Athens in Flames - In Focus. Over the weekend, more than 45 buildings across Athens were set ablaze by violent protesters.
The fires began as the Greek Parliament passed a strict package of austerity measures, in an effort to meet demands by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. The measures, which were prerequisites for a $170 billion bailout, included steep public-sector job cuts and a 20 percent reduction in the minimum wage. More than 80,000 Greeks reportedly demonstrated in the streets of Athens -- among them, a small, violent group that hurled firebombs at riot police and set dozens of fires. More than 120 police and protesters were injured.
The next step for the new austerity measures is implementation, and that may face strong opposition as well. Germany Backs ECB in Rejecting Lagarde’s Call to Take Losses on Greek Debt. A senior member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government rejected suggestions that the European Central Bank take losses on its Greek debt holdings, backing the ECB in a dispute with the International Monetary Fund.
“I can’t imagine that European politicians would allow third parties to make such an indecent claim on our central bank,” Michael Meister, the deputy floor leader for Merkel’s Christian Democrats and the party’s ranking finance spokesman, said today in an interview. “That contradicts our philosophy.” While the ECB faces pressure to join private-sector investors in accepting losses on Greek debt, the central bank sees any participation as risking damaging confidence in the institution, two people familiar with the Governing Council’s stance said. The debt was acquired for monetary policy purposes and the ECB is firmly opposed to any restructuring, they said on condition of anonymity because the matter is confidential. Greek Economy on Track to Implode: Hanke.
"Whether or not Greece is able to reach an agreement on the restructuring of its debt, the country is set to 'implode' as the economy contracts, according to Johns Hopkins University’s Steve Hanke. 'The game is completely over,' Hanke, professor of applied economics, said at the Bloomberg Sovereign Debt Crisis Conference in New York hosted by Bloomberg Link. 'All the calculations are nonsense and have been since day one. Since the crisis began the money supply has been shrinking and the economy is going to implode, no matter what they do in the short run.'" That's what I have based my career on.