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The IMF is partly to blame for what happened in Greece: because they allowed the Greeks to borrow more than 200% of the country's quota (which is determined by each country's capital contribution to the IMF) which was the IMF stated limit for everybody,and then moreso than any other country- in fact I believe its over 1000%.
But unless Tsipras's party enacts major reforms (such as downsizing government spending and reforming tax collections to increase revenue) and so far it seems to have no intention of doing so, then this new government really is no better than the government it replaced.
Not true. The Greeks never agreed to that 1990 treaty. In actual fact, they were never asked to. They have never accepted the 2+4 agreement and hence have never cancelled the war reparations debt that Germany still owes.
Not true. The Greeks never agreed to that 1990 treaty. In actual fact, they were never asked to. They have never accepted the 2+4 agreement and hence have never cancelled the war reparations debt that Germany still owes.
That can be changed I think.
http://money.cnn.com...ages/index.html
I don't see how Syriza can "lose" politically here, whereas Merkel & minions have nothing to gain. Except maybe contempt.
There is no welfare state a la Germany or Sweden in Greece. If you are out of a job for more than a year (or maybe 9 months) apparently you do not receive anything, not even foodstamps.
The idiot politicians like Merkel do not enjoy the suffering of the poorer half of the Greek population. They simply do not care about them. What they cannot admit is that the austerity measures have utterly failed (they have rather worked as the worked everytime and everywhere and exactly as predicted by some economists, i.e. they made the situation worse) and they want to avoid a similar development in Portugal (or God forbid, Spain). So Greece might be thrown to the dogs to avoid a leftist development in e.g. Spain at all costs.
I meant 1960. That's when the payments issue with Greece was resolved.
Lol !!
Sure is convenient timing for the Greek Government then isn't it ?
Greece didn't seem to have have a problem with Germany's war reparations when they were loading up German banks with worthless bonds.
the same guy who tried to extort his way out of this mess by claiming Germany owed Greece 300 Million euro's in " Nazi war crime " fines unpaid.
Fenton has posted this repeatedly. The issue is the "forced loan," not war reparations.
I don't agree that the call for a referendum is a "punt," a lack of leadership. I'd call it democracy.
I continue to believe that there will be no Grexit. The Right in Europe wants it, but they're not in control. I think moderates will prevail and this very difficult issue will somehow be resolved.
No, it wasn't. The Greeks were very clear that the money received (a fraction of what Germany forcibly borrowed) was a down-payment. They said it at the time and their position has never changed.
Perhaps. It's odd, though, that past Greek governments didn't pursue the case through the International Court of Justice. A mechanism exists for resolving the dispute.
It's not odd at all.
Greece needed to sell it's worthless bonds to other EU Nations States, including Germany. Any attempt to extort Germany back then would have probably come with consequences that may have led to Germany abandoning Greek debt.
This call for reparations or for Germany debts to be paid is simply the consequence of a radical left wing Greek PM trying to scam his way out of this mess. It was a dishonest and exceedingly stupid thing to do from a man that idolizes Che Guevara to the point where he named his second son after the revolutionary .
Syrzia shouldn't have gained power. He's a radical ideologue, not a leader, not a statesman.
I agree that the call for reparations was a crude tactic aimed at evading a serious attempt to address Greece's debt crisis.
From CNBC:
Reuters just flashed this:
GREEK OPPOSITION LEADER SAMARAS TO MEET GREEK PRESIDENT ON SUNDAY
I am not sure what will be discussed, but if the President and Opposition will move to replace the Tsipiras government within Greece's constitutional framework, that would be a constructive step.
How do you feel about the call for consideration of the extortion? This is an obligation that even the Nazis acknowledged. Was that criminal regime more "responsible" than the current German government?
Apparently there was a poll last week in which 57% of Greeks favored remaining within the Euro Zone even if Greece fully met all of the creditors' requirements.
That doesn't sound good at all. This could get really ugly.
Then we can hope that the referendum passes, strengthening the government's hand in making decisions that some will protest in the streets, no?
I very much hope that the Greek people will vote for accepting the EU/ECB/IMF terms. Such an outcome would be a rejection of the Tsipiras government's position.
I think they're in a very difficult position that they're trying to finesse, not cynically for their own political interest, but in furtherance of the interest of the Greek people.
The time for finessing the gaps was much earlier, not now.
Democracy ??
Lol !! Tsipras was elected.
Right ?
Voters chose him to lead their Nation and that would include making tough choices and then taking responsibility for the consequences of those choices.
But then again, what does a hard left lunatic socialist know about " responsiblity "
Nada. Tsipras admires people like Che Guevara. Hell, he named his second som after Guevaram, nothing he does surprises me.
This decision by Tsipras to offload his responsibility on his citizens shouldn't surprise anyone really.
And your defense of Tsipras isn't surprising either.
Tsipras is going to call for a referendum NOT in the spirit and interest of Democracy.
He's doing it so he can tell the Greek population that they're responsible for the inevitable consequences that are going to come with a Greek default
He can tell them " dont blame me, you voted for this "
Lol...what a low life.
I highly doubt that any kind of "coup" would occur, especially as a coup would further estrange Greece from the European Union. There might be efforts to see if a new coalition can be formed or a new election brought about. The current government's abdication of leadership has pushed Greece onto the brink of a grave national crisis and I'm sure the opposition and other responsible political leaders are trying to see if they can avoid the Tsipiras government's catastrophe. Nothing may come of the talks, but at least some are trying to avert catastrophe.
From Reuters:
Greece's Tsipras calls referendum to break bailout deadlock | Reuters
Leadership requires difficult choices at times. Unfortunately, the Greek Prime Minister decided to punt on his leadership responsibilities by delegating what is a grave decision to the general public, who almost surely lack the details related to Greece's fiscal situation, the EU/ECB/IMF offer, and understanding of the consequences involved. At the same time, he has shown little urgency with the scheduling, as the Greek Parliament would meet to discuss a referendum to be held on July 5, which is after the June 30 deadline for Greece's IMF payment.
Even if the Greek Prime Minister believes his punt will give him absolution from the consequences should Greece wind up in arrears to the IMF, it won't. His inability to lead lends further explanation to the chaotic path he has taken over the past several months, which has eroded Greece's small leverage, undermined the good faith others had, and imposed the Greek people to a deepening economic contraction and banking system risks. At a time when Greece needs a leader, it has a Prime Minister who lacks leadership capacity. This only compounds Greece's already terrible situation.