Tag Archives: Austerity

Germany fears revolution if Europe scraps welfare model

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“German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble warned on Tuesday that failure to win the battle against youth unemployment could tear Europe apart, and dropping the continent’s welfare model in favor of tougher U.S. standards would spark a revolution. Germany, along with France, Spain and Italy, backed urgent action to rescue a generation of young Europeans who fear they will not find jobs, with youth unemployment in the EU standing at nearly one in four, more than twice the adult rate.  If U.S. welfare standards were introduced in Europe, ‘we would have revolution, not tomorrow, but on the very same day,’ Schaeuble told a conference in Paris.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/28/us-europe-unemployment-idUSBRE94R0D320130528

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Europe’s ‘new deal’ for jobless dismissed as rhetoric

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“The Prado in Madrid has become the unlikely symbol of Europe’s unemployment curse. The museum recently advertised for 11 low-level jobs, mostly guarding paintings by Velasquez, El Greco and Picasso from enthusiastic tourists. The starting salaries were just €13,000 (£11,100) a year yet, to the astonishment of the curators, 18,524 people applied. The print-out list of applicants runs for 357 pages. This is the ‘white heat’ of a youth jobs crisis that has crept up on EU leaders and now threatens to set off a volcanic political eruption. Francois Hollande, the French president, warned on Tuesday that failure to offer these people hope risks destroying the EU altogether.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/10085318/Europes-new-deal-for-jobless-dismissed-as-rhetoric.html

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French president auctions off wines in austerity fire sale

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“The expected price of the wines range from 20 euros to 2,500 euros ($25 to $3,235) per bottle and include top-end offerings such as a Chateau Latour dating back to 1936, a 1990 Petrus and a slew of 1985 Romanee wines. The cellar at the Elysee was established in 1947 during the presidency of Vincent Auriol and now holds 12,000 bottles. Burgundy and Bordeaux wines will dominate in the auction but there are also offerings from Alsace, the Loire and the Rhone valley.  Demand for wine from France, the world’s leading wine producer by value, is high especially from well-heeled buyers in China and the United States. China is the world’s biggest importer of Bordeaux wines.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/05/29/french-president-auctions-off-wines-in-austerity-fire-sale/

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Idea of Euro Exit Finds Currency in Portugal

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“A book by a Portuguese economist achieved a small feat on its release last month: It instantly topped Portugal’s bestseller list.  The book, ‘Why We Should Leave the Euro’ by João Ferreira do Amaral, has helped ignite a public debate in Portugal about the real cause of the country’s economic pain.  Communist parties in Portugal and Cyprus have turned against euro membership. Two parties in Italy’s Parliament want a euro referendum. And two small anti-euro parties recently formed in depression-hit Greece. Even in prosperous Germany, angst about the cost of euro-zone bailouts has led to the launch of an anti-euro party, Alternative for Germany.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323336104578503253715866368.html

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Constitutional crisis pushes Portugal closer to the brink

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“Yields on 10-year Portuguese bonds jumped to 7.85pc in a day of turmoil, kicked off by a government request to delay the next review of the country’s EU-IMF Troika bail-out until August. President Anibal Cavaco Silva set off a constitutional crisis when he vetoed a reshuffle by the two conservative coalition parties, insisting on a red-blue national unity government with greater legitimacy to see through austerity cuts until mid-2014. Socialist leader Antonio José Seguro has so far refused to take part, demanding fresh elections to clear the air. Some Socialist leaders have threatened debt repudiation as a way of fighting back at Germany and the creditor powers.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/10177055/Constitutional-crisis-pushes-Portugal-closer-to-the-brink.html

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IBM Cutting Jobs In U.S. And Globally

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“International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), the world’s largest computer-services provider, began cutting U.S. jobs today as part of a global restructuring plan announced in April.  The reduction targets employees with a range of seniority, from rank-and-file staff to executives. Some U.S. workers began to receive notifications of the cuts last night, according to Lee Conrad, a coordinator for Alliance@IBM, an employee group. The restructuring will cost $1 billion worldwide, including severance expenses. The company is probably cutting 6,000 to 8,000 jobs globally, based on the $1 billion cost figure.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-12/ibm-said-to-start-u-s-jobs-cuts-amid-1-billion-restructuring.html

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European Car Sales Fall to 20-Year Low Amid Unemployment

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“European car sales fell to a 20-year low in May as record joblessness caused by a recession in the euro area reduced demand at PSA Peugeot Citroen (UG), Renault SA (RNO), Fiat SpA (F)and General Motors Co. (GM) Registrations dropped 5.9 percent to 1.08 million vehicles from 1.15 million a year earlier, the Brussels-based ACEA said today. The figure was the lowest for the month since 1993. The ACEA compiles data for the 27-nation EU plus Switzerland, Norway and Iceland. Peugeot, Renault, Fiat and GM’s deliveries fell at least 10 percent in the region last month as price cuts failed to attract buyers.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-18/eu-car-sales-fall-to-20-year-low-as-joblessness-at-record.html

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The situation on the ground in Athens

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“The total number of unemployed is roughly 57% of the entire Greek work force. And as you probably know, the situation for young people is even worse. Only 1 in 3 people aged 25 and under has a job. This phenomenon, sustained for several years now, has cut deeply into the psyche of an entire generation that is growing up without productive work experience or the prospect of improving their lives. The middle class here has been completely gutted. Aside from a few pockets of wealth, the country is either unemployed or working poor, hamstrung by debilitating debt. The suicide rate here has skyrocketed, crime is noticeably higher, and prostitution is rampant.”

http://www.sovereignman.com/trends/the-situation-on-the-ground-in-athens-12264/

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The wheels are coming off the whole of southern Europe

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“A leaked report from the European Commission confirms that Greece will miss its austerity targets yet again by a wide margin.  Italy’s slow crisis is again flaring up. Its debt trajectory has punched through the danger line over the past two years. Spain’s crisis has a new twist. The ruling Partido Popular is caught in a slush-fund scandal of such gravity that it cannot plausibly brazen out the allegations any longer, let alone rally the nation behind another year of scorched-earth cuts.  Portugal is slipping away. Professor João Ferreira do Amaral’s book -Why We Should Leave The Euro – has been a bestseller for months.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/10172530/The-wheels-are-coming-off-the-whole-of-southern-Europe.html

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Italy’s Credit Rating Cut to BBB by S&P; Outlook Stays Negative

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“The outlook on the rating, reduced from BBB+, remains negative, the New York-based ratings company said in a statement late yesterday. S&P analysts said that, even with unprecedented easing by the European Central Bank, real interest rates for non-financial companies in Italy exceed the level before the financial crisis.  Austerity measures, while enabling Italy to reduce its deficit to within European Union limits, deepened the nation’s slump. With the economy headed for its eighth quarter of contraction and joblessness at its highest since at least 1977, Prime Minister Enrico Letta in the last two months postponed a sales-tax increase and suspended a property tax payment.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-09/italy-s-credit-rating-cut-to-bbb-by-s-p-outlook-is-negative.html

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