Greece Teeters on the Brink — Again

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By Trey Thoelcke Published
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Europe’s economic problems will be pushed off of the front pages, at least while the East Coast braces for Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath. But the bailout of Greece is in real trouble. The coalition that runs Greece has begun to fall apart. Not all members agree to the nature of cuts in jobs and worker pay. And the International Monetary Fund and European Union have insisted on austerity measures that will make deep cuts necessary. The standoff could cost Greece its next aid payment and raises, for the umpteenth time, the possibility of default.

The bailout of Spain also has been rocked by disagreements about its size and the extent to which the nation will agree to enforcement of its budget by its neighbors. Efforts to get Spain to accept a massive aid package have gone nowhere in the past few days. According to Reuters:

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti meets Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Monday and while little is expected from the meeting, some expect Italy to keep pushing Spain to seek a bailout as it would lower borrowing costs for other peripheral euro zone countries.

Douglas A. McIntyre

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About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

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