The scare in a scare campaign. Treasurer Wayne Swan was going on again this morning about the dish0nest scare campaign that the Opposition is running against his “good policy for the future that creates a prosperous economy and a sustainable environment.”

Listening to him on ABC radio it was as if he thinks Newspoll is measuring the views of slow-thinking people who have been conned into fearing his carbon tax by that evil Tony Abbott. But never fear, Swanny’s here and his words of wisdom will put everything right by the time of the only poll that matters.

But will they? Underlying the wariness about the planned carbon tax is not just a concern about what impact it will have immediately when introduced but what will happen a few years down the track.

Skipping the ABC news. It’s The 7pm Project for me this week as I watch the politicians play guest host on the kind of show that probably has far more influence on how people vote than the ABC news does anyhow.

Last night it was the turn of Bob Katter and his hat who showed a clever mixture of fun and seriousness. I gave him a 9. Tonight it’s Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s turn.

Lie detectors for the wonderful world game. Last week it was the chairman of Turkish premiership winning team Fenerbahce who was arrested on match fixing charges. Last night it was the turn of the turn of the chairman of the runners up Trabzonspor and the former head of the national football association to be taken away by the police.

As the BBC tells it, Fenerbahce pipped Trabzonspor to the league title with a final day 4-3 win at Sivasspor. Fenerbahce were at one point a long way back in the league but the Istanbul club won 16 of their last 17 games to take their 18th title on goal difference.

Turkish media have speculated that the allegations being investigated include a striker being offered money to not score, a goalkeeper deliberately failing to save a goal, and the selection of a particular referee.

In South Korea, where the government has threatened to “shut down” the country’s professional soccer league after losing patience with the way the game’s administrators have handled an investigation into match fixing, the latest suggestion is that players be subjected to lie detector tests before every game.

In Singapore, apparently, the polygraph is now standard sporting equipment but only used when there is a suspicion of unusual betting activity.

An economic slowdown coming. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development says its composite leading indicators (CLIs) point to a slowdown in most major economies for May 2011.

The indicators, designed to anticipate turning points in economic activity relative to trend, point to slowdowns in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Brazil, China and India. In the United States, Japan and Russia tentative signs of turning points in the growth cycle are emerging although the OECD cautions about interpreting the outlook for Japan.

Exploring the modalities. They speak a special language those international financial bureaucrats. After a meeting yesterday to consider how to stop the financial problems of Greece, Portugal and Ireland spreading to Spain and Italy this is what they said in an official statement:

While the responsibility for resolving the crisis in Greece lies primarily with Greece, Ministers recognised the need for a broader and more forward-looking policy response to assist the government in its efforts to bolster debt sustainability and thereby safeguard financial stability in the euro area.

In this context, Ministers have tasked the Eurogroup Working Group to propose measures to reinforce the current policy response to the crisis in Greece. The Eurogroup Working Group will notably explore the modalities for financing a new multi-annual adjustment programme, steps to reduce the cost of debt-servicing and means to improve the sustainability of Greek public debt. This reinforced strategy should provide the basis for an agreement in the Eurogroup on the main elements and financing of a second adjustment programme for Greece shortly.

Ministers commit to continue negotiating with the European Parliament the legislative proposals to reinforce economic governance in the European Union in order to agree on an ambitious reform as soon as possible. The reinforced governance should be fully operational without delay.

With the help of Reuters I interpret that to mean that the Euro zone finance ministers promised cheaper loans, longer maturities and a more flexible rescue fund on Monday to help Greece and other EU debtors in a bid to stop financial contagion engulfing Italy and Spain.