Greek Up in Arms, Smooth Sailing to the Far East

A riot has broken out in Greece. Police battled protesters with tear gas and stuns as the people continue to strike over the steps to repair the Greek Economy. This is the second such Greek strike in two weeks as tensions over the European Union’s decisions rise. The is a huge step back for the Greek government and people. Not even two weeks ago we heard directly from the President that he was working hard to reduce debt, he clearly has failed and he now angered not only his people but the European Union in general.. The debt of his country is four times the limit set by the European Union, and his entire Presidency is now a disaster. I am very interested in continuing to follow this story to see if President Papandreou can find a way to right the ship because otherwise his country will continue to spiral downward. It is also disheartening to see other countries almost all President Papandreou’s power away. He is now being forced to make cuts anywhere he can cut from. He has completely tied his own hands, it’s a terrible thing to see one country almost singlehandedly cause a currency to crash.

Although The European Union is struggling there is hope to the East in Hong Kong. The Financial Secretary announced that Hong Kong fully expects his country to grow 5% in 2010. Although this bold prediction there are the correct measures in place to actually see this goal come to fruition. For example a stamp tax on luxury homes has been put in place which generates good revenue. On top of this house prices have rose 29%. This is fantastic for a country that was in recession very recently. I view growth of any country, especially one that was in serious financial straits as a great success. It is good to see a country reverse a housing problem similar to the one the United States has, hopefully we can use them as a model to fix our own housing situation.

Another success story comes from The Far East, Japan is at war is deflation. This is another economy that is slowly awakening from a slump. It is good to see the gears of the eastern economy slowly start to grind. Although the U.S economy is always in competition to outwork and out produce other markets it is good to see that it is possible to break this economic slump. Hopefully in time the US will be able to do the same and get the economic wheels turning again.

Current Events

There are many interesting things going on in the world today. The one that I found to be the most interesting is the overhaul of the AIG bonus system. I find this interesting because this is a meeting of my Major, economics and my minor, political science. It seems that there are hand in hand on this subject because part of the economic crash was in part due to rampant bonuses on wall street. Some executives were getting paid tens of millions of dollars just to step down from their positions. The most refreshing part of the article was when AIG spokeswoman Christina Pretto, said ""Aligning pay and performance is the hallmark of many world-class organizations and is critical to our future success" I feel that it is about time somebody took notice that position has less to do with pay then performance does. I hope that since AIG a large cooperation has implemented more performance based bonuses other big companies will follow suit and hard work will again become the best policy for ensuring financial success as opposed to the thievery has been occurring.

In another story about a country with a rededication to fiscal responsibility Greece’s Prime Minister George Papandreou has said he will "take any necessary measures" to reduce Greece's deficit. Although I am admittedly no expert on Greece’s financial policy I am excited to see another country who is interested on doing something about a debt problem instead of continuing to borrow from other countries. I feel that they days of pay as you go need to be brought back. Law makers must again understand the value of the dollar. Just because they are free to mint more does not mean that comes without a cost. I am excited to follow this story because I am interested in seeing what Prime Minister Papandreou can come up with to help make a dent in his countries debt, if anything he does if effective I would then like to see it implemented worldwide.

In a final financial story, the Euro is in trouble in Europe. As I previously mentioned Greece is in trouble financially and needs to be bailed out by Germany. The world markets in general are in a week state and it seems there is no way to set the reset button. The article really doesn’t say much about whats going on but this is another story I will follow with much interest.

This is a video about what is going on with the Euro.