Two Years After Resounding “No” Vote, Greece Still Says “Yes” To Austerity

Privatization, high taxes and the slashing of cherished public-sector salaries and pensions are the price Greece has paid for accepting the loans that have kept the country in the Eurozone. Its citizens are the ones now paying the price for the costly missteps made by its leaders.

Dr. Michael Nevradakis
By Dr. Michael Nevradakis
A homeless person changes clothes outside a bank in central Athens. Nearly one-in-four Greeks are unemployed and receive no benefits. Poverty rates have surged here since the start of the crisis in late 2009, with nearly 36 percent of the country living in financial distress. (AP/Thanassis Stavrakis)

ATHENS (Analysis)– It has become an increasingly common sight on Greek streets, even in formerly prosperous neighborhoods. Elderly—and sometimes not so elderly—individuals rummaging through rubbish bins in search of scraps of food to eat. Beggars are now practically a universal sighting in Athens and other large cities. More and more young

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How Greece Became A Guinea Pig For A Cashless And Controlled Society

As Greece moves closer to becoming a cashless society, it is clear that the country’s attitude towards cash is reckless and dangerous. The supposed convenience of switching to a cash-free system comes with a great deal of risk, including needless overreach by the state.

Dr. Michael Nevradakis
By Dr. Michael Nevradakis
A man makes a transaction at an automated teller machine (ATM) of a Piraeus Bank branch in Athens, Greece. (AP/Yorgos Karahalis)

ATHENS (Analysis)-- Day by day, we’re moving towards a brave new world where every transaction is tracked, every purchase is recorded, the habits and preferences of everyone noted and analyzed. What I am describing is the “cashless society,” where plastic and electronic money are king, while banknotes and coins are abolished. “Progress” is,

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Russia Preparing For Potential Removal From International Banking System

Global financial institutions like the World Bank and SWIFT can make or break the economies of entire nations due to their domination of the international banking system. Russia is making preparations in case they are ever barred from access to these institutions due to geopolitical influence from the West.

Whitney Webb
By Whitney Webb
Whether Russia’s aim in creating and implementing an alternative to SWIFT is based chiefly on protecting its own economy or not, the move further illustrates how the concentration of international power is steadily moving eastward.

MINNEAPOLIS-- In 2011, a Swiss study confirmed what many already knew or suspected: bankers run the world. The study, completed by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, found that “a large portion of control flows to a small tightly-knit core of financial institutions,” essentially forming a network of global corporate control. This

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Greece’s New Deal From European Lenders Delivers More Neoliberalism

Greece has entered into a new deal with European lenders that they claim will lift the country’s economy through the enactment of new reforms. However, the debt-ridden country will still have to meet tough fiscal targets for the next two years. Today, we’ll speak with a Greek economist who believes the deal will do little to help the country.

Dr. Michael Nevradakis
By Dr. Michael Nevradakis
Protesting tax office workers hang a banner from the finance ministry in Athens on Monday, March 20, 2017, that reads: "Reduction of tax free limit means new cuts to salaries and pensions. Stop Austerity." Greece's left-led government is in negotiations with bailout creditors on further budget cuts and reforms required for the release of a new rescue loan installment. (AP/Thanassis Stavrakis)

GREECE-- The Greek government recently reached a new agreement with the so-called “troika” of lenders—the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund—on new reforms that are slated to go into effect in 2019. The SYRIZA-led Greek government touted this agreement as a major success that signifies the end of

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Radical Groups Attempt To Bomb EU Targets As Greek Tragedy Worsens

As Greece faces yet another bailout, radical groups are responding with force. Their nation is set to surrender its little remaining wealth to EU creditors in exchange for even more debt and austerity in what may be the final stage of the nation’s nine-year-long debt crisis.

Whitney Webb
By Whitney Webb
Supporters of the communist-affiliated union PAME burn a EU flag during an anti-austerity rally in Athens, Wednesday, Mar. 1, 2017. (AP/Yorgos Karahalis)

ATHENS - Last week, major financial institutions in Europe were put on notice when letter bombs were sent to the International Monetary Fund and the office of Germany’s financial minister. Only one of those bombs exploded and injuries were minimal. But not-so-coincidentally, both of those bombs, as well as eight others that were intercepted just

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Venezuela Cash Reserves Reach New Low Amid U.S.- Led Sabotage

Years of efforts to destabilize and weaken Venezuela’s leftist government have taken their toll, with the South American nation now down to its last 10 billion dollars in cash reserves.

Whitney Webb
By Whitney Webb
A cleaning woman walks by replicas of Venezuela's currency bills, hung in a hallway at the Central bank office building in Caracas, Venezuela. (AP/Ariana Cubillos)

TEMUCO, CHILE -- Despite having the world’s largest oil reserves, Venezuela’s economy has struggled to stay afloat in recent years. The Venezuelan government, led by Nicolás Maduro, has been forced to take out loans from China and Russia to avoid an economic collapse. Unsurprisingly, Western media has continually blamed Venezuela’s economic

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