Blog #10 This time it's Europe's Fault

Europe (Greece) is now being compared to the 2008 Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy. It is believed that the next big economic meltdown is about to begin from Greece and the rest of Europe will follow. If this is true not only will there be social consequences, but political consequences as well. If Syriza is not able to follow through the people will be disappointed and will turn to the fascist alternative, Golden Dawn.  If this happens, France will follow since it is the scariest country at the moment in Europe. When looking at the opinion polls, 25% believe in the anti-immigrant and anti- EU belief.

Another concern is that Europe’s Bank is very fragile and even though ECB can still print money it is questioned if it should be blocked or not.  When Tsipras was elected people believed that he would be able to talk with Merkel and Schauble and that they would come to a conclusion. Greece would “continue to pay off the debt”, and would be given help so that the country would not go into bankruptcy. Help was not given and nothing has changed, if anything the catastrophe is coming closer and closer. The economic and political consequences of Greece are one of the next choices: defaulting on its sovereign debts, leaving the euro or even both.  It seems that the reason for this is not only Greece’s fault; Europe has no way of compromising. Unemployment at this moment in Greece has reached 30% of the workforce, which is almost as much as the US during the Great Depression.

There has been many attempts over the past few months in order to find a solution. Greece has been trying to convince Europe that they should be helped and Europe seems to not have any solutions that are “appropriate” for the Greeks. What will happen is a mystery and I don’t think Syriza has much left to do. Greek citizens are in great desperation and need someone to give them a solution. Unfortunately, if Syriza does not give a solution soon, next election we might actually see the Golden Dawn get even more votes. The citizens of Greece need to see a change in order for them to come to the surface for some air.   

Eugenia Marantos 

04/24/2015

9:38 PM

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/04/greece-economic-crisis-117228.html#.VTpAZZNhlS5

Blog #9 Greece Finance Minister Varoufakis refuses Grexit as well as targets economy cannot meet

Varoufakis has rejected an exit from the Eurozone and an agreement on its debt with unreachable economic targets. Lagarde, the head of the IMF will not agree on any extension. Greece is expected to pay the scheduled bailout payment.  Varoufakis states that they will not be signing anything that they cannot do. There are concerns that on the 24^th of April Athens will miss the deadline for a new loan. A new deal would help the country “breath”. The country would be allowed to make payments to the IMF and the ECB over the next two months.

Varoufakis said that the two sides shared common ground. The longer they negotiate though, the longer it will take Greece to get out of the crisis. Lagarde met with Varoufakis in Washington and agreed that Greece and its lenders need to start to evaluate Athens and come to agreements.

There are no real decisions made. For months now there have been many ups and downs and back and forth decisions. Greece has been trying to get through and has been going around trying to find solutions. They have been “begging” for money from all around in order to save themselves.

Ultimately they are trying to do what is best so they can get by and they can avoid the suffering of the people. Tsipras and Varoufakis have been working since January, when Tsipras was elected, in order what is good for their country. They have been traveling non-stop from country to country in order to find a solution… any solution that is for the benefit of all. 

Eugenia Marantos

04/17/2015

3:54PM

http://www.dw.de/greece-finance-minister-varoufakis-refuses-grexit-as-well-as-targets-economy-cannot-meet/a-18388771

#8 Greece Nazi occupation: Athens asks Germany for €279bn

Greece Nazi occupation: Athens asks Germany for €279bn

The Greek government is now asking from Germany to pay back their debt from the 1940s due to the Nazi’s atrocities. The amount Greece is asking from Germany goes up $303bn. Syriza is now making this claim while they are still struggling to make the deadlines. The Germany government however refuses to pay this amount and claims that this issue was resolved in the 90’s. The German Economy Minister Gabriel believes it is “dumb” on the government’s side, but that the Greek citizens deserve respect due to the sacrifices that they had to endure.  

Tsipras talked about this with Merkel last month during their meeting. They insist that this issue is not to be talked about again because it was solved before Germany was reunited, even if the Greek government claims that the amount given back then did not cover the damages.

Greece has not received any funds from the lenders since August last year because they are not satisfied with the pace in which Greece is reforming. Greece’s deadline to the IMF is this Thursday and the amount due is €448m. Varoufakis, Greece’s Finance Minister announced that Greece intends on meeting all obligations.

I believe it is not a coincidence that Greece remembered now about the money Germany owes them since 1940. They are desperately trying to find money from anywhere they can in order to save and be able to meet deadlines. In the Greek government’s defense; they are trying to do anything in order to save Greek citizens from the austerity the lenders are trying to make them go through. But, is this really the solution? Is this the way to actually get out of this huge debt Greece is currently in?

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32202768  

Eugenia Marantos

4/9/2015

3:10AM

 

Blog #7 Greece draws up drachma plans, prepares to miss IMF payment

We are a Left-wing government. If we have to choose between a default to the IMF or a default to our own people, it is a no-brainer,' says senior Greek official

Greece is in danger in not meeting the deadline. The government has to pay €458m on April 9^th and f course they do not have the money. They are trying to find other solutions, because they do not want to shut down public services. They want the citizens to keep their jobs and are trying to find solutions for what will happen when they cannot pay the IMF.  The Greek government refuses to go take this humiliation that Europe is trying to put them through. They are aware of what will happen and are ready to face whatever comes. Alexis Tsipras believes and hopes that Angela Merkel will change her mind and will control this crisis. He believes she can believe in his plan and accept the suggestions on his list and the worst can be avoided.  Things in Greece right now are at extreme risk. The people in Greece do not know what they will wake up to and the government is trying non-stop to change the situation. Even if they find the money until April 9^th, by May 12^th they will have to have paid another €963.

                Greece is obviously going through a lot of troubles at the moment and not knowing what you will wake up to is tremendously nerve-breaking. The government has given some solutions to this problem, but European Officials need to get on board. As it seems they do not want to listen and try out Greece’s idea. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11513341/Greece-draws-up-drachma-plans-prepares-to-miss-IMF-payment.html

Eugenia Marantos

04/03/2015

11:54

Blog #6: EU deal on reforms, loans next week: Greek minister

    This one of the most important times for Greece. On Thursday the economic prime minister said that next week there would be a decision made. Everyone is anxious to see if Europe will get into an agreement finally. They have been informed that they will not get any more money unless they show a credible reform plan. Tsipras had a phone call with the head of IMF, Christine Lagarde and discussed the issue thoroughly. In 2010 Lagarde had sent Greece a confidential list of Greeks who had Swiss bank accounts and told Tsipras that no one did anything for all these tax cheats. Tsipras agreed with her and reassured she that a “social fair” tax system was made to make up for that.

    On Wednesday the Greek government failed to persuade the European officials to give them the 1.2 billion euros which it says was returned to eurozone.  They now have to wait to see what will happen next week. The government has until Monday to prepare a detailed list of what should be done. Alexis Tsipras is hopeful that his talks next week with Angela Merkel will be successful.

     The Greek government has had its ups and downs when it comes to how the rest of Europe looks at them. I don’t believe it is unreasonable what the officials are asking. They haven’t disagreed to the austerity measures, but they do want to see a plan and progress. Tsipras has managed to have reasonable discussions with the officials and might actually get a breakthrough within the next few weeks. 

Eugenia Marantos

March 27, 2015

11.30 PM

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/eu-deal-on-reforms-loans-next-week-greek-minister/articleshow/46705888.cms 

Blog #5 EU leaders in Brussels demand Greece produce economic blueprint quickly

On Friday morning Athens was supposed to show a list of economic reforms in order to persuade the European creditors that they “deserve” more funds. The discussion whether or not Greece will return to the Drachma was discussed again on Thursday.

Alexis Tsipras had a three-hour discussion that ended after 2am with Angela Merkel. She was very clear that there would be no help provided unless she saw that Tsipras was willing to give her a plan that he has to reform the Greek economy. Also, his plan needs to be supported by the rest of the governments in the Eurozone.

After Tsipras agreed to deal with issues of their own and issues in Libya and Ukraine he got a meeting with Merkel, Draghi, Holland, Tusk and Dijsselbloem. There was a long conversation where Tsipras was trying to convince them why Greece deserves the money. There was not a breakthrough even though time is not on Greece’s side. At any moment Greece can go bankrupt.

There have been multiple meetings this week in Europe and it seems that Greece is not getting much support. Tsipras is trying to avoid the austerity that has been going on the last few years and Europe needs evidence that there will be a chance in order to give them more money.

                        There has been a lot of tension and no one knows what could happen tomorrow! Greece needs to understand that they cannot expect Europe just to forget the money Greece owes. There has to be a change on their side in order for Europe to be willing to give more. On the other hand by refusing to help Greece, Europe has to think what this might do to everyone else. If Greece returns to the Drachmas and go bankrupt will Europe be OK and not get affected at all? 

Eugenia Marantos

20/03/2015

10:40pm

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/19/talks-between-greece-and-key-eu-leaders-unlikely-to-bring-breakthrough

Blog #4 Running on empty

Alexis Tsipras managed to get the four-month extension he asked for, however there were still things to be settled between the IMF and the Greek Government. Even though there is an illusion that the economy has gotten better, since the cafes are full and there are people all downtown Athens, it has been the same.

During the year of 2014 there was some growth, but it was nothing but a false alarm. The percentage of the GDP has fallen because of the elections that happened in January.

Because, of all that has happened in Greece these past few months the economy has been affected. There are three main ways it has been affected as. Firstly, the “Grexit” as they call it, which is the exit of Greece from the EU, and the possibility that Greece may return to the Drachma caused a drain of deposit. Everyone has a reason to be worried. Secondly, domestic investors have set their projects on hold and foreign investors are scared away and refuse to start projects in Greece. Thirdly, because of all the cutoffs Greece is unable to pay off the bills. These “bills” are as high as 5 billion to the IMF. Fortunately, despite all these negative affects, tourism in Greece is still high!

There are definitely many issues that have to be solved in order for Greece to see growth. It may be a positive thing that they got the extension, but they need to pay off at some point in order to remain in EU. I am not sure how Tsipras and Finance minister, Varoufakis are going to manage this, but IMF needs to see Greece pay off something in order to give them money again.

Eugenia Marantos 

03/06/2015

10:03 

http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21645810-political-brinkmanship-has-exacted-heavy-economic-toll-running-empty

Blog #3 Germany has rejected a Greek request for a six-month extension to its eurozone loan programme

                Even though there was a positive atmosphere for the Greeks, Germany rejected the proposal they had. The Greeks had found a six-month assistance package that could possibly help the Greek society instead of renewing the already existing deal that has terrible conditions. Merkel spoke with Tsipras on Thursday via phone and sources say they had a positive climate.

The Italian prime minister has been speaking with Tsipras and he is trying to find a deal for them as well. On Thursday, Varoufakis sent the official proposal and got rejected almost immediately. There has been tension in Europe and it is not clear which side will “win”.

The German finance minister announced that the Greek’s request did not meet the requirements and that is the reason it got rejected. They believe that they simply do not want to pay and they are trying to get ways out of paying the dept.

One sentence that stood out for me was “the Eurogroup has just two choices: to accept or reject the Greek request. We will now discover who wants to find a solution, and who does not.” For me, it really does give the final outline. If Europe wants to help Greece, and the rest of Europe, to get out of the crisis they will try to find solutions. Right now, Germany mostly, is denying all of Greece’s proposals and does not care for Europe’s best interest. 

Eugenia Marantos

2/20/2015

4:45

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-31532755