Greece Has A Government Now, So Everything's All Right, Right?

Starving Greeks queue for food in their thousands as debt-wracked country finally forms a coalition government... but how long will it last?  Samaras will be hurtling into a massive political shitstorm, no matter what he tries or ultimately does.  No action will please a majority of Greeks.  And there already quite a few who are super pissed off and riot-y.  There will be no honeymoon period.    Congratulations again, Mr. Prime Minister, on your "victory."  Daily Mail.  Excerpts:

Starving Greeks queued around the block for free food handouts yesterday as the country's politicians managed to end a crippling stalemate to form a coalition government.

Young children as well as the elderly waited in line in Athens to collect the parcels of fruit and vegetables donated by farmers from Crete to help ease the devastating austerity faced by many Greeks.
But as hungry people collected food, a few miles away a new conservative-led alliance was formed, vowing to renegotiate the country's strict European bailout in a bid to breath economic life back into the debt-stricken country. 

Don't forget, Merkel has already stated she Will Not Re-Negotiate any terms of Greece's bailout.  It's all theater on Samaras' part;  Greece's harsh realization in three..  Two..

Conservative Antonis Samaras was sworn in as prime minister and head of a three-party coalition that will uphold the country's international bailout commitments.

In the hot seat: New Prime Minister Antonis Samaras vowed to rescue Greece's economy as he spoke for the first time after being sworn in to office at the presidential palace


The move ends a protracted political crisis that had cast grave doubt over the country's future in Europe's joint currency and threatened to plunge Europe deeper into a financial crisis with global repercussions.
Samaras, an American-educated 61-year-old economist, was sworn in three days after his party won the second national elections in six weeks but without enough votes to form a government on its own.


His New Democracy party will join forces with the socialist PASOK party, which came in third place, and the smaller Democratic Left led by Fotis Kouvelis.
Discussions on the lineup of ministers were expected to be completed by Wednesday night.
‘I will ask the new government that will be formed tomorrow to work hard so that we can offer tangible hope to our people,’ Samaras told reporters as he left the presidential mansion.
Greek stocks rose marginally in response to the news, with Athens shares closing up 0.5 percent, limiting earlier gains.
The new prime minister was to meet with outgoing Finance Minister Giorgos Zanias, PASOK head Evangelos Venizelos and Kouvelis on Wednesday evening.
All three parties broadly back Greece's pledges to bailout creditors for further austerity and reforms, although they have pledged to renegotiate some of the terms for the rescue loans.

Again, Merkel and the rest of Germany will not budge.  The Greeks will only bring back bad news.  How long will this coalition last? 

Could Germany Implode From The Eurozone Crisis?

I'll say it again:  Germany's economy is in a bit more trouble than anyone will publicly admit.  Quite a bit.  German industrial output drops more than expected  US News And World Report.  Excerpts:

Industrial production in Germany dropped by an unexpectedly sharp 2.2 percent in April compared with the previous month, official data showed Wednesday, sending a downbeat signal about the economy's ability to shrug aside the eurozone debt crisis.


The decline was led by a 3.6 decrease in production of capital goods such as factory machinery and a 3.7 percent fall in production of consumer goods, the Economy Ministry said.

The drop followed a 2.2 percent month-on-month gain in March — a figure that was revised sharply downward from the initial reading of 2.8 percent

The Economy Ministry said that industrial production remains "very robust." It said one factor in the decline was the fact that April 30, the day before the May Day holiday, fell on a Monday — meaning that many people took the extra day off.


Carsten Brzeski, an economist at ING in Brussels, took a less rosy view.

"The German economy's immunity against the eurozone sovereign debt crisis is clearly fading away," he said, pointing also to shrinking order books and a recent drop in business confidence.

"Even if it will not fall, the eurozone's last stronghold is faltering," Brzeski added. "For the time being, it is a stabilization at a high level. However, latest data clearly indicate that Germany is not an economic island."

Economic attention will refocus to Spain, Greece, and Italy, but I bet there's been a 1000 percent increase in heated, secret meetings happening all over Corporate and Financial Germany right now..  They know they're in trouble, and I'm sure some of them know just how much trouble that is. 

Spain's calling for money Saturday.  What will Germany ask for in return?  Do they really think they'll see that money again?