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The scenarios for the greek crisis are turning more and more to be science fiction. To me it's inconceivable how it can be expected that us greeks will have to

The scenarios for the greek crisis are turning more and more to be science fiction. To me it's inconceivable how it can be expected that us greeks will have to put up with "austerity measures" for what is essentially the rest of our lives. I 've been a supporter of an immediate exit from the euro from the onset of the crisis. Greece is not ready to compete with the rest of europe, let alone with the rest of the world, so it's best to introspect, build a diversified internal economy which will bring true sustainable growth. People are just not interested in putting up with the terms of the additional loans, it's going to take a shift of generations for the change in attitudes. Trying to fake a developed economy via the introduction of the euro was an experiment that failed miserably. There is a middle-eastern-style business culture in which corruption has been promoted to a science. Income taxes are higher than Germany, yet financial law enforcement is virtually non-existent. As a small startup owner, i don't see any reasons to keep my business in this country.

nodata 15y ago
For the long term I'd like to see a bloc-wide currency as well as local currencies. A "Greek-Euro" with an exchange rate for "Europe-Euros" if you like.
- intellection 15y ago
  Interesting currency combine.
quanticle 15y ago
>I 've been a supporter of an immediate exit from the euro from the onset of the crisis. The problem with changing currency is that its impossible to pull off without having bank runs that would make the Great Depression look like a bad ATM line. Changing a country's currency takes a lot of preparation. New bills have to be printed. New coins have to be minted. The currency has to be distributed to banks. Exchange rates between the new and old currencies have to be set. Do you really think that this can be done in secret? No, if Greece decided to go back to the drachma, there would be a massive financial panic as everyone with a Greek bank account tried to pull their Euros out and move them overseas. The civil unrest that would cause would make the current protests look like a small crowd of rowdy teenagers.
- nhaehnle 15y ago
  The comparison with the Great Depression in connections with bank runs is not a good one. Yes, there may have been one or the other bank run bank in those days, but the main feature of the Great Depression was rampant unemployment - more or less exactly what Greece is already experiencing. Greece must exit the Euro to avoid prolonged Great Depression-style unemployment. So this becomes a short vs. medium term tradeoff. Introducing a new currency will most likely be chaotic, but in the medium term it allows Greece the flexibility to restart the internal economy. Without introducing a new currency, the short term chaos can be avoided at the cost of a very prolonged downturn that is destructive for the country's prospects and may lead to political chaos in the medium-to-long term.
  - quanticle 15y ago
    The massive unemployment was a result of the bank runs, not a cause. The bank failures caused the economy to seize up and people to hoard money, leading to a massive wave of foreclosures and business closings, leading to massive unemployment. It wasn't until FDR declared a bank holiday and brought the FDIC up that people were confident enough in their savings to put money back into banks.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]

nodata 15y ago

For the long term I'd like to see a bloc-wide currency as well as local currencies. A "Greek-Euro" with an exchange rate for "Europe-Euros" if you like.

intellection 15y ago
Interesting currency combine.

quanticle 15y ago

>I 've been a supporter of an immediate exit from the euro from the onset of the crisis. The problem with changing currency is that its impossible to pull off without having bank runs that would make the Great Depression look like a bad ATM line. Changing a country's currency takes a lot of preparation. New bills have to be printed. New coins have to be minted. The currency has to be distributed to banks. Exchange rates between the new and old currencies have to be set. Do you really think that this can be done in secret? No, if Greece decided to go back to the drachma, there would be a massive financial panic as everyone with a Greek bank account tried to pull their Euros out and move them overseas. The civil unrest that would cause would make the current protests look like a small crowd of rowdy teenagers.

nhaehnle 15y ago
The comparison with the Great Depression in connections with bank runs is not a good one. Yes, there may have been one or the other bank run bank in those days, but the main feature of the Great Depression was rampant unemployment - more or less exactly what Greece is already experiencing. Greece must exit the Euro to avoid prolonged Great Depression-style unemployment. So this becomes a short vs. medium term tradeoff. Introducing a new currency will most likely be chaotic, but in the medium term it allows Greece the flexibility to restart the internal economy. Without introducing a new currency, the short term chaos can be avoided at the cost of a very prolonged downturn that is destructive for the country's prospects and may lead to political chaos in the medium-to-long term.
- quanticle 15y ago
  The massive unemployment was a result of the bank runs, not a cause. The bank failures caused the economy to seize up and people to hoard money, leading to a massive wave of foreclosures and business closings, leading to massive unemployment. It wasn't until FDR declared a bank holiday and brought the FDIC up that people were confident enough in their savings to put money back into banks.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]