Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras says his country is facing economic upheaval like that of the devastating U.S. Great Depression of the 1930s.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is putting pressure on Greece. They will accept from next Wednesday for the time being no more Greek government bonds as collateral in its refinancing operations, said the central bank on Friday. This means that Greek banks can not borrow in their home country at the ECB deposit, borrow money at her.

Any general warfare between the United States and Russia, then, as still today, would be a warfare approaching a virtual extermination among the contending forces, and, perhaps, even the human species as such. The relevant experimental demonstration of that thought has not yet been made, and, hopefully, never will be.

The recent effort for a virtual renaissance for Glass-Steagall, has now surged, somewhat abruptly, into a narrow, but marginally regained, leading role for those in both the United Kingdom and the U.S.A. who are now privileged to have become manifestly sensible of the present policy requirements for the survival of civilization. Rather than continuing to gamble on the outcome of civilization under what have been recent policies, mankind must begin to respond to the fact that that galaxy, which our Solar system inhabits, is currently entering a long wave of change, a change in effects to which leading currents in mankind must now prepare themselves to respond.

Ms. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), made the following statement today on the decision by the Eurogroup to provide up to €100 billion in financial assistance to Spain to strengthen its financial institutions:

The World Bank Board of Executive Directors today approved a US$ 60 million Competitiveness and Growth Development Policy Operation (CG DPO) for Georgia, the first in a series of credits to support competitiveness and inclusive growth. The proposed DPO series is a central component of the World Bank’s Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) in Georgia for 2010-13.

Maize and soybean prices set new records as drought continues to spread across the American Midwest. Higher food prices are expected to follow, and the U.S. meat industry will be especially hard hit.

Global private banking giant HSBC has admitted that lax vigilance made it vulnerable to money laundering by Mexican drug cartels, as well as transactions involving Iran that are banned under U.S. law. HSBC managers pledged to do better in testimony before a Senate investigative committee.

The deputy chairperson of the African Union Commission says the continental body seeks to encourage intra-Africa trade among its members to enhance Africa’s worldwide competitiveness.