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There's one way in which Picketty is right: it's impossible to force a country to repay their debt. After WW1 France tried first through international (England
by obblekk 11y ago
There's one way in which Picketty is right: it's impossible to force a country to repay their debt.
After WW1 France tried first through international (England) enforcement bodies, and then ultimately by occupation of the Ruhr valley (Germany's most productive region then).
Both approaches failed. Eventually the Weimar inflated their currency until the French debt was worth nothing, workers in the Ruhr valley striked, and extremist political parties promising a return of German dignity flourished.
Once the Greeks decide to refuse to pay, there isn't a good way to force them, short of enslavement.
- jqm 11y ago"short of enslavement" And that might not work either. My understanding is that some slaves eat more than they produce.
- PuercoPop 11y agoThere are ways. See the case of Argentina.
- kchoudhu 11y agoTo the best of my knowledge, they haven't repaid. Their access to capital markets is very inconvenient right now -- but they haven't repaid.
- caskance 11y agoIf you are willing to accept payment in land, it's quite easy.
- cwp 11y agoYou also have to be willing to kill all the people currently living on it.
- Dylan16807 11y agoWha?
- caskance 11y agoNo, they're a pack-in deal.
- landryraccoon 11y agoI don't often hear war as described as "easy". I don't think any of Greece's creditor nations are willing to start a shooting war over a default.
- caskance 11y agoIt's not a shooting war unless Greece refuses to pay.