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Krugman is critical of ECB president Trichet's decision to raise interest rates in 2010, because of the way it affects Spain, Italy, and Portugal. Increase in interest rates by the ECB affect the entire eurozone and this means, he points out, that inflation in Germany would be extremely low -about 1% for the next five years- and the result being that inflation would be much lower in debtor countries like Spain. A decrease in interest rates with inflation at 3-4 % in Germany would be better for the debtor countries (Spain, Italy, Portugal, Ireland) as this would enable them to cut prices and costs relative to Germany and other creditor countries. The first step taken by the new ECB president, Mario Draghi, was a small increase in interest rates. Krugman asks if the private demand is affected negatively by the end of a debt financed boom in the debtor countries, and austerity programs reduce any growth in the public sector, then where are the new jobs supposed to come from? A policy that reduces the prices of the products of debtor countries relative to creditor countries like Germany- so that exports can generate necessary growth- is needed says Krugman. ...

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The pandemic brings together companies in three countries U.S, Italy and France with the merger of Fiat Chrysler with PSA. Fiat Chrysler is owned by the company Exor owned by the Agnelli family in Italy. PSA is owned by the Peugeot family in France. In addition the government of France and Dongfeng Motors in China have stakes in PSA.  During the 2008-2009 crisis Chrysler merged with Fiat with the help of the Obama administration which pursued a policy of promoting small cars. Instead the merger saved jobs but led to the PR effort for small Fiat cars and the focus on the Jeep Cherokee and SUV's like the Dodge Ram. Today one hardly ever hears about small Fiats from Fiat Chrysler that was the basis for government help on the merger. 

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Elsa Fornero is an economics professor who is Labor Minister in the government of Mario Monti. After several decades Italy has finally tackled the much needed changes to the 1970 Workers' Charter that forms the basis of Italy's labor laws. The Charter protected workers jobs but was designed during a different period and had long since lost its relevance in a modern economy. The laws led to Italy losing its competitiveness and entrenched small family firms in the economy. The new labor law protects the individual instead of jobs, by increasing the safety net to cover unemployed workers for shorter periods and lower benefits, and makes it possible for firms to layoff employees for economic reasons. Fornero says Italians need to recognize that work is not a right to be enshrined in laws but something that is earned through hard work. Article 18 of the Worker's Charter was originally intended to remove discriminatory practices in the workplace, but was enlarged to provide blanket protections to workers so that companies could not fire workers and avoided hiring. Under the new law discrimination is illegal, but now companies can layoff employees for economc reasons and not face long legal disputes and be forced to rehire the workers. The new law will increase productivity says Marcello Giustiniani, a labor specialist at Milan law firm Nonelli, Erede & Pappalardo. Italy's productivity gap with Germany has widened to over 30% since the introduction of the euro. The ASPI, new unemployment insurance plan, goes into effect in 2013, older programs will be phased out by 2017, giving time for the culture change in Italy for workers and business. Another major change is designed to help 2 million workers earning less than 18,000 euros. Businesses will have to give these workers proper contracts. Fornero's effort to tackle the pension system also includes linking retirement checks to how much is contributed over the lifetime- a practice common in other countries- not the final and highest salary. This simple change was not not implemented by 10 governments since a law was passed in 1995, showing why the Monti government was needed to get things done....

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A review of the aid program for Greece done for European leaders meeting in Brussels on October 23, 2011, shows that most of the money sent to Greece has gone to pay off bondholders (mostly European banks that lent to Greece). For the initial bailout program of the European Union and the IMF in May 2010, international loans amount to $91 billion. Of this $52 billion has gone to repay bonds that came due between May 2010 and September 2011, according to this review. The report was prepared by the European Commission in coordination with the IMF and the ECB. Greece owes over $300 billion dollars and Greece's borrowing extends far beyond the country's size and ability to repay, creating extraordinary risks to the financial system in Europe. The initial bailout program based its lending on little or no haircuts for the bondholders, who are mainly the European banks (mostly French and German banks) that loaned the money, which creates another set of risks, and a logjam, because taxpayers in the stronger financial countries such as Germany are equally adamant on not paying for the excess lending of the French and German banks. The financial leaders in Germany, Finance Minister Schauble, Axel Weber, the former head of the Bundesbank, and other prominent financial experts have also adamantly insisted on following prudent financial practices, and are opposed to using the European Central Bank to buy the sovereign bonds of France, Italy and Spain....

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Jorg Asmusen, member of the executive board of the European Central Bank, and Jens Weidmann, president of Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank, argue on opposite sides before the German Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe. Weidmann says the bond buying of sovereign bonds of Italy and Greece by the ECB is unconstitutional, Asmussen defends the ECB's plan to lower the borrowing costs for Italy and Spain in 2012. Both Asmussen and Weidmann are students of Manfred Neumann, professor of Economics at Bonn University. Neumann says such action is unconstitutional. The Federal Constitutional Court takes public opinion into account in its rulings.

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Greece spends 2.2% of GDP on the defense budget compared to 1.2% for Germany for 2014, according to the World Bank. Greece's Syriza government almost took Greece out of the eurozone over spending cuts for the poorest pensioners, submitted the proposed creditor terms for the cuts to a referendum in a manner reminiscent of the rejection of an ultimatum rejected by Greece from Mussolini for occupation of the country, using the term "Oxi" in Greek for "No." Greeks remember this with a postage stamp showing "Oxi," so embedded it is in the Greek memory. And about 85% of young people in Greece vote for "Oxi" in the July 5, 2015 referendum. Why is a NATO member spending so much on defense during a severe crisis, and is the EU right to insist on cuts in defense spending and some of the other reforms. Between 2000 and 2008 Greece's spending on military was about twice the euro area average- close to 3% for Greece compared to about 1.4% for Germany, and much lower in other countries in the euro area. The total Greece debt is not an issue the way it was earlier in 2010-2012, according to experts including Krugman and the former Greece finance minister in separate opeds in the NYT, as its now financed at very low rates, and the next step inevitably under any administration in Berlin and Athens would have been longer maturities and even lower rates- under any administration in Greece, including under Samaras- as the Germans, the Dutch and the French, know deep down it can never be fully repaid. The main issue of money transfer to creditors was tackled by changing the dateline for the surplus the largest issue according to experts, a similiar flexibility shown to Italy, Spain and France for their deficits as their economies suffered from spending cuts, high unemployment. This returns the focus for how Greece can manage its budget prudently including military, welfare, and other areas. The referendum did not change the way Greece will tackle spending under EU guidelines after the Syriza left government accepts the new 3 year package negotiated with the EU in Brussels July 12, 2015. The new plan will include $300 million in cuts for military spending by 2016, and shipowners will now pay taxes....

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An account of ECB chairman Mario Draghi's efforts to overcome the opposition of the Bundesbank to unlimited bond purchases by the ECB of sovereign bonds to reduce borrowing rates of Italy and Spain. Draghi argued that it was within the mandate of the ECB because of irrational fears in bond markets that were creating excessive rates for bond yields and not normal behaviour of capital markets, and therefore within the ECB's mandate to maintain financial stability and protect the euro currency. This was supported by finance minister Schauble and German chancellor Merkel over opposition of the Bundesbank and German media on July 23, 2012, when Draghi said of his determination to protect Spain and Italy from excessive yields and of the ECB action: "believe me it will be enough."

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This article in The Lancet published in February 2018 throws much light on how the ban on gain of function research on virus was lifted -research that carries with it the danger of increasing transmission of virus if something unexpected happens in the manipulation of a virus. It was lifted in 2018 in the US by officials in the US Health Ministry, NIH and HHS. The Cambridge group of scientists and experts opposed lifting the ban on such dangerous research that could make the virus more contagious through manipulation. Epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch of Harvard School of Public Health wrote at the time that the lab research to create a more lethal strain of virus could lead to "an accidental pandemic" yet he was ignored. The public in America and in the world is unaware of how this created serious risks for public health in the world through the coronavirus.  Did US health officials lift the ban on such research without consulting other countries such as India, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, and the EU on its ramifications. Were public health experts and the publics themselves in the US and around the world not drawn into the discussion of public health and the dangers that existed. Not only did officials in HHS and NIH restart the research by lifting the ban but also sent funds overseas for such research- was this a proper or thoughtful action considering the risks involved.  Is enhanced surveillance of virus- a dubious benefit from manipulation of a virus- something a few health officials can decide for the whole world in addition to the US. How are health officials in one or two countries responsible to the people in India, Brazil, Europe and the poorest populations in the world in the world in Africa, Latin America, and Asia, people who have suffered devastating consequences from transmissibility of the virus, including children and older people with health problems. India, Brazil, Italy, Spain, France, UK, and other countries worst hit by the coronavirus must ask serious questions about how they can protect their people if institutions in the US and international institutions are seen as failing to protect world public health. ...

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Italy's prime minister Berlusconi is changing the terms of the 45.15 billion euro austerity package after political protests. He has to weigh what is doable in the political context with demands from the European Central Bank, which is buying Italian bonds to prevent a surge in borrowing rates for Italy. The new measures as the old package unraveled are: an increase in the value added tax to 21% from 20%, increasing the retirement age for women in the private sector to 65 from 60 in 2014, two years earlier than expected, and a 3% tax on Italians earning above 300,000 euros annually. The street protesters in Bolgna, Milan Rome and other cities, protested that the earlier package unfairly put the burden on the working class. The cuts in local government spending in the earlier package would have impacted spending on items such as nurseries for children, drawing protests from teachers. The debate on an equitable sharing of the burden of reducing deficits is ocurring both in the U.S. and Europe, especially with high unemployment and lack of economic growth....

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The 32 year old leader of the movement called Five Star started by comedian Beppe Grillo in Italy, Luigi Maio, now leads the effort to form a government in Italy. The M5S party party won 32% of the vote in Italy's 2018 elections. The Northern League a far right party based on the region near Milan led by Matteo Salvini, came in second. In combination with Berlusconi's Forza Italia it has 37% of the vote, not enough to form a government on its own. The M5S is a centre left party which shares euroskepticism with the Northern League, but remains a centrist party that has little in common with the Northern League and Berlusconi. The FIve Star Movement sees fresh elections as the only next step as it sees no chance of a coalition with the far right parties.   

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The ratification of the European Union's Fiscal Treaty of Dec. 2011 will require a two thirds majority in both houses of parliament. The coalition government of Angela Merkel lacks such a majority. This means the support of the Social Democrats and the Greens party will be needed to pass the treaty in Germany. The Social Democrats parliamentary leader Frank-Walter Steinmeier, says he cannot "picture an approval of the pact without growth-boosting measures." The Merkel position of strict austerity policies in tackling the eurozone debt crisis has come under intense criticism for lack of growth boosting measures. Recent economic performance clearly in Greece and Portugal, and to some extent in Ireland, Spain and Italy, shows the decline in GDP with austerity cuts alone will worsen the deficits or lead to a prolonged period of economic stagnation.

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Marek Belk, head of Poland's central bank, says Poland should prepare for impact of a general slowdown in the eurozone. Poland's economy is expected to grow at 4% for 2011, but experience a slower rate of growth in 2012. Poland's public debt is at 55% of GDP compared to 120% for Italy. Belka said the mistakes in Italy show it is important to stay ahead of the markets. The action taken in Italy on November 14, 2011, if taken 2 months earlier would have prevented the jump in Italy's borrowing costs. Risks facing Poland come from the fact that a large proportion of the nation's banking assets are owned by banks of other European countries- as much as 70% of Poland's banking assets. As a result if these banks experience difficulties the local branches could become orphans. Belka would like to see private capital in Poland be used to bring a larger share of the banking sector back in Polish hands. Belgian and Portuguese banks are considering selling their banking operations to Polish banks, and PKO Bank Polski SA, PZU SA are possible buyers. Poland's central bank has kept interest rates steady at 4.5%....

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Jens Weidmann, president of the Bundesbank, says central bank "independence is lost when monetary policy is tied to the wagon of fiscal policy and then loses control over prices." Weidmann and Merkel emphasize their continued opposition to euro-bonds. Merkel tells the German parliament on Dec. 14, 2011, euro-bonds "aren't suitable as a rescue measure." Italian prime minister Mario Monti, tells the Italian Senate: "the Italian government insisted heavily on euro bonds, which are not a back-door way to allow fiscal laxity but will boost growth." Monti says the euro bond proposals will be on the agenda for the EU summit in March. Italy auctioned its 5 year bonds at 6.47%, as German two year bonds had a yield of 0.29%, showing the widening divergence between the bonds of the two countries.

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Germany opposes aggressive buying of the bonds of Italy and Spain by the European Central Bank. Prime Minister Zapatero of Spain calls on the ECB to take action as Spanish bond yields reach 7% on Nov. 17, 2011. Germany sees the crisis as serving a constructive purpose as forcing the fiscally unstable countries to make changes.

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Pope Francis plans a visit to the Philippines and Sri Lanka in Jan. 2015 This is an effort to support the Catholic Church in countries experiencing rapid population growth and change. The Philippines has 75 million Catholics, about the same number as in the U.S., and compared to 46 million in Italy. Mexico has 96 million Catholics, and Brazil 126 million Catholics, Sri Lanka 1 million, according to the Pew Research Center figures for 2010.

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DJT was supported by Shinzo Abe of Japan, also Germany and Italy, only Anglo-Saxon Canada and UK opposed to Russia staying in G-8.  “Barack Obama and a person named Trudeau didn’t want to have Russia in. And I would say that was a mistake because you wouldn’t have a war right now" “Putin speaks to me, he doesn’t speak to anybody else because he was insulted when he got thrown out of the G8.” Just to understand support for DJT and the huge mistake made by Obama and Merkel, Canada, UK prime ministers in 2014 to cancel the G-8 Summit in Sochi, Russia and expel Russia from G-8 in 2014. Did it help solve anything not to have discussions. Hidden in all this was Obama's lack of understanding of role Russia plays in Northern Europe and his mistake to judge Russia on basis of GDP alone as an insignificant power. Shinzo Abe-" Russia's in G-8 discussions is "crucial to tackling multiple crises in the Middle East" Italian and German leaders also felt Russia in G-8 was important to end Cold War atmosphere.  ...

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All sides had to make concessions to reach a new agreement on a restructuring of Greece's debt, and new terms for loans to Ireland and Portugal. The agreement was reached after negotiations between France, Germany, the ECB, and eurozone countries with a declaration issued on July 21, 2011. The powers and financing of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) were expanded to be the main mechanism for channeling EU funding to reduce the burden of Greece's debt. Germany will provide new funding and be open to additional commitments, something German chancellor Angela Merkel had resisted since the beginning of the crisis in 2010. Earlier funding had come with high interest rates and only when the situation had reached a crisis, with Germany insisting on the punitive rates and conditions as a way to discourage countries from taking advantage of cheap borrowing. In exchange for commitment of German funds Ms Merkel had insisted that banks and private creditors share in the losses. Private bondholders resisted but finally agreed to take a loss of 20% of principal on a small portion of the bonds. Their larger concession was to take lower interest rates and extend the maturities to 15 years and 30 years on new bonds which are guaranteed by the EU. The specific terms of the agreement are as follows: The EFSF and the IMF will lend Greece 109 billion euros over 3 years at 3.5%. Private creditors including German and French banks will "voluntarily" turn in their old bonds for new ones that mature over 15-30 year periods. These new bonds include 15 and 30 year Greek bonds with varying coupons. Some of the bonds would have a 20% discount on principal. EU leaders say the private sector contribution amounts to 37 billion euros through 2014 and 106 billion euros through 2019. Another part of the program is for the EFSF to buy back some of the Greek bonds on the secondary markets, which would mean Greece would now owe a smaller amount to the EFSF on these bonds. The EFSF will now have additional financial support from Germany and other EU countries and be authorized to provide aid to countries before a crisis situation arises. It would also have power to buy Greek bonds at prices on secondary markets to reduce the Greek debt burden. Ireland and Portugal are also assisted in the agreement. The interest rate for EU aid to Ireland and Portugal is taken down to 3.5%. Ireland is paying about 6% on the EU portion of its 67.5 billon euros bailout and efforts to reduce the rate were resisted earlier. The main theme behind these concessions and provisions is to give Greece, (and Ireland and Portugal) a chance to grow. High interest rates came under strong criticism because it only increased the size of the debt burden of these countries with a shrinking economy and high unemployment. The failure to come together behind a broad and sensible agreement with all parties making serious concessions, the EU, the ECB and the political leadership in these countries especially Greece, was undermining confidence in the euro and the eurozone itself. By mid-July Italy and Spain were feeling the effects of contagion in the financial markets, U.S. debt ceiling negotiations were unsettling global financial markets, the pressure was intense to come up with the workable agreement achieved on July 21, 2011. ...

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Jose de Cordoba of the WSJ provides this excellent story on the nature of the migration crisis in the U.S. that is creating political divisions in the U.S. What is causing this surge in migration to the U.S.? Cordoba provides some useful insights to understand the nature of this problem. Nine out of ten migrants in Guatemala which sends most of the migrants from Central America are moving north from Guatemala through Mexico to the U.S. for financial reasons, it points out. Only 10% are because of violence in the region, the rest for financial reasons according to the United Nations International Organization for Migration The jump in apprehension of Guatemalans at the American border shows a surge from 15,000 in 2007 to 236,000 in 9 months of 2019, according to U.S. government data. The surge began in 2008 and jumped in 2014 after U.S. court rulings that first required migrant children to be allowed to join relatives in the U.S. followed by a ruling in 2015 that allowed a parent to join the children and allowed court proceedings to take place that takes years. The result was that smugglers advertised on radio and families sold small plots of land to join relatives in the U.S. who had gone before them. The migration is also specific to certain areas hit by damage to crops, including coffee crop from drought, or certain towns that simply sent more people simply for financial reasons advertised openly.  For 8 hours of work a migrant could make at $12 per hour amount of $96 per day, in Guatemala the daily wage would be about $5.  Overwhelmingly it is financial reasons or economic opportunity that sends migrants north. After it became known that kids could help migration the people in family groups apprehended at the border jumped from about 40,000 in 2015 to 390,000 in fiscal 2019. Smugglers charge $8600 per adult and half that for a child and an adult that can be dropped off at a checkpoint. The efforts of president Trump to close the border to this migration include having Mexico sign an agreement to police its southern border with Guatemala using its newly setup National Guard. As a result the migration has actually surged in 2019 with migrants seeing this as their one last opportunity to join relatives in the U.S. or to migrate to the U.S. The Trump administration tried separating families because of the loophole in the law that allows children to be not deported and parents to join their children. But this created a public outcry and the effort now is to close the loophole in the law. It is also strange that as many migrants are coming from one town Joyabaj  with population 100,000 as from Guatemala City the capital population 2.5 million. In fact the economy has grown by 3.4 % a year in Guatemala and efforts have been made to improve conditions with the help of donor countries in the West for several years, though the drought conditions exist. The situation is similar to that in Europe. If one looks at the violence by gangs in central American region after the end of the guerilla wars and compares it to the wars in Syria and Iraq, one can see how humanitarian concerns preceded what eventually turned out tobe a full blown migration for economic reasons. Initially chancellor Merkel adopted a humanitarian stance but failed to recognize that there was another side to his situation that would attract a wave of economic migrants from places as far apart as North Africa to Afghanistan. Poverty has existed in these regions for many many years before the current migration, with drought and lack of economic opportunity going far back in time. Merkel only recently recognized this problem and the new CDU leader Kambrauer has clearly recognized this. CDU policy shifted in 2018-2019 with curbs on economic migration that has reduced it to a trickle. This process is underway in the U.S. at its border with Mexico and for Mexico with its border with Guatemala. In the short run Europe and the U.S. are paying a price. Not just in the way it has divided each country with a far left and a far right eroding the centrist parties that existed before. In some cases centrist parties that were popular on the right and the left now hve leaders from a far right or a far left faction within the centrist ruling parties. Boris Johnson in Britain, Trump in the U.S., leaders in Italy, Austria and Hungary. Or as in Germany and Spain new far left or far right parties causing the centrist parties to dwindle in influence or as in Germany this combined with a shift to the Green Party in Germany and Liberals Party in Britain as a show of disapproval for how the migration issue has been tackled.  The Economist in a July 2019 issue also points out that the country's own citizens have fared worse with migration. It shows how the Conservative Party's austerity cuts for welfare budgets was popular in Britain as long as eastern European migration at high levels in Britain were allowed starting with the Labour party under Blair. This disproportionately hurt the middle class and the poor after the hit already taken from the faulty banking caused recession. With the drop in migration it is now felt by a majority in Britain that the austerity cuts have just gone too far and a mood is set in to restore many of the cuts and fund public services. Meantime some of the damage has been done and will take a decade to correct as the issues that mangled the centrist parties and led to fragmentation on views of what society should look like have taken place with Brexit and high levels of poverty, income inequality in Britain, lack of investment in infrastructure with overallocation to tech with declining productive benefit for every additional dollar spent. ...

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Barley points to the other factors surrounding the ECB decision for massive monetary easing on Jan. 22, 2015. THe ZEW and IFO business sentiment indicators show an upward trend, and the German economy is picking up momentum in 2015. The lower oil prices, and the decline in the euro boosting exports, are two other factors pointing to higher growth in 2015. Just as the U.S. QE program came at a time when economic conditions were improving, the same can be said for the Draghi ECB QE program in Europe, says Barley. Draghi appears to have sent a strong signal to financial markets, just as he accomplished in July 2012, when bond yields of Spain and Italy were over 7%.

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Problems with the July 2011 plan for Greece and other troubled eurozone economies include the lack of funding and powers for the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). The contagion effects to Italy and Spain will require larger funding and powers for the EFSF for it to be able to deal with future crises. The bondholder debt haircut for Portuguese and Irish bondholders, and the sense that the crisis in Greece may have to be revisted yet again, are other issues that remain unresolved. Analysts sense that the EU's governance mechanisms are always a step behind in dealing with the repeated crises and EU leaders are doing only enough to get to the next crisis moment.

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Why Mark Rutte is unpopular and disliked in most European Union countries but popular at home. The Dutch contribute $2.4 billion to the EU budget but says this report the Dutch have setup tax havens taking about $6.7 billion from the revenue that would otherwise go to the governments of Germany, France, Italy and Spain. This shows that the idea of the thrifty Dutch is only one side of the story. The clever Dutch may be more like it. This time France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and most other EU countries including Poland are critical of the Dutch and countries such as Sweden and Denmark for not showing solidarity with Europe during the pandemic. The real reason for Mark Rutte holding out in not supporting the European Recovery Fund of $500 billion of nonrepayable aid to EU's pandemic hardest hit countries is that after the tough election against the far right in 2017 he faces another challenge from right wing parties in Netherlands opposed to any aid or solidarity.  ...

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The reference Bazooka man comes from Scholz's hard work putting together the 750 billion euro funding package to help German businesses and workers survive the coronavirus pandemic. At the time Scholz said-"This is the bazooka that's needed to get the job done. We are putting all our weapons on the table to show that we are strong enough to overcome any economic challenge that this problem might pose." Scholz gets high marks for his hard work during the Covid crisis as finance minister putting together the funding packages. This BBC report says Scholz chaired cabinet meetings when Merkl went into self-isolation as a precaution. BBC says it gave Scholz the platform he needed to go back to his roots as Mayor of Hamburg when he stood up for social cohesion and help for workers and families. Before he announced his SPD candidacy when asked if he would run he would say - "we need to work, not indulge in vanities." Scholz also played an important role in European solidarity. He was the lead architect with France of the European Union 750 billion euro recovery fund. This brings him strong praise from France, and also support from Italy, Spain, Portugal and other countries in the EU. French foreign minister Bruno Lemaire has praise not only for Olaf Scholz but also for his brother Jens Scholz, who airlifted 6 critically ill French patients to an hospital in Kiel. Says Lemaire "It really is a great German family." Scholz grew up in Hamburg, becoming a Socialist youth leader and studying labor law. He was Mayor of Hamburg from 2011 to 2018. In 1998 he entered the German parliament, the Bundestag.   ...

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G-20 leaders in Seoul endorsed the Basel III regulations, which raise the amount of risk free capital banks have to hold to 7% of assets from as low as 2% now. The rules are to be phased in between 2013-2018, a long period, by which time there could be another crisis.The rules for banks that are "too big to fail" will be written more stringently by the Financial Stability Board. The FSB will need another year to write these rules. Mario Draghi of the Bank of Italy, heads the FSB. He is asking for more resources for the FSB to do its work.

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An account by Journal reporters based on over 25 interviews with eurozone policymakers shows how the central players in the eurozone drama acted to defend their national interests during the period April to July 2011. On one side France's president Sarkozy, Frenchman Claude Trichet at the European Central Bank, arguing in favor of the banks not to take bondholder losses or haircuts on loans made to Greece. On the other side the Bundesbanks Axel Weber, and Jens Weidman, Jurgen Stark and German Finance Minister Schauble. The Germans argued strongly for bondholder losses to take responsibility for bad loan decisions by French and German banks. French banks had committed more loans to Greece than German banks and had more at stake. German public opinion was strongly against German taxpayers paying for the losses, making German politicians insistent that European banks take losses on their bad loan decisions, or Germany would not support additional loans to Greece. Throughout April to July the two sides were locked in an impasse. The French feared losses for their banks and a Lehman Brothers bankruptcy style situation. The Germans at the Bundesbank and the Finance Ministry were equally insistent. A July 2011 summit meeting did not settle the issue. The events not covered here from the July to the December summit of eurozone leaders resulted in bondholders taking 50% haircut on loans to Greece, reducing the debt burden in Greece after austerity measures led to popular protests. The French pushed hard for the ECB or the EFSF to be allowed to make large purchases of bonds of troubled eurozone countries in an effort to protect Spain and Italy from contagion through higher bond yields. The Netherlands and Finland supported Germany's position. German bankers Weber, Weidman at the Bundesbank and Finance Minister Schauble opposed large scale buying by the ECB of Italy's and Spain's bonds and Chancellor Merkel said about a common eurobond that "this is not going to happen." Governments changed in Greece, Italy, and Spain by Dec. 2011, which committed to austerity programs and spending cuts. Italian Mario Draghi was appointed with German support as new head of the ECB. In late December 2011 Draghi launched the Long Term Financing Operation for lending unlimited amounts at 1% for three year loans to European banks and relaxing the terms to accept government bonds and other debt as collateral for loans. The effect of this was to provide a large infusion of liquidity into the banking system in Europe and drastically bring down the yields on bonds issued by Italy and Spain....

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For the first time since the 2008 global financial crisis a initiative has been put to voters for tackling executive pay and bonus. A large majority of 68% of Swiss voters supported the 24 item Minder Initiative which restricts executive pay and bonuses. The Minder Initiative sends a signal to the rest of the world, says Christa Markwalder, a legislator for the pro-business Free Democratic Party. It provides other countries with a distinct approach to corporate governance and executive compensation. The EU decision to impose strict limits on executive pay and bonuses influenced Swiss voters. The EU decision bans bankers bonuses from exceeding fixed salary without shareholder approval, and limits flexible pay to twice the salary. The 24 item Minder measure gives shareholders the right to block proposed executive pay and bonuses. It also has penalties for violators of 6 times annual salary or imprisonment of upto 3 years. Businessmen and politician Thomas Minder has worked for three years promoting his Initiative and it was finally put to voters in 2013. For the first time since the 2008 global financial crisis, serious action is being taken to limit excessive executive compensation and bonuses in banking and other industries. It comes as austerity measures and high unemployment are influencing public opinion in Spain, UK, Italy and other European countries which have suffered banking crises....