next one. good afternoon and welcome to capital account i'm lauren lyster here in washington d.c. these are headlines for may seventh two thousand and twelve with headlines focused on the french presidential win of friends wall law and the defeat of nicolas sarkozy and does the a no mention of mirco z's union will tell you why greece may be more deserving of post-election attention as far as a possible breakup is concerned and we have seen greece as the capital of anger over austerity with protests on the streets for two years now but what happens when that anger translates to the ballot box and is that what we're seeing will speak to journalist matina status from athens about it and history's this one as it reportedly is becoming the focus of ben bernanke you said we'll talk about why

let's get to today's capital account. this weekend we saw elections in france and in greece now although the former resulted in the ousting of nicolas sarkozy who has been at the helm of france and the beginning of the economic crisis the latter is arguably more important it is as it is shaken the foundation of e.u. and i.m.f. led reforms in the deficit countries greece has really been the poster child for the eurozone crisis its economy has contract to significantly since the onset of the crisis miring it in a deep depression that is resulted in untold hardship for

a great mass of the people it's resulted in violent riots and intense anxiety about the future of the country now the party that has presided over the country from the onset of this economic and social depression has been pushed stuck whose leadership has chosen to negotiate with the country's creditors the i.m.f. and the e.u. rather than unilaterally default and exit the single currency union that is the euro now this has become an increasingly unpopular stance in greece as the terms of both bailouts negotiated with its creditors have widely been seen as detrimental to the country's economic and political future deflating the domestic economy and replacing the country's former prime minister with a technocrat and former central banker now throughout this entire process the country's leaders have avoided calls for new elections amidst popular anger directed increasingly at the three hundred members of greek parliament and in

particular the two largest political parties to suck and new democracy now without access to the ballot box many greeks have increasingly turned to the streets to protest and now famous footage like you see there the results of which led to this footage that have shocked much of europe much of the world burned buildings violent riots even suicide sunday's election with. in this sense less about the electorate's vision for the future and more about the un corking of a cocktail of severe frustration anger and anxiety about that very same future that is becoming more unclear with every kind of tear gas and smoke poured into the country's streets so what happened to the two main political parties in charge of the country during the crisis in the first election since the economic crisis began in late two thousand and nine take a look and two thousand nine the two main parties got seventy seven percent of the

public's vote on sunday they got just over thirty two percent not even half meanwhile ideological fringe parties on the right and left gained a larger percentage of the vote than they have ever before one in particular the neo nazi party golden dawn has garnered enough of the vote to seat twenty one of its own members in parliament for the first time there's a video that's been circulating in some western media of a golden dawn press conference take a look. good. fun. so it shows an organizer shouting at journalists to stand up for the party leader and if they don't want to they need to leave obviously it's got a an authoritarian kind of bent on it so it's conjuring the question of if the rise of this kind of a movement is a threat this comes of course to amidst the rise of nationalist movements and

a number of euro zone countries now it seems that the only thing that is not clear in greece after these elections is what sort of government if any can form from such a disparate group of parties that now all have seats in parliament but none of which has a clear mandate from the people the only common message it seems as the greek people are fed up with the status quo with the policies of the past and are prepared to jettison their traditional allegiance to the main major parties that have govern the country since the fall of the junta for decades ago now the parties that have received the most support will have to try to put together a coalition to govern if a governing coalition cannot be formed a caretaker government must be put in place and the country will hold elections again all of this is taking place amidst a much larger financial crisis that has some banks now raising this sector of the greek exit from the euro zone and all that this entails for the monetary union and

the economic and policy future of the eurozone so i spoke to matina status she is a journalist with dow jones newswires and also the wall street journal she's also a european economy and crisis analyst i asked her what sort of coalition can come out of these results or if it's practically impossible for one to form take a listen. well absolutely and that's the question everyone is asking in this town the problem here is that there's too much bad blood these parties are so weak in new democracy and socialist pasok and really with a massive round of a stereotype measures coming up in june who would like to be in government and that's a fair question there is an expectation that there will be elections very soon as soon some say as june tanned and let's talk about that one thousand what happens if the country does go to elections and the results come out and again make it impossible to form

a coalition is this at all similar in your view to look greece experience during the sixty's when ill of inability to form a stable government pave the way for the military junta. well of course repeat elections inability to form government very weak governments are called governments falling apart do not bode well neither for the greek economy the greek society or indeed greece's position in the market and its potential to go back to that market and at some point it's something that everyone is watching very closely but what's happening here i think is a merger of the political system and a punishment of the political system by voters it was never going to be pretty but we have seen over the last two years a real collapse of so much here living standards things that were held true and things that were held sacred no longer are so with these things out of the picture and very the blame but very squarely on those two big parties it was not such it so

shocking that they were punished at the polls i think that we were shocked because no one really expected them to do polls so badly. of the political scene came faster and in a more dramatic way than people might have anticipated. but the situation here is this if the left or the right indeed can find a way to talk to each other or among each other and start coming together and consolidating their support we may see. especially on the left of the spectrum we really have what one might call balkanization there it is really for of if these guys can sit around the table and say look we are actually supported by a very strong word in the group of relation we can actually govern this place maybe then we will move toward stability let me ask you this before we do get

a little more in-depth into the results which you say were more of an upset and more of a punishment than even anticipated for anyone who's sitting here wondering why did the elections in one tiny country matter to me matter to the euro zone matter to the global economy what would you say what's your case. i think it would we ignore greece at our own peril we saw that the eurozone debt crisis which is the world the financial the not only financial markets but policy and taxpayers and how they leave their lives for the last two years that started right here it's nothing to be proud of but it's the truth and it has really dominated the agenda and the news agenda for two years and we have seen it's a fact far across the world so from greece to the u.s. and the talk about cutting deficit there countries that's come under increasing pressure to become more fiscally responsible and sustainable and that concerned the

big upset in the agenda started here on a more european level the reason why greece is so important to watch is because it's part of the common currency is part of the euro zone if something bad happens to greece for example of greece's bit of bread. thrown out of the euro or is a great deal of the greek government decides that it's no longer and its interest remain in the common currency that is. a black box and we don't know what we are not sure we could not we can't exactly predict what that would mean for their remaining of the euro zone economies and along those lines a lot of uncertainty with these results one of the interesting things was that parties outside of the mainstream which you talked about saw a more significant increase in their support even than expected sixty percent of the votes going to what could be considered fringe left and right wing parties that

have campaigned against the austerity program so my question to you to what extent do you see this as a vote against the terms of greece's bailouts versus a vote against say greece being in the euro zone anymore because some have a tendency to conflate the two. right well that's a very good question because i think the two have been disconnected here we won the euro but we don't. know all the and all the other ugly things that go with it so greece and greeks remain massively pro euro they do want the euro they don't want to go back to the drama on the other hand not only here looking at home but also looking to portugal to arlon even to spain and italy they see economies shrinking because they think of a it's not just the serried it's a it's a much more complicated financial issue. but the fact remains that they just they don't one old their response of those responsibilities and until the

agenda on the stereotype of changes and perhaps greece is given a little more time to cut its deficit or more emphasis is given the growth announcing policies they will continue to be against by and large but in favor of staying in the euro as for the extreme parties they really are. benefited from firmly standing against the program but among themselves they are very different as you say they range from the far right the very far right to the very far left yeah let's get a little more in-depth on those the further left party series party for example before the election elections you're writing they could come in third place with more than ten percent of the vote the party came in second place with close to seventeen percent of the vote that's more than three times the support they saw in two thousand and nine where they came in fifth place why do you think their support has grown so much. well i think syria is really the one to watch here

not only has it managed to keep together a space in the political spectrum that's notoriously fragmented. essentially an umbrella party that contains various groups some are indeed far left and communist others are what we would call in europe or in the united states progressive they're very liberal in terms of social rights pro-immigration pro gay rights and they are essentially left wing on economic policy and series has managed to get that kind of often a kind of crowd that's at odds with an internally divided get it together and keep it together and its leader alexis tsipras has been instrumental in that he started in the party as a leader in two thousand and eight and since then he has just grown out and really now is coming into his own as

a political leader he is the youngest and that really helps he's just thirty seven going on thirty eight he is fresh faced and he people fall for him people believe so with a very compelling and message and agenda that is socially socially progressive. someone to sell that agenda small wonder really this series is doing so well especially as the two main parties are collapsing. now he's also the one we've learned that will be trying to negotiate a coalition as the conservative party has reportedly failed we will have more with journalist matina status about that after the break also still ahead what happens when you take corporate money out of the u.s. political process and what happens when you lead an unlimited amount of luggage in a look at the d.n.c. and president obama's reelection campaign to compare after the break but first your closing market numbers.

a new.

so as i said before the break parties are trying to negotiate a coalition in greece after these elections on sunday news has come out that the greek conservative leader says he's unable to form a government so now the second place party the left coalition syriza will try to do that led by a leader who you will be very interested to see what he campaigned on listen to matina step as a journalist with dow jones newswires and the wall street journal european economy and crisis analyst when i asked her about it. you wrote a piece about the party's leader alexis tsipras then it was interesting he was quoted some of his quote saying that greece was becoming a protectorate a colony under the tough measures that had been subjected to that he said it's not our choice to leave the euro but the sacrifices made by the greek people are not for the euro they're for the all of garc the plutocrats the big capital this sentiment that the sacrifices the greeks have made through austerity through budget

reforms in order to meet the terms of bailouts are to benefit not greece but the countries creditors the big banks how widespread is that view in greek society. i think that message really resonates with the greeks because frankly when they're going through so much pain it's a lot easier to convince them that it's not their fold than to explain to them that it hardly is and when we say their fault of course is not just every individual citizen as we say could have governments it's a complex problem but exactly because see it as being able to sell that message and sell a very well he's been extremely successful in getting more attention getting more votes getting a lot of support from socialist party which used to theoretically represent the people of the working class the lower middle class and was in favor of wealth redistribution as a track to hold over these people for that very reason that is

a really catchy message in a really bad time for the greek people that said if you one day isn't government comes to power and forms a government we don't really know if you'll be singing the same chew because it's actually different to be saying these when you're a minor opposition party let's remember you've got a point six percent in two thousand and nine and it's very different to be saying that in the room so i'm going to marry go somewhere in brussels it's a great point you make along the lines of the parties that have garnered more support for the first time the neo nazi party the golden dawn one enough of the. popular vote at seven percent to have seats in parliament i thought a quote from someone who voted from them a former backer of. mass protest professor had an interesting thing to say you said he voted for them because he lost his job he said i can't feed my family i have nothing else to lose the only power i have is my vote and i will give it again to those who say no to this madness all i can think of is revenge against the

politicians who destroyed my life and millions of others have you found this to be a popular sentiment among voters who have voted for more of the fringe parties. well i mean yes in a way of course the support that we've seen for fringe parties is because of a protest vote a punishment vote and a vote there really shows as a watershed election and the really marks the end of the era between the end of the now and the beginning of a new one however it should be noted that people who voted for the golden dawn party are a little further to the to be extreme than others and while a lot of people will have voted for them out of despair you're very right to point the issue of despair because of unemployment we see immigrants for example and specifically immigrants or illegal immigrants being the world over when unemployment goes up it's the immigrants who are taking our jobs well frankly i'm

sure the illegal immigrants who hardly make enough to survive here are not taking white or blue color green jobs but that's a different matter. the despair vote. golden dawn because of these conditions but it's also being very macho again punishing the for the right wing parties so if we were going to draw an analogy we're going to draw a parallel with the rise of say it is our or the communist party to the left wing. i don't think it would be fair to compare. it is at the golden dawn outsold because it is there remains a kind of leftist party whereas golden dawn is very much out on the fringe of the spectrum. so it is our god votes for a working class people who are mainly looking to punish new democracy but also pasok. and how the regional politics of these countries within the euro zone affect this broader quote unquote solution to the eurozone crisis we will have to

see but that was matina status breaking down the internal functioning and what's been going on with greek politics she's a journalist with dow jones newswires and the wall street journal. are let's wrap up with loose change let's talk about the us dimitri and shannon what do you think because we often cover everything that ben bernanke says and we know that following the f o m c meeting and april proprietors were all trying to figure out if when how what would substantiate ben bernanke he pull in the bell and saying let's do more q.

we asking if he was being too cautious bernanke he said very diplomatically the fed could step in should the unemployment rate or inflation call for it well obviously take a listen. but if appropriate depending also on assessment of the costs and risks of additional policy actions we remain entirely prepared to take additional. actions if necessary to achieve our objectives. so that's the very diplomatic ben bernanke the but is there new things new issues coming onto the radar that could who knows substantiate more actions be used to substantiate this monetary policy of zero percent interest rates maybe i don't know apparently higher unemployment that goes on for a very long period of time that turns into permanent unemployment is called history says and it's reportedly on ben bernanke he's fed radar now is this going to be the next excuse justification to do more would should

be on his radar because a big problem because you affectively ghettoizing the country you're creating a structural class of people that don't have any stake in the economy but unfortunately ben bernanke is still doesn't seem to understand that his entire phillips curve model doesn't work that the feds the feds put the interest rates on the zero it's gone above and beyond that twisting the curve expanding its balance sheet pumping fresh credit to the economy and that hasn't done anything that hasn't helped the situation they'll argue it's prevented from getting worse and i'll do more of the wrong thing if they do get concerned about what that employment becoming permanent what the economy needs to do it is to find a way to to move to a sustainable growth not to try and prevent unemployment or keep unemployment down by easing the money one thing that's interesting is that burning he says we're not there yet. we talk a lot about the central banker contrary an index does that mean that we are there

that this is structural long term unemployment there's no question that we're there and i think that in that situation if the bernanke understands that we're there i think in this case it's simply a p.r. spin you know cases i think he's clearly a complicated why do people understand they will use it to justify whatever we want to do meanwhile the two thousand and twelve democratic national convention is scheduled for north carolina in september here is a little promo of it with a laser mayor urging democrats to make their voices heard. in september charlotte will walk and thousands of delegates from across the country to our convention you could be one of them. or maybe not because reportedly they are having a hard time raising enough money to have a convention because they have barred corporations and lobbyists from donating so is this what happens when you take that kind of money out of the political process and you no longer have one although i mean the convention is so this is pretty amusing right does this gleam and this is something that's there always and we just

sort of used to put its little stories like this i think percolate to the surface in a way that we can kind of digest and not simply over look at so much of a role and money play and this money is money by very powerful interests and those interests of the comprise to dictate regulation and the laws in the structure of the economy to suit them which doesn't necessarily suit in most cases does not at all suit entrepreneurs independent business people just the individual and the society yeah i know shannon you want to add anything i just think it's really funny you say bart all of this all this money but charlotte is technically the wall street sells that's interesting i didn't know that i did so but it's also a big i am looking for i want to help their economy as far as regulation and things like that are concerned they have anyway that's a separate issue entirely and on the flipside of that this is the first year that since nixon that neither candidate for president will accept public financing

because it's more profitable for them they can raise a lot more money if they just take it from corporations big donors raise it on their own for obama but only as you have obama spending twenty five million dollars i believe last month alone on advertising remember obama had actually promised or have hinted at taking public financing if he were to get the nomination in two thousand and eight and he got back he did acknowledge that because he was like wow i'm going to do that i'll his money now or my stupid i'll just take the financing from these large banks wall street was the biggest he was abused financed more than anyone else by wall street two thousand and eight l. not this time around are given to him. i mean but same trying to wise they're saying no thank you to public money we can raise more from big money that's all we have time for that thank you so much for tuning in don't forget to follow me on twitter at lauren lyster and give us feedback on the show at youtube dot com slash capital account and from everyone here thank you so much for watching come back tomorrow and have

a great night. the

top stories on all sea of lies even pretend made by put on the president at sixty eight tell him the coming of the russian president to be sworn in for a friend playing also you know curation he signed it to solicit some of his promise to work for them straight government a process sometimes. such a fun song on the importance of a french presidency making equinox like receiving the agency's new leader to crumble under the weight of the going on more of these media next president promises to fines against german lettuce terracing writers for the himself. understory seem to moderate our rights to proponents human rights activists want to lead figures of the country's uprising that comes just days before his interview with the world's most notorious whistleblower lawsuit don't miss the truth and as such is a promotional program the truth.