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The Cabinet of German Chancellor Angela Merkel approved legislation yesterday that would give Greece eleven billion dollars as part of a larger European Union bailout. The aid, which still requires passage in parliament, was mandated after the International Monetary Fund and EU member governments agreed on Sunday to make $145 billion dollars in loans to the country over the course of the next three years. The Greek government, hit hard by the effects of an economic recession, in turn agreed to a number of severe austerity measures. Ensnared in an ongoing debt crisis, Greece is expected to make steep cuts in state spending, slashing thirty-eight billion dollars from its budget over the next three years. The coming decreases in pay for public sector employees, frozen pensions and increased taxes have already sparked demonstrations on the streets of Athens. On May Day, thousands of protesters, including the ranks of Greece’s labor movement, lashed out against the proposed austerity measures as they marched to the parliament. Social resistance is expected to continue and intensify during the summer months when the effects of the changes will be first felt.

GUEST: Mary Bottari, director of the Center for Media and Democracy’s Real Economy Project

Find out more at www.banksterusa.org and www.baselinescenario.com.