Greece – mackaycartoons

Tuesday May 15, 2012

May 15, 2012 by Graeme MacKay

May 15, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday May 15, 2012

Greek president warned of “fatal consequences” of instability

Greece’s President Karolos Papoulias described the tragic situation of the country to the three major political leaders Antonis Samaras, Evangelos Venizelos and Alexis Tsipras but failed to convince them that a new election should be avoided.

He pointed out the imminent danger for the collapse of the Greek banking system in order to highlight the urgent need for an government.

According to the minutes of the critical meeting held on Tuesday at the Presidential Palace, Mr Papoulias had been given a full and detailed briefing by prime minister Lucas Papademos, the head of the outgoing technocratic government, Finance minister Philippos Sachinidis and director of the Bank of Greece George Provopoulos, who all suggested that “the extension of political instability will lead to fatal consequences.”

The president made a dramatic appeal to the political leaders that “being fully aware of the situation I am telling you that the danger is real. We have already lost valuable time and the absence of government is a serious risk to the financial security of the Greek people and our national existence.” Mr Papoulias said “I have been informed by the prime minister, the director of the Bank of Greece and the minister of Finance for the country’s cash position and the risk of collapse of the banking system if withdrawals of deposits from banks continue due to the insecurity of the citizens generated by the political situation.”

The Republic President added he was “extremely worried” after contacting with EU president Herman Van Rompuy and President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz on the “outlook of European economic data” and had explained “that we have a duty to agree.” (Source: The Telegraph)

Marvellous Maps

Tuesday May 8, 2012

May 8, 2012 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Tuesday May 8, 2012

Merkel readies for fight

Angela Merkel is under pressure to defeat the popular backlash against austerity to save her political skin and preserve Germany’s dominance in the eurozone.

Over the next four weeks, the German chancellor will face the fight of her political life on all fronts, domestic and European, at a moment when one slip could sink her government and tear down the European Union’s single currency.

Merkel must take the lead in trying to find an answer for the crisis in Greece, after three-fifths of Greek voters rejected EU austerity measures. Ger-man taxpayers have put $275 billion on the line to bail out countries such as Greece, and Germany’s patience is running out with countries that reject the prescribed economic medicine of debt reduction while continuing to demand the handouts.

To appease her highly taxed voters, who are worried that EU bailouts have breached Germany’s constitution, Merkel has made German economic aid conditional on all eurozone countries signing the “fiskalpakt”.

The treaty, signed by 25 EU countries, gives Brussels officials the right to block bud-gets that break spending rules which are enshrined in national constitutions, as is the case in Germany.

The measures, the chancellor assured German voters, would prevent eurozone countries going bust and leaving Ger-many holding bailout bills.

Merkel on Monday insisted Greece had to stick to the austerity program so resoundingly rejected by voters and that the reforms to the Greek economy were of “utmost importance”(Source: Vancouver Sun)

Tuesday February 14, 2012

February 14, 2012 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Tuesday February 14, 2012

How Ontario’s ‘stimulus’ spending led to disaster

The fiscal mess in Ontario is now common knowledge across the country, thanks in part to a sensational report from the Conference Board of Canada demonstrating that unless the government slashes spending and/or raises taxes, health care and education will have to be decimated. The report was no surprise to people who tracked Premier Dalton McGuinty’s march into Keynesian fiscal stimulus spending.

If we can’t expect politicians to take the blame for following the Keynesian deficit-spending policies advocated by their economic advisors, shouldn’t we turn to the economic experts to get them to explain themselves? The same people who supported and advised the McGuinty Liberals — and the Obama Democrats, the Greek and Portuguese politicians, the French and Canadian governments — to run up spending to rescue the economy will spend the next decade telling governments how to get out of the mess they helped create.

Ontario’s current circumstances create a perfect opportunity to confront the economic establishment and lay blame for the fiscal disaster that is Ontario. Government spending has been soaring for years. It all looks good if growth rates stay strong. Where were the dire economic warnings through the last decade that the expansion in government activity cannot continue without hitting a wall?

A table on Ontario’s spending habits (above) captures the disconnect between the government and the people. While the personal income of the people dragged at 26% growth, government spending soared more than 60%.

On Wednesday, former TD Bank economist Don Drummond will deliver a set of tax and spending options to the McGuinty government, a road map on how the province can resolve its fiscal problems. (Source: Financial Post)

Friday November 4, 2011

November 4, 2011 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday November 4, 2011

Greek Debt Crisis at a Critical Point

In the European currency war, Germany has the biggest arsenal and the strongest interest in forestalling the collapse of the euro. So why is it playing Hamlet: “To lead or not to lead?”

September 2011

To ponder and waver is not the old German way. Today, Germany is about as aggressive as a pussy cat, but pundits and politicos from the U.S. to Greece have blamed its dithering for rising market volatility and the mounting costs of the debt crisis. The 50% haircut on Greek bonds decreed at last week’s EU summit should have been imposed a year ago. Athens was insolvent even then. So it is always too little, too late. Whenever the Berlin-backed European Union rescue brigades and the European Central Bank close one breach, the markets attack on another flank. They will do so again, and the euro will remain in peril. Greece simply cannot grow enough to service its debt.

As the euro burns, Mrs. Merkel fiddles mixed messages. In Berlin the chancellor preaches generosity, dispatching German taxpayers’ funds to Athens. But in Brussels she stalls, demanding ever-more austerity and market reforms before relenting at the last minute. The euro rises, then drops again.

Mrs. Merkel’s latest volley—that any Greek referendum on the terms of a rescue package by the EU and the International Monetary Fund would decide whether Greece keeps the euro at all—sent markets roiling this week.

Ontario’s Greek Crisis

Yet the unraveling of Euroland would hit Germany the hardest. The neue deutschemark would shoot up, while the nouveau franc and the nuova lira would nosedive. And so would Germany’s exports, now an astounding 47% of its gross domestic product, two-thirds of which stay within the EU.

So why isn’t Mrs. Merkel rushing forward to grab Europe’s crown? The answer, of course, is history. (Source: Wall Street Journal)

Thursday August 19, 2004

August 19, 2004 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday August 19, 2004

Doping Buffet

(2 year old story originally for 2002 Commonwealth Games – cartoon from July 27, 2002 – adapted for 2004 Summer Olympics)

The opening ceremonies of the 17th Commonwealth Games will be a chance for host city Manchester to shed its image as a down-on-its-luck industrial city and breed a reputation as a sophisticated sports town that knows how to have a good time.Over 5,000 athletes from 72 Commonwealth countries will march into the new 38,000-seat City of Manchester Stadium tonight to usher in the 17th Commonwealth Games.

The opening ceremonies are expected to be a sellout and Mancunians have been advised to allow for at least two hours to get to the stadium and get through security.

Since the terrorist attacks in the U.S. on Sept. 11, large-scale sporting events have been subject to massive security measures and these Games are no different. Manchester was the victim of an Irish Republican Army bombing six years ago in which no one was killed, but about 200 were injured.

Multi-sport Games and the days leading into them often breed doping controversies and political intrigue in addition to stellar athletic performances.

Two members of the Scottish weightlifting team withdrew yesterday amidst doping allegations.

English pole vaulter Janine Whitlock, considered a medal contender, was suspended by UK athletics for testing positive for anabolic steroids and will not compete here. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)