Pressure in the vulcan reaches critical point The EU continues to be unable to solve its multiple crises. The risk of a default of Greece on repayment of its debt (bonds) in the next three months, or of the country leaving the Euro has increased considerably. It becomes ever clearer that, after four years of permanent crisis, the worst is still to come and that June 2012 might be the point where the crisis takes on new dimensions.
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EuroMemo: European integration at the crossroads In the run-up to the European Council this week the EuroMemorandum Group, the European Economists for an Alternative Economic Policy in Europe, will publish its new memorandum pointing to the need of fundamental changes in the European Union. Any solution of the actual crisis, it says, has to be guided by deepening democracy, solidarity and social justice.
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The new German parochialism In the 1990s, many observers questioned whether Germany, having tackled the challenge of reunification, could become a "normal country" (The Economist). This formulation evoked a Germany willing to pursue its own interests at home and abroad, no longer forced to bury them in multilateral garb or to accompany each assertion with a qualifier about the consistency of its interests with those of Europe and the wider world.
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Thanks to Germany it's 2008 all over again The greatest swindle of modern times is the massive 'bait and switch' perpetrated on the publics of Europe by their governments on behalf of their banks. What we refer to today as the 'European Sovereign Debt Crisis' began largely as a private sector financial crisis.
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The euro zone and its periphery: Bail-out 2.0 The EU summit on 21 July 2011 got much publicity, but produced quite limited results. It brought some short-term relief for Greece and other euro zone states in the periphery, but did hardly anything to deal with underlying problems. Its main result was buying time.
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It is time for Greece to say goodbye to the euro Sometimes there is turmoil in the markets because a government threatens to do what is best for its citizens. This seemed to be the case in Europe last week, when the German magazine Der Spiegel reported that the Greek government was threatening to stop using the euro.
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The tyranny of the central bankers The European Central Bank (ECB) announced earlier this month that it was raising its overnight lending rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 1.25%. This is very bad news for people across the euro zone countries and possibly the rest of the world as well. Furthermore, it reveals the democratic deficit of fundamental decisions about economic policy.
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WDEV Dossier: Euro quo vadis? Greece, Ireland, Portugal: Crises in Europe's periphery - stress test for the euro zone.
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