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This research paper looks into the data behind debt relief and its correlation with infant mortality. Many studies were conducted in countries that were deep in debt, infant mortality was also very high in these countries. The researches found that when these countries received debt relief, the infant mortality rate goes down by ~0.5%.

In Tokyo the IMF called on the US and Europe to try and resolve their debt crisis. The IMF believes that debt in richer western countries is actually bad for developing countries and damages the world economy as a whole. It is also mentioned that Asia is the most dynamic region right now economically and that with the west falling behind Asia can't be expected to pull the economy. This addresses the debt crisis in all of the west not just greece and spain.

Very interesting article, Jasper, why would "The IMF believes that debt in richer western countries is actually bad for developing countries and damages the world economy as a whole?" I hope we get to discuss this in class

As EU tension around debt problems mounts, many political parties in Germany, including Merkel's advocate amending the Masstricht and Lisbon treaties to give the EU more power to punish those who disobey rules regarding deficit and debt. 

This article was incredible informative about the current major areas that are sucking up a lot of Japan's spending like social benefits and military spending. But it also gives a detailed outline on how Japan aims to combat their debt but I'm unsure if these predictions are too optimistic?

It's interesting to see how Japan's government is interacting with the market in an attempt to create a flow of money that will ease its deficit. The fact that they raised their sales tax is very interesting when we consider how Japan entered its recession in 1997 because the government raised the national consumption tax to 5% from. Has Japan learned its lesson and will it enter another recession again as a result of their new tax hike?

It is cool to see precisely which sectors are consuming the larger portions of Japan's budget through data. I also liked how Japan thought about balance their budget.

The Japanese economy was stagnant from 2002 to 2012. In 2012 Shinzo Abe became Prime Minister, and Haruhiko Kuroda was appointed as the new governor of the Bank of Japan. Abe and Kuroda came in trying to increase inflation from -0.3 percent to 2.0 percent because Japan has seen slow deflation in the 10 years between 2002 and 2012. Questions about the ability of a central bank to increase inflation without increasing national debt, or will money just be pumped into the economy and push the debt crisis further along. Abe and Kuroda hope that the weakened yen will improve Japan's company competitiveness by lowering the cost structure for companies allowing them to produce cheaper products to be consumed in the market. Japan hopes that slowly the price of goods will increase at about 2% a year and hope to see the debt to GDP ratio decrease.

very cool infographics on the effect of the recession on EU nations

This article/graphic poses an interesting but subliminal question about the future of the European Union, or t least its fiscal stability. Started as the unifier of Europe, the EU rests on shaky ground; lacking a powerful central authority with which it can enforce its rules, the ability for the EU to maintain itself is through the combined cooperation of European nations. This article points out that these countries have "failed to follow their own [economic] laws," with "Greece as the biggest offender." If the trend continues towards a disrespect for the EU's laws by the member countries, there could be far more Greece-like economic situations in Europe, it seems, thus jeopardizing the future of the organization.

I love graphic representations of Information! Nice find, Curtis! As a point of comparison, The United States has a national debt of 8.68 trillion. In the U.S., this is 60.8 percent of the American GDP. Source: www.visualeconomics.com › All Infographics

Greece has been making structural reforms to try to address their debt, but Europe is also making them impose high taxes and cut social spending which is not helping to ease the problems. Hopefully, Greece will move towards liberalization of labor markets, cost-efficient public services, and more uniform taxes.

The Greek economic crisis is so difficult to overcome because of the Greek business habits of short hours and a culture of not paying taxes. To pay for these bailouts, the contemporary Greek culture must be revised, something that is incredibly difficult. Though the Greeks have agreed to higher taxes, it certainly does not mean that the majority of the people has changed. The strain that the Greeks are putting on Europe and the strain that Europe is putting on Greece hopefully will not produce cracks.

This article talks about one way that Greece could "get out" of the Euro - convert back to the old currency, the drachma. Like Argentina did in 2002 in the midst of its massive financial crisis, converting to the old currency would decrease the value of Greece's currency, but it would absolve it of its debts to other Euro nations.

This may have worked in Argentina, but with the complex interlinkage of Greek debt to the already overstrained European banking system (http://www.economist.com/node/21532294), it could cause a contagion-like effect, provoking a double-dip recession.

This article explains why Chancellor Angela Merkel is in no hurry to fix the Euro crisis.

This, in conjunction with the article I just posted, seems to support the view that the Chancellor is attempting to use her government's short term ability to fix this problem to gain leverage for a larger, more overarching change to the EU. Like Brady said, she's trying to instill patience and austerity instead of rushing.

The chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel seems to be making a good move. Sadly, people will hate her for it. I support her though, because I believe that encouraging hyperinflation might make people feel better temporarily; however, it will only give companies more money without giving them the time to learn from their mistakes and make better financial decisions. Later, Europe may suffer even greater issues with debt. Yet, not doing anything either seems wrong. I'm sure she could do something.

I used this article to get a better understanding of the fall of the eurozone. This article made an argument to state that the majority of the debt throughout the eurozone is the result of private companies taking out loans that they couldn't pay off. This article also made it clear that Germany is in a position to manipulate this situation because they are the only state within the Eurozone not facing such overwhelming private and government debt.

Currently, Shinzo Abe is the most popular prime minister to date and Liberal Democratic Party leads a coalition which has the majority of the Diet's lower house, but he is in talks to dissolve the lower house and have a snap election. Abe promised to end the heavy deflation that has plagued the Japanese economy since the 90's, but since he has come in, the sales tax has increased from 5%-8% and is threatening to rise to 10%, to make up for the deflation of prices. Unfortunately, right now, the way the lower house is set up, postponing this tax increase would cost Abe the support of big businesses and senior bureaucrats. The governor of the Japanese National Bank, Haruhiko Kuroda, believes that raising the tax only stands to help Japan ease its national debt which currently stands at 240% of the GDP. Kuroda fears that if the tax is postponed, Abe will lose credibility with the people, since he promised he would work to fix the Japanese debt problem. Sadly, though Abe promised to bring growth to the economy and mandate his ways to serious economic structural reforms, the majority of his ideas are still sitting soundly in square 1, even with support from the leading coalition in the Japanese Parliament. The only lucky part about this for Abe is that the opposition parties are facing scandals and are not ready for a snap election, so Abe could gain the support he needs to get his ideas moving in the right direction.

Much of Japan's reputation abroad is still heavily impacted by its actions pre- and post-WWII. China and South Korea are still at odds with Japan because they believe Japanese school books overlook the heinous crimes committed by the Japanese military during WWII. Yet, many other countries grew dependent on Japan following WWII. Following WWII and Japan's adoption of a more democratic constitution, it quickly gained some respect as a global aid donor and its booming car and technology industries made it a source of capital and credit for countries all over. Japan was able to make such a quick leap to the top following WWII thanks to the market bubble it could find in the U.S.; Japan maintained this productivity through its traditional social and employment hierarchies that have lead many people to work the same job their entire life. However, Japan's economic growth began to go in the opposite direction in 1990's with growing debt that multiple governments have failed to curtail. Currently, the population of Japan is rapidly aging, but the few young who are around are pushing for more Westernization and the Japanese government is even attempting to find a solution for its debt; not to mention, the Japanese government has made movements to amend the constitution to gain more military power in recent years.

As the article mentions, the Kurds are considered the largest ethnic group without a homeland. For the Kurds to finally get their own country would be momentous for them, but many external forces are opposing the vote for secession. Considering the fragility of the Middle East right now, I am very intrigued by this vote in Iraq and what the repercussions could be. 

What seems to be long awaited independence for the Kurds from Iraq after Saddam Hussein's atrocities is in trouble because of external worries. Many countries fear a split in Iraq could result in a civil war. In addition, the independent Kurdish state is 20 billion dollars in debt. However, a referendum similar to Brexit will be held soon. The result will not be recognized by the capital Baghdad.

I wonder what the discussion of the rise of other oil states has been like in the context of negotiations for the creation of an independent Kurdish state with Kurkuk's oil resources. Especially with the large number of other new governments formed that grew to power with stakes in the oil industry but ended with large amounts of corruption and class divide, I'm curious to know how the Kurds that have been involved in negotiations plan to avoid these pitfalls.

I was surprised by how measured this article was and how much I agreed with the analysis expressed in it, given that it was written by Pat Buchanan, whose views I find reprehensible. He offers a smart and historically conscious analysis of the political moves Obama is making right now, moves he believes might allow the president to create a Democratic coalition that will outlast his tenure. Buchanan says that Obama presented the Fiscal Cliff negotiations in such a way as to divide the Republicans and make them look bad whatever they did, and that he has engineered similarly divisive and damaging strategies for the upcoming fights over the Chuck Hagel nomination, gun control, and the debt ceiling.

"https://youtu.be/YoIJPwfsbqg" useful excerpt on the IMF loans from two perspectives.

BERLIN - The top leaders of Germany and Italy plan to meet Wednesday as part of an intense round of shuttle diplomacy before several critical decisions that face Europe. The region's leaders are struggling to appease voters questioning the price of unity in the euro currency union after three years of financial turmoil.

I find European economics very fascinating, personally. Germany has been saving much of the Euro economy for three years since the economic crash began, but is not facing its own fiscal issues. In addition, the article discusses the actions of Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti, who has been frantically attending meetings and important "coffees" with other European heads of states to prevent their country's growing national debt--already at 123% GDP!!!

What are Germany's own economic issues? It has seemed like the bulwark of Europe for the last five years! Are there things that are being ignored, e.g. migrant labor, cost of universal health insurance and old age pensions? Is Angela Merkel still popular? Who might succeed her? What are her party's politics?