While a Grexit has been avoided in the short term, the medium- to longer-term risk remains.
But
in many ways the last few weeks in Greece have been the start of a
bigger battle, a battle on what the eurozone of the future will look
like.
Few now doubt that the institutional architecture of the
zone is flawed. A currency union without a fiscal union was always
vulnerable to these sort of shocks. And, perhaps more crucially, a
currency union in which the banking system is still predominantly
national, rather than European, was always likely to run into problems.
In a more ideal world - in a situation in which Greek banks were
constrained and unable to extent credit - French, German and other
lenders would have stepped into the breach.
It's hard to avoid the thought that the politics of European integration ran ahead of the economics of the underlying reality.
The
last few weeks have exposed a sharp Franco-German divide. On one level,
this is ideological. For France the euro is irreversible, the
culmination of decades of integration. But the German view differs. They
see the single currency as an agreed set of rules and behaviours and,
if someone "breaks" the rules, they can be thrown out.
Their
analysis of the underlying economics of the crisis differs, too. The
Germans believe the tough fiscal rules agreed in 2012 are the answer to
the crisis: legislate that states should be running sound public
finances and these sorts of crises won't appear.
In a more ideal world - in a situation in which Greek banks were
constrained and unable to extent credit - French, German and other
lenders would have stepped into the breach.
It's hard to avoid the thought that the politics of European integration ran ahead of the economics of the underlying reality.
The
last few weeks have exposed a sharp Franco-German divide. On one level,
this is ideological.
For France the euro is irreversible, the
culmination of decades of integration. But the German view differs.
They
see the single currency as an agreed set of rules and behaviours and,
if someone "breaks" the rules, they can be thrown out.
Their
analysis of the underlying economics of the crisis differs, too.
The
Germans believe the tough fiscal rules agreed in 2012 are the answer to
the crisis: legislate that states should be running sound public
finances and these sorts of crises won't appear. Read more: The battle over the eurozone's future - BBC N
Renowned economist, and a fervent critic of austerity, Paul Krugman
has slammed the Greek government for accepting harsh tax and reform
measures. On the very same weekend, German Finance Minister, Wolfgang
Schaeuble, openly questioned the Nobel Prize-winner's knowledge of
Europe's monetary union.
Krugman had been calling for Greece's government to
reject the proposals that creditors have demanded in exchange for
unlocking much-needed cash. He had dubbed the demands as "madness" and a
"complete destruction of national sovereignty."
With the reforms having been given the green light, Krugman told CNN Sunday that he may have "overestimated the competence of the Greek government."
"(The Greek government) thought they could simply
demand better terms without having any backup plan," he told the news
channel in an interview. "So, certainly this is a shock."
The radical-left Syriza Party was elected this year
with a mandate to reject tough austerity measures from creditors but
last week agreed to a deal despite Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras stating
that he did not believe in it. Tsipras has since tried to weather a
storm within his own party and experts suggest that another election
could come later this year.
Krugman - a noted Keynesian - has been a very vocal
critic of the austerity that has been placed on Greece from euro zone
lawmakers, which include those in Berlin. Schaeuble used an opportunity
to respond to Krugman when asked about the economist in an interview
with German newspaper Der Spiegel.
"Krugman is a prominent economist who won a Nobel Prize for his trade theory," he said in an interview on Saturday.
"But he has no idea about the architecture and
foundation of the European currency union. In contrast to the United
States, there is no central government in Europe and all 19 members of
the euro zone must come to an agreement. It appears Mr. Krugman is
unaware of that."
The United Nations Security Council has endorsed the Iran nuclear deal, although the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps commander has deemed the agreement “unacceptable.”
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency quoted Commander Mohammed Ali Jafari:
“Some parts of the draft have clearly crossed the Islamic republic’s
red lines, especially in Iran’s military capabilities,” he reportedly
said ahead of the resolution being passed in New York.
The fifteen-member body unanimously agreed to adopt the resolution,
which will curb Iran’s nuclear programme for the long term in return for
the lifting of sanctions.
As the deal was agreed, the Security Council warned sanctions can be
reimposed if Tehran breaches the agreement within the next decade.
The so-called "burner" phones have been used not only in countries such
as Russia and China, which continue to be at loggerheads with the West
over a number of issues, including the Ukraine conflict - but also
during visits to close allies such as the Britain and the United States,
"Der Spiegel" news magazine reported on Saturday.
The magazine said politicians had been advised by Germany's Federal
Office for Information Security to use disposable phones and only
download essential data on it.
"There are clear signals that people are getting more sensible," the report quoted one security source as saying.
For years, security agencies have warned their leaders of the dangers of
mobile phones and eavesdropping. During their visits abroad, officials
run a particularly high risk when leaving phones unattended in order to
hold secret talks as this opens a window of opportunity for spy agencies
to manipulate the phones or even upload surveillance programs.
Following a year of revelations that the
US National Security Agency had allegedly been listening on phones
belonging to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other key German
politicians, these fears have become a reality for Germany. A WikiLeaks
report published last week suggested that NSA spying had gone on for
much longer than previously thought.
Despite the advice from Germany's security authorities the "burners"
have not been introduced universally across the cabinet. Both Foreign
Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Economics Minister Sigmar Gabriel
reportedly went on their recent respective trips to Cuba and China with
their normal phones.
CVS Health Corporation (CVS) made big news recently when it
cancelled its membership in the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, the
pro-corporate,Washington lobbying giant that was recently
revealed to have been waging a global lobbying campaign against
anti-smoking laws.
Given its stated commitment to health promotion, CVS did the right thing. But
six major health care companies, four of which sit on the Chamber's
board – and all of which have anti-smoking programs – haven't done
anything. It's time to hold them accountable.
These companies should not be allowed to profit from the US Chamber's corporate
lobbying and then stick their heads in the sand when it's caught
working directly against public health and safety.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren and a group of fellow Democratic senators have
just sent a letter to all 108 companies on the Chamber's board,
demanding that they state their positions on the Chamber's pro-smoking
lobbying.
But six major health care companies who are Chamber members –
Aetna, Cigna, Anthem, the Health Care Service Corporation, the Steward
Health Care System of Boston, and the Indiana University Health system –
also have a responsibility. All of them support anti-smoking programs,
but the Chamber’s efforts undercut that mission.
Today, tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable
deaths in the U.S. and around the world. Cigarette smoking accounts for
almost half a million deaths a year in the U.S. alone. Smoking causes cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung diseases, diabetes, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis.3
Greece’s parliament has approved tough new austerity reforms by a large majority.
The result was 229 votes to 64 in the 300 seat chamber. There were 6 abstentions and one absentee.
The passing of the bill was set as a condition by Brussels for an 86 billion euro bailout over the next three years.
The vote came after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who had been
facing a revolt by his own Syriza party, made an emotional speech to get
them on board.
Even though he had declared his dislike for the terms agreed with
Greece’s creditors he said he had done his best for the country
.
In the end one-in-four Syriza party members did not back the bill.
"Bild am Sonntag" said on today Sunday July 12 that it inspected a "confidential
letter" provided by Germany's foreign intelligence services - the BND -
to the domestic intelligence agency - the Verfassungsschutz - outlining a
"suspected" attack on European arms manufacturer European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) from American soil.
"From a foreign intelligence service, the BND received information about
a suspected data tap at EADS Germany," the letter is reported to have
said.
"Bild am Sonntag" reported that on November 2, 2011, hackers planted a
spy program on the computers of EADS, during which 5,116 "connections"
were said to have been found between the company's computers and the
US-based "aggressors."
Germany's Protection of the Constitution committee informed EADS - now
known as the Airbus Group - that their networks may have been
compromised by the apparent attack, which had been initially traced to a
server in Los Angeles.
