2012 August 15 « Dr Alf's Blog

BERLIN, GERMANY – JUNE 21: In this photo illustration a one Euro coin stands on Euro currency bills on June 21, 2011 in Berlin, Germany. Eurozone finance ministers are currently seeking to find a solution to Greece’s pressing debt problems, including the prospect of the country’s inability to meet its financial obligations unless it gets a fresh, multi-billion Euro loan by July 1. Greece’s increasing tilt towards bankruptcy is rattling worldwide financial markets, and leading economists warn that bankruptcy would endanger the stability of the Euro and have dire global consequences. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

Academy of Athens (modern) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Financial Times (Photo credit: henry…)

Coat of arms of Greece since 7 June 1975. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

…………………………………………………………..This is an excellent editorial article from the FT. Check it out!

Greece belatedly looks at homework – FT.com.

After two years of the Greek Governments making promises, taking the money and not delivering, here is perhaps an honorable Government with a credible plan to look for a two-year austerity extension? The questions are:

Is it too little, too late for Greece’s creditors?
Will the creditors play “hard-ball” precipitating a Greek exit from the Euro. and a larger “haircut” on their loan capital?

This is a really tough call, given the political hardening in Germany but if I were a betting man (which I’m not), I do not believe that Germany is yet ready to “take a big hit” with contingent risks of contagion to other Mediterranean countries.

What do you think?

LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 20: British Prime Minister David Cameron leaves Downing Street for Parliament on October 20, 2010 in London, England. The Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne is set to announce the coalition government’s spending review in Parliament. The review is designed to tackle the country’s deficit and will outline swinging cuts throughout the whole of the public sector with many public sector jobs set to be axed and budgets significantly reduced. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

This is an interesting article from the Telegraph but personally I see the challenge differently.

This is not the time to put the brakes on reforming the state – Telegraph.

For me, David Cameron‘s Government has not been a reforming Government, it has simply top-sliced Public Sector budgets, resulting in cuts in front-line services. On this blog, I have argued many times that David Cameron’s Government lacks: