Posted on 07/07/2015 5:17:19 PM PDT by Kartographer
I don’t think the Greeks want to quit the EU. They want more money, with no strings attached.
I never have and can’t even imagine how awful that would be.
It’s hard to start a new career path when older. My husband is doing that - voluntary though - at 50. We might be in trouble if this risk does not pan out. If starting our own business doesn’t work, finding employment when older - plus in the area we moved to - won’t be easy.
Greek Debt Crisis: How Goldman Sachs Helped Greece to Mask its True Debt
School is definitely in session on several levels.
At one level, I’m taking notes to see what happens when currency is unavailable. Will they run to gold or silver? Will it be item for item barter? Will they use government IOUs or scrip? What will happen to essential imports, like medicine and fuel? Will I be able to get a great tourist deal?
At a higher level, one has to ask about the collective punishment at work here. I think the debts should be repaid, because they were accumulated in the past decade or so. But, it begs the question that is starting to occur here: When pensions come due (Teachers’, police/fire, Social Security/Medicare), and the funds are unavailable, should our children and grandchildren be expected to be put on the rack for debts they never voted for? How far down the generational chain does the moral obligation of societal debt go?
I’ll say a prayer for you and your husband. Just remember, 50 is sort of the new 30! Good luck and may God go with you, dear.
You are incorrect in that they will not borrow more. They are trying to do just that. When they find out that no one will loan to them then they will go to the loan sharks.
That is when things will get nasty.
Bingo.
It doesn’t really matter how the Greeks got into this situation, the relevant question from their perspective is : “what now?”
They need to repudiate and move on.
Going “Greek” meant something completely different in the 80’s...
He should only spend half his paycheck on booze and women.
Then he can squander the rest.
They may go to the Russians, who need a warm-water port.
I get a kick out of people being so judgmental about the Greeks. Do you think, for even a second, that any western country would have done anything differently in terms of getting into the mess they are in, and do you think that any western country wouldn’t be doing everything they could to borrow their way out of the problem? If anything, countries like the United States show even less fiscal discipline, and are even more prone to simply ignoring any burgeoning crisis.
The problem isn’t Greece, or Greeks. They happen to be a very poor country in a rich “union”, so they hit the point of crisis earlier than most. The problem is really universal at this point. No culture (at least, no culture of any prominence) embraces concepts like risk-aversion and risk management. People who point out real, substantive dangers are dismissed from the political and social landscape. Every modern culture is susceptible to demagoguery and pseudo-science like global warming, Keynesian economics, and any other scientific fraud that expresses what people want to hear.
The Greeks may have chosen poorly. That puts them on equal footing with just about every western country, including the United States.
Um, you really need to read a bit more about the Greeks.
They’ve voted for Socialism for 50 years. They are broke. They are geniuses at bleeding the social services and also finding every way possible from refusing to admit to tax liabilities that are needed to fund those very same services.
that's USA within 25 years. WE will be forced to default within that timeframe. And, it's likely, Americans will do it the hard way by refusing additional debt to keep going.
The USA will repudiate it's debt.
I think we are all taking notes to one extent or the other.
“You must always pay your debts — you signed up for the loan, you must honor the obligation...”
Ok, let’s take a look at our own debt situation. Think Federal Reserve...
The Fed was set up 100+ years ago by the Banksters with the help of Woodrow Wilson. This was never supposed to be for controlling money in the USA. The Treasury was responsible.
The Fed (Banksters) have created the debt. “0” of course doubled the debt, by rewarding the Banksters in a bailout...with OUR money. It is time we took the high road. The Banksters created the debt, let them own it! It is not my, our debt! Let them pound salt! (Or Sand!).
And for us to avoid the ‘Greek Tragedy’, we need to get out money out of the hands of the Banksters...before they steal it! Gold, silver...
I think silver coins may be best...
Thank you, miss m.
Thank you, miss m.
I cannot disagree one bit with your post.
Back in 08 I was a speaker at a conference in Barcelona that was sponsored by some agency associated with the EU. At the end of the conference everyone including myself was handed a free Apple IPod. I couldn’t believe their generosity as there over 100 people in attendance. Now, it makes perfect sense. They were giving away other people’s money.
L8r
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