Could This Start-Up Save the Greek Economy

Week Long Start-up – Contribute to Crisis Worn Greek Economy

A week long start-up fast-track program had been started recently in London for the purpose of locating ways which would make some contribution to the crisis worn Greek economy. In 2012, the Greek government had the largest sovereign debt default in history and on June 30 2015, it became the first developed country to fail in making an IMF loan repayment while at that time, Greece’s government had debts amounting to €323bn.

Six short listed companies would now be working with mentors as well as investors which includes Steve Vranakis, Google executive together with George Kartakis of PayPal owned Braintree in refining their views prior to competing in a Dragons Den-style event.

The idea includes a chemical formula in order to protect historical sites from illustrations, a scheme of recycling unused hotel toiletries, a Mastiha liqueur importer, an online education manager a digital diary for the purpose of booking civil weddings as well as an internet shop for products that are handmade by the Greek businesses.

The accelerator program which is run in partnership with Watershed Entrepreneurs is planned by Greek expats as well as others who have a social and an economic impact in Greece.

The Brain Drain-Lost Generation-Lose Contact

Co-founder Effie Kyrtata, a 25 year old Athenian who had moved to London seven years back has stated that `as they are based in London, they are tapping into the dispersion, the global community who are connected with Greece.

He adds that they have seen a lot of people leaving Greece to go to other countries – the brain drain, the lost generation and lose contact with Greece and that he wants to create a bridge between Greece and the UK’. Reload Greece, has helped entrepreneurs to raise £1m in funding over the past 18 months which generally runs mentorship schemes that tend to run for several months, however was prompted to do the strong accelerator as a reaction to the recent economic improvements in Greece.

Kyrtata has stated that this is our effort to do something fast due to the great need that exists. They are aiming to activate the community which resides abroad in making an immediate impact now and what can be done that will help the Greek economy straight away by using the youth and the people who have left’.

Six Start-ups – Refining Business Plans/Coordinate/Interact

The six start-ups that had been selected from more than thirty applications from the UK as well as Europe would be refining their business plans, coordinate with successful entrepreneurs and interact with expert mentors prior to pitching to a panel of investors. The winner is said to receive five free business coaching sessions from Eudaimonia Coaching.

However, Reload Greece is hoping that all the participants would be able to make their contributions to the Greek economy by developing jobs and boosting businesses. Moreover, the non-profit organisation also perceives its task as much more than financial. Kyrtata has commented that they desire to change the perception which the world has created about Greece by showcasing young as well as successful entrepreneurs who could make a difference and that there is a crisis and it is essential to be motivated to create new things’.

China Economic Transformation Painful and Treacherous

China’s Economic Changeover – `Painful & Treacherous’

China’s changeover from an economy which is greatly dependent on manufacturing is a painful and treacherous one. China’s economic reformation has entered its most critical phase and authorities should deepen improvements in significant areas, eliminate barriers and restore the framework. Various challenges and tough times will be faced ahead.

This would create rare investment opportunities together with volatility and fluctuations and investors need to be positive and alert, looking for options to profit from the changes. China’s Premier Li Keqiang answered queries during a meeting on September 2, 2015, with foreign company executives at the World Economic Forum – WEF, in China’s port city Dalian and stated that China should embrace its global obligations with regards to combating climate change and that the country was already under huge pressure to meet emission reduction goals.

He admitted that the country is on track in achieving its target this year. He had informed the audience at the event that it was difficult to achieve 7% growth domestic product – GDP growth as China has targeted in 2015. However the nation’s new growth drivers as it tends to move from factories to a broader, service based economy would speedily tend to take shape.

Leaders Not Influenced by Short-Term Fluctuations

Li added that the Chinese economy has a bright future to what is known as the Summer Davos saying that `this is not unrealistic optimism’. Li further commented that China would be continuing in reforming its markets which included adopting an open and transparent capital market and relax restrictions on capital flow in the country.

He adds that over 10,000 new businesses are being registered in China each day and `sharing economy’ have been making new ways in creating growth.As the changeover takes place, leaders of China would not be influenced by short-term fluctuation in the economy, according to Li, who describes the company as shock-resistant and resilient.

His message reverberated to a statement which had been made by Finance Minister, Lou Jiwei earlier at the G-20 meeting in Ankara, Turkey wherein he had informed that China was not focused on monthly data. The position is at add with some of the economists who believe that what data is available from China, indicate that the world’s second largest economy is probably heading for a recession.

Risk of Falling into Deflation

Recession is usually demarcated as two successive quarters of a contraction in GDP. The influential Citigroup chief economists and a former member of the Bank of England’s interest rate-setting committee, Willem Buiter, have cautioned in a note that `there is a high and rising likelihood of a Chinese, EM – emerging market and global recession scenario playing out’.

Later on he also informed CNBC that the official data which had been provided by China was `largely meaningless’ and as per Citi’s own model, the economy of China had increased by 4 percent in 2014 and not at 7.3 percent since the number was studied down, by China earlier in the week.

The data that was released recently indicated that consumer inflation had accelerated in August when producers’ prices had fallen deeper into deflation. The CPI – China’s consumer price index increased to 2% in August from the previous year against expectations for a 1.8% increase from Reuter’s poll, following July’s gain of 1.6%. Chief China economist, Li-Gang Liu, at ANX stated that `as PPI remains negative for over three years, China is still facing the risk of falling into deflation’.

The Economic Crash and The Future of Dollar

The death of a currency is essentially a political thing. It may be decided in the cold, as in the old currencies of the euro area. It can also - and often does - disappear because the company no longer operates legally. While it may be pessimistic about the future of the United States, but only Cassandra argue that this country is on the verge of collapse. So the dollar will survive even as the U.S. economy recovers, the federal government has ever borrowed so cheap and instead of inflation, deflation is more threatening, thereby increasing Americans even more attractive for their money. Certainly, the greenback could get by in his corner, but losing its prerogatives international. However not forget that more than a store of value is the motto franca of global trade, one in which most prices are rank, and transactions are settled. Neither the renminbi still inconvertible nor faltering euro area can play this role today and even tomorrow. This will be a fortiori not the case of a basket type SDR, an instrument that can be used for transactions, no one ever knowing which component of the basket used. As proof, the ECU was not only becoming euro currency. All proposals to reform the international monetary system based on such a cart so that saliva are lost. Unless of course, like the European Monetary Union, we created a world central bank issuing, say, bancors, as Keynes had proposed at Bretton Woods in 1944, an idea that nobody is going to seriously defend after disappointments that one size fits all policy of the ECB has brought.