5 ms·

"They had knowingly and purposefully brought weak states into the Eurozone, because they genuinely, even nobly, wished to build a large, strong, United Europe."

"They had knowingly and purposefully brought weak states into the Eurozone, because they genuinely, even nobly, wished to build a large, strong, United Europe." For folks who know Europe/Europeans well, is this true?

cbaleanu 11y ago
Not an expert, but the popular culture some EU countries is that the greek and spanish work less than people from NW Europe. Personally I think this is highly subjective though.
- Atropos 11y ago
  Not working less hours, but much less "productive" in an economic sense. See US Patent statistics: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/cst_utl.htm http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/cst_utl.htm Even in the boom years of 1999-2008, Greece had like 20 patents / year, while Austria or Finland have 600-900, despite having a smaller population.
  - jacquesm 11y ago
    Patents are indicative of an IP based economy, Greece is much more dependent on tourism than on IP and technology than Austria or Finland. Economic productivity is not accurately measured by looking at the number of patents granted for any country, though it does reflect how large the tech/ip sector is for that country.
hartator 11y ago
I am from France and I've lived in Bulgaria for a while. It's true fortunately/unfortunately. Ie., one of the condition of Bulgary entry in Europe Union was the shudown of two nuclear reactor that was the same model than Thernobyl ones...
saool 11y ago
Absolutely. The pro-European movement that's been going on for many many decades has as an ultimate goal to unite the peoples of Europe so we can live in peace. United in diversity, as the EU motto claims. A great % of Europeans you met before 2008 would agree with this. There's now —sadly— little left going around of the "Alle Menschen werden Brüder" that our shared anthem sings (all men become brothers under the gentle wing of joy). A bunch of unscrupulous cronies sold both northern and southern Europeans up the river just to make a profit for themselves and their friends. No damn statesmanship to be seen anywhere. Long gone are the times Schroeder and other much-more-respectable leaders, we now have to put up with the likes of Lagarde and Juncker. And, of course, Tsipras and Varoufakis, amateur hour, who have been absurdly reckless in their handling of the negotiations and PR.
- krzyk 11y ago
  Schroeder? You mean the one that is the one of the best friends with Putin and was put by him chairman of the shareholders' committee of Nord Stream. Which was basically created by those two. Corruption at it best, I would strongly object to such "respectable leaders". Look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nord_Stream https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nord_Stream Controversy section
  - saool 11y ago
    Note I said more-respectable, it was just comparative and not absolute. Politicians are politicians: it's never white, it's just shades of gray. Schroeder at least had some decency when it came to the bigger picture, which these gutless lawyers we chose as of late lack completely.

cbaleanu 11y ago

Not an expert, but the popular culture some EU countries is that the greek and spanish work less than people from NW Europe. Personally I think this is highly subjective though.

Atropos 11y ago
Not working less hours, but much less "productive" in an economic sense. See US Patent statistics: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/cst_utl.htm http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/cst_utl.htm Even in the boom years of 1999-2008, Greece had like 20 patents / year, while Austria or Finland have 600-900, despite having a smaller population.
- jacquesm 11y ago
  Patents are indicative of an IP based economy, Greece is much more dependent on tourism than on IP and technology than Austria or Finland. Economic productivity is not accurately measured by looking at the number of patents granted for any country, though it does reflect how large the tech/ip sector is for that country.

hartator 11y ago

I am from France and I've lived in Bulgaria for a while. It's true fortunately/unfortunately. Ie., one of the condition of Bulgary entry in Europe Union was the shudown of two nuclear reactor that was the same model than Thernobyl ones...

saool 11y ago

Absolutely. The pro-European movement that's been going on for many many decades has as an ultimate goal to unite the peoples of Europe so we can live in peace. United in diversity, as the EU motto claims. A great % of Europeans you met before 2008 would agree with this. There's now —sadly— little left going around of the "Alle Menschen werden Brüder" that our shared anthem sings (all men become brothers under the gentle wing of joy). A bunch of unscrupulous cronies sold both northern and southern Europeans up the river just to make a profit for themselves and their friends. No damn statesmanship to be seen anywhere. Long gone are the times Schroeder and other much-more-respectable leaders, we now have to put up with the likes of Lagarde and Juncker. And, of course, Tsipras and Varoufakis, amateur hour, who have been absurdly reckless in their handling of the negotiations and PR.

krzyk 11y ago
Schroeder? You mean the one that is the one of the best friends with Putin and was put by him chairman of the shareholders' committee of Nord Stream. Which was basically created by those two. Corruption at it best, I would strongly object to such "respectable leaders". Look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nord_Stream https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nord_Stream Controversy section
- saool 11y ago
  Note I said more-respectable, it was just comparative and not absolute. Politicians are politicians: it's never white, it's just shades of gray. Schroeder at least had some decency when it came to the bigger picture, which these gutless lawyers we chose as of late lack completely.