Article

2012-05-31 -Election 2012

Radical anti-bailout left regains Greek poll lead

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Posted by Fred 2012-05-31 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11126 views ] Top

#1 Anti-bailout? They don't want our money? Yay!

Posted by Thing From Snowy Mountain 2012-05-31 13:40|| 2012-05-31 13:40|| Front Page Top

#2 IIUC, Syriza wants to stay in the euro, but opposes shifting liabilities to Greek taxpayers. I'd like a pony without the responsibility of shoveling the poop too, but you can't have it both ways.

Yet, I'm rooting for Syriza. If the Greek Parliament is taken over by children banging their spoons, the more likely it is Greece will revert to the drachma (by choice or by force remains to be seen). Anyone holding Greek bonds will take a haircut, of course, but they were never going to be repaid in full anyway.

Medium- and long-term, kicking off the euro chains in favor of a weaker drachma will be a boon to Greece. Exports and tourism will bounce back, thus employment and income will too. In a year or two, human nature and simple math will turn that bucket around.

Greece is about to prove that Rousseau, Marx, and Hegel were all f***ing wrong. Eurocrats will be reeling, baffled at why their enlightened post-nationalist genius can't hammer square pegs into round holes. Can't wait!

Posted by RandomJD 2012-05-31 13:44|| 2012-05-31 13:44|| Front Page Top

#3 Just so you know, RandomJD, the moderators decided to add yesterday's Greece thread to the Rantburg's Classics collection. Well done!

Posted by trailing wife 2012-05-31 14:25|| 2012-05-31 14:25|| Front Page Top

#4 Golly! All that drivel? Good thing I didn't mention that I took the day off to get foxed and screw around on the internets!

I don't usually have time to be such a windbag, but is it ok if I continue chiming in? I know the focus of Rantburg is more military/intel. But as so many economic trendlines are starting to approach the asymptote, I think understanding how incredibly different things are in Europe, is worth a little bandwidth.

Posted by RandomJD 2012-05-31 16:37|| 2012-05-31 16:37|| Front Page Top

#5 "The People united, cannot be ignited"

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2012-05-31 16:38|| 2012-05-31 16:38|| Front Page Top

#6 but is it ok if I continue chiming in?

There's a reason we call it Rantburg U, dear RandomJD, and if I recall correctly, you are one of our real life, analog world professors in addition to knowing what you are talking about. When Fred and the moderators think the subject is no longer important, we'll stop posting articles about it, and you will be forced, perforce, to stop discussing it here. ;-). But in the meantime, the subject is critical -- if Europe melts down financially, they'll have to stop funding the Palestinians and keeping so many immigrants and refugees on the dole, at which point things will likely get considerably more interesting in that part of the world than they are now.

It occurs to me also, as no doubt it has long since to others here, that the new shale oil/natural gas sources in North America and England/Europe will also change the situation for the jihadis -- what will Saudi Arabia and Iran do in a few years when their deposits don't lead to the kind of money inflows they are accustomed to?

Posted by trailing wife 2012-05-31 17:45|| 2012-05-31 17:45|| Front Page Top

#7 Honestly, I'm flattered. I don't know if I know what I'm talking about, exactly, but I definitely know less about breaking things and killing people. (It's a given that I approve, with gratitude, of course.)

if Europe melts down financially, they'll have to stop funding the Palestinians and keeping so many immigrants and refugees on the dole

You'd think. But that will probably be one of the last things to go. Maybe around the same time the US stops paying protection money to Pakistan.

Posted by RandomJD 2012-05-31 18:14|| 2012-05-31 18:14|| Front Page Top

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