To your first point: It is pretty ludicrous to claim that giving money to the Greek government, who then gives it to Greek public sector sinecure holders, who t

To your first point: It is pretty ludicrous to claim that giving money to the Greek government, who then gives it to Greek public sector sinecure holders, who then buy a Mercedes (for instance) is welfare for the German company. It is the Greek who end up with the goods. To your second point: The pensioners did not pay into a pot. Greece doesn't have a _funded_ pension pot, they have an unfunded "generational contract" like most other countries public pension system - i.e. the current pensioners paid in small amounts for the smaller number of shorter-lived pensioners that drew benefits 30-40 years - and they themselves now draw pensions for longer and in larger numbers. As such the "lunatic imposition of austerity" is only bringing the Greek pension age and institutional standards in line with the rest of the continent - which they failed to do for decades prior.