Thread: Greek PM concedes election defeat

At last people are waking up to the Euro shite.

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

At last people are waking up to the Euro shite.

It will only get worse for the Greeks from here as it looks like they want to deliberately default on their debt. That's not a good idea, IMHO.

"The verdict of our people means the troika is finished," he said referring to the country's international lenders the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank.

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

At last people are waking up to the Euro shite.

Might be a disguised blessing....

The Greek bailout money went to banks.

The banks lent out money to Greece, greek buissines and individuals

Their fault, their risk, their interest rates

Now the debt is in the name of the greek people, and they can not´and will not pay that bill.

Greece might leave the Euro.

EU ? No

Originally Posted by zygote1

Back to 3rd world status for the Greeks.

I think so. Sadly.

I lifted this line from Sky News, interesting. No wonder Spiros got the hump.

"Many in Greece feel slashed public spending has hit the most vulnerable hardest, while leaving the tax evasion and corruption of the apparent elites untouched."

Give Greece What It Deserves: Communism

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UPDATE – “10 Ways the Greek People Can Save Themselves”

Once in a great while an

Give Greece what it deserves, Communism.

It is time to deliver justice to a people, giving them what they truly deserve. Greece’s time has come.

It must be dawning on all but the most obtuse member of the banking elite that they can’t possibly steal enough money from German taxpayers to save the Greek government from default. Put it off, maybe, but collapse is inevitable.

Once this happens, what is the purpose of casting Greece into some selective temporary financial purgatory where the irrelevant Greek economy can continue embarrassing anyone foolish enough to lend their dysfunctional government a dime? Why not go all the way and give the country what many of its people have been violently demanding for almost a century?

Let them have Communism.

Hard as it is for young people to believe, Communism was once a major historical force holding billions of people in thrall. Outside the halls of elite universities, who still takes it seriously? Sure we have Cuba, where the Castro deathwatch is the last thing standing between that benighted penal colony and an inevitable makeover by Club Med. Then there is Venezuela, though hope is fading that Hugo Chavez will carry the Bolivarian banner much longer now that he’s busy sucking down FOLFOX cocktails while checking for signs that his hair is falling out. And frankly, a psychopathic family dynasty ruling a nation of stunted zombies hardly makes North Korea a proper Communist exemplar.

What the world needs, lest we forget, is a contemporary example of Communism in action. What better candidate than Greece? They’ve been pining for it for years, exhibiting a level of anti-capitalist vitriol unmatched in any developed country. They are temperamentally attuned to it, having driven all hard working Greeks abroad in search of opportunity. They pose no military threat to their neighbors, unless you quake at the sight of soldiers marching around in white skirts. And they have all the trappings of a modern Western nation, making them an uncompromised test bed for Marxist theories. Just toss them out of the European Union, cut off the flow of free Euros, and hand them back the printing plates for their old drachmas. Then stand back for a generation and watch.

The land that invented democracy used it to perfect the art of living at the expense of others, an example all Western democracies appear intent on emulating. Being the first to run out of other people’s money makes Greece truly ripe to take the next logical step beyond socialism.

As wrenching as it will be we can take comfort in the fact that Greece doesn’t have much of an economy to disrupt. The only Greek industry that’s worth a damn is tourism, rapidly collapsing as travelers get tired of being stranded by strikes while dodging Molotov cocktails. The rest of us can find plenty of other sources of lamb chops, yogurt, and olive oil. They crushed the concept of private property long ago under the burden of environmental, cultural, and social regulations that govern land use. Wouldn’t it be instructive to let them have a go at building a workers’ paradise to remind us what state enforced equality looks like?

Unlike neighboring Balkan nations that got to experience the joys of Communism after the Second World War, Greece was brought back from the brink by massive western intervention as well as a Churchillian side deal that obliged Stalin to butt out. The nasty civil war between the Greek Communist Party (the KKE) and government forces backed by Britain and the U.S. set the stage for decades of struggle between communist sympathizers who never gave up the dream, and right wing juntas determined to rule by force. The uneasy peace that has existed since the colonels were booted merely masks underlying tensions as every Greek worries, is someone else working fewer hours than I am?

How Greece conned its way into the European Union while hard working Turkey was left begging is a testament to the astute diplomats in Brussels, no doubt consulting their playbook on what dodge they can conjure up next to stick someone else with the bill. Why the E.U. extended credit to a nation whose governments have been in a chronic state of default since the country gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1832 is a fitting subject for a News of the World expose. Perhaps they were being advised by Fannie Mae.

So despite the frantic meetings, the tragicomedy nears its final act. It’s time for the global financial industry to pull up stakes and go home before more innocent bank employees get immolated. If you don’t want the real contagion to spread, that is the disease of believing you can perpetually consume more than you produce, leave Greece to the Greeks and let the bankers take their lumps.

As difficult as it is for a Greek-American like myself to admit, resting on 2,000 year old laurels is a stale act. While few cultures can proudly look back on as many achievements in the arts, drama, athletics, philosophy, rhetoric, and architecture that were the glory of Greece, it’s time for modern Greeks to take a good hard look at themselves. What have they done for the world lately? More importantly, what are they prepared to do to help themselves? If they can’t face that question then it’s time to sing the Internationale.

Give Greece What It Deserves: Communism - Forbes

A bit old ?

from 2011.

but topical nonetheless.

Originally Posted by kingwilly

from 2011.

but topical nonetheless.

Ofcourse it is topical, and Hugo is dead

Old

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

At last people are waking up to their global raping.

Extended it a little.


It had to happen. Many, "secure", political parties will be looking over their own shoulders.

Sharpen up your guillotines.

Spain is next

25% unemployment, 50% youth unemployment
the economy shrunk 25% in the past years
average income is 600 euro a month
...

No wonder they voted extreme.

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

Surely a federal style 'government' would target this problem specifically and look to create jobs for them???

Job creation takes money. Money the gov doesn't have and can't borrow.

The average Greek is fed up. No wonder they booted a gov that has done nothing to make things better. They'll boot the new gov if they fail to deliver as well.

Good for them but decades of corrupt gov mismanagement has created a too broke to fix situation.

Greek recovery will take years. No quick fix in sight.

Iceland defaulted and is doing rather well now, Greece should have defaulted on their debt payments years ago and left the Euro and their people would only have been subjected to a year or 2 of shit as opposed to 6+ and ongoing.

Originally Posted by buriramboy

Iceland defaulted and is doing rather well now, Greece should have defaulted on their debt payments years ago and left the Euro and their people would only have been subjected to a year or 2 of shit as opposed to 6+ and ongoing.

Iceland had a functioning economy and ran into problems on a technicality. They do well. If Greece defaults and leaves the Euro they will be on a similar model as Haiti. Depending on food aid for decades to avoid hunger revolts.

Originally Posted by Takeovers

Originally Posted by buriramboy

Iceland defaulted and is doing rather well now, Greece should have defaulted on their debt payments years ago and left the Euro and their people would only have been subjected to a year or 2 of shit as opposed to 6+ and ongoing.

Iceland had a functioning economy and ran into problems on a technicality. They do well. If Greece defaults and leaves the Euro they will be on a similar model as Haiti. Depending on food aid for decades to avoid hunger revolts.

That's what the scaremongers would like the Greek people to believe so they can convince them that the best option is to live their lives like slaves in poverty but thankfully a large number of the population has seen through the bullshit and voted for a different way. Everyone said at the time no one would lend to Iceland again, look at their credit rating now.

EU reaping what it has sown.
They should never have let all these 2nd world fiscal basket cases join in the first place.

When was the last time you picked up something that wasn't an olive and it said "Made in Greece"

Originally Posted by Necron99

EU reaping what it has sown.
They should never have let all these 2nd world fiscal basket cases join in the first place.

You are right

Let's dump the Irish

Originally Posted by Necron99

EU reaping what it has sown.
They should never have let all these 2nd world fiscal basket cases join in the first place.

When was the last time you picked up something that wasn't an olive and it said "Made in Greece"

Big Fat Weddings, feta cheese, anal sex, and hairy women.?

Their once famous philosophers are a bit thin on the ground now though.

On the plus side it means really cheap holidays to Greece! Sure i've still got a few Drachmas lying around..

I don't know Greece well, but find it hard to believe they have no economy.

I went to Athens once, it was a functioning city along with world acclaimed tourist sites. I went to Corfu another time, and it was great - lots of tourists helping the local community to make a living.

So, the tourism sector is large, 20% of GDP, employs a large % of the population (20% or so) and is valued at around 40billion euro per year.
SETE | The Importance of Tourism for Greece

Some general numbers and charts on this site, not the last few years, but I don't see why the numbers would be drastically different (could be wrong on that...).


macro.tragedy: How is Greek tourism holding up ?


Actually, looks healthy:

Greek tourism revenues should rise 13 percent to a record 13 billion euros in 2014, the head of the main industry body said on Tuesday, boosting chances the country will finally emerge from its deep recession next year.

Tourism is the biggest cash earner for Greece's economy, accounting for about 17 percent of its 185 billion-euro economic output. It employs one in five Greeks.
Record tourist receipts next year may help end Greece's long recession | Reuters


So, that's 20% of Greece's finances sorted, ok... What about the rest?

Agriculture, at about 5%, has a very high quantity of organic farming, that's good - but not a massive sector. Employs nearly 15% of the population. Not bad.

Industry at 15% is distinctly average, not very diversified and could be improved - certainly some innovation and direction needed here, to be supported by government policy...

Shipping is massive, obviously very corrupt and open to manipulation of international laws, etc, but employs 5% of the population and brings in about 15 billion euros per year - healthy, and that business isn't gonna dry up because (outside of Germany, hmmm...) there are no European fleets that can handle anything like the business of Greece.

Economy of Greece - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Seems to be some solid numbers and industries, obviously I've only scratched the surface. Looks to be massive corruption in shipping, and the entry to the EU was used to rape the nation (i.e. getting loans the people will pay, but that money being syphoned off by some obviously mega-rich shipping magnets and others.


With good management, that country could leave the EU, survive for a couple of years then be quickly back on its feet again. We're not talking about a country that war-torn or lacking investment over decades like a former soviet block country (there's clearly been massive investment, too big, during the last 10+ years...).