On austerity.. I think you are overstating the point about justifications for austerity. The Greek government's finances were such that they consistently spen

On austerity.. I think you are overstating the point about justifications for austerity. The Greek government's finances were such that they consistently spent more than they took in, that is ho the debt accrued. Austerity/reform got it to the point where it spends what it takes in, without enough left to pay back loans. I doubt that it would have been politically realistic for Greek to do this without EU forcing them (and taking the blame). This is a terrible thing even if it had ended here. Improving efficiency in this environment is nearly impossible, unless "inefficiency" means big chunks of fraud and theft. So, reform means reducing services, and creating unemployment. Say you have 10 firemen. You can fire 5, halving the firefighting you can do. 5 become unemployed, but unemployment costs are less than fireman salaries so you save the difference. There is a political catch 22. These reforms are not too bad if done during economic good times, but they are politically impossible without some sort of unbearable pressure like insolvency (IE, can't pay salaries this month).