European leaders add to rising fears of breakup

AS WE have all read repeatedly since it became clear that Greeks would be voting again in June, Greece and the euro zone are engaged in a game of chicken. Greece's left-wing Syriza has been intimating that Greece has nothing to lose from exit and can therefore force the euro-zone core into accommodating its demands. Core euro-area leaders, by contrast, argue that they aren't about to give ground to Greece and that if Greek voters want to push themselves out of the single currency that is fine by them.

By Carlos X. Alexandre:cThe recent threat that Greece would be left out in the cold with respect to additional funds was an attempt to get the Greek government to change its mind on the referendum, as reported by Reuters.

ATHENS, Greece — A helicopter swooped down on a prison courtyard Sunday as armed men on board fired on guards and lowered a rope to help a convicted killer make his fourth attempt to escape from a Greek prison. But the plot was foiled after the prisoner was shot and the chopper forced to land in the prison’s parking lot. The dramatic escape attempt was one of a handful involving helicopters in Greece, and the first time such plans have failed.

Shortly after Dutch finance minister, said "We want no further delays" came news of further delays. The reason: Greek political parties all refuse to go along with more austerity measures. Please consider Greece’s leaders oppose new austerity measures

A commenter named JTapp recently sent me a post entitled “The Fed’s Dangerous Game,” which expresses a bunch of widely held views that I think are completely off base.  In this and the next post I will criticize some of those views: The Fed has a dual mandate: to promote full employment and low inflation.