Explaining the Greek Debt Crisis and What It Means for the Eurozone

New York Times
By LIZ ALDERMAN
Published April 8, 2015

Updated: June 28

Greece, the weak link in the eurozone, is inching closer to defaulting on its debt. The country has been in a long standoff with its European creditors on the terms of a multibillion-dollar bailout. If the country goes bankrupt or decides to leave the 19-nation eurozone, the situation could create instability in the region and reverberate around the globe.

A statue of the goddess Athena in Athens. Greece is struggling to avert bankruptcy.Credit

Aris Messinis/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

What’s the latest?

The European Central Bank said on Sunday that it would not expand the emergency loan program that has been propping up Greek banks in recent weeks. But at the same time, the bank did not cut off support entirely, giving the Greek government some extra flexibility in the coming days

Chapter 4: The MIER Years Episode 3: Policy Waltz is NOW OUT!!

Read it HERE

The view of Mt. Cook from the lounge of the Hermitage Hotel set in the plain of the glacier valley of the famous New Zealand mountain was tourist-poster perfect.  It was early summer in the second year of MIER’s establishment, and I was a guest of the New Zealand government under its ASEAN visiting fellows programme, to acquaint myself with policy research in that country’s economic reform plans. 

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RMK11 – MERANCANG UNTUK GAGAL

Darah Tuah Blog

Written by Datuk Akbar Ali, Former Senator

7 June 2015

A forgotten and broken promise?:

“A fair distribution must encompass the whole spectrum of measuring wealth such as equity ownership, other financial and non-financial assets, and access to wealth creating opportunities such as long term concessions and contracts. Even in measuring ownership, it should go beyond equity to include other properties, such as retail, landed properties, comercial buildings, intelectual property and other services as well as managerial positions” – Janji YAB Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib pada 30 Mac 2010 semasa melancarkan MBE.

Pengenalan

1. Sebelum saya pergi jauh, eloklah saya menarik perhatian kepada pengakuan ikhlas YAB DS Najib bahawa era kerajaan tahu semua telah berakhir. Justeru terimalah pujian, teguran dan syor saya ini mengenai RMK11 dengan berlapang dada dan seterusnya baikilah dokumen penting tersebut demi faedah kita bersama (https://darahtuah.wordpress.com/2015/05/21/rmk11-jangan-harapkan-miracles-jurang-akan-melebar%e2%80%8f/).

2. Diakui bahawa sebahagian besar kejayaan negara kita adalah kerana adanya perancangan yang dipandu oleh Rancangan Pembangunan 5 Tahun yang berturutan dari RM Pertama hinggalah ke RMK11 ini. Tidak perlulah saya mengulangi angka-angka yang telah disebut oleh YAB PM, seperti tahap daya saing yang mengukuh, untuk menyokong hakikat negara kita telah berjaya.

3. Pada masa yang sama, bermacam data telah dipaparkan dalam RMK11 untuk membuktikan kejayaan tersebut. Ia merangkumi kedua-kedua bidang ekonomi – ekonomi modal dan ekonomi rakyat.

4. Cukuplah sekadar saya merujuk kepada Human Development Index (HDI ) yang meletakkan Malaysia di kalangan High Human Development countries dan kini kita berada di tangga ke 62 di antara 187 buah negara. Tahniah kepada kerajaan di atas kejayaan tersebut dan khasnya kepada EPU berhubung penyediaan Rancangan ini.

5. Selain daripada Rancangan Pembangunan Lima Tahun ini kita juga mempunyai rancangan-rancangan besar yang lain seperti dalam bidang pendidikan, pembangunan belia dan industri.

6. Kita juga mempunyai dasar-dasar utama seperti Hanruh, Dasar Pertanian Negara dan Dasar Automotif Negara, selain Model Baru Ekonomi.

Dasar Induk

7. Walaupun banyak dasar dirangka, malangnya kita masih tidak merangka Dasar Induk (Mother Policy)seperti yang terdapat di Switzerland. Switzerland mempunyai dasar induk yang dipanggil Total Security.

8. Dasar induk inilah yang menjadi penentu dan pengikat semua dasar dan program kerajaan yang lain secara coherent agar ianya inter connected atau adanya vertical and horizontal integration. Yang demikian, semua dasar dan program kerajaan yang dirangka mestilah menjurus ke arah turut menyokong kejayaan Total Security tersebut demi survival dan keselamatan negara berkenaan.

9. Di negara kita juga terdapat raison detre mengenai keperluan mewujudkan dasar induk negara, terutama berhubung pemeliharaan perpaduan dan keamanan kerana hubungan antara kaum di Malaysia amatlahfragile, polarisasi kaum semakin ketara dan suhu perkauman terus meningkat. Dengan dasar yang tegas dan consistent ini maka bolehlah perpaduan dan keamanan itu dipelihara.

10. Sebaliknya, kerana ketiadaan dasar induk itulah maka kita lihat dasar dan program kita sering berubah-ubah dan juga dilihat sering berkontradiksi. Hal sedemikian itu boleh meletakkan para pelaksana dasar dalam keadaan yang kelam kabut dan membuat rakyat pula marah. Seterusnya boleh hilang keyakinan rakyat terhadap kerajaan. Contoh yang jelas ialah kontroversi ekoran hasrat YAB Perdana Menteri hendak memansuhkan Akta Hasutan 1948 dan kemudian menubuhkan pula MKPN (NUCC).

11. Buat kesekian kalinya saya mengesyorkan (pernah saya syorkan di Dewan Negara) agar kerajaan menggubal Dasar Induk Negara. Contohnya Perpaduan Nasional.

RMK11 – Tiada Political Will

Time to move Beyond Bumiputera Agenda, says Saifuddin

The Malaysian Insider
BY ANISAH SHUKRY
Published: 30 May 2015 5:24 PM

Former Umno supreme council member Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah
believes it is time to move beyond polices that target
favour the Bumiputera.
The Malaysian Insider file pic, May 30, 2015.

Putrajaya should not have included a Bumiputera agenda in the 11th Malaysia plan (11MP), given that poverty and income inequality is no longer defined by race, says former Umno supreme council member Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah.

Saifuddin, who is also the Global Movement of Moderates CEO, today said he hoped the plan would look beyond race and focus on boosting the wealth of all Malaysians, as recommended by the Malaysia Human Development Report 2013.

“Today, the main issue with regards to inequality is no longer interethnic inequality but intra-ethnic inequality. I was hoping the 11th Malaysian plan would continue with that discourse,” Saifuddin told a conference organised by Harmony Malaysia in Petaling Jaya.

“That’s why I am saddened that we still have the Bumiputera agenda in the 11MP. I thought the 11MP would be the first ever plan where we do not address race-based policies and look at it purely as needs-based policies.”

He said that if Putrajaya addressed poverty through needs-based policies, all races could benefit from it including the Bumiputera.

Saifuddin added that Malaysians needed to seriously discuss a timeline for the country to stop focusing on Bumiputera policies and privileges.

“The problem is that people think this is a sensitive matter that cannot be discussed, and if you discuss it you risk being charged under the Sedition Act. But we should discuss this,” said Saifuddin

The Malaysia Human Development Report 2013 found that since 1970, inequality between ethnic groups has decreased and contributes only about 4% to Malaysia’s overall inequality in 2009.

In terms of relative poverty, it noted that the rate among the Malays was 19.1%, followed closely by the Chinese at 17.9% in 2012.

Intra-ethnic inequality, however, has risen, contributing to 95% of total income inequalities among Malaysian households, according to the report commissioned and published by the United Nations Development Programme.

Through the 11MP, the federal government outlined five strategies to enhance Bumiputera Economic Community to increase wealth ownership.

The plan detailed how the government would empower Bumiputera human capital and enlarge Bumiputera wealth ownership share.

However, Malay rights group Perkasa has complained that the five-year development blueprint sidelined the Bumiputera agenda, because only 5% of the 389-page document mentioned the Bumiputera economic strategy.

Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali said on Thursday Putrajaya should reevaluate the 11MP, as its focus on the Malay Bumiputera position was “not very obvious”.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak launched the 11MP on May 21 as the final lap to thrust the country into developed status by 2020. – May 30, 2015.

Chapter 4: The MIER Years Episode 2: A Bright Outlook is OUT NOW!

Read it HERE

The first National Outlook Conference (NOC) was set for the first Tuesday of December of 1986, for two days.  Following a structure that was retained for every subsequent annual national outlook conference held by the Institute, the inaugural 1986 NOC was planned as the official launch of MIER.  After the opening speeches, by the chairman of the Board of Trustees, and Tun Daim the Minister of Finance as the guest of honour, the first session in the morning would cover the world and regional economic forecasts and followed by the main feature, the MIER economic forecast for Malaysia for the following year, in this case for 1987.

Read More HERE