Angela Merkel Photo: Wiki – Angela Merkel, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, chairperson of the CDU by Armin Linnartz http://www.cducsu.de/WebUserControls/ShowPicture.aspx?picid=3512&type=3 image / http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AM_Juli_2010_-_3zu4.jpg Irish Times – “Chancellor Angela Merkel rejected pressure today for Germany to underwrite debt or guarantee bank deposits in the euro zone as Spain’s soaring borrowing costs raised new [...]
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Source: WSWS – Fears that the euro zone is nearing breakup sent panicked investors to safe haven assets Wednesday, driving the yields on US government debt to their lowest levels since 1946. Investors fled from Spanish and Italian bonds after the European Central Bank made clear that it would now allow Spain to tap [...]
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Written by Foras Teamhrach
Source: WSWS – In 2011, the Italian parliament adopted a package of austerity measures totalling €80 billion in cuts, hitting pensioners, workers and the poor. “Technocrat” premier Mario Monti has now fixed his sights on labour protection legislation: by January 23rd, he plans to submit labour reforms broadly eliminating legal protections against dismissal, and [...]
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Written by Foras Teamhrach
There is a massive strike in Italy, which seems to be unreported by the media here. The world socialist website comments that: “the newly-installed government of Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti moved to crush continuing protests by truckers, fishermen, and other professions affected by Monti’s unpopular deregulation measures and social attacks. Airline and public [...]
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Written by Foras Teamhrach
“The downgrading of nine euro zone countries by Standard & Poor’s is a politically motivated decision. The rating agency represents the interests of an international financial elite for whom the destruction of working class living standards is not proceeding far or fast enough. This is clear from the official rationale for the downgrade. “Today’s [...]
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Written by Foras Teamhrach
Reuters: “Italy began a week of strikes by the three biggest labor unions against Prime Minister Mario Monti’s 33-billion-euro austerity package, which the government may soften slightly to meet some of their demands. Port, highway, and haulage personnel stopped work for three hours and metal workers — including those at carmaker Fiat — put [...]
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Written by Foras Teamhrach
WSWS – “On Wednesday, the former EU commissioner, banker and economics professor Mario Monti, 68, was sworn in as the new head of government in the Italian presidential palace, where he also presented his ministers. On Thursday, Monti underwent a vote of confidence in the Senate, and the same procedure is planned for Friday [...]
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Written by Foras Teamhrach
"EU, IMF out!" is the chant of Greek marchers. Reuters are quoting that more than 30,000 Greeks protested in Athens today in a protest rally that marked the first public test for a new (and unelected) national unity government. According to the BBC, the march is imbued with a lot of [...]
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Written by Foras Teamhrach
RTE News – Italy’s borrowing rose again on Tuesday. Spain also paid higher interest rates in its latest bond auction. The yield on 10-year Italian bonds rose to stand at 7.276% on Tuesday, while the Spanish equivalent jumped to 6.598%. Levels above 7% are seen by many economists as unsustainable. Yields moved above that [...]
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Written by Foras Teamhrach
Bloomberg – Oil declines as Italy’s borrowing costs rose at an auction today, deepening concern Europe will contain the debt crisis. “The euro is getting really beat up today:” Stephen Schork, president of Schork Group Inc. in Villanova, Pennsylvania. “The situation both in Europe and here is still uncertain. This market has [...]
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