As long as the Greek people are unwilling to accept the consequences of the unfettered borrowing to which they indulged in the early 2000s they will remain in that misery indefinitely.
The only thing that is saving them is that Germany and other rich countries are accepting lower standards of living to allow them to continue their profligate ways because they don’t want to see the collapse of the Euro.
At some point, France, and Germany will grow weary of carrying these Takers and allow the Euro to collapse and return to their own currency.
And if it was only France and Germany suffering for a cause to which they subscribe I would say Go ahead and continue to indulge them. But Spain, Greece, Portugal, Ireland and, to a lesser extent, The Balkin states threaten to bring down the world economy again.
Those self indulgent countries need to be quarantined when they show all signs of Fiscal irresponsibility so they can’t hurt everyone else. Unfortunately, while they are behaving in this manner they look like good investments to corporations that can get labor and goods extra cheap when the currencies falter so it isn’t easy to get them into quarantine.
Canada weathered the storm the best during the 2008 financial crisis. They did OK during the Great Depression and has really never had a crisis of their own.WHY? REGULATIONS!
1929 and 2008 economic crashes in the United States, which groups “economic policies” resulted in those crashes? Hint: start with “conservatives” and you’ve got it. Despite the “Vegas rule”, turning banking into a casino operation disproves the theory that says statistically the “house” will always win, but Republicans and conservatives will let the house pass all those losses onto the “consumer”, then pass those consumer losses around so that the government they hate will still bail out the “house”. Letting the banks (known as the Federal Reserve Board) manipulate the economy, while telling the public the Board is the government (it isn’t), is some great sales pitch.
There are so many factors in economic analysis that I just despair of any simple explanation — but I would say at this point that those in favor of austerity haven’t made their case.
Half the German GDP reliant on exports. Half! So when the Eurozone was established the Germans (you guys, Morty) were more than willing to lend to the GReeks so they could be part of the crowd that buys your stuff. Then, in a brilliant sleight of hand (though perhaps not intentional, who knows?), the less productive cultures brought the aggregate EU productivity down, resulting in a Euro that was arguably “cheap” in comparison to German productivity. This further empowered German exports to be more competitively priced because the Euro was a weaker currency than the old DM, just on the aggregate fundamentals. To review, Germany exports count for 50%of German GDP, with Germany lending Euros to countries like Greece so they can buy German products. The Euros themselves were also of a lower value due to the mix of less productive cultures. This is how you got to where you are today.
Mephistopheles about 9 years ago
As long as the Greek people are unwilling to accept the consequences of the unfettered borrowing to which they indulged in the early 2000s they will remain in that misery indefinitely.
The only thing that is saving them is that Germany and other rich countries are accepting lower standards of living to allow them to continue their profligate ways because they don’t want to see the collapse of the Euro.
At some point, France, and Germany will grow weary of carrying these Takers and allow the Euro to collapse and return to their own currency.
And if it was only France and Germany suffering for a cause to which they subscribe I would say Go ahead and continue to indulge them. But Spain, Greece, Portugal, Ireland and, to a lesser extent, The Balkin states threaten to bring down the world economy again.
Those self indulgent countries need to be quarantined when they show all signs of Fiscal irresponsibility so they can’t hurt everyone else. Unfortunately, while they are behaving in this manner they look like good investments to corporations that can get labor and goods extra cheap when the currencies falter so it isn’t easy to get them into quarantine.
Reppr Premium Member about 9 years ago
Obama driving that car? talk about debt!
Nantucket Premium Member about 9 years ago
Canada weathered the storm the best during the 2008 financial crisis. They did OK during the Great Depression and has really never had a crisis of their own.WHY? REGULATIONS!
TCulberson about 9 years ago
that’s funny
Kip W about 9 years ago
Austerity’s going to take any country that tries it the same way, with or without a tax-evasion party first.
Dtroutma about 9 years ago
1929 and 2008 economic crashes in the United States, which groups “economic policies” resulted in those crashes? Hint: start with “conservatives” and you’ve got it. Despite the “Vegas rule”, turning banking into a casino operation disproves the theory that says statistically the “house” will always win, but Republicans and conservatives will let the house pass all those losses onto the “consumer”, then pass those consumer losses around so that the government they hate will still bail out the “house”. Letting the banks (known as the Federal Reserve Board) manipulate the economy, while telling the public the Board is the government (it isn’t), is some great sales pitch.
lonecat about 9 years ago
There are so many factors in economic analysis that I just despair of any simple explanation — but I would say at this point that those in favor of austerity haven’t made their case.
twclix about 9 years ago
Half the German GDP reliant on exports. Half! So when the Eurozone was established the Germans (you guys, Morty) were more than willing to lend to the GReeks so they could be part of the crowd that buys your stuff. Then, in a brilliant sleight of hand (though perhaps not intentional, who knows?), the less productive cultures brought the aggregate EU productivity down, resulting in a Euro that was arguably “cheap” in comparison to German productivity. This further empowered German exports to be more competitively priced because the Euro was a weaker currency than the old DM, just on the aggregate fundamentals. To review, Germany exports count for 50%of German GDP, with Germany lending Euros to countries like Greece so they can buy German products. The Euros themselves were also of a lower value due to the mix of less productive cultures. This is how you got to where you are today.
lonecat about 9 years ago
Thanks, this looks interesting.