Europe rejects austerity, the left is ascendant once more.

They would have to leave the Euro zone, go back to the Drachma, and print the crap out of them to monetize their debt. This will of course devalue their currency even more than switching from the Euro to the Drachma. Their exports will be cheaper, so the hope would be that other countries would buy much more of them. Major pain in the short term, as the purchasing power of their citizens would likely fall a lot.

Alternatively, Germany could cave in and move towards fiscal consolidation of the Euro zone. With integrated budgets, Euro zone bonds could be issued at competitive interest rates, mostly bolstered by the German and French economies. This is probably the better solution, but it seems unlikely that Germany will swallow their pride and give up sovereignty.

 

How are

economic statements.



Northside Storm, preaching to an imaginary crowd in his mom's basement, thinking he is Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King or Karl Marx.

There were some freaking elections which led to some changes in governments (by narrow margins), which is a normal process in a democracy, stop over-dramatizing everything.

I understand that this all seems very exciting for you as you start learning about the world, but don't bore us with your pathetic soapbox crap.

 

Goodbye right wingers. Don't come back!

 

Epic rack.

 

I wouldn't mind that at all. Cheaper olive oil, wine, and holidays in Greece.

 

He's certainly being a bit melodramatic but these aren't just any elections. Germany effectively lost its voting strength in the EU with France going down. The Dutch already had their government fall and it'll be a matter of time before Merkel's government goes down too.

As much as Germany wants to maintain low inflation and low interest rates for itself, these elections will hopefully be a wakeup call that those can't happen if you want Europe to recover. You can't bleed countries to death with no-growth austerity packages. We'll see a lot of new things come out of the EU and hopefully aid packages will focus more on labor and structural reforms to promote growth rather than solely deficit reduction. Germany is going to have to finally experience the economic consequences of the deficits of other countries. You can't join the EU, benefit from it and then refuse to bear any of the consequences. Germany will have to share some of the bleeding and it'll probably start now.

 

A bit? LOL.

It's a matter of time before any government goes down.

Germany’s contribution in the form of guarantees to the temporary European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), out of which the second aid package will be funded, amounts to 211 billion euros, or nearly one third of total guarantees. Germany’s total contribution to the permanent European Stability Mechanism (ESM) amounts to 22 billion euros in paid-in capital and 168 billion euros in callable capital.

http://www.germany.info/Vertretung/usa/en/__pr/P__Wash/2012/02/27Bundestag.html

Can you please explain to me how a) this is not sharing some of the bleeding, b) how Germany benefits from Greece being in the EU, c) how the above means that Germany has refused to bear consequences.

Thanks in advance.

P.S.: Please also explain to German taxpayers why they should pay for Greek governments and Greek people having defrauded the rest of Europe for a long time (e.g.: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/...its-200000-people-fraudulently_n_1451423.html)

 

From that logic why should the rich taxpayers pay for the poor?
Why should anyone pay for anyone else?

Because this global crisis affects everyone. You can't just isolate your class/country and not expect to get dragged down by the poor eventually. The world doesn't work that way anymore.

 

Can we assume you've given away your wealth to those in greater need?

 

What wealth do I have? I'm a student that is currently attempt to save up for college. Oh wait. I can't because budget cuts have slashed billions of dollars of aid that went to the helping kids pay for college. Getting a job is simply not enough money either.

Guess how much debt I am forced to incur now since my last resort is taking on huge amounts of student loans? I have no wealth to give. And my wealth will be drained by the rich for decades to come.

If you are asking as trivial a question of whether I give money away to charity, then yes. I have given away money for those in greater need.

 

The poor haven't necessarily defrauded anyone. Also, within a country, there is a joint vote on what happens. German taxpayers do not have the same influence on Greek benefit recipients. It is only understandable that if German taxpayers were going to have to pay to bail out Greece, they wanted to at least make sure that systematic fraud like this was stopped.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8036097.stm#start



Greece has "rejected austerity"?

Right. That's what they have been doing for decades, and why they are in the mess they are in.

 

The French didn't just reject austerity, they also rejected people who don't ball hard enough.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rT5z_OMaQhg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

Greece is paying the highest percentage of their income.

 

Its not going to be fun getting enslaved by the bankers for most of my life.