Requests for Collateral Pose a Hurdle for Greek Bailout

NYT, 20/8 ://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/19/business/global/greece-bailout-faces-new-obstacle.html?_r=1&ref=stephencastle

Greece’s international bailout hit a new obstacle Thursday when three euro zone countries indicated they were likely to seek collateral in exchange for their loan. Finland earlier reached a similar deal with the debt-laden government in Athens. 

Though the three countries — Austria, the Netherlands and Slovakia — are small or midsize economies, accounting for little more than 10 percent of the new bailout of 109 billion euros ($156 billion), their intervention presents a headache for policy makers. 

The Real Debt Crisis Is in Europe – Part 2: “Europe’s Long, Long Goodbye”

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Author: Satyajit Das  ·  August 17th, 2011  ·  RGE EconoMonitor

In the Long Term We’re All Dead

 

The European Union’s attempts to resolve the continent’s sovereign debt problems do not deal with issues of growth, intra-European financial imbalances and competitiveness. The only “initiative” was the vague plan for a massive public investment program, although no details of how it is to be financed were provided.

The call for greater public investment was accompanied by a familiar but contradictory insistence that all Euro-zone states adhere to agreed fiscal targets. Euro-zone countries except Greece, Ireland and Portugal must bring their budget deficit down to less than 3% of GDP by 2013. The need for many European countries to improve public finances is clear. But how greater belt-tightening and austerity would restore growth is not.