2015/04/09 LEAP/E2020 Press Review on the Global Systemic Crisis

Greek debt crisis easy solutions

Speaking of shifting priorities, Greece and debt, there is one last point to mention and which will make the transition to the next chapter: Greek military spending is mainly responsible for the country’s public debt; but this spending is linked to the army’s importance in the Greek state apparatus, an importance which has been fed for years by the latent Greco-Turkish conflict… completely obsolete moreover. With great delight, the military keep a whole raft of potential conflict points going in the world (like North Korea, Cuba, or Iran again, Japan…), justifying their presence, their spending, their existence…Today, the trend seems to be the closing down of these points of conflict: Obama has eased the Cuban embargo, the Russians and Chinese have partially unblocked North Korea making it accessible thanks to the routing of gas pipelines and railways. Again the Russians still seem to play a positive role in normalizing Greco-Turkish relations by a similar method, namely their project to create a gas hub in Turkey which will inevitably connect Turkey to Greece on its way to the rest of Europe. That said, the prospect of a cancellation of this part of Greek spending by Tsipras to free up the country from debt could well be the cause of failure of all the hopes carried by Syriza. Arms dealers and the military will probably seek to limit the risk of a Greek demilitarization... Register in order to read more

GEAB Bulletin No 92 / LEAP

EU remains world's largest aid donor in 2014

The European Union and its member states kept the place as the world's largest aid donor in 2014, according to a press release issued by the European Commission here on Wednesday.

Xinhuanet

Greek PM gets support, not money from Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin offered Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras moral support and long-term cooperation but no financial aid on Wednesday, leaving Athens to fend for itself in resolving urgent debt problems with Western creditors...

Reuters

Bons baisers de la Bourse de Hong Kong

Après Shanghai, c’est au tour de la Bourse de Hong Kong de connaître les faveurs des investisseurs chinois.Jusqu’à récemment, l’enthousiasme qui portait les investisseurs vers la Bourse de Shanghai ne semblait guère bénéficier à celle de Hong Kong...

Les Echos

Exxon, BP in Deal Spotlight After Shell Buys BG Group

Now that Royal Dutch Shell Plc has made its move for BG Group Plc, Exxon Mobil Corp. and BP Plc could contemplate deals -- perhaps even with each other.

Bloomberg

Bank of Japan maintains monetary easing policy

The Bank of Japan board stuck to its majority view that it is still on track to achieve its price goal of 2% inflation at its latest policy meeting on Wednesday, maintaining its key policy of buying ¥80 trillion ($665 billion) of assets annually in an 8-1 vote.

MarketWatch

Déficit public : la France plus ambitieuse que Bruxelles

Le gouvernement prévoit de baisser régulièrement son déficit pour passer en dessous de 3% du PIB en 2017, soit plus que ce que lui demande Bruxelles...

Boursorama

Chinese citizens sue government over transparency on Monsanto herbicide

Three Chinese citizens are taking China's Ministry of Agriculture to court in a bid to make public a toxicology report supporting the approval of Monsanto's popular weedkiller, Roundup, 27 years ago...

AG Week

The Kraft-Heinz Merger: When Organic Growth Is Not On the Menu

For the United States’ largest packaged food companies, organic growth is simply not on the menu. Fierce competition, fickle consumers, and lackluster product innovations have combined to make topline growth increasingly hard to come by.

Forbes

EU says Albania comment on Kosovo unification 'not acceptable'

The EU foreign service has described Albanian remarks on Kosovo unification as “provocative” and “not acceptable”.

EUObserver

America Inc. face à la première baisse de ses profits depuis six ans

Les analystes prévoient un recul des profits trimestriels du S&P 500, marquant un changement de tendance. Chute du pétrole et hausse du dollar ont joué, mais les spécialistes s'interrogent aussi sur la vigueur de l'économie.

Les Echos

Scottish nationalists to seek full fiscal autonomy from rest of Britain

Scottish nationalists will try to wrestle full control over taxation and spending for Scotland from the British government if they win kingmaker position in the May 7 general election, their leader said on Wednesday.

Reuters

UK elections: Is anyone able to form a government?

The 2015 United Kingdom general election is shaping up to be the closest and potentially the biggest headache for markets for decades. The reason?

CNBC

Chinese insurance giants take first bite of U.S. real estate

China's two largest insurance companies had their first bite of U.S. commercial real estate, buying a majority stake in a 500 million U.S. dollar project in the city of Boston...

Xinhuanet

Saudi-led air strikes hit Sanaa, border areas and south Yemen overnight

Warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition struck military targets and weapons stores near the capital Sanaa under the control of Houthi fighters, as well as northern areas near the border with Saudi Arabia and in Yemen's south, local officials said.

Reuters

---------------------------------- 

This special Press Review reviews articles from the French and Engligh-speaking international online media relating to the unfolding global crisis.

It is delivered freely on a weekly basis to 60,000 recipients worldwide.

Subscription / Contact: centre@europe2020.org