Posted on 01/06/2015 5:27:42 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
ATHENS, Greece — In these disastrous economic times, opening a store on tony Voukourestiou Street next to global luxury brands such as Dior and Prada is a goal many Greek fashion designers can only dream about.
But despite the crippling financial crisis that has been plaguing Greece for the past six years, 35-year-old Penny Vomva opened a storefront for her designer clothing and accessories company, RIEN, on the boutique-lined thoroughfare last month.
Ms. Vomva is delighted, but she also is concerned about the shifting fortunes of the Greek economy.
“My line of handmade leather bags costs 180 euros to 450 euros” — roughly $215 to $530, she said. “That’s a high price for a Greek woman nowadays. I would certainly be earning more if commerce hadn’t been hit by the crisis.”
The state of commerce on Voukourestiou Street is taking on a larger importance as Greek voters prepare to go to the polls Jan. 25 to elect a new government. The front-running left-center Syriza party could seek to upend the austerity measures that have balanced the state’s budget but shrunk gross domestic product by a quarter since 2008 and driven the unemployment rate to around 25 percent.
Ms. Vomva is among a wave of Greek entrepreneurs pushing against the odds that the next government — any government — will lead the country out of a seemingly endless depression.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Greece should just get on with the enevitable and drop out of the EU and return to their own monetary system and currency, the Drachma. The Greeks have been gaming the EU (specifically Germany) for the past six years by delaying any positive moves toward a free market economy by taking any systemic actions against their numerous fiscal, privatization, and regulatory problems.
Greeks need to start having more kids, too.
Beautiful purses. If I weren’t retiring I would buy one.
“Greeks need to start having more kids, too.”
Agree, I’m first generation Greek-American and have numerous cousins over there. Only one of the bunch is married and has kids. They are more interested in enjoying the good life; eating, drinking, partying, etc. my family and I have been there a couple of times and I have to say it’s not a bad life; eating and drinking till midnight or later, running down the Germans - which seems to be a favorite topic, even though it’s been the Germans that’s been bailing them out. Naturally, when i pointed this out to them their come-back was, “well, the Germans owe us as they never paid reparations due us from WWII - which is correct. However, they fail to mention that being Germany was little more than a pile of bricks and rocks it was unable to pay so consequently the U.S. paid Germany’s Reparations to Germany. When I pointed this out, they acknowledged this was correct but stated its not the same. Go figure......
Ms Vomva, the entrepreneur, is hoping for a future that is not going to come. Her concern that Greek women will not be able to afford her expensive handbags reveals her misconception. Greek women haven’t been able to afford her handbags for years—it is German and US women who, through bailouts and financing, have been putting money into Greek womens’ purses.
The Greeks have this odd delusion that the upcoming Jan 25 election is about “austerity”. You cannot vote away austerity. If you have no money, you cannot vote your situation away. Voting for a socialist who promises to stop austerity is no more possible than voting to add hours to the day. If Greece leaves the EU and starts printing money to pour onto the population, the money will simply be worth little. There is no escaping the Greek economic reality. The only short-term act that is possible is to renege on debt obligations to foreign creditors — and that is what a vote for hard-left socialists means. It is a version of the Argentinian economic model. Spend-inflate-collapse-Repeat.
Now, take this paragraph, replace the word 'Greek" with Black, German with 'White', WWII with 'slavery' and you'll see a pattern.......................
I read about the German occupation of Greece in WWII and brutal would not begin to describe it.
The only reason they'd do that is to have the power to inflate the currency which would allow them to print their way out of government debt and -- at the same time -- inflate away what wealth the Greek private sector has managed to create.
They may well, but it won't solve their long-term economic problems.
“I read about the German occupation of Greece in WWII and brutal would not begin to describe it.”
I have as well. No doubt about it, the Germans were brutal toward the Greece, primarily because Greece was the only country in Europe that did not capitulate to the Germans. The Germans would go into a Greek village demanding names and locations of Greek partisans. When, the Greeks refused to talk the Germans would line up the whole village and execute them. No question that the Greeks were fierce fighters and were very patriotic. But, I’m thinking, maybe it’s time to let it go. Heck, they’re still pissed at the Persians and the Ottoman Empire. I’ll say one thing for Greeks, they know how to hold a grudge :)
Yes to both. I am aware of the difference. Thanks for pointing it out though :)
France had a resistance movement. I don't recall Germans doing anything similar in France.
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“France had a resistance movement. I don’t recall Germans doing anything similar in France.”
Well, the French are - well, the French. Very practical people. While the French did indeed have an underground and partisan movement, unlike the Greeks the country was not solidly against the Germans. As you probably know, there was the pro Nazi Vinchy government that ruled France for most of the war. Churchill had to sink their Mediterranean fleet because it refused to fight on the Allied side. Just prior to the first beachhead by American troops in North Africa we had to negotiate with the French Commander whether they were for us or against us. Then, there’s DeGaulle, don’t get me started on him...
“...a lot of their creditors are probably Greek citizens who hold governmental bonds or who have pensions tied up in bonds.”
In a sane world, you wisdom would be widely acknowledged and understood.
Although I don’t know the ownership structure for Greek debt, it would certainly be the case in the US that US citizens hold a large portion of gov’t debt. However, the numbers in Greece suggest that an additional default on debt obligations is highly probable and not long in coming. For the general population in Greece (and increasingly in the US), the burden of debt is being framed as caused by the lender, and demonizing the lender is a view fueled by public servants and a large swath of the citizenry. I doubt most Greeks, people in the US, or people in Argentina, think that reneging on debt obligations does anything but hurt evil banks, the 1%, etc. If bondholders haven’t factored this into their investment, then those bonds are overpriced.
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