Tag Archives: euro zone

Germany has hinted the International Monetary Fund can stay out of financing the third bailout for Greece as Berlin vehemently rejects debt relief. At the same time, Euro-zone  policy-makers will seek last-minute backing this week from the International Monetary Fund for their debt-relief offer to Greece, to ensure it is …

Read More »

German finance minister  Wolfgang Schaeuble left but not without leaving behind a legacy to his successor. In a non-paper, Schaeuble made his proposals on the future integration of the euro zone and the crucial role of the European Stability Mechanism. The ESM should increase its possibilities to support states threatened …

Read More »

Europe’s largest economy should leave the currency union in order to save the European Union, one of Germany’s most influential corporate consultants has told Handelsblatt. “We shouldn’t think so much about whether or not Greece can be saved,” Roland Berger, who founded the global consulting firm by the same name, …

Read More »

“Germans want to keep Greece in the euro zone again” – That’s the title of German conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung over the results of a survey among Germans. And adds “After left Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras took office, the majority of Germans were for Grexit. Now it’s different, …

Read More »

It is an old game since Greece sought the ‘rescue’ by its European and other international partners: Every European politician and official – especially those claiming a hegemonic role within the EU and the Eurozone – feels obliged to intermingle into Greek voters’ decision process and try to influence voters. …

Read More »

The number of investors expected a euro zone break-up in 12 months has risen, according to a survey among mostly German-based companies. Why should the euro zone break-up? Because of Greece and because of “Grexit”… “Investor expectations of the euro zone breaking apart have risen to their highest level in …

Read More »

“Negotiations with creditors will not be easy,” but “we will negotiate a new agreement – a bridge between Greece previous programs and the new“”  Yanis Varoufakis said in his first speech as the country’s new Finance Minister, while he was receiving his new portfolio by ex FinMin Gkikas Hardouvelis. He …

Read More »

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel toyed with the idea of forcing Greece out of the euro until the autumn of 2012.” These claims are raised by Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, until recently one of the six-man executive council  at the European Central Bank and for many years Italy’s man in Frankfurt” In …

Read More »

finally we know why the European and especially Germany do not want Greece outside the euro zone. Allegedly because through Greek soil the European Union can manage to free itself from the Russian dominance of main natural gas supplier Gazprom. The EU dream can be materialized through the Trans Adriatic …

Read More »

We all remember German finance minister Woflgang Schaeuble claiming that Cyprus was not systemically relevant for the euro zone. His slogan was more or less that the collapse of Cyrpus’s banking sector would not affect the eurozone as the impact could not be systemically. Today, Wolfgang Schaueble claimed exactly the opposite: that …

Read More »

A cooordinated effort by investigative journalists in 46 countries reveal the well-kept secrets of the rich. I mean “well-kept” until recently. Then now, the identities of 1,000 holders of anonymous wealth hidden in offshore- and tax-paradises have been exposed. And this seems to be only the start of a broader …

Read More »

Luxembourg’s foreign minister accused Germany on Tuesday of “striving for hegemony” in the euro zone by telling Cyprus what business model it should pursue. Like Cyprus, Luxembourg has a large financial sector, whose comparatively light-touch tax and regulatory regime has long irked its much bigger neighbors Germany and France. “Germany …

Read More »

Greece leads in youth unemployment with 53.8%, while it occupies the second place after Spain in unemployment in all age groups. According to EUROSTAT, unemployment in Greece reached 23.1% in May 2012, recording an increase of 6.3% compared with May 2011. This is the second highest rate within the European Union after …

Read More »

Greeks should be proud! For the compliments made by EU Commissioner for Monetary Affairs, Olli Rehn. In an article he wrote for Wall Street Journal about the euro crisis, Olli Rehn wrote among others: “Over the last two years, Europe has made remarkable progress in addressing these imbalances. Consider the …

Read More »

That’s enlightening. The International Monetary Fund allegedly pushes European governments to ease the burden of borrowed sums to Greece. The IMF claims, it is under pressure by its own members about the huge amounts they have lent to Euro Zone. Speaking to Wall Street Journal under conditions of anonymity, IMF …

Read More »

Greek’s never ending Calvary: Unemployment. Every month, a new record. Unemployment reached 22.5% in April  – in comparison 21.9% a month earlier and 16.2% a year earlier. According to Eurostat, Greece has the second-highest unemployment rate within the European Union, after Spain that sadly leads with 24.8% (June data). However Greeks …

Read More »

 Chief of euro group Jean-Claude Juncker warned that the euro zone would break apart and urged the EZ and EU leaders to save the currency union saying ‘there was no time to lose. Speaking to German Sueddeutsche Zeitung,  Juncker also criticized German officials for their statements about a Greek euro exit. In …

Read More »

 The Euro Zone is really boiling. Spain angered EZ-partners France and Italy when it issued an allegedly joint statement in which apparently the three countries called for the swift implementation of the measures agreed at the Euro Zone Summit in June. Earlier Tuesday the Spanish government said in a statement that …

Read More »

George Orwell was a prophet when he summarized in a single phrase the equality in the Animal Farm: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others“.  Paraphrasing the line of pig Napoleon and adjusting it to the farm of the Euro Zone, the famous line can very clearly …

Read More »

What a disgrace for the euro zone and the European Union leaders! Two of it 17 members, Spain and Cyprus, submitted bailout requests within a single day.  Spain formally asked banking aid of at least 100 billion euro n Monday morning. In the afternoon Cyprus became the last EZ member to …

Read More »