Syrzia Won!

danothy

What I find quite interesting is that a default by Greece now will effectively be by choice not to pay, rather than by necessity, as there is a plan to meet their obligations currently in existence. That leads me to think that, if they go through with that choice, they might find out what isolationism feels like whether or not they want to.

Generali

danothy wrote: »

What I find quite interesting is that a default by Greece now will effectively be by choice not to pay, rather than by necessity, as there is a plan to meet their obligations currently in existence. That leads me to think that, if they go through with that choice, they might find out what isolationism feels like whether or not they want to.

If your unemployment rate is almost 25% and you face 30 years of austerity, continuing to pay isn't an option either. The choice is:

1. Default

or

2. Default.

michaels

I heard one of the Syrizia economic spokespeople, sounded completely raving:

'Greece is clearly bankrupt and the last 5 years have just been make believe that we will eventually pay back the debts'

Deluded or what?

jjlandlord

Generali wrote: »

Iceland seems to be doing alright having resfused the cries of rich savers to be bailed out.

The situation of these two countries is completely different.
Not to mention that Icelandic people seem also quite different from the Greeks... Countries tend to get what they earned.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Generali wrote: »

If your unemployment rate is almost 25% and you face 30 years of austerity, continuing to pay isn't an option either. The choice is:

1. Default

or

2. Default.

Which is why Germany was given a near 50% haircut on it's debts in the 1950's by it's international creditors.

Strangely enough, they don't seem very keen to 'pay it forward'....

Generali

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Which is why Germany was given a near 50% haircut on it's debts in the 1950's by it's international creditors.

Strangely enough, they don't seem very keen to 'pay it forward'....

Funnily enough, if the Germans were to pay their debts to Greece with compound interest Greece would be able to pay off her debts in their entirety and retire somewhere nice.

wymondham

At Last!, an interesting news item to follow... exciting times indeed!

Graham_Devon

danothy wrote: »

What I find quite interesting is that a default by Greece now will effectively be by choice not to pay, rather than by necessity, as there is a plan to meet their obligations currently in existence. That leads me to think that, if they go through with that choice, they might find out what isolationism feels like whether or not they want to.

They feel isolated now.

They cannot possibly repay the debts that are being demanded.

Many in Greece, based on the news speaking to people last night feel either way, they are stuck, but it's worth giving something else a go. The addition of a voice, something Greece appear to have lost to Brussels is a large draw to voting for Syrzia.

The only way out for Greece now is debt write offs. How that happens remains to be seen.

Greek people seem educated enough to understand their predicament. They also seem to acknowledge that predicament still stands regardless of who they vote for. Once they understand that, many seem to be thinking "do I want a Greek voice governing for me, or a German voice".

jjlandlord

Greece already got a reduction of its original debt, I believe.

Anyway, this is not a simple financial negotiation with lenders reluctantly agreeing to take some losses to save the rest.
Greece is part of the EU and the Eurozone, so I cannot help but feel that there is a part of group discipline and example for the others at play here.
Certainly Germans are serious about the rules and want to make absolutely clear that they are not just nice words on a piece of paper.

That said, indeed at some point the aim must be to get Greece, and the rest, out of the hole and moving forward so the trick will be to know when to stop squeezing them.

Most of it is caused by the Greeks themselves so they must change their ways.

mayonnaise

Syriza, not Syrzia.