Dramatic developments in the Greek press with two historical newspapers forced to suspend their publications after banks frozen revenue accounts of Lambrakis Press Group (DOL) for non-performing loans. Daily TA NEA and Sunday newspaper TO VIMA, both owned by Lambrakis Press Group (DOL) will suspend their publication in the next …
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Two options for Greece’s government: Capitulate to Lenders or Early Elections
The Eurogroup meeting on Thursday ended for Greece as expected: highly stubborn creditors putting immense pressure on Greece to legislate austerity measures that will be implemented in after 2018 now. The finance ministers of eurozone demand with superabundant insolence from Greece what they would never do in their own countries: to …
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Varoufakis: Shortlisted Candidate for Children Book Award
Former finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis is one of the candidates for a Children Book Award. The name of Varoufakis is on short listed by the Greek Ministry of Culture for his book “Talking to my daughter about the economy” and in the category “knowledge books for children.” Varoufakis’s book was …
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Parliamentary Budget Office: Tax hikes “snip” Growth, private arrears almost equal to public debt
The report of the Parliament Budget Office is anything but optimistic. The analysts note among others that Greece pays for the bad choices made in the first half of 2015 and that now the country is under strictest supervision and financial control by the lenders than in the loan agreements …
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PM Tsipras: Greece will test the markets in 2017, full return in 2018
Greece’s prime minister Alexis Tsipras sketched out a path he hopes will finally allow his country to exit its seven-year-old economic crisis, holding out the possibility of positive growth this year and a partial return to the bond markets in 2017. In an exclusive interview to Reuters, Alexis Tsipras said …
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ELSTAT Q2 2016: Greece’s economy still in recession (-0.7%) but with signs of recovery
Mild recession – Stagnation – Recovery – Growth? I’m kind of confused reading the comments on Greece’s economic data released today by the Greek Statistics Authority ELSTAT. Greece’s Gross Domestic Product declined at 0.7% in the second quarter of 2016 compared to the same period of 2015, the ELSTAT announced …
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One year Capital Controls in Greece – Was it worth it?
Remember that Sunday, on June 28th, a year ago? Remember the queues outside ATMs growing in a quick and non-stop pace? It was a day after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had announced a Referendum amid suffocating pressure from the European Union, financial dry out by the European Central Bank and …
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Start-Ups leave Greece due to over-taxation and no incentives for early-staged businessestaxes
It is not a secret that over-taxation is killing the Greek economy and individual businesses, even those in the early stage of their establishment. Based on my recent informal asking around small business owners aged 32 – 63, they all said in one voice: “Do not start a business in …
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How Creditors trap Greece into the Black Hole of bailout over bailout
It has been clear long ago, that the way Greece’s creditors address the Debt does not work. It has little to do with Greeks’ attitude to not implement all austerity agreements they sign with the creditors.It has to do with the wrong “rescue” formula that demands form a bankrupt country …
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Varoufakis: We used threat of “Grexit” in negotiations; describes Schaeuble as “incompetent little man”
For one more time, controversial ex finance minister Yanis Varoufakis stirred the local political scene on Thursday when he claimed that the “agreement with (Greek PM Alexis) Tsipras was to threaten them (the institutions) with Grexit behind closed doors.” In an interview to an alternative news site in Athens, Varoufakis …
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Ernst & Young study: Impact of Grexit – the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’ scenario
The impact of a possible Grexit for the Greek economy and society has been outlined in a study conducted by consultancy firm Ernst & Young in cooperation with Oxford Economics. “The study was launched in March 2015 and completed end of May 2015. The purpose was to provide information to …
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The Contra-Narrative: EU’s elites blackmail Greece
There is a another narrative to the usual “Greece doesn’t deliver”, “Greece sent reform list for the garbage bin”, “Greece does not try enough” and all the other nice things we have been reading since the new Greek government came into power. The counter-narrative is called: EU’s elites blackmail Greece. …
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Is the Eurogroup up to a Lose-Lose solution, when Win-Win could be achieved?
I have a problem here: I try to understand why the Eurozone leaders do not support the new Greek government. Why don’t they make a step forward to meet with Greece in a compromise that will benefit both sides? Greek coalition government has said that it accepts 70% of the …
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Greek PM Samaras: “Two tourists for every Greek”
Many puzzle about what Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’ meaningful and mysterious oracle. He said that there will be “two tourists for every Greek”. What did the Prime Minister had in mind? Some wondered whether every Greek will have to host two tourists at home. Others corrected the sentence stressing that …
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“Greece is exiting the MoU” – any idea what does this mean?
I’ve been hearing the Greek government saying the whole time that “Greece is now exiting the Memorandum [of Understanding]. Any idea what does it mean? I am asking this because me, common Greek, understands under Memorandum strict austerity and over-taxation and unemployment and recession”. Any idea what the Greek government …
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Gov’t spokesman: Greek economic recovery can be seen in TV commercials
I heard this unbelievable argument on Greek success and development this morning. Government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou was talking to Popi Tsapanidou, the presenter of LiveU morning news magazine at private Star TV. Talking about the outcome of the first round of municipality and regional elections and defending the government austerity …
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Mid-term plan: Greeks to pay additional €4.1billion in indirect taxes
Greek government may celebrate the primary surplus, but the financial gap remains. Greek companies and households will be called to pay 4.1 billion euro within the next four years 2015-2018. But as the government insists that they will be no new wages and pensions cuts, the revenues will come from …
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a quiet Saturday morning in November…
It certainly has advantages to wake up early in the morning. Especially in a sunny morning. Especially at this time of the season. Although we are in first ten days of November, the sun still shines bright, even though a bit more chilly than in the previous month. It shines …
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Greek Parliament Budget Office: “Debt Restructuring is one-way street”
We live in an illusion world… that things will get better, the debt volume will decrease, Greece will return to the markets, recession and unemployment will ease, that this and that… However the Greek Parliament Budget Office dropped a bomb today. It said that “debt restructuring is one-way street” and …
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Troika – Greek Gov’t talks on primary surplus 2014 deadlocked
Ops! With so much Golden Dawn we almost forgot the Greek debt, the Troika, the austerity and all the relevant plagues. I write ‘almost’ because the bills have been coming in without a break. Anyway, the Troika was here, its representatives spoke with the Greek government and they reached not …
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