Download the October 7 Ta Yp' Opsin podcast

The October 7 Ta Yp' Opsin (Consider These) news roundup podcast (in Greek) available for download:

First Hour:
- First presidential debate performances

- 7.8%, a number that delights and divides

- Merkel visits Athens, Troika deliberates

- Turkey responds to Syrian fire

- Venezuela election

- Human Rights concerns around the world

Plus, in the Second Hour:

- Nobel Prize speculations

- Meningitis fears and West Nile virus relief

- Who is the bully in 'Cruel words' about obesity?

- Blue honey and a roadkill delicacy

- Rome breaks the bonds of love

- Denver schedules a towel amnesty day

Download here:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1KU27prGcwUN0MyNkhsTHR1Zkk/edit

Ta Yp’Opsin (Consider These) weekly podcast with Greek Chicago journalists Elena Spilioti and George Zorbas. Discussion, analysis and great music!

Basta!

An Italian man has eluded Vatican security and scaled the 130-meter (426-foot) high dome of St. Peter's Basilica to protest the austerity measures that Italy has enacted.
Officials said Wednesday that the man, who said he was the owner of a beach resort, refused appeals from government ministers offering to meet with him if he would come down. He scaled the dome on Tuesday night.
He put up a banner saying "Help! Enough Monti!" That referred to Italian Premier Mario Monti, who has been implementing tough austerity measures and economic reforms to bring down Italy's debt and deficit and spur economic growth.
(AP)

Τα Υπ’Όψιν podcast της 30/9/2012

Στα Υπ’Όψιν της 30/9/2012, μεταξύ άλλων, ακούστε:

-Αμερικανικά προεδρικά ντημπέϊτ: ποιός φοβάται ποιόν
-Ελλάδα: η έκθεση που αργεί και η λίστα του ΣΔΟΕ που σπεύδει
-Ευρωπαϊκοί προϋπολογισμοί που αναστατώνουν
-Κίνα: ξεκαθάρισμα δημοφιλών υποψηφίων προς το Συνέδριο του Νοέμβρη
-Η ζωγραφιά του Νετανιάχου και απρόβλεπτες ιστορικές στιγμές στην έδρα του ΟΗΕ

Και στη δεύτερη ώρα:
-ΧΡΟΝΟΛΟΓΙΟ: Η γέννηση της σημερινής Κίνας και ο λόγος του Ρούζβελτ στο Σικάγο
-Εκλογές ΗΠΑ: αξιόπιστα γκάλοπ με κούπες του καφέ ( και άλλες ανορθόδοξες μεθόδους)
- Η Εβδομάδα Απαγορευμένων Βιβλίων και οι Ναζί του Άϊνταχο: απαγορεύσεις εκφράσεων συνέχεια
-Το μέλλον σε σπίτια-σπιρτόκουτα και αυτικίνητα χωρίς οδηγό
-Οι δύο Μόνα Λιζες και ο κλεμμένος Ρενουάρ
-Αστυνομικοί ...τυροκομιστές

Τα Υπ’Όψιν εδώ:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1KU27prGcwUZ2swU3o4U0o1UG8/edit

για ενημέρωση , συζήτηση και πολλή μουσική!

Download the September 30 Ta Yp' Opsin podcast

http://taypopsin.blogspot.com/2012/09/download-september-30-ta-yp-opsin.html?m=1

Download the September 30 Ta Yp' Opsin podcast

The September 30 Ta Yp' Opsin (Consider These) news roundup podcast (in Greek) available for download:

First Hour:
- First presidential debate expectations

- Early voting and battleground states

- Another difficult week / month for Greece

-“lists” of alleged Greek corruption

- Memorable props at the UN

- Leadership transition in China

Plus, in the Second Hour:

- Unscientific election predictions

- Banned Books Week and Idaho’s Neo-Nazi problem

- Driverless car and tiniest apartments

- Two Mona Lisas and a stolen Renoir

- Seat belts for dogs and the cheese bandits

Download here:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1KU27prGcwUZ2swU3o4U0o1UG8/edit

Ta Yp’Opsin (Consider These) weekly podcast with Greek Chicago journalists Elena Spilioti and George Zorbas. Discussion, analysis and great music!

Austerity madness

In a column for the New York Times, Paul Krugman called Europe’s Austerity Madness. He argues: "Much commentary suggests that the citizens of Spain and Greece are just delaying the inevitable, protesting against sacrifices that must, in fact, be made. But the truth is that the protesters are right. More austerity serves no useful purpose; the truly irrational players here are the allegedly serious politicians and officials demanding ever more pain."

http://mobile.nytimes.com/art/977836/28?sub=Columnist

Austerity not the best way out

The Guardian has a fascinating analysis by Trevor Greetham, director of Asset Allocation at Fidelity Worldwide Investment, who remains convinced that fiscal austerity is the wrong path to solve Europe’s debt problems.
Comparing Spain to the UK and US, Greetham makes the case that the US has been the clear winner so far with its anti-austerity, loose money path – a path only open to Spain if stronger euro nations are willing to make substantial commitments to preserve the euro.
He says, "I’ve always opposed austerity as the solution to the global debt crisis and the strictures of the common currency make it particularly ill-suited to the euro periphery. Efforts to deflate Spain into competitiveness raise the prospect of many years of wage cuts and property price falls that will necessitate ever larger fiscal transfers from the stronger countries, either directly or via pan-euro institutions like the central bank.Five years into the worst financial crisis in generations we are starting to see how effective various policies have been. Spain, the UK and the US offer three interesting test cases, each dealing with the after effects of a real estate bust in different ways:·
Spain = austerity with tight money (austerity, no devaluation, no quantitative easing, market interest rates too high)
UK = austerity but with loose money (austerity, currency devaluation, quantitative easing)
US = no austerity with loose money (no austerity, stable currency, quantitative easing)
Activity in both the UK and Spain remains well below its pre-crisis level – suggesting the benefits of the UK printing its own currency may not be as great as might be supposed. It appears to be the lack of austerity in the US that is the distinguishing aspect of a successful policy mix.
"In my view the least painful approach to reducing the burden of private sector debt is a period of higher than usual inflation – one underpinned by rising wage levels rather than tax and energy price increases. An effective quantitative monetary policy plays a key role in raising inflation expectations. Back-end loaded fiscal reforms to reduce state spending are important but they can come into place once a sustainable recovery in growth is under way. The so-called ‘fiscal cliff’ is the first serious test of the US desire to maintain what I see as a winning policy. Most likely the political parties will see sense and spread tax rises and spending cuts over a period of years.
"As for Spain, a future in the euro will rely on the willingness for partners to finance budget deficits that should be allowed to remain in place for a period of years and the willingness for core countries to accept higher levels of inflation so Spain can regain competitiveness without nominal wage and price cuts that endanger its ability to repay its debts."