Athens is burning.... AGAIN!

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What we see in Athens is purest despair. People realize how helpless they are. Like a child bursting in tears of fear and rage, the public bursts in stones and fire.

Can't help wondering how the politicians in Greece got their country into such a mess in the first place. The little I've been bothered to read indicated that Greece has been spending more as a country than they were earning and have been borrowing more and more to cover the deficit. Something had to go tits-up sooner or later. Looks like whole countries can go bankrupt if they are financially reckless, not just individuals. Precisely how the inhabitants of the country should get themselves out of this dire mess I've no idea but it looks like their days of wildly throwing money around are over.

Well Tallyman does have a point if a country keeps on spending with no means of earning the money to pay for their spending then it will end in tears.

I wounder what the Greeks could sell to try and get some money, I have no idea if they have any minerals below their land which they could sell.

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Countries get away with spending so much money by monetizing their debt... basically by printing and debasing their money. This leads to inflation and a whole other set of problems but that's another thread.

Yes, Greece spent too much money, but international bankers helped them into this mess in the same way bankers helped so many in the US into houses they could not afford.

The problem now is that, being in the Eurozone, Greece cannot inflate their currency to get out of this mess...

Instead, countries like Germany (who are benefiting from a weak Euro) are insisting that the Greeks starve themselves out of this mess because they refuse to render aid.

The Greeks need to withdraw from the Euro, and monetize their debt.

If this happens the Euro will collapse and Germany will wish they'd been willing to help. A strong Mark will blow their export economy all to hell.

PS

The bottom line here is this whole crisis was caused by the malfeasance of international bankers/capitalists. It's not fair to expect all of southern Europe (Spain, Italy, and Portugal are right behind Greece) to sacrifice their middle and working classes to pay for this disaster.

(Personally, I think we need to start lining bankers up against a wall)

The banks need to eat this debt and we all need to start again from scratch.

You know, it's not even just about shared pain and sacrifice (although that should happen). It's about the fact, and you can see it in southern Europe, that austerity is not fixing the economy.

AUSTERITY IS NOT FIXING THE ECONOMY.

-->AUSTERITY IS NOT FIXING THE ECONOMY.<--

The government doesn't just borrow money and shovel it into an incinerator. They spend that money on paying workers and contractors. Those workers and contractors, once again, spend that money on food, goods, and services, and everyone benefits.

One of the big problems with Greece's economy right now is that austerity measures have removed billions and billions of Euros from their economy and strangled growth.

You cannot starve your way to prosperity.


The EU's current policy for Greece and the rest of southern Europe is just plain wrong. It won't improve the economy but it will result in suffering for a lot of innocent people.

Merkel and the rest have been very clear; the purpose of the exercise is to punish, the purpose is to kill. To kill thousands of Greeks in this way serves to "deter" others who dare get caught up in a panic with its Mengerian de-facto gold standard of a currency. Back in gold days of course such panics were frequent... but for Merkel to be caught up in one is evidence of evil and must be punished severely and people must die.

Greece's industrial production crashed by 10% in one year. GDP has shrunk by over 25%. Debt to GDP ratio, a very manageable 95% at the start of the crisis has nearly doubled to around 180%. The "internal devaluation" theory that has also been used to justify the punitive actions, if it works correctly, amplifies debt so the idea of using it as an antidote to a debt problem is like ordering an alcoholic to go on drinking binges. One other reason for this policy, aside from brutal and murderous punishment, is profiteering. Very rich people will grab valuable assets for pennies on the dollar. This will allow them to collect rent on every public service imaginable and cancel out any competitiveness gain caused by shrinking wages under internal devaluation! Did you know that the Memorandum also ordered the Greek government to specifically not try to enforce taxes on wealthy people? Clearly, this is also a brutal and murderous offensive in a class war.

Merkel better wake up and smell the Fahrvergnügen...

If the Euro fails, Germany will lose the most.

Of course Germany won't benefit from a economically healthy Southern Europe either.

The EU either needs to go away or become a bona fide Union/National entity.

Financial union won't work otherwise... *cough* articles of confederation *cough*

PS
@xenon...

I agree. This is a very punitive policy. I think it is also calculated to completely dismantle socialism in Europe.

The irony is, European socialism did not cause the global economic crisis--unregulated capitalism did.

Well, well, well... the Greek austerity plan includes a tax cut for the rich, lowering the top rate from 45% to 35%, a very significant cut.

The rich have never had it better and overwhelmingly so. They've captured everything these last 30 years and they want to take everything away from everyone else!