Greece – What Happens Now?

Greece lied to gain access to the EU. And the rules were bent for other countries in order to enable expansion to meet the POLITICAL aspirations of the the federalists.

It is very difficult to avoid the debate being pro or anti EU because it is the EU and more specifically the Eurozone construct which is the root of the problem.

Greece is the tip of the ice-berg and the problems of the “PIGS” are not going to be solved soon.

Certainly there are questions as to why Greece (and other countries) was allowed into the Euro in the first place and why EU rules on maximum deficit (3% of GDP?) were allowed to be flouted for so long…

…but then has the EU ever managed to get its own accounts signed-off?

It seems to me this has all come about because Greece has lied about it’s deficit to the EU, and grossly overspent with money it never had. Now, if you or I had done that I am positive Mr Bank Manager would come down harsh. Greece however is getting money from countries that can’t really afford to. This really is a case of good money after bad. When do you cut your losses?

It is not simply a case of being anti-EU any more…the EU as it currently stands is a complete mess,it is not as if this crisis has happened overnight…there should have been enforced policy changes made a long time ago – but hey all of us taxpayers will as usual bail out the politicians/bankers who cannot do simple arithmetic :rolleyes:

I think Greece is on a very slippery slope;)

Jim.

Lincoln .7

Do the labels politics and economics really have separate meanings anymore; politics has always really been about the control of money and since globalisation has intimately connected all our prospects we are left with the same problem however we view it.

I don’t really want this to descend into an ‘anti-EU’ thread; this is the situation that we find ourselves in and whether we are in the EU or the Euro this situation is going to affect us greatly (British banks are owed ten billion dollars by Greece – look at the graph at the end of the first post – that’s possibly your money in your bank) and Greece has been bailed-out by the IMF too so we are lending money to Greece through the IMF anyway.

Or you look at the other way and Germany and probably the Netherlands leave the Eurozone and work independently leaving the rest to flounder on with a hugely devalued Euro.

Or just forget the whole enterprise and pull the plug on the “federal EU” so beloved of the Brussels gravy train.

The decisions being debated have nothing to do with economics but everything to do with politics. Like everything else in Europe the Greek solution is being politically driven.

Apart from the political advantage of having so many EU member states, I fail to see the economic sense in allowing impecunious countries like the old Soviet Bloc, Greece, and potentially Turkey to participate, and slurp our gravy.
If the Greek people continue to be in denial, cut them loose and let them get on with it…

Personally I have always thought the European Union became to big and let in too many countries that were less economically strong.

Yes the EU is a financial black hole that we ‘enjoy’ paying into…we were taken into the EU in an extremely undemocratic way,there is no need for the EU to be such a bureaucratic /wasteful mess,we have been taken to the cleaners by generations of EU gravy train riders.
Our own national governments can make a big enough mess by themselves :rolleyes: why (over) pay other needless layers of bureaucrats/hangers on to ‘govern’ us.
The original aims of the EEC (european economic community) which is what we voted to join were very laudable – but how many citizens of the older member countries voted democratically to have the EU in its present form/size ??

Sadly I think Greece is the tip of the iceberg really and I see unrest spreading across Europe as people get fed up with the cut backs, It looks like the delicate balancing act that been going on is set to fall.

I also thing the Eurozone and the European Union in general could well be pulled apart by this. Personally I have always thought the European Union became to big and let in too many countries that were less economically strong.

Only France and Germany can be said to be really stable in Europe now and even they are suffering in this situation. The more money that goes into bailing out countries such as Greece is only going to breed more contempt in the public of Europe and in effect turn more people against the European union and what it stands for.

I’m unsure if countries could or would pull out of the Euro, But as a currency its going to be hugely weakened by all this which only spells more bad news and instability.
As to public unrest, The unions here in the UK are already going towards mass protests and theres is nothing to say this will not become more frequent as the situation goes on.

Its strange times we are living in, really things seemed to calm a bit after the banking crisis that caused the recession to start. Some countries even managed to record some growth, However now the austerity measures are starting to take hold things are sliding back fast and I personally fear we will suffer more than we can imagine.

What happens now?
It will probably spread to the rest of Europe and eventually the US.

Politicians don’t want cut popular give-away programs that the working people have to pay for.