Troika Tightens Grip on Greece, TRNN, John Weeks, Author of Economics of the l%

[mother earth]

John Weeks, author of Economics of the 1%, says it's really the German government that is flexing its muscles regarding Greece despite that the IMF recognizes the entire Greek debt can never be paid in full - June 10, 2015

Bio:
John Weeks is a professor emeritus of the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies and author of Economics of the 1%: How Mainstream Economics Serves the Rich, Obscures Reality and Distorts Policy. His recent policy work includes a supplemental unemployment program for the European Union and advising the central banks of Argentina and Zambia.

Full Transcript Available at link:
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=13993

[cascadiance]

1. What happened to Dominique Strauss Kahn, and the IMF at that time...

... and comments he made right before the incident he got arrested for, has one wonder what was going on behind the scenes then and who was working for who, and who was trying to scam who then. It seemed that there was a lot of "power plays" going on then around Greece.

http://www.imf.org/external/np/vc/2010/121210.htm

He was noting as were others that a big part of the problem for Greece was that the wealthy there weren't paying their share of taxes, and therefore the poor had to bear the bigger burden of their huge debt.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/02/02/europes_economic_crisis_how_the_rich_avoid_paying_their_tax_bill.html

Makes you wonder if DSK was pushed out, though it sounds like personally he wasn't a nice guy.

Greece is now investigating this too...

http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/05/21/greek-parliament-investigating-committee-on-memoranda-unveils-witness-list/

Comments from Papandreiou on the IMF situation then...

http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/01/11/former-greek-pm-george-papandreou-speaks-about-everyone-and-everything/

[mother earth]

2. Thank you for those links, I had not known about the Greece investigations which ended yesterday

according to your 3rd link.

The Parliamentary investigating committee set up to examine the causes of the Greek crisis and the reasons that the country was pushed into accepting bailout Memoranda, unveiled a list of witnesses on Wednesday that it hopes to summon, both in Greece and abroad. The examination of the first five witnesses on the list is expected to begin next Tuesday.

Committee chairman Dimitris Vitsas sent a complete list of the first 25 witnesses to be examined in the first five sessions to the committee members. The list was finalized on Tuesday and the witnesses will be examined in sets of five per session, which end on June 9.

The list includes heads of Greek agencies and organizations, such as the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE), the head of the Greek Parliament’s State Budget Office, Panagiotis Liargovas, trade unions and employer associations, academics, former senior justices at the Council of State, the General Accounting Office, Public Debt Management Agency, Greece’s current and former representatives at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and board members of the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT).
- See more at: http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/05/21/greek-parliament-investigating-committee-on-memoranda-unveils-witness-list/#sthash.JlqU9WII.dpuf

As you said, there's been so much corruption, tax evasion, all those same issues that keep popping up, even here with our too big to jails, same poison everywhere.

As for DSK, I think all the heavy hitters feel they are above the law, so no pity there, but it speaks very loudly about the IMF, he even had the audacity to feel he could be president of France, so it may be more to do with that, who knows? The public certainly never will, or perhaps this investigation will lead to more info being made public. So many players involved, which is why I posted another article here outlining the backstory with each of them, but even that's not enough, it is constantly evolving.

I do think this interview with Weeks and how he feels it might play out is a reasonable expectation, trying to stay in the Euro, etc., but we shall see. More yet to come.

TY for your input, it's nice to try to pack all of what's playing out in ways that make it easier for everyone to follow.

[pscot]

3. Tsipras doesn't look happy

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on the sidelines of the EU-CELAC summit in Brussels on Wednesday, government sources said, and agreed to meet again on Thursday.

http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/06/10/tsipras-and-juncker-meet-will-talk-again-thursday/

[mother earth]

4. TY, pscot. Juncker has had his ups and downs recently too, but now they are putting the screws

to Greece, as a harsh example, so for this photo op he looks upbeat.

[mother earth]

5. I thought Wolff's Capitalism update is appropriate to cross-post here since he touches upon

Greece and austerity at the l:20 point. His take is always informative and inspiring, I'm a huge fan.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017271358

and I wholeheartedly agree with how Wolff feels, following Yanis Varoufakis brings far more truth into understanding what is actually playing out. If you are like me, you may have found many articles appear to have a chosen side and a certain "agenda" in what is reported.

He also touches upon Podemos, another point of interest regarding Spain & their battle with austerity, along with Italy.