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To: Steelfish

Maybe Greece has something they can sell or trade to pay down the debt? Hard to imagine it needs charity


5 posted on 02/05/2015 6:39:01 PM PST by faithhopecharity ((Brilliant, Profound Tag Line Goes Here, just as soon as I can think of one..)
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To: faithhopecharity

If you go to Greece (I’ve been there twice)....you come away with the opinion that they only have two things to market....tourism and agricultural products. Maybe in the 1950s to 1970s....they had some ship-building and a few small industries. Today....there’s nothing much. They absolutely depend on tourists to come in...stay at nice hotels...spend money...and return because it is a great vacation spot.

My impression is that the fair amount of tourism profits hyped up Greek society in the 1960s and they found eager banks to loan the government money to build more infrastructure. This relationship with various banks simply got them further and further into debt. They never grasped the pay-back situation growing and expanding. Toss in high salary levels for teachers, government workers, and events like the 2000 Olympics...they simply were bankrupt (probably for two to three decades).

Fixing this? I’d just quit the Euro....accept the status of a poor country (similar to Romania)...let the teachers get by with half of what they make now, and go to a third-world infrastructure plan for the future.


17 posted on 02/06/2015 1:57:59 AM PST by pepsionice
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