Greek Crisis....

[Kayless]

So the bubbles get let off 50%. Surely though that just makes them uninvestable. Who will ever lend to them now? Would it not have been better in the long run to repay those debts by further austerity? Now, like a normal debt welcher they will only be able to borrow from the international equivalent of a weegy loan shark or possibly quick quid!

[rojash]

"Would it not have been better in the long run to repay those debts by further austerity?"
The austerity measures have already put a large proportion of the population out of work, and reduced the income of most of the remainder to on or near the poverty line. Exactly how do you think that putting more people out of work is going to help the country repay the debt?

[buildersmate]

It doesn't - which is why this bail-out measure is unlikely to work.
Too many of the Greeks have been living beyond their means using Euro as a currency for a dozen or so years. It didn't matter in the international community in the pre-Euro days - the drachma merely took a devaluation against other currencies, the internal trade situation (in drachmas) was not impacted, the drachma became more competitive again in external trade transactions. The losers were Greeks wanting imported goods / foreign exporters into Greece.
Now with Greece's productivity and balance of trade between other nations pegged to a currency that impacts 16 other nations they can't do this.
They are going to have to get used to the standard of living they enjoyed is going to have to decline again. The unions and pensioners don't seem to have grasped this yet - pensions and wages can't continue to be paid in Euros at the recent rate - either they have to exit the system or suffer pain. There is a limit (negotiated by the main contributors France and Germany) at which the Eurozone can help with handouts to offset part of this pain.

[Kayless]

point taken rojash but they now have no credit rating and will find borrowing in the future very difficult.

[youngmafbog]

And in the background Bruxells has announced increased revenue required from the UK - £2 Milion a day.

So much for those who say we would not be better out of this mess ? Unfortunatley Cameron was born without a spine and the rest of the limp wristed Tories follow like sheep.

[Ankou]

maybe we could all help the greek economy in another way.

http://www.privateislandsonline.com/greece.htm

[rojash]

"So much for those who say we would not be better out of this mess ? "

You really don't get it do you youngmafbog?

There is no simple way out of the mess for anyone. If Greece falls the Euro falls, if the Euro falls, the banks fall, if the banks fall, the world falls. It doesn't matter a jot whether the UK is part of the Euro-zone, part of the EU, or part of neither. The global economy is in dire straits, and you seem to be under the impression that all you need to do is pull up the drawbridge and somehow the UK will be the only country in the world that will escape the consequences.

[Zeuhl]

Yes although not directly involved our reliance on the Financial Sector based in The City makes us very vulnerable to any problems in european banking regardless of whether we are in the euro or not.

[jake-the-peg]

I seem to recall buildersmate that your considerred finacial opinion a month ago was that the Euro was going to collapse around the 10th of October.


Is your opinion more reliable this time?

[rov1100]

If I remember Greece was one of the latter members to join the Euro. They should do the decent thing bow out and return to the Drachma. Then the Greek government has only its own citizens to worry about and if they don't tow the line the country would be finished.

Having left the Euro they could adopt similar policies to that of the UK. Devalutations and exchange rate getting weaker and weaker.

[beso]

The Eurozone set criteria financial management criteria for the admission of any country. Greece failed to met these but were admitted anyway.