So I take it you are going to be one of the idiots who will vote "oxi" tomorrow? Good luck with that, and with your government.
Wrong. These dumb anthropomorphic/morality takes on things that have no relation thereto are among the most damaging things around. It's not like baseball or balancing your checkbook There is no truth that intentional economic bloodletting works or is necessary. There is lots of truth indicating it makes things worse, which really isn't hard to see.
Good post - I think this is a viable and good solution. I totally agree that Greece has to make major changes too and take responsibility for what got them into this mess in the first place. But I think I come from it with less sympathy towards the lenders because I feel that's why bonds pay an interest rate. People were buying Greek bonds instead of German or US ones because they made more money that way - but that comes with risk. If we always protect bondholders from losses/default, then what's the point of a higher interest rate? So I totally agree the Greek government and people screwed up, but I feel like the bond buyers knew the risks and should share in the pain (with a key caveat being that there's an absolute need to avoid contagion and hurt the regular citizens of Europe).
i will vote yes but the garbage you have posted are garbage. I am not going to participate in conversation that villifies my country and its people. Have fun here trashing while innocent people suffer. But yeah..austerity works.
If Greece still had their own currency, they would have been on the mend right now. Inflation and devaluation of currency would have been the fastest way out of their mess.
Oh absolutely in this case in terms of monetary policy. Had Greece had its own currency they could have devalued and probably been well on the road to recovery by now. Instead they are in the Euro straitjacket, in year 7 of a great depression. In terms of the overall macro/fiscal picture - your core assumption is that somehow reducing spending will somehow raise income. Tanking will beget riches. This makes no sense if you realize that as I think Ellis Mirsky dId that income = spending.
A stark contrast between self-perception and the way the rest of Europe (rightly) perceives you is part of your problem.
The US didn't and we managed to come out of the 2008 mess faster and better than any of the European countries.
We lucked out because the dollar is the reserve currency and Europe has even bigger problems than the U.S. does. However, although things seem better now, it isn't over. There will be another crash sometime down the road because nothing has changed. Wait until the Fed raises interest rates.
Everyone knew we were the reserve currency and that Europe had bigger problems than us. Despite that, the people preaching austerity in Europe preached austerity as the only solution here too. If your timeline is infinity, that's certainly true. There will be a crash at some point, just as there have been many before. But that doesn't mean it will be caused by the lack of austerity to solve this crash. It's certainly possible. Though people have been wrong on the Fed for the last 7 years. They said the Fed would create runaway inflation, that QE wouldn't work, that things would crash when QE was pulled back, etc. The critics have been wrong at every turn thus far.
