Unemployment has hit a record 27 percent and Greeks have lost about a third of their disposable income as a result of bailout policies.
When, I wonder, will it intrude on the Greek Consciousness that only when 80% of Greeks are unemployed and 90% of all disposable income is gone and all the public assets have been sold off and Greece is effectively owned by the Troika and outside countries, will the debtors be satisfied that Greece has finally dripped it's last drop of blood and can be burned and discarded on the trash heap?
I know that most people don't read Economics, but the fact that GDP includes public spending should ring a bell or two in the minds of those ringing the till. If you cut public spending, then you shrink GDP. If your ability to pay your loans and borrow money is tied to your GDP, then, barring some massive economic growth, your situation can only get worse with every cut, requiring ever deeper cuts on public spending until you have no public services left.
Greece already has a balanced budget. The only unbalanced part is the debt. That debt cannot be dealt with so long as they stay in the Euro. The IMF said this the very first time they went into Greece. They said any action without devaluation would fail. But EU members have headed the IMF so the IMF remains involved because the IMF is propping up the Euro. Something which totally violates their charter.
In the meantime Greece suffers. The state broadcaster is still shut down. The news no longer cares to talk about that even though the building is still occupied and the staff are still running services for free. Now you would think that a story like that would be ALL over the news wouldn't you? Except I had to go to Chinadaily to get it.
Basically Athens is trying to avoid passing a law which repeals the "no redundancies in the civil service" law which already exists. Simply put they will fail and that coalition will fall.
Meanwhile the talks go on and on, the family silver must be sold off to those outside of Greece and the Greek people suffer and suffer and suffer and suffer. Did we learn nothing from the Treaty of Versailles?
The modern day Greek tragedy will go on until the Greeks realise that there is no end. How many years of austerity will they have to suffer before they realise that the decade of Euro fuelled wealth must be paid for in full. Or they must leave.
In order to leave, they must vote in a government who is willing to leave the Euro.
The only other alternative is to vote in a government which won’t pay any more and will default on the remaining debt. At which point they will be summarily ejected from the Euro in total disarray.
I wonder how long it will take the Greek people to realise that demonstrating with their vote is going to be decades faster and much more effective than demonstrating on the streets???
