Tag Archives: Austerity

Spanish banks’ bad loan ratio rises to record in June

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“The overall bad debt ratio for Spanish banks was up from 11.2 percent in May and has been steadily increasing since a drop-off at the end of last year when rescued lenders transferred toxic property assets to Spain’s so-called bad bank.  Spanish lenders’ earnings were gutted last year by steep government-enforced provisions on properties and loans to developers, in the wake of a 2008 real estate crash. Those unable to cope were bailed-out with European funds, and most of their real estate loans were transferred to a government-backed bad bank.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/19/us-spain-bad-loans-idUSBRE97I07R20130819

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NYC goes Tokyo: Micro apartments proposed as solution to overcrowding

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NYC goes Tokyo: Micro apartments proposed as solution to overcrowding

“Tiny — and affordable — modular living spaces could soon become the latest real estate craze in the highly crowded city of New York. Fifty-five micro apartments are being constructed in Manhattan to test whether New Yorkers are willing to follow the example of Tokyo and Mumbai. According to Bloomberg News, micro apartments at the new ‘My Micro NY’ building will be only 250 to 370 square feet. Rents will range from $939 to $1,873. Currently, the average monthly rent for a studio is more than $2,000.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/16/nyc-goes-the-way-of-tokyo-micro-apartments-proposed-as-solution-to-overcrowding/

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Artist Gregory Kloehn turns $1,000 dumpster into tiny home

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“There’s nothing trashy about Gregory Kloehn’s Brooklyn pied-a-terre: a live-in dumpster that sleeps two with ease, hosts impromptu barbecue parties and sports its own sundeck.  In a nation where the average home is 2,600 square feet (241 square meters), tiny houses are fetching more attention, not least from aging baby boomers looking to downsize in their retirement years.  ‘There are more builders. There are more people seeking to live in tiny houses,’ Mitchell told AFP by telephone.  There would be even more tiny homes, he said, if if local zoning regulations and housing codes were not so restrictive.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/18/artist-gregory-kloehn-turns-1000-dumpster-into-tiny-home/

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Unemployed Spaniards rush to play slaves in Ridley Scott’s ‘Exodus’ film

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“Thousands of Spaniards in the depressed southern region of Andalusia are queueing up to play the role of slaves in film-maker Ridley Scott’s Biblical epic ‘Exodus’, hoping for a way out of unemployment. In a region with unemployment at 35 percent, the prospect of work as an extra with a daily wage of 80 euros ($107) has sparked a rush in Almeria where casting is being held for the story of Moses and the Jewish exodus to the promised land.  Some 10,000 people turned up at a casting call in the city of Almeria, and another 5,000 in the nearby town of Pechina, one of the casting organisers said.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/16/unemployed-spaniards-rush-to-play-slaves-in-ridley-scotts-exodus-film/

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Greek teen’s death after argument with bus ticket inspector sparks anti-austerity protests

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“The incident quickly touched a nerve in Greece, where the government is using increasingly tough methods to collect revenue under pressure from its international lenders to fix its finances. About 300 people, among them anti-bailout groups, marched to the cemetery where Kanaoutis’s funeral was held on Friday evening. After the service, dozens of youths pelted riot police with stones near the spot where he died. Protesters smashed the windows of a bus in the area and scrawled ‘Murderers’ in red paint on the windshield. ‘Kanaoutis died because he didn’t have a ticket worth 1.20 euros ($1.59),’ said the main opposition Syriza party in a statement.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/16/greek-teens-death-after-argument-with-bus-ticket-inspector-sparks-anti-austerity-protests/

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Greek police report riot at immigrant detention camp

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“Riot police were dispatched on Saturday to put down a riot at Greece’s main migrant detention camp where detainees hurled stones at officers and set fire to their living quarters, authorities said. Television footage showed fires blazing at the Amygdaleza detention camp outside Athens, where some 1,200 mainly Asian migrants are kept under police guard.  Amygdaleza is one of several detention camps set up since last year to assist in the repatriation of thousands of undocumented migrants. The police spokesman said rioting began when the detainees were told that their maximum stay in the camp would be extended to 18 months from a year previously.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/10/greek-police-report-riot-at-immigrant-detention-camp/

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The Magic of Monetary Figures

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The Magic of Monetary Figures

“Hitting our magic number was a fantastic milestone for us. All the 60-80 hour work weeks, tosses and turns in the middle of the night, and struggles to keep our financial house in order had finally paid off. We would never have to worry about money again. We were home free… or so we thought. Now, twenty years later, our account balance is many times higher than our original magic number. We have come to grips with the fact that our magic number was aptly named. We had forgotten what magic really is: an illusion. In reality, our magic number was nothing more than ink on a sheet of paper that made us believe something that was not true.”

http://www.caseyresearch.com/cdd/the-magic-of-monetary-figures

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Greek youth unemployment soars to 64.9% as Biden claims stake in Greece’s success

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“Greek prime minister Antonis Samaras will hold talks with US President Barack Obama later on Thursday. Mr Samaras is keen to secure US approval for stimulus policies for Greece’s recession-hit economy, in contrast to the austerity emphasis preferred by many of its European partners, most notably Germany. US vice president Joe Biden said America had ‘a stake’ in Greece’s economic recovery and wanted the crisis-hit nation to stay in the eurozone. ‘The administration has always taken the view that it’s overwhelmingly in our interest to have Greece remain a strong and vital part of the eurozone,’ he said.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/10230653/Greek-youth-unemployment-soars-to-64.9pc.html

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Greece becoming new Kosovo as youth jobless hits 65%

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“Latest data from the Greek statistics agency showed the overall jobless rate rose to 27.6pc in May, despite a mass exodus of the best-educated young workers to the US, Australia, Britain and Germany. The figure is likely to rise further as Athens lays off 15,000 public sector workers by the end of next month to comply with European Union-International Monetary Fund (EU-IMF) Troika demands.  EU economics chief Olli Rehn said Greek austerity was ‘difficult but necessary’, and should bear fruit in 2014.  The IMF expects public debt to spiral to 176pc this year, and has warned EMU creditor states that they will have to provide substantial debt relief.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/10231989/Greece-becoming-new-Kosovo-as-youth-jobless-hits-65pc.html

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IMF to Germany: “Fiscal over-performance should be firmly avoided”

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“The two have clashed at each stage of the crisis, with the Bundesbank deriding the IMF as the ‘Inflation Maximising Fund’ under the control of Keynesians who have overstepped their ‘institutional and legal’ authority.  The rebukes have infuriated the IMF Board members, especially those from Asia, Latin America, which think the Fund has been doing Germany’s work for it. They grumble that the IMF has been dragged into ill-designed rescue packages, and that the lion’s share of IMF resources have been used to prop up the currency experiment of rich countries well able to clean up their own mess.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/10226542/IMF-crosses-swords-with-Germany-over-crisis-handling.html

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