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>> this is "bbc newsnight." >> funding for this presentation is made possible by -- the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to understand the industry you operate in. working to nuture new ventures and help provide capital for key, strategic decisions. we offer expertise and tailored solutions in a wide range of industries. what can we do for you? >> and now "bbc newsnight." >> this week, the syrian a

cease-fire looks increasingly untenable. we report on how the peaceful protesters have been sidelined amid the growing violence. greece gets an interim prime minister. is it and the euro project on the brink? >> the perception within reach. it would take a decade. quake.hina's age why are they encouraging women to conceive more? it was supposed to signal the end of the violence, syria's internationally brokered cease-

fire is in tatters after a month of violations by both sides. in a rare interview, president assad has claimed that the opposition is made up of mercenaries and al qaeda members. it is easy to forget that this began with a peaceful protests. they are at the threat of being drowned out by the escalating violence. "to the old city of damascus, syria has always been the same for the kindness of its people. -- >> the old city of damascus. syria has always been famed for the kindness of its people. the syrians are so beautiful, the juice-sellers sing. it is what makes the current violence so shocking. it is easy to forget that it began as a peaceful protest.

>> welcome to damascus. [laughter] >> those voices are still there. last month, the -- stood alone outside of parliament holding a banner "stop the killing." the authorities detained her. her act of bravery speaks to something much bigger. she is now called the woman in the red dress. the main thing is that it sends a message to everyone that they can make a change, no matter how small, it started as a scream of anger, but its bread widely. we all want to stop the killing and to build a syria for all syrians. >> how much hope do you have that this will be resolved peacefully? >> i hope is not something as --

is not something abstract. when we try to open dialogue to build bridges, we have hope. we look for hope, day in, day out. >> shortly after we met her, she was detained again. everywhere i go, regime supporters talk to me about the need to save syria. the government has unleashed a new campaign are arresting intellectuals and activists. this is as is everyone is a threat. footage sent by citizen activists are an effort to show what they say is still a one- sided war. leyla is one of them. she was recently released from detention and believes that only peaceful solutions will work. >> some people say that syria is

in the midst of a civil war. >> no, it is not. it is the regime versus the people. >> the regime versus the people, what percentage of the people are peaceful protesters? >> a very large percentage. the estimates of the free syrian army is like, thousands, maybe tens of thousands. there are hundreds of thousands of activists and people on the ground. i know that weapons are louder and there are more attractive for news, but most of the people are peaceful. >> there are moderates on the other side too who speak of gradual change. with deadly explosion, there is fear grows, the country has remained in fear.

>> we have three news correspondents. >> this man has government approval to setup approval for a new television channel. he says it will try to tell a different story. >> we do not think that there should be foreign intervention. this is coming from either tribe. we want a political solution that is based on the right of every citizen and a bird to express their views. >> his own worry now is security. >> people feel that syria is not the same anymore. this is the main concern. it will be the security of the country, the future of the state. >> to preserve itself, the state does not want to disturb the present border. they want to keep things the way they are, changing as little as

possible. for all of the top of the reform, the political space is not opening. last year, president assad invited this man to take part in political dialogue. today, he showed me pictures of his two sons arrested last week. he has had no news except others detained with them said they had been tortured. >> it is not easy to lose two members of your family, and it is not just my children. the whole country is in agony. my personal pain is the country's pain. >> it has been 14 months, and every month that passes, there are more guns, more explosions, and voices like yours calling for peaceful protest are getting

drowned out, getting smaller and. >> of violence only leads to violence, blood only leads to blood. when you see the amount of violence by the regime so far, we have not seen a proportionate reaction by protesters. when your sons, brothers, sisters are not killed, you cannot blame people that take up arms. only angels would refrain. >> and no one would like to lose what is good about this country, so many hope that can be done. after some much violence, views are hardening. the maximum on one side is not even the minimum of the other. if they do not reach a middle ground, everyone stands to lose. >> this week, europe's agony

continued with the greeks and able to form a government. france and germany are on a collision course over growth and austerity. the governor of the bank of england says that he thought that the euro area was tearing itself apart without any obvious solution. that is not the sort of talk that they like in germany. this week, the german deputy prime manse minister has been in london. -- the german deputy finance minister has been in london. >> do you think that there will be 17 members of the euro? >> yes. >> you cannot be 100% certain? >> what will be a reality in one year is not only by chance but by political will. the engagement of the european union and central bank was to get greece back on track and it will go on. that means that we require a

stable government in greece. without this, regaining competitiveness and stability. >> when the governor says that the eurozone is telling itself apart, he is just wrong. >> we are a free country. everyone is free to misjudge the political will of the european union. i think that he is misjudging the activities of the heads of state. this would achieve quite a case of stability. we have achieved the private sector involvement. now we have some challenges because of unstable governments situations but i'm expecting as a result of the election that there will be a pro european government that is committed to the memorandum of understanding. >> when david cameron says that the eurozone has to decide whether to make up for a break up, he says there is a decision. >> this is quite clear that we

made its decision two years ago, make up. >> so, he has misread it? >> no, when we started with solidarity towards greece, in exchange, we asked the greek people to get that contract, to reform the country, to stabilize the budget, to make structural reform, to come back on the growth path. this is what we are doing for the last two years >> -- >> the people have to decide whether they want to be inside of 0 or outside of the euro. have they decided to be both? >> if you are participating in a common currency, you have to fulfill the obligations. >> you must have contemplated greece's inability to maintain their place within the euro. >> what they are talking about

is wrong. it would take a decade. our program is not based on weeks, but in years, to support greece, and to regain the political movement towards more competitiveness. >> they cannot stay in the euro and rejected the austerity package, can they? >> you are right. >> they seem to think that they can. >> i don't think that they think that. they are disappointed with their government, that is quite clear. what they are facing is not the result of the european integration, it is the result of the lack of reforms over the last decade. >> for germany, the euro is working but it is not working for the rest of europe and you know this. >> i disagree with your judgment. this is a win-win situation for both participants. those that gained more solidarity and those that invest in solidarity.

>> if they say that the price of staying in the euro is too great, they are free to leave, aren't they? >> technically, not, but we cannot keep them if they don't want. >> you must have thought about that. >> if you look on the polls, the majority of the greek people who want to stay within the euro. my answer, if you want to participate, i think that they are big. you should change because of politics. >> plenty of people not just increase, but in france as well that there might be an alternative to austerity. is there? >> of course there is an alternative. the alternative is not only calling for catastrophe but enhancing the chances, take the time they need. on the other hand, we have to keep them on track. greece is a very complicated

situation, politically, socially, economically. do you actually think that arguing that this will lead to a catastrophe is any help to improve the situation? >> i am not trying to help anyone, i'm just asking you if you thought about it. what do you think it would be like? >> i think it is worse than the situation we have now. >> what about the philosophical alternative that francois hollande proposes and france? do you think that there is an alternative to austerity? >> i would not use the word austerity. this is mainly misunderstood. we see that the growth strategies have to be based on fiscal conditions that gain trust from the markets. so, growth and consolidation, i would call it, for one side called economic stability. >> so whatever francois hollande

says, germany will not change his position? >> of course germany will develop its position. we had a very good meeting between chancellor merkel and francois hollande. we are not renegotiating the fiscal compact because the conditions have to be stable. we take up the ideas, european heads of state including david cameron are organizing since autumn of last year to refocus the debate back from crisis on to growth strategies. >> thank you very much. >> unlike the eurozone, china continues to enjoy something of an economic boom. in the space of a single generation, the size of the chinese economy has overtaken most of those in western europe. there also set to overtake europe and another key area banks to longer life expectancy and plummeting birth rates.

their population is getting older. -- they are also set to overtake europe in another area, thanks to longer life expectancy and plummeting birth rates. >> this is one of the fastest 18 places on earth. in shanghai, there are more than twice as many old people than there are young. -- this is one of the fastest aging places on earth. the one child policy has accelerated the decline in the birthrate. where shanghaied leads, china follows. break neck economic growth has been accompanied by astonishing aging of the population. china is growing old at a rate unprecedented in human history. this could bring the country's march out of poverty to an end.

>> this woman spent her working life in a small factory. her husband was a tailor. they had been married for 53 years. now, she has alzheimer's. every day, he bathes her, dresses her, then brings her here for lunch. he says it is hardest when she does not know who he is. >> before she got sick, she was full of life. she loved the opera. now, she does not know what is going on. her mind is gone. life has become difficult. i must take care of her. anyone in my position would do the same. >> this is all of the help that the state can provide. the basic welfare system does exist in china but it is many years behind anything in the west. 10 million care workers are needed.

so far, only 100,000 have been trained. providing for the elderly will create a massive drain on china's future wealth. >> they are not prepared with a pension system. people worry, what would be the case? >> traditionally in chinese families, this did not used to be a problem. the elderly workout for at home. -- were cared for at home. there's not enough of the younger generation to take care of the old. this is one of the new private care homes in the city for those that can afford it. this man has been here since he

had a stroke. his daughter wishes that she could care for him at home. but, she says, she needs to go out to work. she herself has only one child. she worries about who will look after her when her time comes. by the year 2015, one-third of the chinese population will be over 60. that is 150 million people. this has been caused by the one child program. it has forced down the numbers of young people just when they are needed most. china's economic model is in

danger. a lack of young work is is already slowing down the economy having too few young people is a serious threat in itself. -- a lack of young workers is already slowing down the economy. having too few young people is a serious threat in itself. they could be seriously undermined. all of this means that china's one child policy is beginning to loosen and shanghai's in the vanguard. young women are no longer instructed in contraception or abortion but in fertility and how to conceive more successfully. in chinese terms, this is something of a revolution. >> we hope that people will follow the revelations -- the

recommendations and have a second child. if you are an only child and you marry someone else who was also an only child, you have always been allowed to have two children. now, we are trying to encourage everyone to do so. >> many chinese people are not listening. the majority in shanghai still choose to have one child. they believe their children's life chances are better, that they themselves are richer and small families. in fact, some academics think that their future lies in a smaller population, increasing the birthrate is a matter of buying time amid a vast social change. one thing that they don't have this time. this man says that as long as he has the strength, he will always care for his wife. he says, if she was put in a

care home, he would be apart from her. at least this way, they can be together. >> there is nothing more that we can do now, at least we have the past. all we can hope for is that hamas progresses slowly and that we can both enjoy what little time we have left. -- all we can hope for is that her illness progresses slowly. >> they are aging at a rate that few societies have ever witnessed. they will have to find a way to pay for the costs without the economic wealth supplied by young people. there is a special phrase for why they worry, china, they say, might become too old to get rich. >> if you understand the complexity how -- lost his

company, jpmorgan, then you are doing better than jpmorgan when the problem was going on under their nose. after similar issues at other institutions, why are these situations still going on? we have seen this happen we fill time and time again. why does this happen? do they turn their back on it? do they not understand it? >> i think all three. the first is primarily incompetence. they do not seem to know what they're talking about. we have known since 1998 that this is not work. we had the tragedy of long term

capital management, the firm that went bust because they were relying on these tools. they kept using the same method. in 2007, we discovered that these metrics don't work. >> looking at this example. this is a very complicated derivative system but broadly, this man was trying to balance the risk. he was trying to make it impossible to lose. why would that go wrong? >> this is based on a big illusion, the fact that we understand the risk. this is a business they should not be in. this is too complicated for them. we have known that this business is too complicated for wall street. they should get out of that business. jpmorgan should concentrate on lending money to farmers, whatever.

that is the business they should be in. they should not be using my money to play in something that is too dangerous and too complicated for them they have about 10 times or 15 times the risk of a regular hedge fund. >> are you saying that they should be more regulated or be allowed to go bust when it goes wrong? >> both of them. i am against the centralized government and regulation. i was a derivatives trader for 20 years. what i want is the following, i once again in the game. people that make money, they should get a bonus if they make money. people should be harmed when they have the down side. hedge funds have that. the risks that are to risks, the gambling, they should be borne by the hedge funds.

the banks, we are bailing them out because they are utilities. why don't we treated them like utilities? >> to do you think that the banks should not have been bailed out at all at that point knowing what we know? >> two things should have been done, the first one, we did not bailout lehman and we saw the effect. then came citibank. we should have then bailed them out on the condition, explain to them that we don't want to nationalize you but the fact is that you are owned by the taxpayer. you are no longer a free entity. >> can you convince any politicians to say that? >> the politicians don't have the courage to face lobbies but the public is convinced that we don't have the information. >> that is all for this week. from all of us, goodbye.

>> funding for this presentation is made possible by -- the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, and union bank. >> at union bank, our use their expertise in global finance to guide you through the opportunities of international global finance. we put our standard global finance to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses, to major corporations. what can we do for you? >>