"Greece One Year On"

The Financial Times carries a lengthy but balanced analysis of the Greek economy in today's print edition (May 2, 2011).  You can go straight to the online article by googling "Greece: Hard to hold the line".

Written by Ralph Atkins and Kerin Hope, two disconcerting passages stand out:

"Beyond Greece, fears are intensifying that the socialist government of George Papandreou...will fail to modernise the country's sclerotic economy or even bring it close to rivalling European peers."

They quote a Greek business leader joking that "The best thing that could happen would be to put the administration of Greece in the hands of Brussels or Berlin."

Will the newly announced privatisation programme and a good tourist season help to save the situation?

What Mr Papandreou had to say. (Athens News)

This Spiegel article is causing a storm

Is it true that the Mayor of Thessaloniki has announced that he has ordered a monument in memory of Osama Bin Laden?  Probably a spoof.

It certainly seems unlikely. Maybe the blogger picked up this item.