By Patrick Clark 11/07/12 4:18pm

Whither Europe

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The Greeks Are Throwing Fire Bombs Again Over Austerity Vote

The situation in Greece: With Parliament set to vote today on austerity measures that would raise $17 billion for the cash-strapped government, protestors lobbed Molotov cocktails at police, who answered with giant fire hoses.

The austerity bill, expected to pass by the narrowest margin, would be Greece’s third in four years, raise the retirement age to 67 from 65, lead to layoffs of civil servants and benefit cuts for private sector employees. Read More

By Patrick Clark 10/18/12 11:48am

Whither Europe

pink shirts

Greek Soccer Club Scores Sponsorship Deal With Brothels Amid Crisis

We’ve often observed that as the European debt crises stretches on (and on), and rising sovereign borrowing costs lead to bailout plans and austerity programs, leading the people to protest slashed government spending and government officials to protest that they don’t really need rescue funds, the average beat reporter is going to need a little something extra to keep his editor interested. Whether that means a story about coffee consumption or the mating habits of unemployed youth, you get the picture: At this point in the crisis, it takes a little extra pizzaz to get your lay reader interested in anything involving downtrodden European economies. Read More

By Patrick Clark 9/27/12 4:42pm

Whither Europe

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Surprise! Greece’s Ruling Poilitical Parties Have a Combined $300 Million Debt

Here’s a terrifying set of facts about Greece we didn’t know but don’t find too surprising: Government funding for political parties is tied to the percentage of votes they win; it’s not unusual for political parties to borrow against future funding; and as Reuters explains, the two groups that form the current governing coalition are in debt to the tune of $300 million: Read More

By Steve Huff 5:28pm

Scary Things

Golden Dawn New York (Screengrab)

Rising Greek Neo-Nazi Party Opens N.Y. Office

Golden Dawn is a Greek neo-Nazi party that has gained an alarming amount of power as Greece reacted to harsh government austerity measures. In an effort to reach out to Greek expatriates, Golden Dawn has opened an office in New York.

Salon reports that the party calls its American outpost “Golden Dawn New York” and the party has set up a creepy website.

Golden Dawn New York’s “About Me” page explains that it “unapologetically stands for the sovereignty, security, and dignity of the Greek people.”

Golden Dawn elaborates on what that means before concluding with this chilling statement: Read More

By Patrick Clark 9/21/12 6:08am

Morning Read

Former Gov. Pawlenty Puts Snout in Wall Street Trough; Senate Holds HFT Hearings: Roundup

When former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty was campaigning to be the Republican presidential nominee, he told reporters that his “truth message to Wall Street is going to be, ‘Get your snout out of the trough.’” Which, maybe that’s still his truth message? But instead of delivering it as co-chairman of Mitt Romney’s campaign, Governor Pawlenty will be speaking it as head of the Financial Services Roundtable, a banking industry lobby.

Somewhere, an algorithm read the coverage of yesterday’s Senate Banking Committee hearing on high-frequency trading, and figured it will take years for the government to hammer out reforms to fix market structure issues. Read More

By Patrick Clark 6/19/12 7:44am

Morning Read

Greek Parties Still Negotiating Coalition, Wall Street Still Girding for European Crisis: Roundup

Whither Europe: Greece’s leading pro-bailout party—conservative New Democracy, which won Sunday’s elections, and socialist Pasok—are still negotiating to form a coalition to govern the teetering nation. Assuming a deal gets done, the first task will be to convince Europe to rewrite the Greek rescue agreement to provide more time—and financing—to meet austerity goals. Read More

By Carl Gaines 6/15/12 3:24pm

Euro in the Zone

Leonidas Kavakos

Greek Violinist Kavakos Escapes Euro Crisis While Playing With NY Philharmonic

Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s violin concerto is a soaring, virtuosic work surprisingly full of optimism, given it’s taken in part from music the composer wrote for films about poverty, political corruption and squandered second chances.

So when Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos finishes a three-day run playing the work with the New York Philharmonic Saturday night—thereby missing the elections that could decide if Greece stays in the euro-zone or heads closer to the exit—it will not have been without a measure of irony.

“The last elections, even though this was in the middle of a tour of mine, I flew just for the day to vote and back to play but that was because I was on tour in Europe,” Mr. Kavakos told The Observer. “Now my last concert is on Saturday with the New York Phil and the elections are on Sunday. And on Monday I have a concert in Saint Peterburg, so there is no way for me to make it.” He’s slated to play the Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 1 there, with the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra. Read More