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If the EU wants to have any credibility, they need to make an example out of Greece.
Greece’s financial problems came to the fore after a clerk in Athens saw a satellite photograph of Athens. The clerk noticed all the backyard swimming pools. You have to buy a permit in Athens to put in a swimming pool. No one had been buying the permits.
So, the Greeks in Athens had the money to pay for backyard swimming pools, but they refused to buy the city permits.
Let them eat their swimming pools.
Why does it take an international crisis conference to handle this? They won’t address the real issue, which is that the Greek Welfare State spends a huge amount more than it takes in and has been subsidizing its citizens’ lifestyles with borrowed money. This is like having an international conference with a heroin addict. The heroin addict wants more money to keep the addiction going and will beg, threaten, scream and cry to get it.
The common currency was a stupid idea. It made the producers pay the slackers. It was a transfer of wealth scheme -the left’s obsession.
Because she was a lady, should couldn’t just say that the EURO was an idiotic, stupid idea that will result in “bail out’s” for the weaker minded nations;
“But, in a scathing tone, Lady Thatcher insisted to me that a single currency was impossible. It would never work. “Every single fixed exchange rate has cracked in the end. We’re all at different levels of development of our economies. Some countries simply couldn’t live up to a single currency… We should each of us be proud to be separate countries cooperating together.”
The turmoil in European currency markets that fall of 1992 was proof for Thatcher that a united Europe was meant to crumble. And indeed her prophecy 21 years ago has been borne out lately. The grand experiment of a single monetary system, a single economic policy, working towards a common defense policy, even a common foreign policy meant to her that “80% of Britain’s economic decisions will be made in Brussels.” Actually, it has been more the need of the European Central Bank and Germany to prop up the staggering debt-laden economies of Greece, Spain, Italy, France and try to devise stability for Cyprus. Imagine having banks in Cyprus become an Achilles heel for Europe. Thatcher would have been furious.
And she doesn’t exactly look wrong in her worry over the prospect of German domination of Europe– though “domination” today means the helping hand of the giant strong economy of Europe. Thatcher was going to be damned if she made Britain subservient to Germany.”
And left vilified her for this kind of thinking...hhhhmmm, hind sight being 20/20, she was right, I guess we should have listened to her. At least she didn’t allow Brittan to get dragged into this “pipe dream.”
From a macro economic standpoint, Greece's default is but a pimple on an elephant's ass.
Dominoes...
5.56mm
Greece is one of the three small horns written about in the Bible prophecy. In the prophecy, these horns are said to have been “uprooted.”
My take on this is that Greece will be “uprooted” - in other words, subjugated against its will. Two other debtor nations will suffer a similar fate - possibly including Portugal, Spain, and/or Italy.
The EU will not allow itself to be dissolved. Dissent will be crushed.