Greece’s Hot Summer
Figures confirm the pattern already observed last month, with a marked improvement in the primary balance achieved mostly via expenditure cuts and a more limited improvement in revenues.
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“Why Syriza Will Blink”
Anatole Kaletsky has a cognent, forcefully argued new article at the Project Syndicate website, Why Syriza Will Blink, which independently comes to the conclusion we’ve reached, that the winning strategy for the creditors is to keep Greece in the sweatbox and use worsening economic and social conditions in Greece to crush domestic support for Syriza. Kaletsky goes further than we have, arguing that this is the course the Troika is taking, and the new coalition should have anticipated this as a likely strategy, since it’s the same one they used successfully against Cyprus two years ago.
Read more...Is the Push for Greater European Integration a Mistake?
The assumption among policy elites that more European integration will heal the union’s ills may be misguided.
Read more...John Helmer: Polish President Komorowski’s Defeat is a Blow to the War with Russia Party,
First-round presidential election results show that the Poles have not been persuaded to vote for a candidate promising to go to war in the Ukraine or on the Russian border.
Read more...Federal Reserve Goes Silent About Our Freedom of Information Request on Greece
Not surprisingly, the central bank has gone mum about a Freedom of Information Act request we submitted over two months ago.
Read more...Greece Authorizes €750 Million Payment to IMF Despite Failing to Get Concession Sought [Updated]
Today, Greece blinked. But one unconfirmed report suggests the government got some eyewash.
Read more...Greece Finally Threatens Default as Deal with Creditors Remains Remote
A Greek default looms, but what does that mean for Greece and its creditors?
Read more...Greece Says It Will Make IMF Payment Next Week As Stalemate Continues
Greece may succeed in avoiding a default next week, but it remains at loggerheads with its creditors.
Read more...The Persecution and Assassination of the People of Greece as Performed by the Inmates of the Troika, Under the Direction of the Eurogroup
A new paper shreds the myths that justified the misguided application of austerity and wage-rate reduction policies in Greece and the Eurozone.
Read more...Wolf Richter: China Containerized Freight Index Plunges to Multi-Year Low, Shanghai-EU Rates Totally Collapse, US Rates Morose
Weak demand in the Eurozone; inventory build-up in the U.S., and free money meant carriers added more and more ships. How does the movie end?
Read more...Syriza Emulates Nixon Going to China in a Bad Way
It’s painful to watch the Greek ruling coalition unwittingly do the creditors’ work by wringing Greece dry of cash more aggressively than Pasok or New Democracy would have dared to.
Read more...An Assessment of the State of the World Economy
Complex forces are shaping macroeconomic evolutions around the world. In this column, IMF’s Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard describes some of these forces and provides an overview of the state of the world economy. Putting the forces together, the baseline forecasts are that advanced countries will do better this year than last, and emerging countries will slow down. Overall, the global growth will be roughly the same as last year, with the macroeconomic risks having slightly decreased.
Read more...Angela Merkel’s NSA Nightmare Just Got A Lot Worse
Angela Merkel could be in serious trouble, after revelations that Germany’s national intelligence agency, the BND, has been spying on key European assets on behalf of US intelligence.
Read more...Does It Matter To You Who Wins The British Election Next Week?
A country survey of the effects of the British election, which takes place next week, with a musical critique of the Tories.
Read more...Why Syriza Failed
Syriza has failed because it does not believe in governing along the lines of what it promised unless it is easy to do so.
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