Crisis in Greece (2015): Any Solutions?
Silhouette Man
The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,689MI6 Agent
So what do we think of all that has happened in Greece of late?:
- The Greek Euro Debt Crisis.
-The Resignation of the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (of the Communist Party Syriza) on 20 August 2015 due to many of his MPs voting against the EU Bailout Package.
- Fresh Greek Elections in September 2015.
- The Greek Syrian Refugee Crisis.
- Resurgence of The Golden Dawn Neo-Nazi Party.
This is the place to discuss these topical issues and crises in Greece - a country I have long admired for their valiant conduct against the Axis Powers in WWII.
Perhaps we could get a good "Current Affairs" discussion going on Greece here on AJB.
The floor of the House is open - let the debate begin!
-{ "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
Comments
have they discovered the secret to eternal youth ,
or as I suspect ,I could be wrong , people are still claiming pensions for relatives who died 30 odd years ago ?
Weakens the rest of the body. We keep being told an agreement has been
reached, Next up pops Greece again with another crisis ! and down goes
All European stock prices and the Euro takes another tumble.
ect to prop up the German economy ,not once did hey ever think ,do reckon we will get our money back ?
hmm let me think 8-) 8-) err no X-(
"Hence we will not say that Greeks fight like heroes, but we will say that heroes fight like Greeks."
Almost exactly ten years later, I went again (to Crete). The mood was gloomy all around and it was more than once that we were refused entry into a bar because we were German speakers.
What had happened in between? Had I done anything to the Greek people? Had they done anything to me?
I think both the Greek and the German people are being screwed over by their governments who bail out banks (as opposed to Greece, the country), which retroactively enables them to essentially speculate risk-free (which is possible nowhere else in the private sector).
And then their respective media try to turn the people against each other. Successfully, it seems. Makes me sad.
"- That is something to be afraid of."
Like Spain and maybe Italy, it should never have been allowed into the EU. Not the fault of the Greek people. But there was this FIFA-like attitude, oh, the pixie dust of the EU will sort out any dodgy corruption.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
"- That is something to be afraid of."
Criteria needed to be in it, let alone Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain
or France.
makes . Forgot to add Italy to the list
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimum_currency_area
Hint: Europe isn't one.
"- That is something to be afraid of."
Germany, would have so much in common with Greece a small tourist
Dependent country ? Infact so much in common they would need to share
a currency.
Infact this just adds weight to the New World Order conspiracy theory,
Some more info here.
http://www.ajb007.co.uk/topic/40626/silhouette-mans-strange-and-bizarre-mysterious-world-thread/
SM's Strange World.
I'll ignore these comments at my best possible ability X-(
Just some thoughts
"The money has been used only to bail out the banks". Like it or not but the importance of operating banks has been demonstrated in the 4 weeks (bank closure) after the referendum.
"Void their debts"
no matter under which circumstances this would happen:
- without reforms in the public sector* and the economy that money would end up in black holes like it has over so many years
- greek government (particularly Syriza) would have used that situation to mass up new debts immediately to finance the greek way of living like their previous governments have done in so many years.
Don't get me wrong. I am all for helping people in need but someone rightly analyzed the greek's governments behaviour like someone putting a gun on his head and tell all the others, that he'll pull the trigger.
Problem was that he was standing on a very expensice carpet.
* fun fact: With a population of 11 million , there are around 800.00 civil servants in Greece and these are highly inefficient and corrupt to put it mildly.
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
Yes, it's rather ironic that, isn't it, sort of biting the hand that feeds you?
Just for the record (and for the benefit any German members of AJB) I do not in any way condone attacks on German citizens in Greece, the burning of the German national flag, or anything else of that nature. It is abhorrent and just plain wrong. It achieves nothing and solves nothing. It should be stopped at once by those who persist in doing it.
This may be true and I didn't want to jump on the populist "banksters are at fault for everything" bandwagon.
However, I wasn't referring to the Greek banks but rather to the country's foreign (private sector) creditors. I'm not an economist, but to my knowledge these initially lent money to Greece at comparatively high rates of return, which correspond to the higher risk of default. When it became clear (and it seems as if this happens anew every few months) that Greece is unable to repay them, a so-called bail out happens, which means that these losses are essentially recovered, while very little of that money lands in the pockets of individual greek citizens.
That's why I'm not so sure if is even an appropriate metaphor, because the living standards of Greeks don't improve as a result of these bail-outs.
I might be completely wrong but if someone could explain it better, I'd be so happy. Would be equally strange and great at the same time if the most fruitful discussion of this topic were to happen on a James Bond forum
"- That is something to be afraid of."
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/germans-begin-the-looting-of-greece-2015-08-21
And why can't the Crisis in Greece be discussed on a Bond forum - we have plenty of great and highly intelligent members here and I know they won't let AJB down. Plus, this is the Off-topic Chat' so almost anything goes, I feel.
And yes, it's perfectly fine to discuss it here. I normally don't participate in discussions on the internet because they always turn stupid and personal very quickly. Here, I don't fear that happening. So cheers to AJB -{
"- That is something to be afraid of."
civilized, erudite discussions on world affairs. This can't be right ?
Your wish is my command, Paddyboy
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
You sound a bit like my wife when I am asking her to shut up
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
Mrs Higgins.
Basically all the problems with the world started when, The British Empire
Began to close down.
"- That is something to be afraid of."
"- That is something to be afraid of."
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Well I don't think that Greece has to go so far as to leave the EU. What it probably does need to do is leave the Euro single currency but I'm a Euroscetic from the UK so what would I know, right?