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| Europe |
| 'Germans Won't Pay for Greece's Vacation from Reality' |
| 2012-05-08 |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #10 Maybe not a pinnacle of achievement so much as solving a minimization problem. Although you can argue that in both cases the derivative (finance joke!) is zero. But Dr. Steve has an interesting point. We have a toolkit of Stuff That Works (market economy, democracy, free press, etc.) But you still need people who can play the game. It's not something you can just plug in and even here in the USA where we invented the game, we seem to be drifting off course. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2012-05-08 23:52 |
| #9 Dr. Steve, I was assured by our "Greek-who-will-not-be-named" that they had achieved the pinnacle of achievement. I wassa misinformed? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2012-05-08 20:58 |
| #8 Let's get real here. The Germans are using the fact that all these also-ran countries are in the Euro to keep their currency low and give them an export advantage over everyone not in the Euro. Their economy is based on monetary union with Greece, Spain, Ireland and Italy. If you doubt that, then imagine what would happen if Germany left the Euro and reissued the DMark. It would appreciate to double the price of the Euro and their economy would flush down the toilet, because there are not enough Germans to buy all the BMWs and other high price stuff they make. And the more hilarious fact is that if the Germans stay in the Euro, but kick everyone else out, then the outcome will be EXACTLY the same. The Germans either have to pay to keep these slowpokes in the Eurozone, just like Virginia pays West Virginia via Federal programs, or they face ruin. Germans get over yourselves, or prepare to suffer the wages of your hubris. |
| Posted by: rammer 2012-05-08 19:34 |
| #7 In all seriousness, a small point in defense of the Greeks (really): Please review Greek history. From the time of Philip of Macedon to now, the Greeks have been ruled by: Macedonian empire (Alexander, etc) Roman republic (oligarchy) Roman Empire (empire) Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire (empire & satrapy) Ottoman Empire (empire) First Greek Republic (1 year) Kingdom of Greece (usual idiocies) Kingdom / military dictatorship (more idiocies) Italians (bumbling fascists) Germans (too-efficient nazis) Civil War Socialists Military dictatorship Socialists Socialist coalition with bumbling technocrats Now where, I ask you, is the preparation for a yeoman democracy in all that? Where would the average Greek citizen learn to trust the state, participate in government, make government responsive, pay taxes for the better of the country, demand fair accounting of taxes and the use of the military, start a business, build a business, be secure in their homes, be secure on the streets, and voice dissent without being raped or killed? Beats me. The Greeks haven't had hardly any experience in a market economy and a free, democratic state, so it's not surprising that they're having trouble implementing one today. What the average Greek knows how to do is 1) shelter his income from taxes 2) scam the state for everything he/she can 3) work at a job they hate 4) look for ways to goof off and 5) complain morosely in private because complaining in public could you killed. Nowhere in the past 2500 years of history is there any inspiration for Greece. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2012-05-08 15:47 |
| #6 The EURO is toast, the EU will die. The only question is whether it will collapse like a flan in a cupboard, or with a shattering KABOOM. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2012-05-08 14:56 |
| #5 Europe has the proclivity to war with eachother at the drop of a hat. (Or a Duke for that matter). The EURO is toast, the EU will die. |
| Posted by: newc 2012-05-08 14:41 |
| #4 Let's elect a neo-Nazi Party, show the Germans how to do the Fascist salute and have the Fuhrer's flunkies ordering everyone in the room to stand up before he enters. That will help a lot. |
| Posted by: Grunter 2012-05-08 14:30 |
| #3 Lets see, piss off the Germans, isolate them, then push economic damage upon them from the outside. Has Europe not learned a thing from the 20th century? |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2012-05-08 12:52 |
| #2 This has been kind of a long vacation. Do the Greeks even remember how to work? Al |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2012-05-08 12:33 |
| #1 Trust me with the mind set of the Democrats and the cult of personality they are trying to build around Obama, Greece is the US in five years with another round of Obamanomics. |
| Posted by: Bill Clinton 2012-05-08 10:38 |