American Way: Barack Obama Ducked the Chance to Tackle America's Financial Death-spiral

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: When Barack Obama won a second term in office last November a tiny, guttering flame of hope was observed in the breasts of many hard-pressed Americans who wanted common sense to prevail in Washington.

That hope centred not on any naive expectation that Democrats and Republicans would suddenly learn to love each other, but that Mr Obama, freed from having to run for office again and in search of a personal legacy for his presidency, might start to show some leadership.

Last week, sad to report, those hopes flickered and died when Mr Obama delivered a State of the Union address that showed he has absolutely no intention of getting serious about arresting America's long-term financial death-spiral.

This was an infuriatingly dishonest speech. Mr Obama spelled out very clearly America's impending demographic crunch – too many baby-boomers, not enough money to pay for their benefits – but then falsely pretended the problem could be solved by tinkering around the edges.

"Medicare must embrace the need for modest reforms," he allowed, warning that failure to fix America's unsustainable entitlement system would "crowd out the investments we need for our children, and jeopardise the promise of a secure retirement for future generations."

All true, except for that one word, "modest". There is nothing modest about the size of America's financial problems, as Doug Elmendorf, the director of the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, explained last week when he was up on Capitol Hill spelling out budgetary home truths. » | Peter Foster, Washington | Saturday, February 16, 2013

Barroso Tells G20 'We Have Not Come to Receive Lessons'
BBC: European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has mounted a strong defence of the EU's handling of the financial crisis.

He told world leaders at a G20 summit in Mexico "we have not come here to receive lessons", and pointed out that the financial global crisis "was not originated in Europe". Watch BBC video » | Tuesday, June 19, 2012

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José Manuel Barroso was quite right to tell those assembled at the G20 that the EU wasn't there to take lessons from them on how to manage the economy. This financial crisis was caused by the reckless bankers, not the EU. Further, the Americans can teach nobody how to manage the economy: they can't manage even their own economy. It's in a parlous state. So just who is there in the G20 to give Barroso or the EU lessons in economics, or management of the economy? And as for Obama, he couldn't manage the accounts of a McDonald's outlet, still less an economy. If the US economy were managed as well as the German economy, the country would be in fine shape.– © Mark

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G20 Summit: Barroso Blames Eurozone Crisis On US Banks
THE GUARDIAN: EC president says European leaders have not come to Mexico to receive lessons on how to handle the economy

The opening day of the G20 summit was threatening to deteriorate into a fractious row between eurozone countries and other non-European members of the G20, notably the US, as EU commission president José Manuel Barroso insisted the origins of the eurozone crisis lay in the unorthodox policies of American capitalism.

As Europe's leaders came under intense pressure to act decisively to cure the euro's ills, and a campaign gathered pace to relax some of the austerity programmes laying waste to countries burdened with unsustainable debt levels, Barroso insisted that Europe had not come to the G20 summit in Mexico to receive lessons on how to handle the economy.

When asked by a Canadian journalist "why should North Americans risk their assets to help Europe?" he replied: "Frankly, we are not here to receive lessons in terms of democracy or in terms of how to handle the economy.

"By the way this crisis was not originated in Europe … seeing as you mention North America, this crisis originated in North America and much of our financial sector was contaminated by, how can I put it, unorthodox practices, from some sectors of the financial market." » | Patrick Wintour in Los Cabos, Ian Traynor in Brussels and Helena Smith in Athens | Monday, June 18, 2012

Split Views Among Rural Greek Families
The troubled economy is the main issue for voters ahead of Greece's second general election on Sunday. Two parties are ahead in the polls: one promising to fufil its bailout deal with Europe, the other wanting to find a new solution Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons is taking a journey through Greece's islands, mountains and cities to gauge the political mood. His latest stop was in Kissos, where three generations of one family are living together to make ends meet.

Greek Americans Brace for Vote on Euro
Greeks around the world are following what is considered to be their homeland's most critical vote in 40 years. In one city in the US State of Florida, Greeks say they are frustrated by the political turmoil in Greece. Al Jazeera's Andy Gallacher reports from Tarpon Springs.

Whatever Euro's Fate, Europe's Reputation Savaged
REUTERS INDIA: Whether the euro lives or dies, the chaotic way Europe has tackled the crisis could undermine the region's geopolitical clout for years to come and leave it at a distinct disadvantage in a rapidly changing world.

With an apparently never-ending series of last-minute summits and telephone calls, Europe's leaders and finance ministers have held the bloc together in the face of growing strains between states, a rising political backlash and market alarm.

But with hindsight, outsiders say each measure proved too little, too late. US officials in particular complain European leaders have either failed to grasp the scale of the problem or proved unwilling to countenance the awkward political decisions necessary to fix it.

As a result, they say, what should have been one of the most stable parts of the world has now become one of the most unpredictable.

At one extreme, the euro area might be about to embark on a journey towards further fiscal and political union as an almost totally unitary "super state". At the other, it could unravel and collapse into an unstable mess of regional rivalry.

"From almost every conversation I've had in the last year - with Chinese, with Indians, with just about anybody - the message is always the same," says Fiona Hill, a former senior officer for the US National Intelligence Council and now head of the Europe programme at Washington think tank the Brookings Institute. "Europe can no longer be trusted. It seems to be moving from being a source of stability to a driver of instability[.]"

Long-held certainties were being challenged, she said. Even non-euro member Britain suddenly appeared at risk of breaking up, with Scotland due to hold a referendum on independence that experts say could yet go either way. » | Peter Apps, Political Risk Correspondent | LONDON | Saturday, June 16, 2012

Debt Crisis: Tensions Mount as Angela Merkel Attacks French Economy
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Deepening splits between Angela Merkel and François Hollande erupted into the open on Friday as the German chancellor attacked Paris for allowing the French economy to stall.

Mrs Merkel warned the policies of the new Socialist president could destroy the eurozone by bringing the sovereign debt crisis to France itself.

The bleak assessment came on the eve of an important weekend that will see elections in Greece and France and a key G20 meeting of world leaders in Mexico.

"Europe must discuss the growing differences in economic strength between France and Germany," she said.

Tensions are running so high that Jean-Marc Ayrault, the French prime minister, was forced to deny that Paris had broken off the Franco-German partnership, following Berlin anger at a Franco-Italian summit in Rome on Thursday.

There was a growing sense of crisis in European capitals after David Cameron, the Prime Minister, took part in a tense conference call with Mrs Merkel, Mr Hollande and Mario Monti, the Italian prime minister.

G20 leaders meet in Los Cabos on Monday afternoon for talks dominated by the deepening eurozone crisis and the result of close elections that could put Greece on course to leave the EU's single currency.

Eurozone finance ministers are on standby for an emergency telephone conference on Sunday night, if Greek exit polls put the radical Left Syriza coalition in the lead, to trigger contingency plans, including possible capital controls in the event of a run on banks in Greece, Portugal or Spain.

A victory for Syriza could prompt a default and Greek exit of the eurozone. Read on and comment » | Bruno Waterfield in Berlin | Friday, June 15, 2012

Greeks Face Stark Choice at Ballot Box
Greek voters return to the polls on Sunday, after a previous election in May failed to produce a goverment. The result could determine whether Greece sticks to the terms of its international bailout, and remains in the eurozone. Polls suggest the two main parties are running neck and neck, and neither is likely to win enough seats to rule alone. On the one hand conservative New Democracy is experienced but also accused of years of mismanagement. On the other, the left-wing Syriza bloc is an untarnished opposition, but lacking any experience in government. How the two parties are going to reconcile contradictory positions is anybody's guess - and the prospect of failure carries the risk of bankruptcy. Al Jazeera's John Psaropoulos reports from Athens.

Golden Dawn Threatens Hospital Raids against Immigrants in Greece
THE GUARDIAN: Far-right party says it will throw immigrants and their children out on the street, as some hospitals run short of supplies

In an atmosphere that has become increasingly electric before Greece's crucial election, the far-right Golden Dawn has ratcheted up the rhetoric by threatening to remove immigrants and their children from hospitals and kindergartens.

Earning loud applause at an election campaign rally in Athens, Golden Dawn MP Ilias Panagiotaros said: "If Chrysi Avgi [Golden Dawn] gets into parliament [as polls predict], it will carry out raids on hospitals and kindergartens and it will throw immigrants and their children out on the street so that Greeks can take their place."

Medical supplies and beds at some hospitals are running desperately short. The governor of the state-run Nikea hospital, Theodoros Roupas, called on doctors to stop non-essential surgical interventions because of a critical shortage of gloves, syringes and gauze. The order was revoked when Roupas found emergency supplies later in the day.

"The situation is really critical and getting worse every day," said Dr Panaghiotis Papanikolaou, a neurosurgeon at the hospital. "There is not enough medical staff to cope and huge shortages of supplies. There's no money to even service scanners and surgical microscopes … we're talking about a major healthcare crisis – not in the making, it is happening now." » | Helena Smith in Athens | Tuesday, June 12, 2012

GUARDIAN VIDEO: Greece on the breadline: Jon Henley's euro debt tales » | Jon Henley, Alex Healey and Mustafa Khalili | Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Germany's Chancellor Merkel Urges EU Political Union
BBC: German Chancellor Angela Merkel says the EU needs a political union even if it means some countries integrating faster than others.

Speaking on German TV, she called for "more Europe", including a budgetary union, saying "we need a political union first and foremost".

"Step by step we must from now on give up more competences to Europe, and allow Europe more powers of control."

However, she has resisted calls for the joint issuing of eurozone debt.

She will hold talks on Thursday with UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who has urged the 17-nation eurozone to speed up measures to build a budgetary union to shore up the embattled monetary union.

Ms Merkel's insistence on economic austerity and budget discipline has alienated many Europeans who say the policy is strangling growth and piling more debts on the struggling "periphery" countries like Greece and Spain. » | Thursday, June 07, 2012

N-TV: "Wir brauchen eine politische Union" – Merkel will vorangehen: Bundeskanzlerin Merkel will mehr Macht an Brüssel abgeben - und zwar auch dann, wenn nicht alle EU-Staaten mitmachen. Wichtig ist ihr, dass die Euro-Staaten enger zusammenwachsen. Damit verschreibt sie sich einem Konzept, das lange als Tabu galt: Das Europa der zwei Geschwindigkeiten. Man dürfe nicht stehen bleiben, "weil der eine oder andere noch nicht mitgehen will." » | Quelle: n-tv.de, dpa/rts | Donnerstag, 07. Juni 2012

SUEDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG: EU-Gipfel – Merkel will politische Union in Europa vorantreiben: "Mehr Europa": Angela Merkel will sich auf dem nächsten EU-Gipfel für eine Stärkung der politischen Union in Europa einsetzen. Gleichzeitig warnt die Kanzlerin aber vor allzu hohen Erwartungen - an einen "großen Wurf" glaubt sie selbst nicht. » | Donnerstag, 07. Juni 2012