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Hear, hear. While Greece have lost this battle, he has shone a light into the murky workings of European politics that I believe will be invaluable and inspiri

Hear, hear. While Greece have lost this battle, he has shone a light into the murky workings of European politics that I believe will be invaluable and inspiring to future reformers, not to mention the citizens of the EU member states.

vixen99 11y ago
I'm just wondering what the heck Greece has done with the some half trillion Euros it's sucked in over the years and which hard-pressed taxpayers across Europe, many with standards of living below that of the average Greek, will now be helping to offset?
- pfg 11y ago
  > Less than 10% of the bailout money was left to be used by the government for reforming its economy and safeguarding weaker members of society. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/29/where-did-the-greek-bailout-money-go http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/29/where-did-the-g...
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  - bobcostas55 11y ago
    That's completely meaningless nonsense, money is fungible.
    - yrro 11y ago
      Doesn't change the fact that the previous bailout was in practice a bailout of French and German banks and other private bondholders. Another case of profits being privatized and losses being socialized.
    - mattlutze 11y ago
      > Only a small fraction of the €240bn (£170bn) total bailout money Greece received in 2010 and 2012 found its way into the government’s coffers to soften the blow of the 2008 financial crash and fund reform programmes. > Most of the money went to the banks that lent Greece funds before the crash. They money from the bailouts went to pay debts that Greece owed on pre-2008 loans, and was not available to the Greek government to be used for social or economic restructuring. I'm not certain at all what your basis for your comment is.
- danieltillett 11y ago
  500 000 million spread over 10 million people for 20 years is only 2500 euros per person per year. Assuming a large chunk of this amount was interest then it makes a lot more sense where all the money went.
- venomsnake 11y ago
  Well the ECB could just print couple of trillion euro and hang them out divided to each country. We will have a little inflation and that's it. Greece will be debt free and there will be no burdens on the taxpayers.
  - danieltillett 11y ago
    Actually Greece has a printing press for Euros (apparently you can tell which euro notes are printed in Greece by the serial number). I have been half expecting Greece to solve all its problems by just printing.
    - vamur 11y ago
      They need authorization from ECB and the printer prints only 10 euros. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/06/return-drachma-greece-print-own-euros https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/06/return-drachma...
      - danieltillett 11y ago
        I think if you are going to run the biggest heist in history you are not going to ask permission :)
    - CrLf 11y ago
      The Euro notes has codes for both the issuing central bank and the printer facility. http://www.eurotracer.net/information/notes.php http://www.eurotracer.net/information/notes.php
      - danieltillett 11y ago
        Me thinks even the Greeks would not have too much problem putting the German code on their new notes. Of course this would be interpreted as a declaration of war by the eu so it would not be wise.
        11y ago
- chrisbennet 11y ago
  Almost all of it was used for dept payments I believe. Alas, this sort of thing (protect the interests of capital) is pretty normal. In the US, bankers got a bailout and homeowners lost their homes for example.
  - lucozade 11y ago
    Of the bailout money, yes. But bear in mind that the bailout money (at least the initial tranche) was to take on debt that had already been spent. It most definitely is not that case that that money was spent on debt re-payments. It's fair to say that a lot of subsequent additional money was primarily used to cover debt re-payments but that's because the original debt was so large (relative to the Greek economy).
chappi42 11y ago
Greece has lost the war. Fortunately the resistance was strong enough against his completely exagerated expectations. Such parties are not normally at the helm neither in US nor Europe. Care to elaborate murky workings?

vixen99 11y ago

I'm just wondering what the heck Greece has done with the some half trillion Euros it's sucked in over the years and which hard-pressed taxpayers across Europe, many with standards of living below that of the average Greek, will now be helping to offset?

pfg 11y ago
> Less than 10% of the bailout money was left to be used by the government for reforming its economy and safeguarding weaker members of society. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/29/where-did-the-greek-bailout-money-go http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/29/where-did-the-g...
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- bobcostas55 11y ago
  That's completely meaningless nonsense, money is fungible.
  - yrro 11y ago
    Doesn't change the fact that the previous bailout was in practice a bailout of French and German banks and other private bondholders. Another case of profits being privatized and losses being socialized.
  - mattlutze 11y ago
    > Only a small fraction of the €240bn (£170bn) total bailout money Greece received in 2010 and 2012 found its way into the government’s coffers to soften the blow of the 2008 financial crash and fund reform programmes. > Most of the money went to the banks that lent Greece funds before the crash. They money from the bailouts went to pay debts that Greece owed on pre-2008 loans, and was not available to the Greek government to be used for social or economic restructuring. I'm not certain at all what your basis for your comment is.
danieltillett 11y ago
500 000 million spread over 10 million people for 20 years is only 2500 euros per person per year. Assuming a large chunk of this amount was interest then it makes a lot more sense where all the money went.
venomsnake 11y ago
Well the ECB could just print couple of trillion euro and hang them out divided to each country. We will have a little inflation and that's it. Greece will be debt free and there will be no burdens on the taxpayers.
- danieltillett 11y ago
  Actually Greece has a printing press for Euros (apparently you can tell which euro notes are printed in Greece by the serial number). I have been half expecting Greece to solve all its problems by just printing.
  - vamur 11y ago
    They need authorization from ECB and the printer prints only 10 euros. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/06/return-drachma-greece-print-own-euros https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/06/return-drachma...
    - danieltillett 11y ago
      I think if you are going to run the biggest heist in history you are not going to ask permission :)
  - CrLf 11y ago
    The Euro notes has codes for both the issuing central bank and the printer facility. http://www.eurotracer.net/information/notes.php http://www.eurotracer.net/information/notes.php
    - danieltillett 11y ago
      Me thinks even the Greeks would not have too much problem putting the German code on their new notes. Of course this would be interpreted as a declaration of war by the eu so it would not be wise.
      - 11y ago
chrisbennet 11y ago
Almost all of it was used for dept payments I believe. Alas, this sort of thing (protect the interests of capital) is pretty normal. In the US, bankers got a bailout and homeowners lost their homes for example.
- lucozade 11y ago
  Of the bailout money, yes. But bear in mind that the bailout money (at least the initial tranche) was to take on debt that had already been spent. It most definitely is not that case that that money was spent on debt re-payments. It's fair to say that a lot of subsequent additional money was primarily used to cover debt re-payments but that's because the original debt was so large (relative to the Greek economy).

chappi42 11y ago

Greece has lost the war. Fortunately the resistance was strong enough against his completely exagerated expectations. Such parties are not normally at the helm neither in US nor Europe. Care to elaborate murky workings?