TOP
STORIES:
Greece faces more anti-austerity strikes, protests - (finance.yahoo.com) A fresh wave of
anti-austerity strikes hit Greece Wednesday as the leaders of the governing
coalition struggled to finalize further spending cuts for the coming two years
— without which the country will lose its vital rescue loans. State hospital
doctors, school teachers and local authority employees walked off the job
Wednesday to protest planned salary and funding cuts under a new €11.5 billion
($14.7 billion) austerity package. The three unions held a peaceful march to
the Finance Ministry in central Athens carrying banners reading "No to the
financial collapse of local authorities" and "We will not pay for the
crisis, we did not create it." Among the 3,000-strong crowd were several
mayors, including the capital's Giorgos Kaminis. Serving and retired military
officers were due to hold a march in the afternoon as well, something almost
unheard of in Greece.
Over-optimistic Fed may backtrack again on forecasts - (www.reuters.com) Has the Federal Reserve
watched the U.S. recession and painfully slow recovery through rose-colored
glasses? A look at the U.S. central bank's economic forecasts over the past
five years suggest it has. Since October 2007, when the Fed's policy committee
began giving quarterly predictions for GDP growth and the jobless rate, the
central bank has downgraded its nearer-term forecasts almost two-and-a-half
times as often as it upgraded them. The gap between Wall Street's expectations
for 2012 growth and the Fed's own current view points to yet another downgrade
on Thursday, when policymakers wrap up a two-day meeting that has world
financial markets rapt. The trend of back-pedaling shows how poorly the central
bank has fared at reading the economic tea leaves, with the Fed's optimism a
likely factor in policy decisions through the Great Recession and its fallout,
economists say.
Moody’s Warns That U.S. May Face Debt Downgrade - (www.nytimes.com) Congressional leaders dug in
their heels on Tuesday against any quick deal to resolve a looming fiscal
disaster before the election, even as a major ratings agency warned that it
would downgrade the government’s debt if no solution was found by year’s end. Democratic
leaders have warned their own members to tone down any discussion of a
short-term resolution to the “fiscal cliff,” betting that Republican fears over
the January deadline will drive them to the negotiating table shortly after the
November election.
Another
'yes, but' ruling - (www.dw.de) The ESM is not unconstitutional;
a decision, the court said, of "true political import." However, DW's
Daphne Grathwohl argues that the court's rulings are losing their importance. Once
again judges at the German Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe issued a
"yes, but" ruling. Yes, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM)
conforms to the constitution - but some adjustments need to be made. The judges
in Karlsruhe called for a limit to German liability of 190 billion euros and
said higher payments could not be made without the approval by representatives
of the German people. The judges also demanded more participatory rights for
the German upper and lower houses of parliament. The ruling follows the logic
of other decisions by the court on the euro rescue policies emanating from
Brussels.
Spain's
Prime Minister May Seek Help from ECB - (www.cnbc.com)
The Prime Minister of Spain indicated Wednesday
morning he may seek help from the European Central Bank in order to keep the
country’s borrowing costs lower. According to a
Finnish newspaper, Mariano Rajoy said, “In addition to growth, the only option
I am considering is using the Central Bank’s announced mechanism." He told
a second Finnish paper, “It is completely ruled out that we would ask for a
bailout for the whole country.”
No comments:
Post a Comment