As a deal with Greek private sector creditor is moving closer, focus is now switching towards official sector involvement, OSI; Evangelos Venizelos is calling on the ECB to take a hit, saying a debt target of 120% requires both PSI and OSI; ECB has considered several scenarios, but there is still no agreement with the ECB's governing council;the issue of dispute is whether to include purchases made under the securities markets programme; after meeting with Angela Merkel, China's premier Wen Jiabao says that China is considering support for an IMF eurozone package; the Spanish government plans to force banks to make writeoffs of their real estate investments to clean up their balance sheets; move is very like to trigger the next phase of declining Spanish house prices; Mario Monti's government is determined to force labour market reforms against the will of the trade unions; at stake is a reform of an article which forces companies to rehire workers deemed to have been unfairly dismissed; a poll among the French working population has Nicolas Sarkozy in third place, behind Marine Le Pen; an ECB working paper demonstrates that rating agencies have reinforced the eurozone debt crisis; there are reports of a conspiratorial meeting of finance ministers of a AAA-rated countries in Berlin - without participation by France and Austria; future ESM programmes, meanwhile, will be limited to countries that have ratified the fiscal compact.
Monti to force labour reforms against the trade unions La Repubblica quotes Italian labour minister Elsa Fornero as saying that the Italian government will go ahead with labour market reforms even without the consent of the social parts. The issue is Art. 18 of the Italian labour code, which forces an employer with more than 15 staff to rehire workers subsequently deemed to have been unfairly dismissed. The employers are saying that they want to restrict Art. 18 only of cases of discrimination. Fornero says the government would present legislation in two to three weeks. Reuters reports that Mario Monti recently mocked the idea of a permanent job, provoking a row with Pier Luigi Bersani, the leader of the Democratic Party, who said a permanent job was desirable for someone outside the labour market.
La Repubblica quotes Italian labour minister Elsa Fornero as saying that the Italian government will go ahead with labour market reforms even without the consent of the social parts. The issue is Art. 18 of the Italian labour code, which forces an employer with more than 15 staff to rehire workers subsequently deemed to have been unfairly dismissed. The employers are saying that they want to restrict Art. 18 only of cases of discrimination. Fornero says the government would present legislation in two to three weeks. Reuters reports that Mario Monti recently mocked the idea of a permanent job, provoking a row with Pier Luigi Bersani, the leader of the Democratic Party, who said a permanent job was desirable for someone outside the labour market.
Attention has largely focused on Article 18, a section in the labor law which obliges companies with more than 15 workers to re-hire workers judged by the courts to have been unjustly laid off. ... "A fixed job for life? How monotonous," said Monti, sparking angry reactions on online social networks and some mild criticism among the parties supporting his government. "A fixed job becomes monotonous when you have one and you can look around. When you don't have one it is desirable," Pier Luigi Bersani, leader of the left-leaning Democratic Party told journalists.
...
"A fixed job for life? How monotonous," said Monti, sparking angry reactions on online social networks and some mild criticism among the parties supporting his government.
"A fixed job becomes monotonous when you have one and you can look around. When you don't have one it is desirable," Pier Luigi Bersani, leader of the left-leaning Democratic Party told journalists.
Sounds a lot like Romney's "people should enjoy the freedom to fire their health insurance provider". tens of millions of people stand to see their lives ruined because the bureaucrats at the ECB don't understand introductory economics -- Dean Baker
AAA-rated finance ministers meet in Berlin (without France and Austria) So much for the protestations that the French and Austrian ratings downgrade would have no effect. Reuters reports of a conspirative meeting among the finance ministers of the four remaining AAA-rated countries to take place in Berlin today - Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Finland, and yes without France and Austria. The article suggests that it won't be the first time, which means that the French and Austrian ministers must have participated in such meetings before, but not no longer.
So much for the protestations that the French and Austrian ratings downgrade would have no effect. Reuters reports of a conspirative meeting among the finance ministers of the four remaining AAA-rated countries to take place in Berlin today - Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Finland, and yes without France and Austria. The article suggests that it won't be the first time, which means that the French and Austrian ministers must have participated in such meetings before, but not no longer.
the Spanish government plans to force banks to make writeoffs of their real estate investments to clean up their balance sheets
Does this mean writedowns or writeoffs on amounts due on the mortgages? I bet it doesn't. It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II
