EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Germany has performed a dramatic u-turn and now says it would support International Monetary Fund aid for Greece, were it requested "We see no need for immediate action now. Greece has not asked for aid," a German source working closely on the subject told EUobserver on Thursday (18 March). "In case the situation of Greece does get worse, Germany would be open for an IMF solution," the person added.
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Germany has performed a dramatic u-turn and now says it would support International Monetary Fund aid for Greece, were it requested
"We see no need for immediate action now. Greece has not asked for aid," a German source working closely on the subject told EUobserver on Thursday (18 March). "In case the situation of Greece does get worse, Germany would be open for an IMF solution," the person added.
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission has said member state growth assumptions in budgetary plans submitted to Brussels are overly optimistic, suggesting upcoming national deficits could be worse than governments predict. Commenting on Wednesday (17 March) on the member state plans - known as stability and convergence programmes in EU parlance - the commission also said several member states need to provided greater details on how they intended to rein in their runaway budgets.
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission has said member state growth assumptions in budgetary plans submitted to Brussels are overly optimistic, suggesting upcoming national deficits could be worse than governments predict.
Commenting on Wednesday (17 March) on the member state plans - known as stability and convergence programmes in EU parlance - the commission also said several member states need to provided greater details on how they intended to rein in their runaway budgets.
Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Britain have all assumed stronger future economic growth than expected, according to the European Union's executive arm. The European Commission, the EU's executive body, examined the long-term budget plans of 14 member states, and said in its report that in the majority of cases, growth assumptions were "rather optimistic" meaning that actual budgetary outcomes "might be worse than targeted."
Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Britain have all assumed stronger future economic growth than expected, according to the European Union's executive arm.
The European Commission, the EU's executive body, examined the long-term budget plans of 14 member states, and said in its report that in the majority of cases, growth assumptions were "rather optimistic" meaning that actual budgetary outcomes "might be worse than targeted."
EU commission chief Barroso Wednesday said Greece is "on track" to achieve "the ambitious target of 4% deficit reduction in 2010." Speaking after meeting Greek PM Papandreou, Barroso said reinforced economic policy co-ordination and country surveillance proposals will be made at the end of March.
REUTERS - Greece's prime minister warned on Thursday that Athens would not be able to make planned deficit cuts unless it can borrow money more cheaply and said he would prefer not to have to turn to the IMF for help. Prime Minister George Papandreou told a committee in the European Parliament that austerity measures announced by the Greek government showed it was committed to the stability of the euro and that it would carry out necessary structural reforms. "But if we keep borrowing at very high rates, and this is the challenge we have, we cannot sustain the deficit reduction that these hard measures aim to achieve," he said. "We should be able to borrow at rates that are normal."
REUTERS - Greece's prime minister warned on Thursday that Athens would not be able to make planned deficit cuts unless it can borrow money more cheaply and said he would prefer not to have to turn to the IMF for help.
Prime Minister George Papandreou told a committee in the European Parliament that austerity measures announced by the Greek government showed it was committed to the stability of the euro and that it would carry out necessary structural reforms.
"But if we keep borrowing at very high rates, and this is the challenge we have, we cannot sustain the deficit reduction that these hard measures aim to achieve," he said. "We should be able to borrow at rates that are normal."
Germany would back a bailout from the International Monetary Fund for debt-stricken Greece, government sources said Thursday, though stressing it has not yet come to that. "We would be open to an intervention from the IMF if that should become necessary," a spokesman from the finance ministry, who asked not to be identified, told Agence France-Presse. "The government's position has not changed and remains as follows: the issue of financial aid to Greece has not arisen and there is no need to take a decision."
Germany would back a bailout from the International Monetary Fund for debt-stricken Greece, government sources said Thursday, though stressing it has not yet come to that.
"We would be open to an intervention from the IMF if that should become necessary," a spokesman from the finance ministry, who asked not to be identified, told Agence France-Presse. "The government's position has not changed and remains as follows: the issue of financial aid to Greece has not arisen and there is no need to take a decision."
Up to 1.2 million jobs could be lost in the EU by 2015 if online piracy continues at its current rate, reports The Guardian, citing a study backed by the EU and trade unions. In 2008, the creative industries accounted for almost 7% of the EU's GDP and they employ 6.5% of the EU workforce.
SOUTH AFRICA: Test running has started in earnest on the 20 km first phase of the Gautrain line between Sandton and OR Tambo International Airport. Opening has been set for June 8, subject to a final technical 'go/no-go' decision in April. The original timescale would have seen the Bombela consortium complete Phase 1 by June 27. However, after the project began South Africa was selected to host the FIFA World Cup, and the provincial government was keen to see the opening brought forward so that the line could handle some of the football traffic. The cost of accelerating the work was initially too high for the government, but agreement has been reached to launch a reduced-scope service at no extra cost. Phase 2 is scheduled for completion in 2011. Extending the line north from Sandton to Pretoria and Hatfield and south to Park station in Johannesburg, this will take Gautrain to 80 route-km.
SOUTH AFRICA: Test running has started in earnest on the 20 km first phase of the Gautrain line between Sandton and OR Tambo International Airport. Opening has been set for June 8, subject to a final technical 'go/no-go' decision in April.
The original timescale would have seen the Bombela consortium complete Phase 1 by June 27. However, after the project began South Africa was selected to host the FIFA World Cup, and the provincial government was keen to see the opening brought forward so that the line could handle some of the football traffic. The cost of accelerating the work was initially too high for the government, but agreement has been reached to launch a reduced-scope service at no extra cost.
Phase 2 is scheduled for completion in 2011. Extending the line north from Sandton to Pretoria and Hatfield and south to Park station in Johannesburg, this will take Gautrain to 80 route-km.
keep to the Fen Causeway
Has the Chinese export sector become hostage to WalMartization, the ability of powerful retailers to squeeze vendor profit margins? Reader Michael Q called our attention to a key remark in a Wall Street Journal story: Vice Commerce Minister Zhong Shan, in an exclusive interview Thursday ahead of a visit to the U.S., said that the profit margin on many Chinese export goods was less than 2%. Most exporters absorbed the appreciation in the value of the yuan that followed its revaluation in 2005 by boosting innovation and cutting costs, but many were forced to close, he said. A further rise in the currency's value would endanger more exporters' survival, which China can't afford, he said. As Michael Q, who is an equity analyst, noted: 2% margins on export-oriented businesses is not representative of any sort of real competitive advantage. A real competitive advantage when it comes to exporting would show double-digits profit margins. This whole sector is hanging by a thread...nearly none of the activity China has engaged in since the downturn is secular or self-sustaining. Yves here. The implications for China are serious. First, this says that it perceives it has no room to revalue the RMB upwards. Not only are exporters politically powerful, but on a more mundane level, the regime has achieved social cohesion through a promise of rising prosperity. Too much unemployment would undermine the legitimacy of the governing classes. But second, it also implies China cannot even tolerate much inflation. Remember, inflation will push up the price of good in local currency terms, which in a fixed peg currency regime, translates directly into price increases. Price increases from a country whose selling proposition is cheap prices would lead importers to look for substitutes in other emerging economies. A 2% margin not only says manufacturers have no room to cut prices, it also says they cannot afford much in the way of lost revenue. This dynamic makes the idea floated on the blog earlier, that China might devalue the RMB , less radical than it might seem.
Vice Commerce Minister Zhong Shan, in an exclusive interview Thursday ahead of a visit to the U.S., said that the profit margin on many Chinese export goods was less than 2%. Most exporters absorbed the appreciation in the value of the yuan that followed its revaluation in 2005 by boosting innovation and cutting costs, but many were forced to close, he said. A further rise in the currency's value would endanger more exporters' survival, which China can't afford, he said.
Most exporters absorbed the appreciation in the value of the yuan that followed its revaluation in 2005 by boosting innovation and cutting costs, but many were forced to close, he said. A further rise in the currency's value would endanger more exporters' survival, which China can't afford, he said.
As Michael Q, who is an equity analyst, noted:
2% margins on export-oriented businesses is not representative of any sort of real competitive advantage. A real competitive advantage when it comes to exporting would show double-digits profit margins. This whole sector is hanging by a thread...nearly none of the activity China has engaged in since the downturn is secular or self-sustaining.
Yves here. The implications for China are serious. First, this says that it perceives it has no room to revalue the RMB upwards. Not only are exporters politically powerful, but on a more mundane level, the regime has achieved social cohesion through a promise of rising prosperity. Too much unemployment would undermine the legitimacy of the governing classes.
But second, it also implies China cannot even tolerate much inflation. Remember, inflation will push up the price of good in local currency terms, which in a fixed peg currency regime, translates directly into price increases. Price increases from a country whose selling proposition is cheap prices would lead importers to look for substitutes in other emerging economies. A 2% margin not only says manufacturers have no room to cut prices, it also says they cannot afford much in the way of lost revenue.
This dynamic makes the idea floated on the blog earlier, that China might devalue the RMB , less radical than it might seem.
One of WalMart's mottos is "Always lower prices!" Who could have foreseen that this might lead to world-wide deflation when relentlessly pursued by the world's largest and lowest cost retailer? As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may be creating new grounds for a court challenge to the proposed U.S. health-care overhaul as she considers using a mechanism [!] that would avoid a vote [!] on the full legislation. Pelosi said this week she might use a [NEW! IMRPOVED!] parliamentary technique that would "deem" House members to have passed the Senate's health-care plan by voting for a more politically palatable package of changes. Some legal scholars question whether that approach can be squared with the Constitution and the Supreme Court's 1998 declaration that the two houses of Congress must approve "precisely the same text" before a bill can become a law. "Any process that does not result in the House taking of yays and nays on statutory text identical to what passed the Senate is constitutionally problematic," said Jonathan Adler, a professor who runs the Center for Business Law & Regulation at Case Western Reserve University's law school in Cleveland. The greatest obstacle to any challenge may be getting a court to consider the issue. In 2007, a federal appeals court in Washington rejected a similar attack on a Republican-backed package of tax and spending cuts, which because of a clerk's error had passed the House and Senate with different wording. The three-judge panel said that, under an 1892 Supreme Court decision, courts can't second-guess [read: arrogate] congressional leaders [sic; quorum vote] when they certify that both houses have passed the same legislative language.... "There are a lot of people who don't want to vote for it [Baucus bill]," Pelosi said this week. "We will do what is necessary to pass a health-care bill [sic]." Read more...
Pelosi said this week she might use a [NEW! IMRPOVED!] parliamentary technique that would "deem" House members to have passed the Senate's health-care plan by voting for a more politically palatable package of changes.
Some legal scholars question whether that approach can be squared with the Constitution and the Supreme Court's 1998 declaration that the two houses of Congress must approve "precisely the same text" before a bill can become a law.
"Any process that does not result in the House taking of yays and nays on statutory text identical to what passed the Senate is constitutionally problematic," said Jonathan Adler, a professor who runs the Center for Business Law & Regulation at Case Western Reserve University's law school in Cleveland.
The greatest obstacle to any challenge may be getting a court to consider the issue. In 2007, a federal appeals court in Washington rejected a similar attack on a Republican-backed package of tax and spending cuts, which because of a clerk's error had passed the House and Senate with different wording.
The three-judge panel said that, under an 1892 Supreme Court decision, courts can't second-guess [read: arrogate] congressional leaders [sic; quorum vote] when they certify that both houses have passed the same legislative language....
"There are a lot of people who don't want to vote for it [Baucus bill]," Pelosi said this week. "We will do what is necessary to pass a health-care bill [sic]."
Read more...
That's what all the pretty autocrats say.
Possibly related posts:
ppt demagogery legitimate "process arguments" "illigitimate" process arguments reconciliation tactics, reconciliation law Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
I mentioned the other day, reconciliation "pass-and-deem technique" would lock-in budget, i.e. appropriations, for a decade.
But this is my favorite, a leitmotif throughout the bill:
(5) RELATION TO STATE LAWS.-The standards 4 established under this section shall supersede any 5 State law or regulation (other than State licensing 6 laws or State laws relating to plan solvency) with re 7 spect to qualified high risk pools which are established 8 in accordance with this section.
Now. Is there a something-not-nothing advocate in the house? I need to know again how Congress is going to improve, correct, or modify such provisions after the bill is passed. Or how instead can I qualify for Medicaid until I'm eligible for Medicare? Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
