4 ms·
Except that the loans in question were made to the Greek government, not the average Greek. The creditors should have taken into account the Greek government's
by Qz 15y ago
Except that the loans in question were made to the Greek government, not the average Greek. The creditors should have taken into account the Greek government's inability to collect proper taxes.
Let's be honest, tax evasion is pretty much a national pastime in the US too -- the difference is that here the IRS will come after you if you cross the line.
- gaius 15y agoYes, whereas it's systemic in Greece - the government will call off tax inspectors in an election year! The only way forwards I see is for the Germans to take over the collection of Greek taxes, and to control Greece's spending too, at least for a generation.
- Qz 15y agoI highly doubt that will happen unless Germany wants to try turning Greece into a police state because the people will not stand for that.
- gaius 15y agoYes well that was the problem - Greeks are happy to vote for high government spending, they even vote for high taxes - they just don't pay them. I think we'll also see them sell their half of Cyprus to Turkey too, for a few billion Euros, once the austerity starts to bite. And the Germans have their eye on a few of the Greek islands too.
- zeemonkee 15y agoSorry, WTF ? The Republic of Cyprus is a sovereign state, it's not part of Greece.
- gaius 15y agoThen they won't mind relinquishing their claim on it, then! And British peacekeepers can withdraw at last.
- handelaar 15y agoWhat, essentially, you just said: "US Treasury Bonds downgraded because of the Deficit Cap row? OK, so the Americans can just sell their half of Canada to France." This Cyprus diversion of yours was just wrong to the point of surrealism. Let it go.
- burgerbrain 15y agohttps://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Cyprus#Contemporary_era https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Cyprus#Contem... Canada hasn't been turned into a warzone in recent history by France and the US arguing over who owns it.
- nate_meurer 15y agoIt was only recently that Greece stopped openly calling for enosis, enjoining Cypriots to overthrow their own government if necessary. They've been quieter about that crap over the last couple of decades, but Greece still clings to the territorial dispute to justify its overgrown military. It is quite accurate to say that Greece hasn't yet let go of Cyprus, and that doing so would save it considerable money. To my knowledge, the U.S. has never encouraged Canadians to overthrow their government, nor do they use Canada as an excuse to justify an expensive cold war against, say, France.
- rospaya 15y agoThe UN mission, UNFICYP is multinational, and talks about withdrawal are serious. The British bases there have nothing to do with peacekeeping.