I just can't wait til Rahm (or family members) announce they are going on a "family vacation" to Greece.
U.S. Stocks Rally on Growing Prospects for Bailout of Greece
U.S. stocks rallied, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average up the most since July, as growing prospects for a bailout of Greece eased concern deteriorating government finances will derail the global economic recovery.
EU leaders will discuss Greece’s plans to reduce the region’s biggest deficit when they meet Feb. 11, and European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet’s decision to leave a meeting of policy makers in Sydney one day early fanned speculation that officials will agree on aid.
Fitch Ratings analyst Brian Coulton said an EU bailout for Greece is a “possibility” and not “assured.” He spoke on a conference call today. Equities trimmed gains earlier, and European shares erased a rally, after Fitch Ratings analysts also said the U.K. needs to pledge further measures to rein in its budget deficit, and the medium-term outlook for Greece is “cloudy.”
Bigger problem (and the US should heed that, too) is that Greece has been more socialist far longer than other European PIIGS (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, Spain) and now some of these PIIGS are coming home to oink.
The State of Greek Business - GreekCentral, by Tom Mazarakis (American who has lived in Greece since the early seventies)
1. New Investments are almost non-existent Contrary to the hopes of most Greeks, the Olympic games did not bringthe expected returnsin the form of increased foreign investment and tourism to Greece. Much of this can be attributed tothe poor timing involved since we are in the middle of a global economic slow-down and international terrorism has dramatically decreased tourism to almost all tourist destinations. Much of the problems can also be attributed to the previous socialist "PASOK" government and its economic policies. For most of 1999, the Greek stock market experienced"fairy-tale" like prosperity when worthless stocks went from prices of $0.10 per share to as much as $100.00 per share. Instead of intervening to protect the investment public from this obvious greed fueled stock frenzy, government officials actually praised the Greek stock market for reflecting the true nature of the Greek economy, that is that the Greek StockMarket was a healthy and thriving segment of the healthy and thriving Greek economy. Then, one day in December of 1999, the Greek stock market crashed and hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting Greeks lost their life savings, their homes, their businesses and in many cases went into over- whelming debt. Some actually even committed suicide. Obviously, a handful of people made millions while hundreds of thousands of other people lost everything they had. At the same time and continuing through to early 2004, when the Socialist party lost power to the Conservative "New Democracy" party, the socialist government implemented "creative accounting" when reporting economic indicators to the European Union Economic Commission. They literally "fudged" the numbers in order to make it appear that Greece's economy was robust, thriving and growing at a healthy above EU average rate. They did this for the purpose of gaining full economic and monetary union with the remaining 14 European Union countries. When the conservative party came to power in March of 2004, it didn't take long for their Minister of Economy to recognize the magnitude of the scam and the government decided to come clean with the EU and to admit to the "numbers tampering". The impact of this scandal has been devastating to the Greek economy. At this point, the current government has not been able to do much to turn the tide. They have made some luke warm efforts to kick-start the economy, but the general consensus is that their attempts are too little and too late. They need to take drastic measures that will require significant sacrifices, but most people believe that they lack the necessary determination and courage to do what needs to be done. I believe that things will get worse before they get any better. The Greek economy is not doing very well. Many would consider this to be a dramatic understatement. Some of the factors that support this statement are the following:
PASOK is a name of Panellinio Sosialistikó Kínima - PanHellenic Socialist Movement, which governed Greece for most of last 3 decades. And this was written just before another Socialist government took over in Greece at the end of 2009... PASOK leader George Papandreou, Jr is also the President of the Socialist International.
2. Business failures far outnumber new business start-ups.
3. Unemployment is running at approximately 10%.
4. Inflation has all but eliminated savings.
5.Consumerism has driven almost all Greeks into serious debt.
From Europe could face years-long debt grind - AP, 2010 February 08, by Elena Becatoros and Carlo Provano
A number of investors now appear inclined to think the politicians will go to any length to avoid the humiliation of a member state going bust or being bailed out, by the EU or by the IMF. The result may leave Greece and other debt-plagued countries in the 16-member euro zone in limbo — without the boost of a bailout or the catastrophe of a default, but stuck for years in an uphill struggle to gets its finances straight ..... ..... As it denies the possibility of a bailout, the EU has been desperately voicing its confidence in Greece's ability to contain spending and pay down debt in the hopes that investors will give the country a break and stop betting on its fiscal demise.