New Immunity Provisions Cast Doubt on Greece’s Efforts to Fight Corruption

By SUZANNE DALEYOCT. 16, 2014

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The former Greek defense minister, Akis Tsochatzopoulos, arriving for his graft trial in 2013.CreditGeorge Nikolaidis/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

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ATHENS — The omnibus bill, more than 100 pages long and titled “Measures of Support and Growth for the Greek Economy,” won passage here in the middle of the night in March, as Parliament raced to meet a deadline set by Greece’s creditors.

Only afterward did a legislator from the governing New Democracy party notice an unsettling provision. Buried on page 78 was language that essentially gave retroactive immunity to thousands of workers in state-funded organizations that could shield them from future corruption prosecutions.

That change is among a flurry of new immunity provisions, often slipped into complex or unrelated bills this year, that have triggered outrage among law enforcement officials and critics of the government, who fear that long-awaited efforts to clamp down on corruption are being stymied.

Όλη η γη σε μία χώρα ...την Ελλάδα! Δείτε τον Παράδεισο επί της Γης! 47 ΑΠΙΘΑΝΕΣ ΦΩΤΟ..

Πανέμορφες παραλίες, καταπράσινα βουνά, , ποτάμια, λίμνες, ηφαίστεια, είναι μερικά μόνο από τα πράγματα που κάνουν την Ελλάδα μια από τις ομορφότερες, αν όχι την πιο όμορφη χώρα στον κόσμο.
Παρακάτω παρουσιάζονται μια σειρά από φωτογραφίες από όλη την Ελλάδα, οι οποίες ίσως ένα μικρό δείγμα που αποδεικνύει ότι ζούμε σε μια μαγευτική χώρα.
Ο Παράδεισος επί της Γης πραγματικά υπάρχει και βρίσκεται φυσικά στην Ελλάδα!
Ελλάς, σημαίνει «οι πέτρες του φωτός» και ο λόγος είναι αυτός:

Crete (1964)

Corfu (1962)

Athens (1961)

The Greek Tragedy (videos)

What is happening in Greece is nothing short of a tragedy and the responsibility must lie with the EU and the Greek politicians who bent the rules to force the country into a single currency which it was never going to fit.
In 2009 I predicted what would happen to the Greek economy but I am not glad that it has as what it has led to is terrible suffering by the Greek people. I have been inundated with messages from people all over the world, including Germans appalled at what is happening in their name.
But the largest number of messages have come from people in Greece sharing their stories with me, and I want to share them with you so you can read first hand what life has become for so many people in that country because of the greed of the political classes. Greece needs to leave the single currency.
If it were not in the eurozone, in a shroud of EU spin, we would all be told that they are defaulting on many of their debts. That is what this so called 'haircut' is. And it needs to happen and Greece needs to bring back the Drachma so once again it can be a country with a future as well as the country with the famous history and the birthplace of democracy.

Auditor Says IMF Bailout Forecasts Overly Optimistic

By Dow Jones Business News,  March 18, 2014, 11:45:00 AM EDT

WASHINGTON--The International Monetary Fund issued overly optimistic economic forecasts relating to its biggest bailouts in recent years, the fund's auditor said Tuesday.
The auditor said the IMF forecasts "tended to be optimistic in high-profile cases," such as the record bailout program for Greece.
The comments by the fund's Independent Evaluation Office reinforce criticism from some outside economists who questioned whether the IMF's forecasts were designed to help the board approve the bailouts. The auditor said the IMF at times revised downward its forecasts within months of releasing initial projections.
"We should further strengthen the learning culture in the Fund, including by enhancing our learning from past forecast errors," IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in a written statement.
Higher growth forecasts cut the amount of predicted debt a country owes, a primary determinant for whether the board can approve a bailout.
In the record Greek bailout, for example, fund growth forecasts allowed IMF staff to say the country's debt was sustainable early in the program. Private investors were eventually forced to take losses on the sovereign bonds they held, however, to ensure the country didn't default.
High-profile bailouts represented the bulk of the IMF's lending in recent years and through the financial crisis

Pedro Olalla: ¿Por qué Grecia?

Ζητούνται, “επικίνδυνοι” άνθρωποι, να ταράξουν τη σιωπή…

Ξέρεις τι δυστυχία  είναι να μη σου αρέσει η πόλη που έζησες σχεδόν όλη σου τη ζωή και που αγάπησες σχεδόν όσο και τα χώματα που γεννήθηκες;; Και όμως εμενα μου συμβαίνει τελευταία και αυτό! Έχει πάψει να μου αρέσει αυτή εδώ η πόλη που πνίγει τα πνευμόνια μας με “καυσαέριο”  κυριολεκτικά αλλά και μεταφορικά.
Δεν μου αρέσει γιατί όταν  πηγαίνω να βρω καταφύγιο  στη δημόσια βιβλιοθήκη  εκεί συναντώ λίγους και αυτοί δεν είναι απόλυτα σιωπηλοί και βυθισμένοι σε ένα βιβλίο και στις σημειώσεις τους.Οταν πάλι βγαίνω να περπατήσω δεν μου αρέσει γιατί βλέπω αποτσίγαρα στους δρόμους πεταμένα και  το εκπληκτικό αττικό φως , φωτίζει  τα όμορφα  φυσικά τοπία της  που είναι πια βρώμικα και βεβηλωμένα.
Δεν μου αρέσει γιατί  οι  δημιουργικοί άνθρωποι που συναντάει κάποιος σε αυτή τη πόλη, μοιάζουν  απαρηγόρητοι, περιθωριοποιημένοι και μόνοι    -βασανισμένοι από  “καννίβαλους“  που ρουφούν, δίχως να εκτιμούν, την φαιά τους ουσία.
Δεν μου αρέσει γιατί βλέπω ανθρώπους υποταγμένους στα βλέμματα μιας κοινωνίας παράταιρης, άνομης αλλά και βαθιά υποκριτικής. Ανθρώπους που κυνηγούν τα λάθος πράγματα, για να κερδίσουν την εκτίμηση λάθος ανθρώπων.
Δεν μου αρέσει γιατί οι πολιτικοί μας αρχηγοί, ζήτησαν ψήφο για την αξιοπρέπεια του τίτλου και της θέσης μόνο. Aν ξεγυμνώσεις όλους τούτους απο τα αξιώματα και τα  σινιέ  κουστούμια θα δεις ότι πολύ λίγοι θα έχουν εκείνη την ποιότητα της αξιοπρέπειας που δίνει η ελευθερία της γύμνιας του κορμιού.Δεν μου αρέσει γιατί οι πολίτες της συνδέουν την πολιτική με τους πολιτικούς.
Δεν μου αρέσει που δεν βλέπω πια γύρω μου ανθρώπους να ονειρεύονται. Και όσοι  ακόμα το κάνουν έχουν χαμένη  τη σπιρτάδα από τα μάτια τους, γιατί προτίμησαν τη σιωπή από τη μοναξιά

Protest at Greek presidency's inauguration - Brussels 2014

Farage: We Are Now Run By Big Business, Big Banks and Big Bureaucrats

Greece - Socialism

A Big Message from a Little Country

I have seen it before – people thoughtlessly renouncing their individual liberties upon the promise of gaining a little collective security. I have seen it happening through the corrupt ways of the government, the politicians, the welfare system, the national single-payer healthcare system, the social security system and the leviathan of debt that was created by all these governmental programs that were supposed to promote and protect the wellbeing of the public. This country is Greece. I grew up and lived there during the earlier part of my life. Now, I see it witlessly dragging itself into the spiraling chasm of economic collapse because it refused to release itself from the bounds of economic protectionism and social nannyism.

The vast span of the government’s power and control over the lives of the Greek people has fostered a culture of corruption and irresponsibility throughout society. Nepotism is rampant, accountability is non-existent and bribery is the name of the game. Need an operation? The doctor from the state-run healthcare system will be conspicuously busy until you convince him that handling your case could be quite profitable. Want to have water, power and phone service installed in your home? The bureaucrat from the respective state-run company will overlook your application unless you refresh his memory with a friendly ‘gift’. Politicians and government ministers, unsurprisingly, do not lack this characteristic either. In effect, one cannot go about one’s daily business without contributing to some bureaucrat’s personal ‘pocket padding fund’. Naturally, this element of corruption does not cease to exist when it comes to the issue of government contracts, nay, it is merely magnified and enlarged to match the sums of money at stake. And that is not all, the worse aspect of this issue is that since the government

Yeah, Things are Bad... But It Could Be Worse

Mike Shedlock | Nov 30, 2013

The employment and pay situation in Spain is so bad that 33% struggle to pay their bills. More importantly, 25% would consider leaving the country for better opportunities.

Via translation from La Vanguardia, please consider One in three Spaniards have no money after paying their bills.

One in three Spanish claims to have no money left after paying the bills, according to a report on consumer payments. The study further reveals that 25% would be think of emigrating because of their economic situation. The same percentage say do not have enough money for a decent life.

Those are the most conclusive findings in the study Consumer Payments 2013, made by the Credit Management firm Intrum Justitia which surveyed 10,000 consumers from 21 European countries with the aim of understanding their payment behavior.

In regard to Spain, the percentage of citizens who say they have no money after paying the bills is higher than the European average, which stands at 26 percent, although some countries like

Greece: The history behind the collapse

Georges Prévélakis

Historically positioning themselves between an unruly, oriental population and the western powers, since 1981 Greek elites have siphoned off EU funds into a bloated public sector favouring corruption, patronage and social climbing. The threat posed to Europe by the breakdown is less contagion to the centre than a wave of anti-western feeling that could exacerbate geopolitical instabilities in the region.

It all started two years ago, in the autumn of 2009. Having won a convincing victory at the head of the Pan-Hellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) in the parliamentary elections, the new Greek prime minister, George Papandreou suddenly opened a real Pandora's box. Forced to admit to his electors that he would not be in a position to keep his manifesto promises, he accused his New Democracy opponents and predecessors of having concealed the extent of the deficits and debt. To explain the contradiction between his resounding declaration prior to the election ("There's plenty of money!") and the inevitable austerity policy that would follow, he deliberately exaggerated the position and compared Greece to the Titanic.

His announcement had serious consequences. The markets took fright; the government found that it was unable to finance its deficit or to honour debt repayment dates. Threatened with bankruptcy, the effects of which would destabilize the entire European economy, the European Commission, the ECB and the IMF set up a troika that came to Greece's aid by standing in for it in the markets. In exchange, the Greek government was asked to stabilize the situation by reducing the deficit and undertaking structural reforms. This was in spring 2010.^[1]

More than a year later, in summer 2011, there was no mistaking the fact that these measures had failed. Reforms had been carried forward only minimally; the public sector was still acting in a spendthrift fashion, despite cuts in salaries and pensions, whilst the public spending deficit had been only slightly reduced and the ratio of debt to GDP was rising. The Greek government, bogged down in its own contradictions, had taken steps that were too late, utterly inadequate and, very often, counter-productive. The administration, already ineffectual and dysfunctional, was now immobilized by incoherent political reactions. The economy slid into a deep recession that could only partly be accounted for by the absence of state stimulus measures and a shrinkage in the purchasing power of civil servants and pensioners. A series of contradictory statements from the government posed threats to various sections of the population (doctors, lawyers, civil servants, and so

Before the Greek Debt Crisis, Karl Heinz Roth

Apr 10th, 2013 | By Zero Books Editor | Category: Extract

From Greece: what is to be done? – A Pamphlet

In the spring of 2012, the euro crisis intensified dramatically. The epicenter of the crisis is Greece, a country that has been experiencing a severe recession since the beginning of the world economic crisis. What outcome this recession will yield is a decisive question not just for Greece, but for all of Europe and indeed for the entire world economy. We need therefore to consider the story behind this crisis, and the restructuring programs imposed, since May of 2010, by the so-called “troika” (the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund). We also need to consider possible alternatives to these restructuring programs.
In 1981, Greece became a member of the European Community. A spirit of optimism prevailed in the country. The Socialist Party (PASOK), an offshoot of the Pan-Hellenic Resistance Movement against the 1967–1974 military dictatorship, had won the parliamentary elections for the first time. Due to its welfare-oriented platform, PASOK enjoyed widespread popular support.
As the conservative Karamanlis government stepped down, there began an era of social, cultural, scholarly and economic progress. This trend was in no way affected by the monetary restrictions associated with the European Monetary System that had been introduced within the European Community in 1979.[1]
Greece was not to join this system until 1993. Like the currencies of the other new southern European member states (Portugal and Spain), the drachma was kept outside the currency agreement. While the intra-European disparities in economic development entailed certain distortions of competition, the Greek government was able to compensate for their effects by periodically devaluing the Greek currency. Thus

The Origins of the Greek Financial Crisis

Letter from Thessaloniki

By Antonis Kamaras

December 13, 2011

Before the modern Greek state assumed its present day contours in the aftermath of the first world war, communities in the trading cities of Alexandria, Odessa, Salonika, Smyrna, and Trieste, already had a long history of running their own school systems, hospitals, and orphanages. This was partly a legacy of Ottoman rule. With the exception of political stability, the Ottomans were not in the habit of providing public goods so, when it came to public health and economic development, citizens had to fend for themselves. That system worked. Through local and communal organization, by the mid to late nineteenth century, the Greeks were one of the most prosperous and dynamic groups in Southeast Europe.
Once the Greek state was fully formed, however, a central administrative structure took over communal institutions. Powerful new national party machines displaced the local elites who'd successfully served as administrators. In Greece's second largest city, Salonika, this process took a bit more than a decade. Between 1912, when the city was integrated into the Greek Kingdom, and 1925, Salonika's schools, hospitals, and other institutions were nationalized and its local trustees were replaced by centrally appointed bureaucrats. Likewise, the responsibility for funding these institutions passed to the central government. To grasp how dramatic the change was, imagine that Washington nationalized all colleges and universities in the state of Massachusetts, Harvard included, and then ran them through political appointees.
So, as the Greek state expanded territorially it also expanded its responsibilities, undercutting old traditions of localism and community action. Herein lies the root of the country's current crisis. Long-established, autonomous local elites were displaced in the 1920s, their place taken by a new group of people adept at

Greek Government Bonds Pay Off Big for Fund Managers. By Neelabh Chaturvedi

Three Funds Deliver Returns of More Than 100% in the Past Year

John Gikas, left, and Aris Papageorgakopoulos manage funds that have returned over 100% in the past year by betting on Athens debt. Alkis Konstantinidis for The Wall Street Journal

The best-performing bond-fund managers in the world this year aren't in London, New York or California. They are based in Athens.
Panos Simos of NBG Asset Management and Aris Papageorgakopoulos and John Gikas of Eurobank Asset Management manage three bond funds that have delivered returns of more than 100% in the past year. No other bond funds tracked by Morningstar globally have offered such returns.
All three top performers have won big from making the same bet: buying Greek government bonds at the height of the euro-zone debt crisis and holding onto them when other investors were steering clear.

Investors' perception of Greece has turned around sharply in recent months. Some Greek government-bond prices have more than quadrupled from their nadir in June 2012, as fears of a Greek exit from the euro zone receded. Some major Greek companies have successfully issued bonds, and big-name investors have returned to Greek equities. Mark Mobius, who manages more than $40 billion in emerging-market assets at Franklin Templeton, told The Wall Street Journal this month that he plans to buy shares in Greek companies

In Greece, the Banking Chief Draws Scrutiny. By LANDON THOMAS Jr.

Eirini Vourloumis for The New York Times

Georgios A. Provopoulos, the governor of the Bank of Greece, has played a crucial role in keeping Greece in the euro zone. 

ATHENS — In an era when central bankers like Ben S. Bernanke dominate the global economic stage, few hold as much power within their own country as Georgios A. Provopoulos, the governor of the Bank of Greece, who has played a crucial role in keeping Greece out of bankruptcy and in the euro zone.

Enlarge This Image

Eirini Vourloumis for The New York Times

“My actions will be judged in the future after the dust has settled and people are in a better position to assess the results.”
GEORGIOS A. PROVOPOULOS, governor of the Bank of Greece

But now Mr. Provopoulos faces one of the bigger challenges of his tumultuous reign: an investigation into whether he abused his position by clearing a banking deal involving his former employer and a business magnate who was subsequently charged with embezzlement and fraud.

In a confidential report issued last May, a senior Greek prosecutor said that Mr. Provopoulos approved the 71 million euro ($96 million) deal despite warnings from his staff regarding the buyer’s finances. The report, parts of which were reviewed by The New York Times, hints at the scope of the investigation, about which little has been previously disclosed.

There is no evidence that Mr. Provopoulos profited personally from the transaction, which was ultimately approved. But his role — and the chance, however remote, that he might face criminal charges — could have ramifications beyond Greece. Other countries in the euro zone have invested more than 40 billion euros to shore up the Greek banking system. In the process, they have pressed Athens to clean up the corruption

EU weighs options for common bank bailout fund

LUXEMBOURG (AP) — Eurozone finance ministers on Monday sought ways to create a common fund to restructure or bail out troubled banks, an effort to keep financial problems in one country from endangering the entire 17-nation currency zone.
The ministers' discussions in Luxembourg were still in early stages, not least because of resistance from Germany and other countries that have paid the bulk of Europe's rescue programs.
The fund would complete Europe's planned banking union and help restore market confidence, but Berlin and others capitals have concerns about its legal basis and fear their taxpayers will be stuck with bills to clean up messy banks in weaker European economies.
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chairs the meetings of the Eurogroup of finance ministers, said the discussions were meant to make progress on technical details, but not yet to reach an overall agreement. Still, he acknowledged, "we need to provide full clarity soon."
Before the fund can become operational, European countries aim to set up a new banking authority with the power to restructure or unwind banks that went bust. That is expected to happen once the European Central Bank — in its new role as supervisor for the bloc's biggest banks — has analyzed all balance sheets to identify possible capital shortfalls by late next year.
"Taxpayers should be protected and financial stability maintained," said Olli Rehn, the EU's top economic