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Costas Paris interviews Lucas Papdemos, former prime minister of Greece, and a former vice president of the ECB. Papademos points to the grave consequences for Greece of an exit from the euro with high inflation and higher interest rates, and gains in price competitiveness diminished by the inflation. He says Greece must stick to the committments for cutting spending and new taxes made earlier under his government.

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U.S. GDP growth slowed in the 1st quarter 2015 to seasonally adjusted 0.2%, according to the Commerce Department.

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A complete breakdown in negotiations between the U.S. and Russia happens after Russia continues its bombing campaign in Aleppo. About 275,000 people and 100,000 children are in the war torn area in northern Syria. The U.S. had called on Russia to stop the bombing campaign, but Secretary of State Kerry failed to persuade Russia to commit to a ceasefire. The result has been international criticism of the Russian role in the war, and speculation on what president Putin sees Russia gaining from this intervention in DW.com and other sites. 

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With $3.5 trillion dollars of commercial real estate debt outstanding, amid collapsing real estate prices, there is concern that this will hamper economic recovery. About $700 billion of commercial real estate mortgaes were packaged into securities and sold to pension funds, college endowments, foundations and other investors. This means the pain will be felt across the country, even in this small Ozark town of Springfield, Missouri, where the police and firefighters union has invested its entire 11% real estate allocation of $12 million in PRISA, a real estate fund of Prudential Insurance. Prudential in the boom years like 2005, was making as much as 25% return and large fees, and it marketed these products across the country. Even in a loss year of 2008 this generated $89 million in fees for PRISA. It decided to build 11 Times Square with a developer, 1.1 million square foot skyscraper in New York city, and the piece of that in the form of a security was marketed in this small Ozark town at a meeting between a Prudential representative and the towns pension fund board members, 1 policeman, 3 firemen and 2 city officials. The pension fund valued before the financial crisis at $131 million is now valued at $91 million, with 10% tied up in PRISA. A request for redemption of $5 million was rejected. The irony is that the pension fund was trying to boost returns to 7.5% from 5% on the advice of actuaries, to better fund the retiree obligations. The developer of the skyscraper Pozycki only comitted $15 million, or 4% of the equity, in exchange for developer's fees, having been burnt by earlier deals in the 1990's. As the building is nearing completion in 2009, not a single tenant has signed up. A loss of 50% is expected by 2009, because of so much vacant office space in New York city. Prudential will continue to collect its fees. And in Springfield the the losses will lead to budget cuts, reducing how often park lawns are mowed, and roads maintained, eliminating the summer concert series, multi-family housing inspections, and aservice to trap skunks and feral cats....

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This report in WSJ points out that Israeli prime minister Netanyahu faces a real challenge in 2019 snap elections- with the economic difficulties in Israel, the tense situation in Gaza, and corruption probes he faces. According to OECD figures Israel has one of the highest cost of living in the developed world, and food, electricity prices are expected to increase further in 2019. A  number of challengers for a centre left or centre right combination of military and civilian leaders is emerging and shown here.

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Liverpool has lost its World Heritage Site status but this may not be a bad thing, says Christoph Brumann, research leader at the Max Planck Research Institute for Ethnological Research in Halle, Germany. Fewer tourists, he says in this report in DW.com, but now the city can do what it wants to modernize the docks area, and not have to worry about the World Heritage Committee or the British government interfering in its plans. The World Heritage Committee is now subject to diplomatic lobbying of many countries, and the label has lost some of its value as more countries push sites in their country. Liverpool was asked by the World Heritage Committee to stop construction on the waterfront that was helping to bring new life to the city and revitalize the docks area to keep its World Heritage status. In the end the committee that met in China with China as the chair and lobbying by other countries, deteriorating China-UK relations, and and the UK sending only a representative from the Culture Ministry not the Foreign Ministry, played a part in the vote at the World Heritage Committee, says this report. Since 1972 Europe has gained a larger share of the World Heritage Sites. After 2010 meeting in Brazil this has shifted to other countries. There is no clear idea of what a World Heritage site is- cultural, or natural. Cultural is at this point 80% of the sites. This DW report shows some of the contenders in 2021, and only a few of them can be considered to be worthy of visiting. The committee that decides this has removed Dresden for building a new bridge across the Elbe river site, a decision made in 2007, so that it is becoming more controversial. ...

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Social media companies such as Twitter were classified differently under Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act. This is now being reviewed as the companies are now seen as monopolies by the government, that the role of these companies has evolved as they reached tens of million of people around the world. Twitter started in 2006- the year the Act governing its regulation was written was ten years prior. And Twitter only reached its access to tens of millions by 2012, fifteen years after the Act was written.  Basically the White House is saying the social media companies role has changed since the Act was written and the law should keep up with the new situation. President Trump is expected to sign a draft executive order setting new rules that limits the broad legal protection status provided by the law written in 1996, when social media companies did not exist. The immediate event preceding the action, was the president's frustration with the fact check placed by Twitter on the president's comments on the issue of voter fraud when mail in ballots are used. The WSJ podcast and discussion shown here points to this not being a black and white issue, but one where there are different and diverging views as to the policy that should be followed, which are legitimate based on the evidence on each side. Making this not appropriate for a fact check as Twitter had done. The U.S. president's views and traditional Republican party views converge on this issue that mail in ballots favor the other party. ...

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DW.com looks at the Dutch elections on March 15, 2017, with an increase in support for right wing anti immigration parties. A look at a combination of polls put together by DW.com shows Wilders right wing anti-immigration party having about 15% support, the Freedom and Democracy Party of prime minister Rutte having 16%, and the Labor Party coalition partner having about 9%. The Dutch party system has about 5 parties each having about 10% of the vote including a Green centre left party, and parties with special interest causes. None of the other parties is expected to join Wilders anti-immigration Freedom Party to allow it to form a government, leading to a coalition between a number of parties in parliament or inconclusive result. Wilders still will have moved the debate in the Netherlands towards emphasizing Dutch identity. Dutch prime minister Rutte has called for immigrants not accepting or merging into Dutch culture to leave. A current exhibit at the Rijke National Museum in Amsterdam on the Afrkaaner story in South Africa gives some indication of how Dutch people now view the importance of their identity- scribbled on the walls as part of the exhibit were the large letters "I am Afrikaaner" and the exhibit showed a life size Dutch girl in the Hague wearing a dress in 1904 during the Boer War with a ribbon remembering Afrikaaners interned in British concentration camps. The tone of the exhibit was to show pride in Dutch identity, with a Gallery of Honor for Dutch heroes in the 17th century golden age of Dutch explorers and navy. Even though Netherlands is not expected to leave the EU the new government will likely show a shift towards Dutch identity within EU. ...

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Anne Lukits brings this exceptional bit of evidence about improved parenting and family life. Only about 15% of families in a University of British Columbia research study had fathers who shared equally in household work with mothers. About 65% of fathers and 14% of mothers reported inconsistent behaviour about their beliefs in gender roles and how they acted at home. Girls were seen as more likely to pursue careers in science and nontraditional fields if fathers played out their beliefs in real life by taking active part in household work, from doing the laundry, washing dishes, vacuuming and cooking meals. The study is discussed in the August 2014 issue of Psychological Science. This means that only one in four fathers who believe women should not have to do all the household work and work outside in paid jobs, actually play their beliefs out in real life roles in the home by sharing in the household work. Other aspects of this that are still to be researched are how much an active role by fathers in the home can improve the number of meals that are home cooked with fresh ingredients, with fathers taking daughters or sons out to fresh food markets, which have a significant bearing on how families can eat healthy and pass this onto the next generation. An unnoticed aspect of this is that it improves the overall quality of life for families through healthy eating and healthy living. When companies recognize this and encourage their employees with some extra time for family acitivity and work the overall benefits would include- healthier employees able to do more productive work in shorter time, less paid for employee medical coverage, and healthier members of society....

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Katya Adler, Europe Editor of the BBC, points out the change in Germany as AKK, Anne Margaret Kampbrauer, the new leader of the ruling CDU party, brings a change of tone in its outreach to Britain. AKK is slated to be the next chancellor. Her vision was expressed in a letter to The Times saying with other Germans that her wish was for Britain to remain in the EUroepan Union, that she was asking Britain to reconsider. She also supports a second referendum on Brexit.    There is also anxiety in Germany about the effects of no-deal Brexit taking out 0.5% of German GDP at a time when Germany's economy is struggling in 2019. About 100,000 job loss is expected from no-deal Brexit in Germany. As Germany's tone is changing, AKK offers a new face in German relations with Britain that looks towards building a better relationship with Britain. Could this change minds in Britain as a new mood takes place in Germany, and in some ways in France with the emergence of populists in recent years calling for France to leave the EU. AKK tell BBC that Brexit has been a strain for all of us, that in some ways it has paralyzed us. She tells the BBC's Adler that anything that keeps Britain in the EU is something that would make her personally very happy. Rarely have German leaders or public expressed it in this way. Compared to the indifference of the past Germans and Britons having second thoughts offer some more light to the issues of Germany and Britain at a more personal level. ...

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Mark Frazier, a professor at the New School, is the author of the book "Socialist Insecurity: Pensions and Politics of Uneven Development in China." Here he describes the situation in China for the elderly and pensions. There is no Social Security Administration in China like the one in the U.S. Pensions are the responsibility of local authorites. Urban pensions were established in 1951. Pensions for rural areas and farmers came only in 2009. The situation in China for pensions is much like that in the U.S. before FDR's New Deal, being run by a patchwork of local programs- about 2500 county and city governments running pension funds. The problems of pension programs being run for the benefit of well connected groups and making risky investments exists in such local programs. Local governments taking on large levels of debt is a serious problem. The pension program in Shanghai came under scrutiny because of risky investments. A report in Dec 2012 cited by Frazer cites empty accounts at 2.2 trillion yuan or $353 billion. The National Social Security Fund has only $140 billion. Overall pensions account for about 3% of GDP in China compared to 4.9% in the U.S....

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The impact of the two phases of the ECB's Long Term Financing Operation on Italy's bond yields in 2012.

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British prime minister Theresa May, says Britain opposes the unilateral declaration of independence by the Catalan parliament. The Foreign Secretary and the shadow Foreign Secretary also expressed the need for Spanish constitutional integrity and sovereignty. The European Union has not supported the Catalan move.

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Rosa Ines Rivera, a cook at the cafeteria for the Y.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, with 2 small children, describes the protests over the increase by Harvard administration of the premiums charged on health insurance that now take up over 10% of the income. She says she lives in public housing with her parents as she lost her apartment because she is behind on the rent, and now cannot afford to pay the increase in premiums. About 750 workers at Harvard are on strike on this issue. She says dining hall workers want the current pay of $31,193  a year increased to $35,000 to provide a living wage that helps them afford medical care, because of the high cost of living in Boston.  To get some idea of the plight of workers who provide the kind of nutritious meals that a lot of students depend on for healthy living- Rivera says she takes in about $450 a week after taxes, or about $1800, rent is $1150, which leaves $650 for herself and two children for all food, and expenses in Boston. The $4000 in premiums for health insurance would be about 330 per month, leaving her about $320 for food and living expenses with 2 children. Why the need to bring up children in poverty in America, for generation after generation, after putting in a full day of work? ...