Word: papandreou
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...players, know the importance of keeping a straight face. Even when they're holding the feeblest of hands, they have to ensure that their opponents never know how close they are to folding. But in the epic poker match between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou over a potential European Union bailout of debt-ridden Greece, who is the real deal and who is bluffing...
...week, the Greek government announced a series of painful austerity measures aimed at tackling a budget crisis so serious, it once seemed like the entire country could go bankrupt. Likening the need to drastically increase tax revenues and cut spending to a "wartime situation," the Socialist Prime Minister, George Papandreou, promised to take whatever steps were necessary to ensure the economic viability of the state. On Thursday, the country got a taste of how painful the process will...
...Papandreou had tried to avoid provoking Greece's powerful unions and initially resisted making cuts to civil servants' base pay. But after the initial round of austerity measures, announced in December, failed to convince international markets and the country's European partners that Greece could rein in its ballooning deficit on its own, Papandreou's administration was forced to tack on a second, harsher round of measures. The $6.5 billion package includes cuts in civil servants' salaries, a freeze on pensions and a host of tax increases, including a 2% bump in the value-added...
...Perhaps, then, it's only fitting that Greek government debt is the biggest threat to global financial stability today. Warning that Greece was in "critical condition," Prime Minister George Papandreou recently said that his country "faces the risk of sinking under its debt." Jitters over a potential Greek default have punished the value of Europe's common currency, the euro, and driven down stock markets around the world. Policymakers worry that Greece's woes will spread to other weaker members of the euro zone, such as Portugal, Ireland, Italy and Spain - a collection of countries traders have nicknamed the PIIGS...
...That help has a price. European ministers are insisting that Greece implement a severe austerity plan to quickly reduce its fiscal deficit. Papandreou has already promised pay cuts for public employees and tax hikes, but his European counterparts are demanding an even stricter program. That presents a huge test to his regime. Government workers have already staged strikes to protest Papandreou's plans. So far, he's held firm. A recent poll showed that two-thirds of Greeks believe the Prime Minister's measures are necessary; only 41% think they go far enough. "The government has seen the problem...