amy: yanis varoufakis, your response? >> well, look. if it were true that the greek economy was on the mend prior to election and it was on a sustainable path then my colleague would be right. unfortunately, it isn't. the debt deflationary crisis was continuing. nominal incomes continue to fall. the debt continues to rise. the banks could not function as credit providing institutions. investment was negative. and generally speaking, the greek economy was like a drug addict that relied on the next dose of loans from international and european creditors. what we try to do was to say to our creditors, partners in europe, into the whole world that this recipe was simply not working. and we took a very considered view and very principled position. we said, look, if we sign on the dotted line of this existing program -- imf-inspired program, then we will secure another $7 billion, another does if you want, and our addiction will continue. but at least we will have our ghost for a few more months. we didn't take that does. we did not sign on t

yanis varoufakis: the greek government always fulfills its obligation to all its lenders and that is what we will always continue to do. reporter: in february, greece and its lenders had agreed to extend the international bailout program by four months, but the creditors suspended the payment of the remaining 7.2 billion euros, demanding first concrete reform plans from athens. spain has begun to crawl out of its own economic tailspin, including its own eu multibillion-dollar bailout to prop up its banks. the spanish prime minister has a few words of advice for athens. rajoy: we have gradually built up our credibility. if you stand by your commitments, then it will start to pay off. reporter: for spain, the payoff is now apparent. the country's economy is now growing after years of stagnation. in march, the number of unemployed dropped by more than 60,000. brian: india has taken a step towards ending the rising told in human -- rising toll in human life from air pollution which has been tied to hundreds of thousands of deaths in that country every year. laila: the government says the

manus cranny is in paris with highlights of his excuses interview with greek finance minister yanis varoufakis. first, let's get right to the top stories we are following this thursday. a number of americans filing for on a plummet benefits is that a 15-year low. claims averaged 282,000 a week

intense comments directed at yanis varoufakis. it's breaking up shortly and we expect everyone to go to the cameras. for a sense of how frustrating finance ministers were have a look at what mr. dijsselbloem the your group president said. mr. dijsselbloem: it's a matter of urgency for the greek side to get the deal to make sure there is enough money available to keep the government running. hans: the expectation heading in is that we would not have a of progress. we've actually gone backwards. at the beginning, wolfgang schaeuble the german finance minister, he said what is everyone doing in riga? he encouraged us to go see the city. we had a blowup inside the meeting and we have to wait for what the market reaction is going to be. tom: varoufakis said to take hammering from frustrated eu ministers, we have seen this headline. brendan: this does seem to be of a different quality. i have a long-running bet with michael here that yanis varoufakis will still be finance minister of greece this summer michael believes he will not. who

thank you. >> yanis varoufakis there.director of the independent think tank good to see you. so yanis varoufakis there saying he's pleased with what's happened. christine lagarde saying she's pleased with what's happened. what actually happened? how much of a breakthrough is this? >> it's not really a breakthrough. if anything this is the least possible one needs to do to keep the show on the road. what would have been shocking and surprising is if they actually had negative and they would have been a delay in the payment to the imf, that is expected later this week. this is simply right now a matter of keeping the show on the road while the politics plays out, while the brinkmanship drives us right to the edge of the cliff. and hopefully, eventually, a deal is agreed. >> that's a surprise to some people. because the greek economy is in dire straits. >> well, the greek economy is a 200 billion plus economy in terms of gdp. and frankly, government in most countries, functioning governments, even one not well- well-function

mark: the finance minister yanis varoufakis spoke to us on sunday. he was in washington speaking to the imf managing director christine lagarde. they released a statement that read in part -- what should that corporation intel? -- entail? >> some concessions from greece and also from the troika. they would have to release some part of the $7 billion. i hope that we would be in a position to get around $1.9 billion after the measures proposed by the government which would pass the greek parliament. if we do that, we may get 1.9. what is crucial is that we have to pay another 19 billion by the end of the year. this is the big problem because this represents 10% of the greek gdp. so without some kind of compromise, without international assistance, i don't think we can make it. mark: the new government soften some of the pre-election promises it made. as the political reality set in, does the party possible base realize that greek creditors probably will hold firm on their demands? >> absolutely. they understand that and the greek citizens realize we ar

you do not have yanis varoufakis. that is a question hanging over this meeting.s the eurogroup relevant? will the eurogroup stay relevant? and how much trust is there between yanis varoufakis and his 18 counterparts? they want specifics. they want details. they want progress. so far, they haven't seen any of those three. francine: thank you so much, hans nichols from riga. we will have him throughout the day. we are not expecting much news but we will go back to him. guy: he won't be sightseeing. he will be reporting on what is happening. francine: the martin sorell story was interesting. he said he's been speaking to the officials and they are just getting used to the adf that a grexit -- the idea that a grexit is more likely than not. >> obviously, emotionally, it might be quite damaging/. i think we've come to terms. when i was in brussels, i got the impression that they are in the mind of, it is going to happen. guy: stay with bloomberg. later on, we are talking to the mayor of athens. you can see that interview here on bloomberg television at noon london tim

yanis varoufakis: thank you, kemal. it's with the deepest gratitude that i wish to thank you for this honor and privilege to addressing such a fine institution at a crucial moment when our government is shouldering a momentous task that of completely successfully and has human -- this is humanly possible that negotiations with our partners both european and internationally. the reason why i should be focusing on these negotiations is their global significance. not so because i'm a contagion through the financial circuit that frightened people so frightfully back in 2010 and again in 2012 because the outcome of our negotiations with institutions what influence i believe heavily europe's attitude toward a larger problem located in the fibre of our democracies and within the foundations of our real economies. after all, must we forget that greek that drama of 2010 was the harbinger of much that followed throughout large swaths of europe are indeed of countries further afield. its resolution one way or another in 2015 now w

it was described as a hammering against yanis varoufakis. mr. akis came out and said he thought there had been progress. he was about the only person making those claims. uniformly the finance ministers were disappointed, frustrated and a little bit worried. matt: i've heard this kind of thing before. a buddy of mine owns greek debt. he agrees with yanis varoufakis' on theory but said he was shocked when he went to athens and saw that severus is not doing the actual work a bit like a student who is brilliant but it does not hand in a paper. is that a fair characterization? hans: the greeks know they have until july 26 to make a deal. they are not feeling the pressure as much. there's another payment to the imf coming up on the 12th of may. they could fall in arrears to the ims and it would not be as bad for them as their marketable debt. matt: it does not seem like the smartest thing to do. hans: i do not think pleasing to finance ministers and making them happy is at the top list of things to do for varofuakis. scarlet: varoufakis may be under p

noon is var -- yanis varoufakis. i don't know how long he'll serve as finance minister. let's say he'll serve the next six years. in the next six years, his main concern will not be the debt recon struk reconstructuring. it may be a problem in the future decades. today, the greek government has different challenges huge changes. i'd never change my job with him. much better position by far. as long as they are telling the problem is debt restructuring, today, since they have to move in ways that greek economy is becoming a little bit more effective. that greek economy can deliver increasing part of what greek people want to enjoy. and you have to know maybe you can ask how he will explain that the minimum wage increase, by law, is still higher than in some member states. the ratio of people occupied in administration is still -- before the government has hired again, people who have been reduced in the last couple of years. ratio of people occupied in public administration is higher than, i think, every other member state of the yout the eurozone. it is difficult, not to

yanis varoufakis says greece and its creditors are narrowing their differences. a european official says the deadline for the reform to unlock funds is now in june. welcome to "countdown." coming up, the concoction that could make you invincible. a former executive says the key behind brain function is butter in your coffee. that story later on the. futures trader out of a suburban house has been arrested in london and charged in the u.s. with 22 criminal counts relating to the 2010 flash crash, which went $1 trillion from the u.s. market on may 6, 2010. he is due to appear for an extradition hearing at westminster magistrate. we are outside his house in hounslow, good morning. what do we know about this man? ryan: we are learning quite a bit. he lived in this neighborhood, it would appear, with his family in west london just beneath the flight path to london's heathrow airport. he was presumably arrested around 12:30 yesterday. what we know is that a large number of people in the neighborhood here have entered this home yesterday afternoon. he has been accused o

to be reducing the parents of outspoken finance minister canister caucus -- finance minister yanis varoufakiswhile publicly the greek government still report -- still supports them, he is giving his role as finance, they have a new policy negotiating team, the finance minister's chief economist will take the role in brussels. greece is trying to convince its international and european creditors that its reforms are enough to unlock the 7.2 billion euros worth of bailout loans that it needs to help repay its debt. the u.k. economy grew at a slower pace than expected in the first three months of the year. according to gdp growth of just .3%. it could be a blow for the conservative liberal government coalition, as josh vardey explains. josh: the conservative leader david cameron has been at the forefront of israel election campaign, but the latest figures show it to be showing down -- forefront of his reelection campaign, but the latest figures show it to be slowing down. the last quarter of 2014, the economy was re: slowing down six months ago going from .7 for seven -- .7% to .4% in the last w

a lot of headlines coming out from yanis varoufakis. we will continue to update you. ming up next on "street smart" i will talk to eric on his contrarian call on the euro. ♪ alix: greek finance minister jan is varoufakis speaking at the brookings institute saying that greece was to reach a deal by the end of june. he was saying greece wants to end a deal by the end of june. in the meantime, the ecb's fun trying -- bond buying program has made the unthinkable a reality. joining me to discuss this new reality is erik nielsen, chief global economist at unicredit bank and the head of fixed income at raymond james, kevin. kevin: in golf, they say that every shot make somebody happy. in the case of zero rate german bonds the benefit of that has been to the treasury market. as qe has started, those yields have to be found somewhere else. in this case, the u.s. treasury market has been the favorable case for that. probably 25 basis points out of the 10-year note. alix: we have a great chart looking at the futures rally in the next eight months compared to the nasdaq month -- t

yanis varoufakis, the greek finance minister is speaking in athens. he is at an event where manus cranny is also there, stalking varoufakis no doubt. he has also been catching up with the secretary general. good morning to you. what did he have to say? manus: he was his usual if use of self. i understand that he and varoufakis had breakfast this morning. this is the chateau of the oecd. my understanding is that they've already had their discussions. when you think of the heavyweights they are bringing in here george soros, thomas piketty all talking about the new way forward. my conversation turned around. he has met with tsipras and varoufakis on a number of occasions. what is the oecd's role in building trust with the rest of europe? it is a big one. >> we are trying to create a common ground, a common language, built on taxes and the collection thereof. the second is about corruption the fight against corruption. more competition, so you can fight against monopolies oligarchy, etc. and last but not least, to have a government that is functional and

the second point that i can't help, i want to support yanis varoufakis on this come is privatization.when i was in canada job in turkey, yes, i was in your job one privatize everything come immediately. at every -- at whatever price they could fetch. that is not good for public finance, i'm sorry, and i refuse. we were asked to privatize and allow a foreign strategic investors to buy it. we refused and get a turkish airlines is the airline that flies to the greatest amount crunch in the world and is quite profitable and is still a state enterprise opened a small private investors. so when we talk macroeconomic policies we always discuss primary surplus. when we say structural reform, some other something under their which i think we have to get into the details of to see whether they are good or bad. and replacing a public monopoly by private monopoly, even if one is a perfectly liberal economics -- economist is not a good idea. two things i have to get off my chest. but i think there's one thing i wonder, you made a very strong point, very, very strong by saying the people of greece

the treasury secretary will hold his first face to face with the greek finance minister yanis varoufakisrow. peter cook sat down with leew. mr. lew: greece needs to make a list of changes in policies it is prepared to put in place so it can work with institutions to come to a mutual understanding of a path forward so they can get out of the cycle of being from one crisis to another. the rhetoric was not helpful early on and i send a signal to both the greek government and the institutions, as they are now called, that everyone had to attend down rhetoric and get to the technical work of seeing what policies can be put in place to address this. obviously it would be better if the work had been done six weeks ago and not over the next six weeks. no time to waste. my understanding is the president is going to be speaking to the hellenic celebration day. it is not a bilateral meeting. peter: does the u.s. have economic interest in making sure greece stays within the eurozone? mr. lew: there is no doubt that if this leads to a crisis such as greece leaving the eurozone it would cause an enorm

-- yanis varoufakis. futures indicate we could extend those highs. caroline: let's see how we are opening up, a three-day rally is the biggest we have had since january. similar news for the ftse 100. stock 600 up 19% this year. emerging markets stocks have been up. you talk about that japanese nikkei, first time in 20 years they hit that spot. chinese shares also getting a wind of productivity this week as we see mainland investors crash into hong kong as well. clearly they are on a bit of a role when it comes to equities. yesterday it was all about the factory industrial reduction looking pretty rosy up half a percentage point. just a little moved to see how we are doing, generally it is flat against the dollar. interesting as we suddenly see a little bit of relief into what is coming out of varoufakis lips. he seems far more conciliatory when it comes to their negotiations with europe. with the dollar let's look at it on the week, because we are up on it comes to the dollar, up almost 2.7%. the first w

economy that needs to get a lot stronger tomorrow when he will meet with greek finance minister yanis varoufakisamerica now owes more money to japan than it does to china. new data shows japan has become the biggest foreign creditor of the u.s., holding just over $1.24 trillion of debt. the u.s. still has the biggest holding of treasuries worldwide. now to one of the big top stories. corporate news. netflix shares surging after hours to a new all-time high after the company reported first-quarter earnings that crushed expectations. the company's value will exceed that of cbs. caroline hyde has the details. caroline: check this out. over the course of a year this is the number you want. 43%. this is how much it has risen in market value. netflix, if it holds on to that surge after hours, will be worth $32 billion. that will be more than rival media company cbs which is worth about $30 billion. less tv, more about online streaming. it is all about subscriptions. they now have 62 million subscribers worldwide. they added 2.6 million internationally. they now have almost 21 million subscribers inter

elections or a referendum are possible here if the talks continue to stall, but the finance minister yanis varoufakisat absolutely not, we will use this as a bargaining strategy. we also heard over the weekend that as it comes to a default, he doesn't even want to contemplate such an event because he thinks that greece will honor the payments. rishaad: let's have a look at some of the stories making headlines today. >> kaisa will become the first chinese property developer to default on dollar denominated bonds of the doesn't pay $50 million by the end of today. the 30 day grace. expired over the weekend. the company owed $10.5 billion to local and overseas lenders by the end of last year. taco bell is back in japan. for the first time this 1980's. a new store set to open in tokyo on tuesday. taco bell will also cater to japanese tastes with such opera -- with such offerings at the shrimp and avocado arrigo. -- avocado burrito. puget and --peugeot and chinese motor group will work to develop 20 new models from sedans do suvs. those in the latest corporate headlines, i am and krueger in hong kong. >>

great finance minister yanis varoufakis says he is confident that greece will reach an agreement with its creditors to unlock a bailout fund. he says greek is not pushing to russia for help despite a meeting between him and resident -- vladimir putin. >> we should be very clear on this. our financial woes are bailout fallout needs to be done with within the european public. this government is not seeking some extra european solution to what is a european problem. cory: grace, meanwhile has named the $495 million loan payment to the imf which was once in question. they have also increased the emergency funding available to greek banks. the news from greece helped to propel banks today. the stock 600 index of 1.1% to an all-time high. investors hoping the quantitative easing program will boost the european economy. meanwhile, a new report out of germany showed production recovered in january. intel's potential purchase of its fellow chipmaker altera is off. talks have ended. people familiar say altera rejected the offer of $54 a share and will be looking for new growth as it faces a slo

-- yanis varoufakis. could extend those highs. caroline: let's see how we are opening up, a three-day rally is the biggest we have had since january. similar news for the ftse 100. stock 600 up 19% this year. emerging markets stocks have been up. you talk about

complete economic reform plan this after a tough morning of talks, with greek finance minister yani yanis varoufakiso early cash for finance reforms. >>> the move comes as consumers continue to turn away from diet sodas in favor of other beverages. the change takes place in august. when cnbc's asked coke's ceo about the move, he responded i'll not here to defend a certain ingredient. >>> and dramatic video from a firefighter's helmet camera capture as massive blaze in an 1880's built mansion earlier this week in new jersey. it took six hours to bring the blaze under control. no injuries were reported. >>> and the may 2nd boxing match between floyd mayweather and manny pacquiao is expected to be the richest fight in the history of the sport. that's according to the promoter, anyway. mayweather could make as much as $180 million. pacquiao earning as much as $125 million. for the complete breakdown, go to cnbc.com. that's our cnbc news update for this hour, let's get back to squawk alley. >>> is it time to be on tech bubble watch. the nasdaq climbing higher after closing at the highest level ever, surp

the grease of finance minister yanis varoufakis in washington and he and shorter the imf head they willeir forger 50 million euro repayment to the fund this -- 450 million euro payment to the fund this week. let's try and get some answers for some of these questions. the greek alternative. foreign minister for economic affairs joins us now. sir, thank you for taking the time to be with us. let's start with the trip to moscow and what mr. tsipras is hope to achieve when he travels to russia. what are your thoughts? euclid: greece is not the only country that since people to russia and sometimes it is blown out of proportion what we are hoping for. it is a trip to speak to a friendly company -- country. old countries are -- in both countries are christian majority and we have had traditionally good relations with them and discuss the various issues with them. we offer our services for our common understanding and international relations problems. i do not think it has been reported in some elements of the media as if we are subtly changing where we are focused on which is the european uni

the day greece pledges to make nearly half $1 billion in payments, bloomberg is to speak with yanis varoufakisooks like we are having technical difficulties with that. trying to get manus cranny over there. we will take a quick break and be back with the greek finance minister. ♪ matt: i want to turn out to an exclusive interview with yana spero farkas with our own manus cranny. manus: thank you very much. we are alive in the gardens of the oecd. you have been here all day. welcome to bloomberg. let us get right to it. how confident are you that you will do a deal by april 24? yanis: very confident. negotiations are proceeding quite well and our mutual interest is to strike a deal by the 24th and i am sure we will. manus: striking a deal involves trust. do you trust brussels and germany on equal measure? do you trust the people you are doing business with? yanis: trust takes a number of steps to build. we have already taken them. we have been in negotiations now for a few weeks. during the negotiations, we have acquainted ourselves to one another. not to just two parties, it is a complex piece

yanis varoufakis certainly does that.e is an academic coming into a politician's finance minister enclave, and he doesn't have the background to present the kind of things they are used to seeing. alix: if the greek debt is only a risk if you expect catastrophe, would you be buying it here? guest: i think if you have more of a risk appetite, you can look at the equities. probably the hottest spot to go after is the bank stocks. you can easily construct a scenario where they are servicing private sector bonds. the bank stocks you could see de facto nationalization of the banks and still servicing of the bonds. on the other hand, given how intertwined the solution needs to be helping the banks out, allowing the banks to survive in our view. any of your viewers have risk appetite, that is the place to look. alix: is there a rollover risk? we have that money do the imf in a few weeks. is there risk with that debt and the debt eight it -- it owes the ecb? guest: these maturities were never meant to be actual repayments. it was

the line up for negotiations -- young bill is now on the side -- yanis varoufakis is now on the sidelinesans: may 3 is the new deadline for preliminary deals. both sides are saying overnight that talks have intensified that they are moving forward. they have a preliminary idea and they can codify that when finance ministers meet in brussels on may 11. here's what the finance minister had to say in an interview with bloomberg. he says there seems to be some movement in translating the bullet instant action stop there is a clear recognition that we have to have enough on the 11th to be able to keep talking. but copy out to this is that obstacle still remain. the finance ministry put out another statement talking about their own redline, like forms to the pension system. it is pretty consistent, what you hear from the creditors, especially in berlin. the pension system needs to be reformed. manus: thanks for taking us through. mark: top stories on bloomberg this hour -- fed policymakers have left open the possibility of a rate rise in the second half of the year. in a statement following the

brendan: one thing that is not going to happen wolfgang schauble has no plans to meet with yanis varoufakis of greece. he said the deadline of the program. he says when the program is up, there is nothing in place and that is the only option. tom: the greek spreads have widened. in the last 20 minutes we got the new idea of greek spreads widening. olivia: i wish you were hear to go through the churn. two year yield that 23%. german debt, 10 year trading at 0.09%. that is unbelievably low. the average yield on german debt is negative. who are you looking forward to speaking with? tom: madame lagarde in our 10:00 hour. before that ken rogoff of harvard, jacob frenkel, formerly of the bank of israel and now at j.p. morgan, in moments, a conversation with john lipsky of johns hopkins. olivia: speaking of washington, d.c., yesterday on capitol hill, a surprise raising concerns about the security. a gyrocopter landed, the pilot was arrested. the tampa bay times reports that the pilot was a 61 euro postal worker who wanted to deliver a message. his act of civil disobedience was in protest to campa

yanis varoufakis says protesters threw objects at him and his wife at the restaurant.hey were not hurt. no arrests were reported. there is a new power structure in saudi america -- saudi arabia. king solomon has replaced crown prince. he has made his son second in line to the throne. the move consolidates power in the younger generation of saudi princes. i want to get to julie hyman who has some breaking news on the oil front. julie: on marathon petroleum the company announcing it is going to be splitting its stock two-for-one. it also will be paying out a dividend of $.50 per share on a pre-split basis of the dividend payable on june 10 and it looks like the shares will be traded on a split adjusted basis on june 11. to be clear, there is a marathon petroleum and a marathon oil. this is mpc, not mro. betty: thank you so much. the fed wraps up its two day meeting later today, getting most -- most economists do not see a rate lift off until september. traders may be underestimating the risk the meeting could have on money market rates. zero dollar futures show that spec

yanis varoufakis. >> we need to have full control and be it as efficient as possible.litical delegation, all of these are the responsibility of the finance minister. all of these teams. however, we need to have a strategic team. we need to have a team negotiating with the brussels group and we need better coordination here. scarlet: alexis tsipras said that he may ask me greek people to decide on any deal with european predators. and a case that may legalize same-sex marriage nationwide. chief justice john roberts and justice anthony kennedy suggested that declaring gay weddings a constitutional right may threaten the definition of marriage the between a man and a woman. justice kennedy has voted in all three of the ruling's expanding gay rights of the past two decades. stephanie: scar, i can't get my head around that, so i have to move on. erik had a chance to sit down with bob diamond. he has made a lot of investments, but none of the major banks are following his lead. we asked him why. mr. diamond: i think part of it is banks who have not been on the ground are doi

guy: 55% of people in greece according to this poll still have a positive view of yanis varoufakis.if you were to pull inside the finance ministry inside the eurogroup, and inside the government more generally, you would get such a high reading? nikos: well, it is true that he's quite popular for a finance minister in greece. finance ministers are usually really unpopular. of course, friday's eurogroup meeting saw that mr. varoufakis may be a hurdle in the path to compromise or even a liability for the greek government. it will be difficult for the greek prime minister to cut him loose, as this will be seen as a concession to creditors' demands. francine: interesting. thank you so much. guy: let's stay on greece. let's get the view from berlin. joining us now is the former chairman of germany's budget committee. and an mp. good morning to you. thank you for taking the time. do you think the problem we have between greece and its creditors is a personality problem or a numbers problem? >> it is both. it is definitely a numbers problem. personality wise, if you see what happened in ri

those bailout talks at those talks, yanis varoufakis was insistent that he was willing to compromise, but he would also stand firm on not crossing the government's redlines. >> we will compromise. we will compromise, and we will compromise. but we are not going to end up being compromised. francine: yanis verify chris still in washington, d.c. today. let's get more on greece's debt saga. we are joined now from greece by our athens bureau chief. are we getting any closer to some kind of agreement? i think we are having technical difficulties. we will get back to you in just a second. connectivity not our strong point today. we will talk about what greece has to do, the imf response. i am joined by jim one of our editors at large. he has covered the european economy for decades. jim: not decades, but almost as long as i can remember. francine: thank you for coming on. this is actually quite recent. it has only been this week that we've had a little bit of jitters on the market. why now? jim: because the crucial repayment dates are coming up and greece has been complaining -- people have

manus: yanis varoufakis has promised christine lagarde he will pay the bills.re's he going to get the money from? manus: i have a question for him. i will beast eking to him on thursday -- i will be speaking to him on thursday. a country going from week to week. david buik: i think you are being kind. it is day to day. the whole situation, a country that owes 240 billion euros and a country with 11 billion people. i put it to you that hell has a better chance of freezing over it that greece either to service the debt or repaid. caroline: even if they push it into the future and pay much more interest? david buik: what i don't like at of moment is that we understand tsipras is having a chat with vlad russia and then china. a few assets to sell. which of they should've done in the previous five years and promised to do and never did. the fact remains if the european union once agrees to remain, swallow it -- wants greece to remain, swallow it. there is no doubt they cannot go on. everybody will lose credibility. mark: the bart chart showed volatility in the pound

yanis varoufakis will no longer be in charge of day-to-day outreach with creditors.s failed to unlock billions more in bailout aid, and at a meeting on friday my finance ministers hurled of used -- abuse at him, calling him a childish finance minister. vice president joe biden will do the honors at the justice department. after five months, the senate confirmed lidia lynches nomination last week. and no more at chipotle. the chain will become the first to serve only foods that are free of genetically modified ingredients. those are top stories. let's turn to the global conference in california. erik: scarlet, thank you. our next guest help oversee the takeover of fannie and freddie in 2008. the giants remain under federal control. the u.s. treasury department takes all of their profits, much to the chagrin of some hedge funds that have stakes in friday -- in fannie and freddie. stephanie: they also remain under attack right now. erik: yes, they do. we have with us as dimarco -- and dimarco -- ed dimarco. you are making progress with the fha in moving the markets redu

guy: yanis varoufakis is talking about, once again, about nominal g.d.p. bonds. james: yeah.ant with not exactly the greatest response thus far. james: well, it's a mix direction play. from the beginning he has said , you know before he was in government, that greece's sprob one of solvency, not liquidity, there's too much debt, they need to get the debt down. there's something to be said about that. however, it's misdirection now, because the burden the fiscal burden from debt repayment social security virtually nil. so you know, the more he talks about that, the less he talks about what people in berlin and frankfurt and brussels want to hear. zpwoip they want to hear about reforms, and they want to -- we need to get a meeting of minds on what is possible and what is not possible in terms of the kind of accountability versus the greek parliament, and there needs to be some kind of meeting of the diagram here. james: yes, he's not made himself extremely popular with his counterparts. you know, they speak privately about his showmanship, let's say, and less -- with less respe

remarks by greases finance -- greece's finance minister dennis their ficus -- yanis varoufakis.is country's determination to remain in the euro zone. he spoke thursday in washington, d.c. where global finance ministers were attending the annual spring meeting of the world bank and imf. this is about one hour and 15 minutes. mr. wessel: -- mr. dervis: good

. >>> on thursday greek finance minister yanis varoufakis spoke at a forum hosted by the brookings institution in washington, d.c. where global finance ministers are attending the annual spring meetings of the international monetary fund. he talked about his country's economic challenges, including his debt crisis and the negotiations between his country and the european union for financial assistance. this is an hour and 15 minutes. >> good evening all of you, ladies and gentlemen, good evenings. this was a much expected event. we had trouble accommodating everyone who wanted to listen to you. i'm really grateful that you took the time out of the very busy meetings here of course to share your perspective with you. you're a well-known phd in economics. many books, 15 books. i don't know all of them, but i know the two in particular. the future of the world economy two years ago. a modest proposal for solving the euro crisis, two years ago. so you were elected to the parliament in january 2015. i welcome you, very deeply, on the part of brookings, the whole brookings community, the various pro

. >>> on thursday greek finance minister yanis varoufakis spoke at the brookings institution in washington, d.c., where ministers are attending the world meetings of international monetary fund. he talked about his country's economic challenges, including the debt crisis, and the negotiations between his country and the european union for financial assistance. this is 1 hour and 15 minutes. >> good evening all of you, ladies and gentlemen, friends. good evening yanis. welcome to brookings. this was a much expected event. we've had trouble accommodating everybody who wanted to listen to you. i'm really grateful that you took the time out of the very busy meetings here, of course to share your perspectives with you. you're well-known phd in economics. many books, 15 books. i don't know all of them. i noted two in particular. america, europe and the future of the world economy. and a modest proposal for solving the euro crisis. two years ago. you were elected to the parliament in january 2015. i welcome you very deeply on the part of brookings, the whole brook igs brookings community, the pro

yanis has assured christine lagarde that greece will make its debt payment by the due date. hans nichols follows this very closely and joins us with the latest. what is the government saying? varoufakis was just an d.c. where does the money come from? it has come down to this. hans: they do have the ability to juggle some money internally for the first part of the month. the tax receipts they say are up, even though they were down in january and february for a total of 900 million euros, when you look at what came out of the meeting with madame lagarde a clear assurance to make that debt payment to the imf. they also talked about ways they can strengthen the between greece and its creditors. mr. varoufakis had a meeting with treasury department officials and in some ways he has allies in the u.s. administration because they would like to see less austerity imposed. varoufakis is saying over the weekend, april 24 is the new date. that is when euro finance ministers meet in rego for a meeting. that is when he was to see some kind of deal. it includes a primary surplus of 1.5%, new investments from the european surplus bank and the creation of a bad bank with nonperforming loans and cru

yanis and david take a few together. lady up front. please identify yourself. >> thank you very much. i am greek citizen. i would like to thank mr. varoufakis for the political analysis. would i like to request address this question to policymakers because you are member after government who is starting in january. a coalition of populist party and sereza, we know from our families, from our friends in greece, day after day greeks are waiting an action from this government related to development. so i would like to ask you do you have any proposal any development measure that this government took since january 2015? thank you very much. >> we'll go for gentleman there in the middle. >> thanks very much. assistant professor at johns hopkins next door. i have actually a question for you as a politician. i think many of us actually agree with your economic analysis. d.c. is probably most favorable audience you're going to get. as a politician are you worried that being right is not going to be enough? because the political economy is that realty you're one against 18. in the eurozone. how are the 18 other eurozone countries going to sell conce