Greece...

A_Medium_Size_Jock

This from a report today:

Greece must not be granted a "bail in" that would involve creditors taking a loss on their loans, Germany's deputy finance minister said in an interview broadcast on Sunday, reiterating the German government's opposition to debt relief for Athens.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eurozone-greece-germany-idUKKBN1650AU?il=0

sabretoothtigger

Nonense and contrary to capitalism. Lenders who misjudged risk have lost money, this natural consequence is misdirected by economic fascism. Until balance is restored business is impeded and tax revenue continues to fall.

Call it the very visible hand of EU hubris. The only consolation is Greece is a small economy, if these mistakes are repeated with any large amount of trade it will bring forward more immediate fallout and a kickback they are not used to I think.

Peoples lives are being wasted for the sake of politics is the greatest loss, hard to see what benefit Greece receives over taking the loss head on

cogito

sabretoothtigger wrote: »

Nonense and contrary to capitalism. Lenders who misjudged risk have lost money, this natural consequence is misdirected by economic fascism. Until balance is restored business is impeded and tax revenue continues to fall.

Call it the very visible hand of EU hubris. The only consolation is Greece is a small economy, if these mistakes are repeated with any large amount of trade it will bring forward more immediate fallout and a kickback they are not used to I think.

Peoples lives are being wasted for the sake of politics is the greatest loss, hard to see what benefit Greece receives over taking the loss head on

Interesting that you should make this post just now. I've been following a fascinating discussion on disqus about Target2 - link here

https://disqus.com/home/discussion/channel-absolutelynotnotthedailytrollograph/the_implied_perils_of_target2_the_imballance_mechanism/

It highlights the point you made in your second paragraph. The possibilities are pretty scary.

cogito

Sorry, the link doesn't seem to be working.

worldtraveller

Greek government officials said on Tuesday they have reached an agreement with its creditors on the terms to restart bailout loan payouts, following months of tough negotiations.

The terms include another round of pension cuts in 2019 and a commitment to maintain a high primary budget surplus after the current rescue programme ends next year.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' left-wing government is set to approve the new cuts in parliament by mid-May, so that Eurozone finance ministers can unfreeze bailout funds at a scheduled meeting on 22 May.

Independent

buglawton

"The Big Fat Greek Struggle"
In Business podcast of yesterday
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08n4db3

The departure of almost every young graduate from Greece was deemed as the biggest national disaster since WW2.

And it can be blamed, IMO, squarely on the Euro. Locked-down to a single currency shared with more prudent partners, yet no thought-through regional policy by the makers of the Euro rules. The EU overlords - power without responsibility.

cogito

worldtraveller wrote: »

Greek government officials said on Tuesday they have reached an agreement with its creditors on the terms to restart bailout loan payouts, following months of tough negotiations.

The terms include another round of pension cuts in 2019 and a commitment to maintain a high primary budget surplus after the current rescue programme ends next year.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' left-wing government is set to approve the new cuts in parliament by mid-May, so that Eurozone finance ministers can unfreeze bailout funds at a scheduled meeting on 22 May.

Independent

This is merely the first step in the ritual dance of extend and pretend. Extend the repayment schedule and pretend that the debt will ever be repaid. Pretend also that Greece is running a primary surplus when the surplus includes taxes which are due which will never be paid and disregard money owed by the Greek government to its own employees many of whom haven't seen a paycheque in months.

A_Medium_Size_Jock

I wonder how much more austerity Greeks will put up with?

THE EU are demanding more and more of Greeks & I cannot see them continually accepting the likes of these, part of the current proposals:
Cutting pensions.
Fewer tax breaks for tax payers.
Opening up the Greek energy market to competition.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eurozone-greece-bailout-idUKKBN17Y08D

The EU will be increasingly seen by Greeks as bleeding them dry.
(Not just Greeks, no.)

michaels

In other shock news Greece is back in recession: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39933638 Oh and the EU as a whole is benefitting from stellar growth at 1.7% pa....

worldtraveller

michaels wrote: »

In other shock news Greece is back in recession: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39933638 Oh and the EU as a whole is benefitting from stellar growth at 1.7% pa....

OMG! Surely that's not possible?! :rotfl: