its prime right now, it is also showing cracks that have many observers very concerned. Its overambitious foreign policy opened fronts that have no strategic advantages; its economy is at risk if the real estate bubble bursts and drags banks down with it; and democracy is being sorely tested, if the experiences of non-establishment journalists are anything to go by.

Given this uncertainty, we should not draw any conclusions about where Greece or Turkey will be in 20-30 years. Sure, Greece is at a very low point right now, but that is nothing new if viewed from a historical perspective. Turkey likewise has known growth before, but has also gone through long periods of decline."

October 26, 2013

Greek economic devastation ahead, according to Citi Group - UK Telegraph

"Greece continues to be a catastrophe. The alleged stabilisation will prove to be a false dawn. The economy will contract by a further 2.9pc in 2014, and 1.4pc in 2015, pushing unemployment to 32.4pc, and the debt to 201pc of GDP.

...If Citigroup is broadly correct, Europe faces a lost decade that is far worse than anything suffered by Japan, which will render the region marginal in coming world affairs, and is likely to have non-linear political consequences. The lesson of the 1930s is that you have to discredit both the moderate Left and Right in turn before voters turn to extreme parties en masse."

October 25, 2013

Greece can choose its government, but not its economic policy - eKathimerini

"...Kathimerini has reported at least seven times, over the last six months, that even if Greece exits its eurozone/IMF backed macroeconomic adjustment program, regains market access, and elects a different, “progressive” government, it will still not be able to follow an expansionary fiscal policy. This is because, following the outbreak of the crisis, all eurozone governments (including the Greek one) have bound their countries to follow a “Spartan” economic policy indefinitely, through a set of draconian pieces of legislation.

Of course, nothing is irrevocable in politics, but if a potential SYRIZA government wants to implement “Keynesian” policies - even assuming markets were willing to finance the deficits created by such policies - it would either have to convince all of its eurozone partners to agree on changing the current legislative framework, or leave the single currency.

Otherwise, if SYRIZA tries to diverge from Eurozone’s “economic orthodoxy,” then Greece will be taken to the European Court of Justice, asked to pay heavy fines...

But failing to comply is basically impossible for Greece...

...eurozone member-states, like Greece, which have sought financial assistance from the European Financial Stability Facility, will have the Commission standing over their finance ministers, until they repay most of these loans."

DNA identifies Maria child of Bulgarian Roma woman - The Star

"DNA tests have confirmed that a Bulgarian Roma couple are the parents of a mysterious girl in Greece known as Maria, authorities said Friday.

Genetic profiles of Sasha Ruseva and her husband, Atanas, matched that of the girl, said Svetlozar Lazarov, an Interior Ministry official.

Ruseva has said she gave birth to a baby girl four years ago in Greece while working as an olive picker, and gave the child away because she was too poor to care for her."

DNA test shows Maria in child abduction case is Roma - BBC

"DNA tests conducted in central Greece on a blonde-haired girl known as Maria have shown that the couple looking after her were not her biological parents.

...The UN children's agency Unicef has told the BBC that Roma communities are often used by traffickers because they are seen as "under the radar of society".

As many as 3,000 children in Greece are in the hands of child-trafficking rings originating in Bulgaria, Romania and other Balkan countries, Unicef says.

...Most cases are not thought to involve abduction but rather the buying and selling of children for a few thousand euros.

Part of the problem in Greece appears to lie in its localised and out-of-date child-registration system. And yet, ever since the mid-1990s, the European Union has tried to ensure all Roma communities across Europe are fully registered.

...The couple who registered Maria, according to the Greek authorities, used false identification and claimed to have had six children in under 10 months. And Greece's supreme court has called for an urgent investigation across the country into birth certificates issued since 2008."

October 24, 2013

Government suspendings state-financing from Golden Dawm - NY Times

"Wednesday’s decision was another step toward draining Golden Dawn of power. Since it emerged from obscurity and entered Parliament in the summer of 2012, the party has received about 500,000 euros, or close to $700,000, in state financing.

Golden Dawn’s coffers also reportedly received 200,000 euros, or about $275,000, from the salaries of its 18 members of Parliament, a 20 percent donation that Mr. Michaloliakos is said to have demanded.

Golden Dawn is thought to have benefited from at least an additional two million euros, or about $2.75 million, from other sources. The cost of maintaining its dozens of offices across the country and financing its “Greeks only” food distribution and blood donation campaigns is estimated at two million to three million euros, according to reports in the Greek news media.

This month, the country’s Financial Crimes Squad started investigating Golden Dawn’s finances over the past 12 years, looking for signs of money laundering or questionable donations."

"A Roma couple was arrested Wednesday in Greece on suspicion of abducting a two-month-old baby boy -- just days after authorities discovered a blond, blue-eyed girl known as "Maria" living with a duo who weren't her biological parents.

"The initial evidence strongly indicates that they are not the parents," a police official told NBC News, after a man and woman aged in their 20s after they were charged with child abduction on the island of Lesbos. Another person was arrested as part of the same case.

Municipal employees became suspicious when they tried to get a birth certificate for the baby, with a signed statement, as is possible in Greece, instead of producing hospital records, the official added.

After the Maria case hit the headlines, Greece’s Supreme Court this week ordered prosecutors across the country to be alert for any discrepancies on birth certificates going back six years.

...Authorities also continued to search for Maria's biological parents of Maria. She was found living with Christos Salis, 39, and Eleftheria Dimopoulou, 40, in a Roma settlement near Farsala, a small town north of Athens.

DNA swabs taken from Maria showed that Salis and Dimopoulou were not her parents and did not match anyone in Interpol's global database of missing people, officials said Wednesday.

The international police agency also issued "Blue Notices" to all of the organization’s 190 member countries in a bid for more information about Salis and Dimopoulou.

Reuters cited police as saying that there is evidence the couple used false IDs to register Maria as their own, saying she was born at home."

"Maria an investment" as abduction case ontinues - UK Daily Mirror

"The jailed foster parents of little ‘blonde angel’ Maria bought her as an “investment” to cash in on the biggest tradition of the gypsy world, police believe.

The youngster is thought to have been bought young, with the intention of making big money by selling her into a forced marriage at the age of just 12.

Police are investigating whether Maria, believed to be aged five or six, was being prepared for sale to a wealthy gypsy leader.

Marriage at the age of 12 is common practice in many traditional Roma communities, with the bride’s family getting a pay-out from the new in-laws.

Because Maria was seen as a “white-skinned beauty” within the gypsy camp, she would be considered a “prize investment”.

October 21, 2013

Privatization under attack - eKathimerini

"...economists are divided on the net effect of privatizations carried out under a tight time pressure and in a depressed market environment, with some critics fearing the potentially corrupting power of vested interests.

"The privatization of ports and airports will help build credibility, create positive investor sentiment and, more importantly, will start delivering benefits in terms of quality services to the population,» said Gikas Hardouvelis, chief economist at Eurobank.

"The net sum for Greeks will be negative,» countered Costas Melas, a professor of economics at Athens's Panteion University.

"When the troika leaves, the wealth of the Greek people will have sustained a major blow. Not only in terms of public corporations but also in terms of their own assets,» he said.

"Anything that moves, flies or walks in Greece has sustained a devaluation of 30 percent on average,» Melas told AFP.

The privatization program is far behind schedule and planned sales have repeatedly been delayed.

Athens recently revised its estimated asset sales for this year down to 1.6 billion euros from an initial target of 2.6 billion euros."

Roma camp blonde girl all over news - NBC News

"...the “mystery blonde girl,” as she has been dubbed by the Greek media, remains in a hospital where a dental examination showed she is between five and six years old.

Authorities are trying to identify where she originates from.

The girl was spotted peeking out from under a blanket on Wednesday as police swept the Roma settlement for suspected drug trafficking near Farsala, a small town around 170 miles north of the Greek capital, Athens. Roma also have been called Gypsies, though that term is considered derogatory.

She speaks just a few words - in the Roma dialect, and in Greek - and police think she may be of northern or eastern European origin, possibly from Scandinavia or Bulgaria.

DNA tests show that the 40-year-old woman and 39-year-old man she was living with in the camp were not her biological parents."

October 16, 2013

Eurozone wants 2 billion in savings in 2014 - eKathimerini

"Greece’s lenders are demanding that it will have to produce an extra 2 billion euros in savings in 2014 following a Eurogroup meeting in Luxembourg on Monday.

Kathimerini understands that Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras was told he will have to take more measures next year despite the government’s hopes that it would avoid such a move.

Following the talks, Stournaras insisted that Athens would not opt for any more “horizontal” cuts, affecting pensions and wages. The Greek finance minister also challenged the assertion made by European Central Bank executive board member, Joerg Asmussen, that Greece faced a “significant fiscal gap” in 2014.

“There is no significant fiscal gap,” Stournaras told reporters. “We do have fiscal challenges - always.”

Provopoulos under investigation - NY Times

"In an era when central bankers like Ben S. Bernanke dominate the global economic stage, few hold as much power within their own country as Georgios A. Provopoulos, the governor of the Bank of Greece, who has played a crucial role in keeping Greece out of bankruptcy and in the euro zone.

“My actions will be judged in the future after the dust has settled and people are in a better position to assess the results.”

But now Mr. Provopoulos faces one of the bigger challenges of his tumultuous reign: an investigation into whether he abused his position by clearing a banking deal involving his former employer and a business magnate who was subsequently charged with embezzlement and fraud.

In a confidential report issued last May, a senior Greek prosecutor said that Mr. Provopoulos approved the 71 million euro ($96 million) deal despite warnings from his staff regarding the buyer’s finances. The report, parts of which were reviewed by The New York Times, hints at the scope of the investigation, about which little has been previously disclosed."

October 13, 2013

Quake 6.4 mag west of Crete

"The centre of the quake, which struck at at 1311 GMT, was 22.5 miles (40 km) below the seabed 43 miles (70 km) west of Chania on Crete, the U.S. Geological Survey said."

October 12, 2013

Ancient strip mall unearthed in Greece

"Along the scenic coast of the northern Aegean Sea, archaeologists have uncovered a Greek portico, which, 2,500 years ago, would have been a bustling public space, something like an ancient strip mall.

The seaside portico, or stoa, stretches 130 feet (40 meters) across with seven rooms inside, each bearing the distinct architectural touches of their ancient shop owners, the site's excavators say. Strewn about the ruins, archaeologists found coins, vases and other artifacts that hold clues to when and how people lived in the archaic city."

October 11, 2013

Major privatization finally completed - eKathimerini

"Emma Delta, controlled by Czech investor Jiri Smejc and Greek businessman George Melissanidis, paid 622 million euros ($841 million) for a 33 percent stake in OPAP. The fund will pay an additional 3 million euros a year for the next 10 years.

Selling state assets is a key condition of Greece's 240 billion-euro bailout and the government is aiming to raise 1.6 billion euros from privatizations this year."

Turkey and Greece argue over Athens Mosque, swaps - eKathimerini

"...Greece flatly rejected the idea of reviving two Muslim mosques in Athens in return for the reopening of an Orthodox clergy school in Turkey.

Mosques have been a thorny issue for a long time in Greece, where the population is predominantly Greek Orthodox. Athens is one of the few European capitals without an official mosque.

The Halki seminary has also been a subject of controversy. The Orthodox clergy used to train in the school located on an island off Istanbul but it was closed in 1971, after Turkey fell out with Greece over Cyprus.

Turkey, a country where Muslims make up 99 percent of the population, recently decided to give back to the seminary lands that had been seized in 1943, but there was no talk of reopening."

October 10, 2013

Greece Posts Primary Budget Surplus for Jan-Sep Period - WSJ

"The figures show that Greece is likely to secure a primary budget surplus for the year, for the first time in more than a decade, which could help the country's case for further debt relief form its creditors--the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

The finance ministry said the primary budget surplus for the January to September period was 2.6 billion euros ($3.52 billion), or 1.4% of annual economic output, turning around a steep deficit of some EUR2 billion in the corresponding period a year earlier.

In a statement, Deputy Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said the government's target of winding up the year "with a small, sustainable" primary budget surplus has become more feasible."

Recent Statistics [OCT 2013]

Coloring is relative: If the category has improved since the last report, it is GREEN Worse numbers are BLACK . Data source is ELSTAT.

NOTE: In general, all the numbers are bad compared to a year ago, but the amount of decline (marked green) has slowed versus the last report, which is either a month ago or just last quarter.

Older stats

Unemployment stats

Old arguments at IMF over Greece resurface - WSJ

"The International Monetary Fund proceeded with its record 2010 bailout of Greece despite deep internal divisions over whether it would work, according to confidential documents that contradict the fund's public statements.

The new details of the rift come as the crisis lender is now pressing European governments to forgive some of the country's debt in a fresh round of difficult talks. The idea is unpopular with Germany and other European nations because their taxpayers would take the hit. But it stands a chance because the IMF is now making future support conditional on significantly reducing Greece's debt burden.

The topic will be high on the agenda when finance ministers from around the world gather in Washington this week for the IMF's annual meeting."

"...The Greek bailout was not a program for Greece, but for the euro zone itself," one participant at the 2010 meeting says today.

The 2010 documents show that several IMF directors were deeply skeptical of the staff's economic projections from the beginning, calling them "rather optimistic," "overly benign," even "Panglossian."

Greece targets Golden Dawn leader's wife - Sky News

"Greek prosecutors have asked for the parliamentary immunity of Nikos Michaloliakos's wife to be withdrawn after she allegedly tried to give the Golden Dawn leader a bullet during a prison visit, a judicial source says.

Eleni Zaroulia, an MP with the neo-Nazi party led by Michaloliakos, smuggled a bullet into the prison in a travel bag when she visited her husband according to the Ana news agency.

He is in custody following his indictment last week for heading a criminal organisation."

Constitutional and Economic Reform Needed - Enet English

"A call for a internationally backed programme on the postwar Marshall plan to rescue the Greek economy will be made at a conference in London on Thursday which will be attended by business leaders from the country.

They will warn that without urgent action to address ineffective governance, the dramatic drop of the population’s confidence in the state and its political system and the slump in output and soaring unemployment, Greece risks becoming a "failed state" threatening to destabilise its continental neighbours.

...The scale of the Greek economic collapse, despite the repeated bailouts funded by the troika, made up of the European Union, the ECB and the IMF, will be laid bare by Ikonomopoulos, who will highlight an unemployment rate of 28%, the highest in Europe, rising to a catastrophic 65% among young people."

October 9, 2013

Pressure continues for Germany to pay war reparations - National Post Canada

"Full Comment’s Araminta Wordsworth brings you a daily round-up of quality punditry from across the globe. Today: Greece has a new plan to get rid of its debt — get Germany to cough up.

According to the government of Antonis Samaras, Athens is owed at least $230-billion in reparations for damage done by the Nazis during the Second World War. This includes a loan the Greek national bank was forced to make to the Third Reich.

That’s roughly equivalent to 80% of Greek domestic product and would go a long way to satisfying current creditors.

The information comes from a “top-secret” report leaked to the media earlier this year, but knowledge of its existence will overhang the International Monetary meeting in Washington this week. Members will likely be asked for a third bailout for Greece, plus writing off some of the debt."

October 8, 2013

Why is investment staying away from Greece? - eKathimerini

...It is a well known fact that Greek private investors, who could be the first sponsors of investments, have parked their funds outside Greece and that beyond some individual company decisions (more recently by Hewlett-Packard, software giant SAP and Boehringer Ingelheim pharmaceuticals), foreign investors are similarly reluctant. Many firms have decided, in the recent past, to move their headquarters out of the country or leave altogether – Societe Generale and Carrefour are such examples. In the meantime, the Greek government has been relentlessly stressing that Greece offers good investment prospects. However, calls that are not backed by concrete actions usually tend to fall flat without effect.

The fundamental question that should rather be raised is why investors are staying away from Greece...

Greece today has a scattered number of innovative companies and certainly a fair amount of further investment opportunities. But most of them lack capital because the environment for innovation and investments was in a bad shape before the economic crisis and still is despite initial reform efforts. For instance, the lack of codification of Greece’s legal framework often adds a substantial burden; lengthy procedures erect barriers to entry and, more importantly, obtaining or extending licences or permits, as well as excessive reporting duties stifle business. In addition, cost-effective ways to protect intellectual property rights are lacking.

In 2010, the World Bank’s “Ease of Doing Business” report ranked Greece 109th out of 183 countries, far below any other eurozone economy (with Italy the second lowest at 78th). As the European Commission put it at the time, “the business environment suffers from obstacles to starting a business, the little protection given to investors and the difficulty to access finance.”

PASOK's Tsochatzopoulos found guilty in bribery case - NY Times

"After a five-month trial — the highest-profile case against a Greek politician in more than two decades — judges convicted Mr. Tsochatzopoulos, 74, along with 16 other defendants, including his wife, his daughter and several business partners. All were found to have colluded with him to launder the bribe money using a network of offshore companies and property purchases.

Mr. Tsochatzopoulos was sentenced to 20 years in prison, said his lawyer, Leonidas Kotsalis, who added that his client would appeal.

Regardless of the sentencing decision on the money-laundering charges, Mr. Tsochatzopoulos will not escape prison. He was sentenced in March to eight years for concealing assets from the authorities, chiefly for failing to report the purchase of a house near the Acropolis, one of several properties connected to the money-laundering scheme.

...He is the most senior government official to stand trial since 1991, when former Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou was acquitted on charges of accepting bribes in return for forcing state companies to prop up a troubled private bank."

October 6, 2013

50-year bond issue to solve debt relief? - Reuters

"Greece is looking into swapping a big chunk of its bailout loans with a 50-year government bond as a way to achieve debt relief once it attains a primary budget surplus this year, an official close to the discussions told Reuters on Saturday.

Twice bailed out with 240 billion euros by its euro zone partners and the International Monetary Fund, Greece aims at a primary budget surplus this year, excluding interest payments, which will allow it to seek debt relief from its lenders.

...Euro zone countries provided Greece with 52.9 billion euros of loans in the first 110 billion-euro bailout, which included 20 billion euros of loans from the IMF. The remainder of the aid came from the EFSF rescue fund.

Repayment of these bilateral loans is set to begin in 2025. The swap would extend repayment by decades."

Samaras moved quickly on Golden Dawn - eKathimerini

"When it finally acted against the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn group, the government of Antonis Samaras surprised everyone with its speed and determination. The head-on confrontation was a long time coming; until the murder of anti-fascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas on September 18 by a man who confessed to being a member of Golden Dawn, the group had appeared to enjoy absolute impunity.

Now, however, we see that state authorities have been keeping an eye on the group for some time, and that over the course of the months its leaders and members have been implicated in a growing number of crimes.

...The stakes are high. Democracy has to show that when it defends itself against those who would undermine it, it does so with justice and transparency. The process must clearly show that it is crimes which are being prosecuted, not ideas (however foreign and distasteful they are to our society, as is the case here). It must also be clear that the authorities are doing the job well, that they will prove their case, otherwise the move against Golden Dawn may be seen as a political pogrom and work in favor of the group once its supporters' initial shock wears off."

Tips India can learn from Greece on tourism - India Times

"Greece, a country of some nine million people (to put that in perspective, Mumbai alone has 18 million), is battling a debilitating economic crisis, but it puts its best foot forward for tourists. ... The country drew in around 20 million tourists in 2012; the UK attracted 10 million more in that year.

Greece is a relatively difficult destination to reach from India compared to the UK, since it usually involves a layover in either a West Asian hub such as Dubai or Doha or in Europe (Frankfurt or Brussels). As a tourist destination, Greece is a country for people looking beyond the hordes of tourists on the 12-countries-ina-fortnight packaged tours.

You're unlikely to meet an Indian at every street corner (we met only a handful on our holiday) and those you do are happy rather than weary for your company. It helped immeasurably that we dodged peak tourist season ( June to August) and instead went in early to mid-September, when the crowds had thinned. Perhaps as a result of the endemic slowdown — or maybe they're just friendly — Indian tourists are welcomed and courted.

Across our 10-day tour of Athens, Mykonos and Santorini, hotel owners and managers weren't just courteous as expected, they whipped out maps, pointed out Metro stations and tourist attractions and routes to reach them. While we opted for three-star hotels (clean bathrooms, sheets changed daily), tourists staying at cheaper digs too can expect a helping hand from staff."

October 4, 2013

Cash-strapped Greece looks to Greek Americans for support - Washington Post

"On a typically humid summer day, Greek ambassador Christos Panagopoulos welcomed his guests for a salon performance of Opera Camerata of Washington at the Fairfax Embassy Row hotel. “I would have loved to host you at my residence across the street,” he said, “but, like the economy of my country, it is under reconstruction.”

The American-educated ambassador was putting on a brave face. Renovations on the 1906 Beaux-Arts building, the most impressive of the four that Greece owns around Sheridan Park, have been a low priority for his government given the country’s strained finances. The building has been closed for three years.

...As the Greeks went on to make painful sacrifices that resonated even overseas, Greek Americans are finally ready to go home. The fastest, most direct form of relief is tourism. “Everybody should go to Greece and be, you know, a tourist!” Mossaidis said. “Spend your money and help the economy by investing or spending on hotels, buying things and so on.”

Tourism is the biggest industry in Greece, accounting for 15 percent of its economy. The unrest scared people away; tourist arrivals and revenue dropped. This summer, as the protests waned and the danger of a euro exit faded, it was time to reopen the floodgates.

Instability in other destinations in the eastern Mediterranean redirected tourists to Greece. In a recent meeting with the editorial board of The Washington Post, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said that a record-breaking 19 million tourists were expected this year — “a rain of liquidity in a dehydrated soil,” as he put it. "

Michaloliakos back in custody - NY Times

"The leader of the extreme-right Golden Dawn party was returned to custody on Thursday after appearing before a Greek magistrate on charges of setting up a criminal organization, part of the government’s crackdown on a party described by Greek and European authorities as neo-Nazi and violent.

The magistrate’s order to remand Nikos Michaloliakos, the first political party leader to face jail since Greece’s seven-year military dictatorship ended in 1974, came a day after three of his fellow lawmakers facing similar charges were released from custody and told not to leave the country, and a fourth was ordered held pending trial.

Testifying in an Athens courtroom, Mr. Michaloliakos condemned the murder last month of a 34-year-old hip-hop artist and anti-fascist, Pavlos Fyssas, by a self-professed supporter of Golden Dawn, and said he did not know whether members of the party were involved in violence, according to a court official. “I condemn the murder, like I condemn violence in general,” he was quoted as saying. “I am not a Nazi.”

Greece: cooperatives wage war on recession and unemployment - euronews

"The country is now six years into a recession with a record unemployment rate of 27.6 percent. To survive the crisis a group of women have come together and formed an anti-crisis cooperative. Everyday 20 women, most of whom have no particular qualification, prepare traditional Greek dishes for sale in a downtown restaurant.

Since 2000, the money made by the cooperative has restored a local monastery and installed kitchens in it.

The turnover of 400,000 euros a years has been hit slightly by the financial crisis, but the jobs are intact.

Anna Darzenta, the president of the To Kastri cooperative, says: “as a result of the crisis, many of our members came to work in the cooperative, because their husbands had lost their jobs. Here the wages are about 20 percent higher than in the private sector.”

October 2, 2013

A Glance at Greece's Golden Dawn Defendants - ABC News

ABC profiles the six GD personalities as if they're pop stars:

1. Nikos Michaloliakos - 56-year-old founder
2. Ilias Kasidiaris - 33-year-old special forces veteran... a swastika tattoo on his arm
3. Christos Pappas - staunchly loyal to Greece's 1967-74 military dictatorship
4. Ilias Panagiotaros - runs a sports goods and army surplus store
5. Yiannis Lagos - muscular physique and a handlebar mustache that he recently grew out into a full beard
6. Nikos Michos - 44-year-old is a close ally of Michaloliakos, avoids the limelight

The anti-debt-relief crowd is wrong - eKathimerini

"This is a new and more sophisticated twist to the usual argument against debt relief, which is that forgiveness risks encouraging chronically undisciplined countries to again run up their budget deficits, safe in the knowledge that whenever debts get out of control they won’t have to pay. Both the old and the new arguments are wrong and fraught with risk.

The expectation that debt relief should follow the German elections was based on a number of immovable facts. The first is that Greece is in the grip of an economic depression that has lasted six years, wiping out 30 percent of its gross domestic product -- the same contraction the U.S. suffered during the Great Depression. Greece is bleeding profusely. The second fact is that after four years of austerity measures designed to reduce Greece’s public debt, it has instead continued to grow to 175 percent of GDP. This is despite the 2012 restructuring of bonds held by the private investors, which shaved 30 percent of GDP worth of debt from what Greece owes.

The bulk of Greek debt is now in the hands of official creditors, and many thought that with elections in the rearview mirror Germany would show some flexibility -- after all, Merkel strongly opposed the private sector restructuring until she turned around and made it happen. In brief, the time has clearly come for creditor countries to forgive part of Greece’s debt, because nobody believes that the government can bring it to a sustainable level on its own."

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