Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou declared he is not ruling out taking legal action against U.S. investment banks for their role in creating the spiraling Greek debt crisis. Desperately trying to blame someone, somewhere ...
Both the Greek government and its citizens have blamed international banks for fanning the flames of the debt crisis with comments about Greece's likely default, actions that are causing the country's borrowing costs to soar.
"I wouldn't rule out that (legal action) might be a recourse. But we need to let due process (take its course) and then make our judgments once we get the results from the investigations," Papandreou said in a CNN interview broadcast Sunday.
Papandreou also said a parliamentary investigation will examine the rapid swelling of Greece's debt and international banking practices to examine whether the financial sector engaged in "fraud and lack of transparency."
The European Union and the International Monetary fund have approved a euro110 billion ($136 billion) bailout package for Greece, part of an overall euro750 billion ($1 trillion) rescue loan package to protect the euro, the common currency of 16 European nations.
The Greek leader also urged more regulation of the markets which, in his view, are now betting against the European governments that have poured billions into them since the global financial crisis began in 2008.
Some European governments plan to push for tighter regulation of hedge funds this week -- a move opposed by Britain, home to the financial hub of London.
Papandreou also tried to counter criticism, expressed mainly in Germany, that Greeks are getting a free ride and rejected widespread international skepticism about Greece's ability to pay back its loans. Greek debt is scheduled to exceed 140 percent of its economic output in 2012.
"We are paying back the loans we are getting ... this saying that 'we are handing out money to Greece' is not true," he told the CNN show "Fareed Zakaria GPS." "It is very easy to scapegoat Greece and Greece bashing very often gets entangled in regional politics."
He insisted his government has made the unpopular but necessary decision to implement austerity measures.
"We are ready to make the changes ... we have made our mistakes. We are living up to this responsibility. But at the same time, give us a chance," Papandreou said.
Still, another top German economist expressed doubts Sunday about Greece's ability to repay.
Deutsche Bank AG's Chief Executive Josef Ackermann created an uproar Thursday for mentioning the possibility that Greece might have to restructure its debt -- but Dekabank's chief economist, Ulrich Kater, was quoted as agreeing with him Sunday in the German news website Handelsblatt.
"It will be very, very difficult for Greece to orderly repay its debt," Kater was quoted as saying, adding that Greece's new austerity measures and its lack of competitiveness were dooming the country's prospects for economic growth, making debt reduction difficult.
Despite widespread anger about tax hikes and other austerity measures imposed by Papandreou's Socialist government, his party still enjoys more support than its predecessor, the discredited conservative party.
According to a poll published Sunday in conservative-leaning newspaper Kathimerini, Papandreou's popularity has plunged from 53 percent in January to 43 percent in May. The same poll showed that opposition leader Antonis Samaras has sunk from 26 percent approval in February to 18 percent in May.
On the other hand, 76 percent of respondents also say they are unsatisfied with the Socialist government's performance.
The poll was conducted May 6-10 with a sample of 1,006. Its margin of error was plus or minus 3.2 percent.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/16/2010 15:44 Comments ||
Top||
#3
I'd love to see discovery in this case.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
05/16/2010 17:09 Comments ||
Top||
#4
It would be a marvelous thing to behold, Eric. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/16/2010 21:07 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Blame the foreigners is an increasing trend as the multiple financial crises unfold. We have already seen a large reduction in cross border capital flows and this will impact trade globalization down the road.
The other shoe to drop is what China and Japan do about their potentially worthless trillion dollars in US debt. When will they stop shipping TVs, computers, etc, and what happens when they do?
There are going to be a lot of unhappy Chinese workers and factory owners.
Hours after Republican U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina contributed $1.1 million more of her own money to her primary campaign, a new snapshot poll Friday showed her faring worse in a head-to-head matchup against incumbent Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer than former South Bay Rep. Tom Campbell.
A May 12 Rasmussen poll of 500 likely voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points, shows Boxer leading Campbell 42 percent to 41 percent while the senator tops Fiorina by seven percentage points. Orange County Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine, fares better than Fiorina in a head-to-head matchup, trailing Boxer by six points.
The poll comes on the heels of a SurveyUSA poll earlier this week that showed Campbell maintaining his lead over Fiorina and DeVore.
Posted by: ed ||
05/16/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Campbell has way too many ties to terrorist sympathizers. Or so goes what IU herd. Feel free to correct.
Looks like the RSCC and RNC picked the wrong horse yet again. The GOP "leadership" is rotten, morally and mentally. Fire Steel, and every single employee at those GOP organizational headquarters. They are killing the GOP with "Beltway Insider" disease.
#4
Gee, and I thought the whole point of a primary was for the party to pick the best candidate for the fall.
The 'leadership' should button it until after the primary is over.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/16/2010 11:21 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Steve, its the "blue blood" and "country club" types, the very heart of crony capitalism (using governemnt to restrict competition via regualtion and taxes). They act as if they are owed public office by mere social standing in the old-money networks, instead of earning the right to be a custodian of the public's office.
The "leadership" gave the GOP Charlie Crist in FL, and supported Arlen Specter in PA, and Bennett in Utah, Scozzofava in NY-23, and a whole host of would-be oligarchs.
HT to Weaselzippers. Amazing that our Apologist-In-Chief's minions raised this ON THEIR OWN. Smart Diplomacy. Dipshits
Posner said in addition to talks on freedom of religion and expression, labor rights and rule of law, officials also discussed Chinese complaints about problems with U.S. human rights, which have included crime, poverty, homelessness and racial discrimination.
He said U.S. officials did not whitewash the American record and in fact raised on its own a new immigration law in Arizona that requires police to ask about a person's immigration status if there is suspicion the person is in the country illegally.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/16/2010 13:40 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Perfect photo choice, Frank!
Posted by: Abu Chuck al Ameriki ||
05/16/2010 16:54 Comments ||
Top||
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
