Posted on 02/28/2010 6:09:52 PM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Merkel: There Is "No Possibility" Of Bailing Out Greece
Joe Weisenthal | Feb. 28, 2010, 8:00 PM | 761 | comment 13
As Europe begins what's sure to be a very hectic week, the volume of conflicting statements about the Greek bailout is truly stunning.
There have been multiple reports of some kind of deal worth $30-$34 billion, and yet check out what Germany's Angela Merkel told German TV, according to the Sydney Morning Herald:
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
P!
Big lost of face if the IMF does the bailout.
Give that lady a whip and a leather coat and let her beat those Greeks into submission.
Did someone say leather?
No need for the Germans or the EU to do it.
The US will bail them out.
As long as China and Japan continues to loan us money and congress continues to raise taxes, we will be the savior (bank) of the World.
Any time the Fed says they aren’t going to do it, we know they will.
Then the Euro gets stomped flat.
George Soros is betting on it...
“So they must be punting the job of bailout to IMF. I think that is what EU wants.”
Once Greece gets a whiff of IMF economic reforms required for their assistance, they’ll exit the EU, rather than accept IMF help with the strings that are attached.
I think the package will be combination of financial assistance plus tough IMF rules to get the Greek financial situation into line. They don’t have a choice because Greece can’t easily “produce” its way out of a recession given its heavily tourism-oriented economy.
That’s fine, then they will still go bankrupt and they will make those changes involuntarily.
And an even bigger set of problems if Germany does attempt some sort of bailout.
In this situation, given the parameters laid down by the Maastrict Treaty, all options suck. Then again, this was always one of the problems with the Euro and Maastrict: there was no escape valve, no provision what to do with Greece, Italy, Spain, etc. The Germans and Dutch originally wanted a way to kick non-performing nations out of the compact, and the French refused, saying (in effect) that the Euro could not be seen as a club where the Germans got to say who was in and who was out.
Now they’re down to a point where the Germans are, in effect, saying whether or not Greece will remain a member.
So much for good intentions and PR on the part of the French.
And that’s one of the reasons why the Fed might try to meddle in this - to prop up the Euro and keep our trade advantage of a cheap dollar (or expensive Euro, depending on your perspective) in place.
If Euro-zone products become cheap here, our GDP takes a hit.
It’s the PIIGS. Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain.
That is so funny. I love W but he is obviously unaware of the notorious “German reserve.”
“That’s fine, then they will still go bankrupt and they will make those changes involuntarily.”
They can then devalue their currency, such as it is, to stimulate exports and tourism.
It’s much easier to dismantle benefits that way - devaluation and inflation. It’s so much easier, that that is what our politicians will do, when it becomes our time.
Ironic that the state that is filled with so many people who are into the word "unsustainable" are the ones who can't recognize the fact that while caring for Mother Earth, they are raping their own future.
The US press is downplaying the talk of conditions surrounding the current negotiations - yet more budget cuts that Greece must make on top of those already being pushed down upon them.
These cuts will effectively bring a depression down on Greece, and the Greeks know this.
So it comes down to this: bail out the Greeks and impose draconian conditions on them, thereby making the Greeks furious at Germany for being the agent of involuntary change, or let the Greeks hate the IMF with a flaming passion, and the Euro takes a hit in valuation vs. the dollar.
Well, letting the IMF take the brunt of the fury is an easy choice. Everyone hates the IMF. The people who give it money and the people who take their money all hate it.
yeah, that was probably the funniest thing I have ever seen in politics. It still cracks me up.
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