austerity measures

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After 10 Days of Protests, Ecuador Axes Austerity Plan

'We did it!' protesters shouted

(Newser) - Ecuador's President Lenín Moreno and indigenous leaders celebrated a deal struck late Sunday to cancel a disputed austerity package and end nearly two weeks of protests that have paralyzed the economy and left seven dead. Under the agreement, Moreno will withdraw the International Monetary Fund-backed package known as...

Dear DC: 7.6% Unemployment Is Not OK
Dear DC: 7.6% Unemployment Is Not OK
OPINION
Jun 10, 2013 11:18 AM CDT

Dear DC: 7.6% Unemployment Is Not OK

Paul Krugman thinks everyone's dropping the ball on employment

(Newser) - Once upon a time, back before the financial crisis, Americans had certain expectations for their economy. "Normal, back then, meant an economy adding a million or more jobs a year," and an unemployment rate "not much above 5%," recalls Paul Krugman at the New York Times...

Conservatives' Favorite Debt Study Revealed as Fake

But Alex Pareene doubts they'll change their tune

(Newser) - For years, conservatives have been crowing about a study from Harvard economists Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff showing that countries with a debt-to-GDP ratio of more than 90% usually have negative GDP growth. It's been used to justify austerity pushes around the globe. But Reinhart and Rogoff have always...

Protests Topple Gov't in 'Bulgarian Spring'

PM quits after protests against high power prices

(Newser) - Nationwide protests against austerity measures and soaring electricity prices have brought about a "Bulgarian Spring." Prime Minister Boiko Borisov says his government is resigning after 25 people were injured in clashes between protesters and police, Reuters reports. "I will not participate in a government under which police...

Protesters Storm Greek Conference, Throw Coffee

They were angry over presence of German officials

(Newser) - Dozens of anti-austerity protesters broke into a conference center in northern Greece and clashed with police today to demonstrate against the presence of a German government official. The protesting municipal workers pushed and threw coffee on a German consul in Thessaloniki, Wolfgang Hoelsche-Obermaier, who arrived to attend a conference of...

Greek Parliament OKs Austerity Budget

But Europe still hasn't settled on aid package

(Newser) - Following the tight passage of an austerity package last week, Greece's parliament has approved a 2013 austerity budget. The budget, part of a plan to receive further foreign financing, passed by a margin of 167 to 128, the New York Times reports. It cuts salaries, pensions, and benefits by...

To Dodge Ticket Tax, Theater Sells Admission Carrots

Spanish media dub it the 'Carrot Rebellion'

(Newser) - When new austerity measures in Spain bumped the tax on theater tickets to 21% over the summer, Quim Marcé figured his theater in the small town of Bescanó would go under. Then he had an idea: Why not sell carrots, plentiful in the farmland that surrounds the village, instead of...

Austerity Ekes Out Victory in Greece

Eurozone decision follows huge protests

(Newser) - In a 153 to 128 vote, Greek's three-party coalition government barely passed some $22 billion worth of new austerity measures in an effort to remain in the eurozone. Eighteen MPs voted "present" on the plan, with another abstaining. The vote on the measures, which include pension cuts and...

Thousands of Students Protest Across Italy

They oppose PM Mario Monti's austerity measures

(Newser) - Thousands of angry students protested government austerity measures across Italy today and injured up to six policemen in Rome, hitting them with stones while hiding behind homemade shields, Reuters reports. The students also tried rushing a Rome police van but were driven back by batons. Other protests against the policies...

Greece Reaches 'Basic Agreement' on Austerity

Decision follows yesterday's giant protests

(Newser) - The heads of the three parties in Greece's governing coalition have reached a "basic agreement" on an austerity package for 2013-2014, the country's finance minister says. The cuts are essential if Greece is to continue receiving funds from international emergency loans. The meeting between Prime Minister Antonis...

Protesters, Cops Clash as Greek Protests Turn Ugly

Marchers are angry over austerity cuts

(Newser) - Between 50,000 and 70,000 raging Greeks took to the streets today, trading gas bombs and chunks of concrete with police tear gas and pepper spray as demonstrations amid a 24-hour nationwide strike turned violent, reports the AP . Demonstrators marched on the nation's parliament to protest austerity measures...

Huge March in Spain Protests Austerity Cuts

Thousands gather near Parliament

(Newser) - Protesters in Spain enraged with austerity cutbacks and tax hikes clashed with police near Parliament today. More than 1,000 riot police blocked off access to the Parliament building in the heart of Madrid, forcing most protesters to crowd nearby avenues and shutting down traffic at the height of the...

Eurozone Wants Greeks to Work 6 Days a Week

Demand likely to draw yet more resistance to austerity measures

(Newser) - If Greece's eurozone creditors have their way, a lot of people may be coming in to work on Sundays. In a leaked letter sent to Athens last week, the European Commission, European Central Bank, and IMF demanded that Greece "increase flexibility of work schedules" by allowing employers in...

Greece Caves, Agrees to Full Austerity

Under creditor threats, Athens to find $1.8B more in cuts

(Newser) - Greece blinked today: In a showdown with creditors, the crisis-wracked country agreed to find the final $1.85 billion needed to reach the $14.2 billion in cuts required to get desperately needed aid money in September, reports Reuters . Greece had been asking for more time, but fed-up German and...

Euro Crisis Rocking Global Corporations

Weak economy plus austerity equals 'vicious circle,' says economist

(Newser) - As the EU economic crisis spirals ever downward , corporations are in fact looking increasingly like people, blaming the continent's troubles for their plummeting earnings, reports the Wall Street Journal . And with increasing austerity programs kicking in across Europe in 2013, analysts think money is just getting tighter. "We...

Spain Rolls Out Painful New Austerity Measures

Taxes raised, benefits cut

(Newser) - Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy today announced tough new austerity measures that will reduce the country's budget deficit by $80 billion over the next two and a half years. Spain has been having a tough time meeting agreed-upon deficit targets, the New York Times reports, but yesterday eurozone finance...

Greek Gunmen Drive Van Into Microsoft HQ

Latest in series of attacks on symbols of power in Greece

(Newser) - If idle hands are the devil's hands, Greece is finding out the hard way: Gunmen this morning stormed Microsoft's Athens headquarters, ramming the building with a gasoline-laden van before setting fire to it. The attack injured no one, but heavily damaged the building's first floor and shut...

Greek Euro Exit May Cost $1T
 Greek Euro Exit May Cost $1T 
May 17, 2012 7:44 AM CDT

Greek Euro Exit May Cost $1T

Tsipras tells Germany to stop demanding austerity

(Newser) - Europe has hundreds of billions of reasons to try to keep Greece from unceremoniously ditching the eurozone. If Greece leaves, the rest of Europe would face catastrophic losses, Reuters reports. Greece would default on the roughly $250 billion in debt held by the ECB, IMF, and other eurozone nations, and...

Brown's Plan for California: 4-Day Workweek

Budget deficit forcing painful austerity plan

(Newser) - California Gov. Jerry Brown unveiled a painful slate of budget cuts yesterday, including shifting all state employees to a four-day, 38-hour workweek, in an effort to reduce the state's yawning $15.7 billion budget gap . The plan also includes cuts to courts, health services, and welfare in what Brown...

France Swears In Hollande
 France Swears In Hollande 
May 15, 2012 5:56 AM CDT

France Swears In Hollande

Nicolas Sarkozy has left the building

(Newser) - France today installed Socialist Francois Hollande as its new president for the next five years, replacing conservative Nicolas Sarkozy with a mandate to ease up on the austerity measures with which Europe has fought its economic crisis. Hollande, the first Socialist to have access to France's nuke codes in...

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