Belgian government, working for safety of camper vans, but too stupid to pull it off

zyzygy said:

It's all underground where I live.

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joG said:

Good points. And yes, the the Euro member countries did already have to take a certain hit on the Greek crisis, but not nearly the amount that would have been required to stop the depression in Greece. Also correct it that the crisis was worldwide and not caused by the Dutch. The repair took much, much longer because of the Euro, however.

The issues you address:

1. Correct. Netherlands did not cause the crisis. The crisis was an external shock in economics parley to the currency area that the Netherlands had installed in spite oh knowing that it would mean periodically worse crisis than the cyclical downturns of the past. This was obvious from before the start. Also, the Dutch government allowed major countries to break the Stability Pact and so increase the dangers down the line.
2. Absolutely. And the Bundesbank knew this and had informed the Ministry of Finance. The political decision was taken to prevent the Bundesbank from doing due diligence, because it would have meant blocking Greece's entry. It is inconceivable that the central bank in Holland did not know given this fact. So it might be assumed, that the problem here is not that the Greeks "cooked the books" as much as the member governments betraying their own populations for interests of their own.
3. And again you make a good point. And again, that was well known by all. In addition the Greeks were buying huge amounts of things like weapons on credit from the Northern member states like from MAN or Ferrostaal on contracts based on bribery. We more or less knew that without being directly involved. But it was later said "Greece had been living above it's financial means" and the Greek pensioners and sick lost their pensions and healthcare, while thousands of companies and small businesses were closed because of the austerity policies "Contracts must be fulfilled" from the North. But the pensioners had been cheated not only by Greek corruption. The Bribers were from the countries demanding payment.
4. No, the Northeners did not withdraw the money of wealthy Greeks. But they had paid the bribes that made many of those Greeks rich.

And yes. You are right. It was the responsibility of the Greeks. But it was also the responsibility of the colluding Northern countries that had known the consequences of currency union and allowed the cooked books to pass. The crisis was unavoidable and thus part of the plan.

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joG said:

Yes. I see these programs on German and French TV and here in Spain there was a lot too. What happens in the Netherlands to the politicians and public servants that did it?

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