http://www.zerohedge.com/news/toxic-spiral-greek-office-vacancies-soar-tourism-industry-implodes
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/07/2012 17:35 -0400
While the theatrics of the Greek parliamentary elections are all good and fine, keeping the masses distracted, and will most likely provide an encore performance in just about one month as no government will likely be formed under the current configuration of elected parties, the reality is that unless something drastically changes for the better in the Greek economy, the political situation will only get more and more chaotic until finally the country succumbs to outright anarchy, and possibly far worse. Unfortunately, as history has shown us, economic depressions usually become toxic death spirals where absent major external shocks, there is no hope of recovery. Sure enough, the latest news of Greece confirms just that. As Ekathimerini reports, the real news is that while superficially change may be coming to Greece, beneath the surface absolutely nothing is improving and in fact things are getting worse as measured by two key indicators: i) vacant Athens office space, which has soared to 20% in Q1 2012 compared to 15.5% a year earlier,which means far less corporate tax revenues and business spending, and ii) the lifeblood of the Greek economy - foreign tourism - is drying up, plunging by 12.5%, as foreigners suddenly have better things to do than go to countries better known for the Syntagma Square riot cam than the beaches of Santorini. Not surprisingly, the biggest source of foreign tourists, Germany, has seen its share dry to a trickle from 15% to just 3% - one can't imagine why those called Nazis by the neo-Nazis would have reservations about spending 2 weeks in the former tourist haven. The result: far less tax revenues, far greater reliance on debt as source of cash, and an economic collapse in 2012 that will put 2011 to shame. So much for the IMF estimate of an unchanged GDP print in 2013 on which the entire second Greek bailout package was based...
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/new-democracy-unable-form-government-anti-bailout-parties-now-get-opportunity-eject-greece-euro
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/07/2012 13:29 -0400
and....
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_15028_07/05/2012_441090
The leader of the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA), Alexis Tsipras, is to get a shot at forming a coalition government from Tuesday after an attempt by Antonis Samaras, the leader of conservative of New Democracy which came first in the general elections, failed to bear fruit.
Tsipras is to meet President Karolos Papoulias at 2 p.m. to receive his mandate to form a government. He will then approach other parties - formations “primarily” to the left of the political spectrum, he indicated yesterday - in a bid to form a left-led coalition. Party sources told Kathimerini that Tsipras’s key goal is to win round the Communist Party (KKE) and Democratic Left, a moderate, pro-Europe grouping. If this fails - which is likely as KKE has already ruled out any cooperations - Tsipras will reach out to other parties, the same sources said. He is also expected to meet with the heads of smaller leftist parties that didn’t make it into Parliament in a bid to bolster SYRIZA ahead of a possible second round of elections.
Samaras effectively passed the baton to the 38-year-old leftist on Monday when he declared that his efforts to form a government had failed. “We did everything we could, but it just wasn’t possible,” Samaras said in a televised statement.
According to the Constitution, the leader of the first party in general elections gets three days to form a government before the mandate passes to the runner-up and then the third party. ND sources said that Samaras returned the mandate after just a few hours as he had not wanted to waste time at such a critical moment for the nation.
In his televised speech, Samaras said ND had been the first party to call for a renegotiation of Greece’s debt deal with creditors. “We’re glad others have understood the importance of renegotiating the deal,” he said, in a clear dig at socialist PASOK, which adopted a more flexible stance on the agreement before elections.
Earlier in the day, following a meeting with Samaras, Tsipras ruled out the formation of a national unity government with ND, reiterating that the election results showed people rejecting the politics of austerity. “We will do all we can to reach an agreement with primarily left-wing parties,” he said.
His appeal elicited a cautious response from Democratic Left leader Fotis Kouvelis. “We will wait to hear a precise and clear proposal and then we will comment,” Kouvelis said after rejecting participation in a conservative-led government following talks with Samaras. Kouvelis said his party had not shifted from its pre-election position - to ensure Greece remains in the eurozone and renegotiate its debt deal.
Toxic Spiral: Greek Office Vacancies Soar As Tourism Industry Implodes
While the theatrics of the Greek parliamentary elections are all good and fine, keeping the masses distracted, and will most likely provide an encore performance in just about one month as no government will likely be formed under the current configuration of elected parties, the reality is that unless something drastically changes for the better in the Greek economy, the political situation will only get more and more chaotic until finally the country succumbs to outright anarchy, and possibly far worse. Unfortunately, as history has shown us, economic depressions usually become toxic death spirals where absent major external shocks, there is no hope of recovery. Sure enough, the latest news of Greece confirms just that. As Ekathimerini reports, the real news is that while superficially change may be coming to Greece, beneath the surface absolutely nothing is improving and in fact things are getting worse as measured by two key indicators: i) vacant Athens office space, which has soared to 20% in Q1 2012 compared to 15.5% a year earlier,which means far less corporate tax revenues and business spending, and ii) the lifeblood of the Greek economy - foreign tourism - is drying up, plunging by 12.5%, as foreigners suddenly have better things to do than go to countries better known for the Syntagma Square riot cam than the beaches of Santorini. Not surprisingly, the biggest source of foreign tourists, Germany, has seen its share dry to a trickle from 15% to just 3% - one can't imagine why those called Nazis by the neo-Nazis would have reservations about spending 2 weeks in the former tourist haven. The result: far less tax revenues, far greater reliance on debt as source of cash, and an economic collapse in 2012 that will put 2011 to shame. So much for the IMF estimate of an unchanged GDP print in 2013 on which the entire second Greek bailout package was based...
From Kathimerini:
and.....Athens has the highest rate of empty office space in Europe, according to data for the year’s first quarter presented by BNP Paribas Real Estate.Its report on the course of the European office market showed that the availability rate in the Greek capital soared to 20 percent in the January-March period from 15.5 percent in the same period last year.This clearly illustrates the blow that the recession has inflicted on the country’s business activity, resulting in a major drop in demand for the lease of office space.High-standard offices in the city’s main business districts have an annual lease rate of 216 euros per square meter, against an average of 264 euros/sq.m. last year. Athens’s rate is on a par with those of The Hague, Bucharest and Lisbon.And even worse:Online tourism bookings from abroad are pointing to a 12.5 percent decline for this year, according to the Airfasttickets travel agency.Nikos Koklonis, head of the company that owns the agency, says that the biggest drop in bookings for Greek destinations this year is from the German market, which last year accounted for 15 percent of all bookings. Its share has now shrunk to just 3 percent.Surprisingly, most bookings from abroad this year originate from Italy, followed by Britain, Spain, France and Austria. One in four clients the agency handles chooses Greece as its destination.Association of Hellenic Tourism Enterprises president (SETE) Andreas Andreadis expectsreceipts from tourism to drop below 10 billion euros this year, after climbing to 10.5 billion in 2011.Well, at least Santorini has not erupted yet...
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/new-democracy-unable-form-government-anti-bailout-parties-now-get-opportunity-eject-greece-euro
New Democracy Unable To Form Government, Anti-Bailout Parties Now Get Opportunity To Eject Greece From Euro
Well, that lasted far less than the three days expected:
- SAMARAS SAYS WAS UNABLE TO FORM GOVERNMENT
- SAMARAS SAYS DID ALL POSSIBLE TO FORM GOVERNMENT
- SAMARAS HANDS BACK MANDATE TO PRESIDENT PAPOULIAS
- SAMARAS SAYS AIM TO KEEP GREECE IN EURO
And now the broad-left coalition Syriza gets the mandate to form a coalition government. If successful, and with nearly 60% of the parties in parliament being anti-bailout it would not take much for differences to be resolved, all bets are off as the anti-bailout powers will finally gain control of Greece, effectively ending European control over Greece. Alternatively, if nothing is achieved, then it is very likely that Greece will have another election within 3-4 weeks. And then another. And then another.
and....
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_15028_07/05/2012_441090
Tsipras picks up baton after Samaras fails to form unity government
  |
Tsipras is to meet President Karolos Papoulias at 2 p.m. to receive his mandate to form a government. He will then approach other parties - formations “primarily” to the left of the political spectrum, he indicated yesterday - in a bid to form a left-led coalition. Party sources told Kathimerini that Tsipras’s key goal is to win round the Communist Party (KKE) and Democratic Left, a moderate, pro-Europe grouping. If this fails - which is likely as KKE has already ruled out any cooperations - Tsipras will reach out to other parties, the same sources said. He is also expected to meet with the heads of smaller leftist parties that didn’t make it into Parliament in a bid to bolster SYRIZA ahead of a possible second round of elections.
Samaras effectively passed the baton to the 38-year-old leftist on Monday when he declared that his efforts to form a government had failed. “We did everything we could, but it just wasn’t possible,” Samaras said in a televised statement.
According to the Constitution, the leader of the first party in general elections gets three days to form a government before the mandate passes to the runner-up and then the third party. ND sources said that Samaras returned the mandate after just a few hours as he had not wanted to waste time at such a critical moment for the nation.
In his televised speech, Samaras said ND had been the first party to call for a renegotiation of Greece’s debt deal with creditors. “We’re glad others have understood the importance of renegotiating the deal,” he said, in a clear dig at socialist PASOK, which adopted a more flexible stance on the agreement before elections.
Earlier in the day, following a meeting with Samaras, Tsipras ruled out the formation of a national unity government with ND, reiterating that the election results showed people rejecting the politics of austerity. “We will do all we can to reach an agreement with primarily left-wing parties,” he said.
His appeal elicited a cautious response from Democratic Left leader Fotis Kouvelis. “We will wait to hear a precise and clear proposal and then we will comment,” Kouvelis said after rejecting participation in a conservative-led government following talks with Samaras. Kouvelis said his party had not shifted from its pre-election position - to ensure Greece remains in the eurozone and renegotiate its debt deal.
| Sunday’s election results saw support move from PASOK and ND to three anti-bailout parties: SYRIZA, the Independent Greeks and Chrsi Avgi (Golden Dawn). ND garnered 18.85 percent, which was 14.6 percent less than what it gained in the October 2009 elections. SYRIZA came second with 16.78 percent, up 12.2 percent from its 2009 result. PASOK suffered a humiliating defeat, losing 30.7 percent from its support two-and-a-half years ago to gather just 13.18 percent on Sunday. Taking part in their first election, the nationalist Independent Greeks received 10.6 percent, while the Communist Party made only a 0.9 percent gain on its 2009 result to gather 8.48 percent. The neo-Nazi Chrysi Avgi increased its support by 6.7 percent to gain 6.9 percent in Sunday’s ballot. Democratic Left, also making its electoral debut, won 6.11 percent of the vote. The reinforced proportionality that applies in Greek elections meant that the first party received an extra 50 seats, up from 40 in 2009. However, this did not prove a deciding factor as New Democracy (108 seats) and PASOK (41 seats) did not have a large enough representation in the 300-seat Parliament to form a majority government. SYRIZA gained 52 seats, Independent Greeks 33, KKE 26, Chrysi Avgi 21, and Democratic Left 19. New Democracy’s best showing was in Messenia in the Peloponnese, where Samaras hails from. The conservatives won 33.6 percent of the vote there. PASOK’s most impressive showing was in Rhodope, northeastern Greece, where the Socialists won 26.71 percent. However, it was a disastrous night for the center-left party, which saw a number of its most prominent officials, such as former Development Minister Anna Diamantopoulou and ex-Interior Minister Yiannis Ragousis, fail to win seats in Parliament. In fact, of the 37 members of the cabinet formed when PASOK came to power in 2009, only six were elected on Sunday. One of those was Venizelos and ex-Premier George Papandreou was another. Most PASOK officials remained tight-lipped about the party’s future after Sunday’s shattering result. However, party veteran and former Deputy Prime Minister Theodoros Pangalos, who did not stand in these elections, suggested that PASOK may have come to the end of its political life. “It no longer exists as a serious political force, not just because of the election result,” said Pangalos, who was also critical of the behavior of some of his colleagues. “This might trigger the discussion about whether it is necessary for this type of party to exist.” |
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