KeNo's Housing and Economic Portal: Monday July 27 Housing and Economic stories

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Greek Civil Servants, Pharmacists Strike Against Bailout Reforms - (www.reuters.com) Greek anti-establishment protesters threw stones and dozens of petrol bombs at police in front of parliament on Wednesday before a key vote on a bailout deal, in some of the most serious violence in more than two years. Police responded with tear gas, sending hundreds of people fleeing in central Syntagma Square. Garbage cans and a vehicle belonging to a television crew were also set on fire. The clashes were brief and calm largely returned to the square, with a few hundred protesters staying on under heavy police surveillance. Earlier, thousands took to the streets of Athens in a series of otherwise peaceful marches during the day to protest against the new bailout deal that saved Greece from bankruptcy but will impose more reforms on a country already deep in crisis.

Latest IMF debt relief push baffles eurozone creditors - (www.ft.com) The International Monetary Fund is no stranger to giving lessons to its members. But its latest Greek intervention was extraordinary. The release of a new report concluding that Greece’s mountain of debt had become even more unbearable than thought and required far-reaching debt relief from reluctant European creditors came only hours before contentious parliamentary debates in Athens and Berlin on a new Greek €86bn bailout. The Fund has consistently argued for Greece’s European creditors to provide it with debt relief. At the expense of its own credibility — especially with its non-EU members — it has bent its rules that prevent lending to countries with unsustainable debt. What baffled European officials was that the IMF appeared to be sitting on an explosive document at the very moment when its contents could have changed the course of the weekend’s marathon bailout talks, although IMF staff insist the new assessment was widely distributed and discussed.

City Hall and Uber Clash in Struggle Over New York Streets - (www.nytimes.com) For months, the clash has seemed inevitable: the professed disrupters of municipal transportation policy and the chief executive of the country’s largest city government, tussling over who should rule the roads of New York City. In a few short years, the ride-hailing company Uber has swelled in influence by the day, placing thousands of new for-hire vehicles on the road. And now, the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio is moving to halt the runaway expansion, citing a classic urban scourge to make its case: The infusion of vehicles, the city says, appears to be clogging Manhattan traffic. With a City Council vote expected as early as next week on a proposal that would place a cap on Uber’s growth, pending a study of traffic patterns, the sides have become entangled in a protracted struggle, on camera and off, over the future of mobility in the city. City officials have defended the move as a sensible reaction to unprecedented upheaval in the taxi world, where the number of for-hire vehicles has grown by more than 60 percent since 2011. The yellow cab industry, which includes some of Mr. de Blasio’s most prolific campaign contributors, has pressured the administration to clamp down on Uber, a grave threat to owners amid the faltering values of the yellow-taxi medallion.

Protests Rage in Tokyo as Abe’s Security Bills Head to Vote - (www.bloomberg.com) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s bills to expand the role of the military will go to a lower house vote Thursday, after weeks of debate that has eroded his support and sparked opposition protests that echo those that toppled his grandfather more than half a century ago. The bills were approved Wednesday in a special security committee session marked by jostling, shouting and even tears from placard-holding opposition lawmakers that almost drowned out the chairman’s voice. They are all but certain to pass due to the ruling coalition’s two-thirds majority. If the upper house refuses to take up the bills, a second vote in the lower house can pass them into law with a two-thirds majority. They legislation enshrines in law Abe’s 2014 reinterpretation of the pacifist constitution and would allow Japan to defend other countries as part of a strategy to balance a rising China. Media polls show the majority of voters are opposed to the changes and disapproval of the cabinet now surpasses approval.

IMF Warns Eurozone That Greece Needs Far More Debt Relief - (online.wsj.com) The International Monetary Fund questioned the ability of Greece to deliver on promised bailout overhauls and warned in its starkest language yet that the eurozone must commit to debt restructuring to ensure the program will work. The IMF’s warning—made in a three-page paper circulated to eurozone officials over the weekend and published more broadly Tuesday—is a reality check for Europe and Greece about the political and economic commitments needed from both sides. “The dramatic deterioration in debt sustainability points to the need for debt relief on a scale that would need to go well beyond what has been under consideration to date—and what has been proposed by” eurozone authorities, the IMF said in its latest assessment of Greece’s economy.

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Hedge Funds Hit by China Markets Selloff - (online.wsj.com)