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> Greeks are a prime example -- despite the intense crisis and austerity measures, the country still values its lunch and coffee breaks Right, and their econom
by untog 9y ago
> Greeks are a prime example -- despite the intense crisis and austerity measures, the country still values its lunch and coffee breaks
Right, and their economy is in free fall. I'm not saying you can't do it, but that cost to doing it is ever-increasing.
- treehau5 9y agoActually the free fall has seemed to have slowed, and bottomed out. It's just a different cultural value -- not every culture values the green dollar as much as America or the UK or likewise. Is it the best for your GDP? Probably not, but it's honorable. "Cash is King" is not something you hear many Greeks say about one another
- petre 9y agoThe whole Eurozone is actuallly in trouble, not just Greece. And it's definitely not Greece's fault, it's bad Euro kickstarting to begin with (not consolidating debt), followed by the 2008 financial crisis, followed by the Eurozone crisis and dumb ECB monetary policy (negative interest rates) in recent years. Cash is king because you can still use it in times when the banks/ATMs only allow you to withdraw 300 euros.
- bpodgursky 9y agoSpending borrowed money like candy and calling repayment oppression isn't a cultural value I care about protecting.
- vkou 9y agoBankruptcy exists for a reason. If all debt were risk free, lenders would have no right to charge interest for it. Lenders who issue loans to organizations who won't ever be able to pay them off aren't a group I care very much for protecting, either. They were sophisticated investors who knew the risks. Greece is a sovereign state, and its first obligation its to its people.
- bpodgursky 9y agoYeah, I have no problem with that, they should declare bankruptcy then, and deal with the fallout. But that's not what Greece chose to do -- they accepted bailout money and continue to complain about it,
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- geezerjay 9y ago> It's just a different cultural value -- not every culture values the green dollar as much as America or the UK or likewise. Past Greek governments sure looked like they loved other people's cash a lot for having borrowed so much of it. It's funny how that distaste for money and accompanying virtue signaling only managed to manifest itself once it was time to pay back all the borrowed cash.
- treehau5 9y ago> Past Greek governments Therein lies the distinction. The government of course loves the money. That's why the people are fed up with the greedy politicians and bankers. > It's funny how that distaste for money and accompanying virtue signaling only managed to manifest itself once it was time to pay back all the borrowed cash. It's funny how this statement proves you have absolutely zero knowledge of the culture and are projecting your own pessimistic views on people and societies onto one you know very little about.
- Clubber 9y agoThe US economy was in free fall in 2008 and 2001 and had nothing to do with how or when people worked. We're overdue for another one.
- jonknee 9y agoAll a matter of perspective I suppose, the current "stabilized" Greece is in much worse shape now than the US was at the worst point of the Great Recession (> 20% unemployment!).
- Clubber 9y agoYes, they are/were in bad shape, but from what I understand their problems stem from what our problems were: greed and corruption, not the workforce taking long lunches or not working 40 hours a week. Puerto Rico has similar issues with their economy. They took a lot of loans they shouldn't have. As an aside, our unemployment is a funny number in that it doesn't include people who have given up looking for work. I think that category is the highest it's been in a while, or in US history. I'm not sure if Greece calculates it in the same manner.