François Hollande (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This is an excellent article from Larry Elliott Economic Editor at the Guardian. Check it out!
Is Europe playing chicken with Greece? | Business | The Guardian.
For me, it is interesting that an extreme scenario is that the growth lobby will prevail over the austerity lobby. I shall be watching President carefully to see just how much political leverage he can exert.
Personally, I think that market fears are overdone.
Europe is not playing chicken with the Greeks, rather,the opposite is the case.
Within the past week, I have seen a number of Greeks on television stating quite clearly that Europe is “bluffing”, “that we are in a strong position vis-a-vis the Germans”, that they “gave us money before and will not refuse us”.
They are typical of a people who for too many years were and still are lazy and unproductive, failed to pay property taxes, failed to make anything, failed to sell anything other than their sun and ouzo and now want hard pressed European taxpayers to go on bailing them out.
Their membership of the Euro was effected on false grounds by Goldman Sachs who helped the then Greek Government fiddle the figures and it is now time to call their bluff.
If we are to bail them out, we should demand security in the form of the country and all its physical assets–Their claims to sovereignty are only valid if they can pay their way and show some willingness to do so.
So far they and their various Governments have proved unequal to the task and have proved to be untrustworthy.
Since this is not going to happen (European Governments have dithered to the point where the Head of China’s sovereign wealth fund has rightly chastised them for muddle, indecision and incompetence), the solution is to throw Greece out of the Euro and place a charge on all their assets.
The five Greek families responsible for worsening the crisis by removing money from the country need to be brought to book and the money recovered and returned to the rest of Europe’s taxpayers.
Greeks who have marketable skills such as engineers should be encouraged to leave for countries which actually can employ them until the number is reduced to a figure commensurate with what the country can support.
The Greek Government,assuming one competent to do the job can be elected,needs to be given remedial advice on how to diversify their economy and start paying its way and repaying us. This advice should be heeded by the Greeks so that the present situation never arises again.
Chancellor Merkel and most modern Germans are not 85 years old and older (i.e. were born long after World War 2 ended and Hitler was helped to escape to Argentina where he died in 1962) and should not have to keep on “atoning for the Nazi past ” by lining the mouths of Greeks, Israelis and others with gold.
Europe, other than Germany needs to grow up and start benchmarking itself against successful economies in the Far East such as Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia and the Greeks need to do the most and fastest growing up of all.
John, thanks again for your detailed response.
Again I broadly accept the thrust of your argument but hold different views on many of your detailed points.
Personally, I would not challenge the Greek people but blame their corrupt political classes.
With regard to Germany, I think that the current generation of Germans and future generations should never be allowed to forget the Holacaust of the Nazi era. See for example
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust
I recently visited the Jewish Museum in Vienna, which is owned and run by the city. I was encouraged by the open attitude to Austria’s wrongs in the disgraceful Nazi period. This included Austrian school children visiting the Jewish Museum to understand the Holacaust and Anti-Semitism. I am not familiar with education policy in Germany but Vienna provides an excellent example.