Crisis And Chaos Return To Greece Following National TV Shutdown

The biggest news out of Greece is that the events in the 24 hours have pushed the depressed country right back into crisis mode, with political bickering front and center (the opposition leader called the uncoordinated move “a coup” even as coalition partners blasted the broadcaster shutdown while Europe washed it hands), while the economic contraction is set to accelerate once more following what is certain to be another escalation in daily protests and riots. And who can blame them – with that last civilizational “premium” – free TV for all – gone, what else is there to do?

From Reuters:

 Greece’s fragile government faced an internal revolt and fierce public protest on Wednesday over the sudden closure of state broadcaster ERT, hours after the humiliation of seeing its bourse downgraded to emerging market status. The twin setbacks, coupled with the derailing of a troubled privatization program, blew a hole in rising investor confidence that had prompted Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to declare the risk of a “Grexit” from the euro was dead and a “Greekovery” was under way.

Yields on Greece’s 10-year benchmark bond crept back above 10 percent after Athens failed to sell state gas firm DEPA on Monday, leaving it short of cash to meet its international bailout targets.

The stock market traded at two-month lows after Greece became the first developed nation ever to be lowered to emerging market by equity index provider MSCI.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’s government declined comment on the market reclassification as it tried to fend off a growing media backlash against ERT’s dramatic closure. The public broadcaster was yanked off air just hours after the shutdown was announced in what the government said was a temporary measure to staunch an “incredible waste” of taxpayers’ money prior to relaunching a slimmed-down station.

Labor unions called a 24-hour national work stoppage for Thursday and journalists went on an open-ended strike, forcing a news blackout on privately owned television and newspapers. “The strike will only end when the government takes back this coup d’etat which gags information,” the journalists’ union said.

Some ERT journalists were occupying the broadcaster’s building in defiance of police orders and broadcasting over the Internet. Hundreds of employees and protesters gathered outside.

Ah, the smell of Greek chaos in the morning – it smells like normalcy. In retrospect, it appears only the Greeks did not see this coming. When the country handed over its sovereignty to the European Commission, all of the subsequent events were perfectly clear for all to see.

 

Greece: Unemployment Rises To 25%

This what you want for America?

Unemployment in Greece hit a record high of 25.1 percent in July as the country’s financial crisis continues to exact its heavy toll, official figures showed Thursday.

All indications are that unemployment in Greece will continue to rise. The economy has shrunk by around a fifth since the recession started in 2008 and youth unemployment has pushed way above 50 percent. The economy is expected to enter a sixth year of recession next year.

“This is a very dramatic result of the recession,” said Angelos Tsakanikas, head of research at Greece’s IOBE economic research foundation.

Read more at news.yahoo.com …

Eorozone …– Analyst: The Euro is Already a ‘Zombie Currency’

So says an economist — The euro zone is currently in chaos with the euro no longer being functional and order will only be restored by giving struggling member states their currency back, according to Matthew Lynn founder of Strategy Economics.

The euro zone is currently in chaos with the euro no longer being functional and order will only be restored by giving struggling member states their currency back, according to Matthew Lynn founder of Strategy Economics.

CNBC Reports:

“The euro is already dead. It no longer meets most of the criteria of a working form of money,” he said in a research note published Wednesday.

Politicians in the euro zone have begun a round of shuttle diplomacy this week in an attempt to find a solution to the crisis. Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is holding talks with euro zone chief Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday to try and gain Greece more time to deliver the terms agreed on their 130 billion euro ($162 billion) bailout.

Lynn believes that any progress made by European politicians is irrelevant as the euro has already turned into a “zombie currency”.

He says countries can no longer use the single currency for imports meaning it is effectively ceasing to act like money.

more …

The dominoes have begun to fall …

Greek Coalition Takes Power, Promises To Revise Bailout

A conservative-led government took power in Greece on Wednesday promising to negotiate softer terms on its harsh international bailout, help the people regain their dignity and steer the country through its biggest crisis for four decades.

The swearing-in of Antonis Samaras as prime minister after elections last Sunday ended weeks of uncertainty that rattled financial markets and threatened to push near-bankrupt Greece out of the EU.

Samaras, a Harvard-educated economist from a prominent Greek family, will head an alliance of his New Democracy party and Socialist PASOK rivals – the same discredited establishment parties which have dominated politics since 1974.

One more chance?

“I am fully aware how critical this time is for our nation,” Samaras said after he was sworn in at a ceremony conducted by robed Orthodox priests at the presidential mansion

“I know very well that Greek people are hurt and need to regain their dignity. I know that the economy must quickly recover to reestablish social justice and cohesion.”

Can He Make Greece Work

Newly appointed Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras smiles before a swearing in ceremony at the Presidential palace in Athens June 20, 2012. Samaras pledged to pull his debt-stricken country back from the brink of bankruptcy on Wednesday in his first comments after being sworn in. REUTERS-Yorgos Karahalis
Newly appointed Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras (R front) is sworn in as President Karolos Papoulias (C rear) attends the ceremony at the Presidential palace in Athens June 20, 2012. Samaras pledged to pull his debt-stricken country back from the brink of bankruptcy on Wednesday in his first comments after being sworn in. REUTERS-Yorgos Karahalis
Conservative New Democracy leader and winner in Greece’s general elections Antonis Samaras makes a phone call minutes before a meeting with Socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos in the parliament in Athens June 18, 2012. REUTERS-Yorgos Karahalis

Can he make Greece work? Austerity is their only hope. The union members and Communists must be brought to heel in Greece.

The government brings together the conservative New Democracy party and Socialist PASOK in an uneasy alliance of rivals facing an emboldened opposition determined to fight against austerity.

Party leaders said a team would be formed to renegotiate the terms of the 130 billion euro ($164.79 billion) bailout, setting up a showdown with Greece’s European partners who say they will adjust but not re-write the document. Europe’s debt crisis began in Greece. Two and a half years and four bailouts later – two of them for Greece – there is no end in sight.

“Our efforts have yielded a parliamentary majority to form a durable government which will bring hope and stability,” New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras told President Karolos Papoulias, three days after he narrowly won a Sunday election.

PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos warned of a “big battle” in Brussels to craft a new deal that would promote growth and contain unemployment.

“The most critical issue is the formation of the national negotiation team and ensuring that it is successful,” he told reporters.

PASOK will back the government in parliament but there was no word on who would serve in the new cabinet. Venizelos said the make-up of the government remained to be fixed and would be discussed by the evening.

The conservative-socialist alliance will also be backed by the small Democratic Left party, whose leader, Fotis Kouvelis, called on the government “to gradually disengage from the terms of the bailout that has bled society.”

An official from one of the three parties in the coalition said that they had agreed to name National Bank Chairman Vassilis Rapanos as finance minister.

Greece Stays: Greece’s Conservative New Democracy Seeks Bailout Coalition

Reuters reports:

Greece’s centre-right New Democracy party will try to form a coalition on Monday to back the country’s international bailout after a narrow election victory that eased fears of a sudden exit from the euro.

European stocks and the euro briefly opened higher after Sunday’s vote, and the Athens streets were quiet after New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras pledged to move swiftly to form a government. He was due to meet Greek President Karolos Papoulias at 12.30 p.m. (0930 GMT).

The once-mighty Socialist PASOK party, now reduced to third place, indicated it would support former coalition partner Samaras but had not yet decided whether to join the government or just offer parliamentary backing.

In deep recession, crushed under its huge public debt and facing rising social tensions, Greece faces a daunting struggle to restore a near-bankrupt economy, and a new government could face a new wave of protests after taking office.

It’s going to cost us all …

How Is Greece Doing: Seeds of Anger Sown in a Greek Soup Kitchen

They have now run out of other people’s money, and it’s ratcheting up …

Violence moving up the scale. The election do-over is looming. Greece must form a government after this weekend’s vote, Conservative leader Antonis Samaras said Wednesday, insisting that his country should stay in the eurozone and try to amend its international bailout deal to stimulate its moribund economy.

European Socialism, the model Obama wants for the USA, is staggering under the strains.

The line of people desperate for lunch is an image more from the developing world than the country where Western civilization was founded more than two millennia ago.

Yet the 1,200 who waited for bread, rice and vegetable soup at a kitchen visited by CNBC this week are just a fraction of the many hungry people in Athens and the surrounding area, as the noose of austerity tightens around the Greek population.

The elderly and sick are fed first. Men get their food next, and there are plenty of scuffles in the line as women and children wait patiently for their turn.

Emotions run from quiet despair to rage – the sort of rage that has boosted votes for anti-bailout parties such as leftist Syriza and right-wing Golden Dawn in recent months, and could see Syriza become the biggest party in Greece after Sunday’s elections .

One elderly homeless man who has been visiting the kitchen for eight months said he didn’t want to ask for help from the state, and quickly became angry when asked how he got into this situation.

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