A meeting of eurozone finmins at which they were expected to approve the €130B Greek...

This news story has 10 comments:

Register or Login to rate comments »

alan.greenscam Comments (354)
 
.... AAAAAH HAHAHAHA, some surprise, what a joke !!
14 Feb 2012, 03:15 PM Reply Like

Eighthman Comments (207)
 
The greatest fear they need to have is not that Greece leaves the Euro but rather that they leave and somehow proper, like Iceland or Argentina.

That could create a dangerous stampede......
14 Feb 2012, 04:10 PM Reply Like

westerner Comments (182)
 
Astute observation, that.
14 Feb 2012, 05:43 PM Reply Like

tsiwen Comments (67)
 
I expect the defaults in Europe will drive the euro to parity with the dollar within 2 years!
14 Feb 2012, 06:59 PM Reply Like

Teutonic Knight Comments (1933)
 
The euro has no future.
14 Feb 2012, 07:23 PM Reply Like

Poor Texan Comments (3499)
 
Bring back the deutschemark.
14 Feb 2012, 07:51 PM Reply Like

Sp0ck Comments (25)
 
I'm afraid the US may be in the same situation in 2 years.
14 Feb 2012, 08:58 PM Reply Like

bob adamson Comments (4496)
 
As of February 14th the fate of the bailout negotiations (and therefore the haircut negotiations as well) is at a crossroads. The trigger appears to be the statement by the leader of the conservative New Democracy Party (widely assumed to emerge from the upcoming Greek elections as the new Prime Minister) during the weekend debate preceding the vote of the Greek Parliament that his Party would seek to renegotiate the austerity terms of the bailout package after assuming office. The core EU countries now insist that
(a) Greater specific details be spelled out by the current Greek Government, and
(b) The leaders of both PASOK and ND give written assurances that their Parties will both support implementation of the austerity terms detailed as described in point (a).

Clearly time and patience on all sides are running out and the prospect of a disorderly Greek default cannot be disregarded. That said, it should be remembered that the leader of ND backed down and gave written assurances in negotiations several months ago so there may yet be a breakthrough.

The British, German and Canadian newspaper commentaries below give greater detail concerning the standoff between the Greek Government and the EU and generally take a pessimistic view concerning the likely outcome.

http://bit.ly/yoxh1Q

http://bit.ly/w1tnjr

http://bit.ly/zhS8a8

http://bit.ly/xtwV5E

The following reports and commentaries from the Greek newspaper Ekathimerini give a detailed picture of the Greek political situation. Arguably the confusion in the ranks of both the conservative and nationalist-populist junior partners in the three Party coalition (the nationalist-populists have since imploded and most have left the Government) mean that these Parties have added reason not be keen to cause the Government to fall in chaos and bankruptcy.

http://bit.ly/yl4XgP

http://bit.ly/yy9rpU

http://bit.ly/ytOXnZ
15 Feb 2012, 02:30 AM Reply Like

Moon Kil Woong Comments (8898)
 
All sides are playing hardball but in the end some last minute solution is expected just like before. If not, well the EU has its contingency and their default is not something unexpected. Yawn, the EU is a giant experiment on muddling through a crisis with a bunch of selfish people all trying to row different directions. Anyone expecting expediency or rational decision making is living in a pipe dream. Thank goodness Europe isn't the same as it was in the past or we'd be in another world war by now.
15 Feb 2012, 03:12 AM Reply Like

bob adamson Comments (4496)
 
Martin Wolf of the Financial Times gives the following excellent analysis (repeated in Canada’s National Post) of the issues facing the EU and Greece in their current negotiations

http://bit.ly/y2MAa7

Antonis Samaras of the conservative New Democracy party has now, as expected, given the written undertakings that the Eurozone Finance Ministers demanded in light of Samaras’ equivocal support for austerity measure terms during debates in the Greek Parliament. The formal requirements demanded of Greece are falling into place and the question now remains whether there is sufficient will on both sides to proceed. Arguably the answer is yes but the situation is very difficult on all counts as the following reports collectively illustrate. As the articles in the UK’s Guardian and Economist illustrate, the prospect of a failure in these negotiations is seriously under consideration.

http://bit.ly/xn4NZt

http://bit.ly/ybFuVh

http://bit.ly/wftP6V

http://bit.ly/yJfXgh

http://bit.ly/xHmmUt

http://bit.ly/xfhyVH

http://econ.st/xOSW0E
15 Feb 2012, 11:49 AM Reply Like