Greece back on the Brink, IEA Projects US Oil Bonanza and a Betting on a Grand Fiscal Bargain!

This weekend Athens passed a new austerity budget for 2013 with public sector cuts and privatization measures. Greece's parliament passed the austerity budget hoping it would clear the way for the release of the next tranche of bailout money. However, Eurozone finance ministers are not expected to approve the funds today. These austerity votes have also meant the governing center coalition is losing members. We ask Yannis Palaiologos, a journalist in Athens, if Greece is on the verge of new elections all over again.


The Greek government predicts public debt will be 189 percent of GDP next year versus the 167 percent originally forecast. According to the IMF, it is unlikely Greece will meet its 2020 target of 120 percent debt-to-GDP, set by lenders last March. The debt projections have been revised upward partly because the Troika bailouts have added to the debt of the country, according to the Financial Times. We get a report from on-the-ground by Greek journalist, Yannis Paolialogos, about the sustainability of Greek debt, as the country creeps towards its sixth year of economic contraction.

Also, the International Energy Agency said the US is on track to become the world's top oil producer in 2017, and will be almost entirely energy self-sufficient by 2035. What does this mean for the energy outlook? We talk to Peter Tchir, founder of TF Market Advisors, about what the US's energy outlook means for the economy.

Plus, the value of global equities dropped a trillion dollars after Barack Obama's re-election, according to Bloomberg. Money managers and investors say the drop overlooks positive economic news and a likely deal on the Fiscal Cliff. We hear from Peter Tchir of TF Market Advisers about the impact of tax policy and the Fiscal Cliff on stocks and bonds. Source