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So you've described Greece as a bunch of scheming petulant children. "Our plan to be inaccountable didn't work, so we'll try a different scheme instead". And
by troupo 2mo ago
So you've described Greece as a bunch of scheming petulant children.
"Our plan to be inaccountable didn't work, so we'll try a different scheme instead".
And yes, it's a huge problem. That's why I called the situation unwinnable.
- graemep 2mo agoThey could neither fix the problem with the policy tools a country with its own currency would have, nor did they have the automatic support from a central budget a region or state of a country would have.
- nradov 2mo agoGreece could have fixed their problems by cutting spending and collecting more taxes (not necessarily higher taxes, but actually collecting the taxes that were owed). Currency inflation was never necessary.
- iknowstuff 2mo agoI think they did? At the cost of very slow recovery, which I think is the problem with austerity measures.
- nradov 2mo agoAusterity is not a "problem", it's simply the only remaining option when you run out of other people's money.
- iknowstuff 2mo agoCountries can inflate their debt away at the cost of eroding savings and new borrowing becoming more expensive, no? https://www.statbureau.org/en/greece/inflation-charts-yearly https://www.statbureau.org/en/greece/inflation-charts-yearly
- nradov 2mo agoCountries can't push that approach very far before new borrowing doesn't just become more expensive, it becomes effectively impossible.
- realityking 2mo agoCountries with poor credit struggle to issue debt in their own currency. Being able to inflate your debts away is a privilege of the rich.
- imtringued 2mo agoThis is a very strange perspective when the simplest solution is to introduce a demurrage euro for automatic equilibrium in the Eurozone. I know you permanent money people are keen on a dog eat dog world where you trust no one and see everyone around you as a competitor to defeat.
- izacus 2mo agoThey couldn't fix the problem because they were a corrupt country refusing to face their reality and which leadership decided to blame EU for not pumping more money into their pockets instead of fixing the structural problems of their rotting country. Destroying their peoples lives with inflation so they could continue the parade would be even worse for both Greece and EU as a whole.
- carlosjobim 2mo agoNo, the Greeks were cool and calculating, turning an inflating fake fiat currency into hard assets like real estate, while not working or producing anything. The introduction of the Euro was the start signal for each country to try to inflate as much as they can for their own benefit - since the first inflator gets the best value out of the currency. Idiots are left holding paper currency worth less and less each day. Having to work harder and harder in a never ending spiral.
- pjc50 2mo agoThe Euro had a much better set of inflation controls than most of the previous European currencies. Especially the lire.
- carlosjobim 2mo agoAbsolutely. But when you inflate your own currency, it is you who have to deal with the consequences. If you inflate everyone's currency you reap all the benefits and leave everybody else with the burden of the consequences.
- pjc50 2mo agoBut part of the setup was that inflation was controlled centrally by the ECB? How are you declaring that national governments inflated it?
- carlosjobim 2mo agoInflation isn't controlled by the ECB. Money is created when banks loan out money. Whether that be to people, companies, or governments (municipalities and so on). That's where all money comes from and how the currency is inflated. The country which by legislation or by other means makes it easier for banks to lend out money will benefit their own citizens and companies, since they get to be the first spenders of newly created money before it reduces in value. That's how national governments can use inflation for their own benefit within a common currency system. But no government involvement is necessary. If a group of people (in this case the Greeks) are willing to take on extraordinary amounts of debts compared to other groups, then we have the same results. Remember that all money which was borrowed in the European "debt crisis" went somewhere before the loans couldn't be paid. Somebody benefitted, and the idiots were left to pay.
- philipallstar 2mo ago> So you've described Greece as a bunch of scheming petulant children. Can you quote where I did that, please?