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Greece functioned OK before the euro. They devalued the drachma every now and then to keep themselves competitive. While never the model of operational efficien

by jazzyk 11y ago

Greece functioned OK before the euro. They devalued the drachma every now and then to keep themselves competitive. While never the model of operational efficiency, they chugged along before they were saddled with debt in the mid 2000s - debt spent mostly on buying military equipment and other unnecessary stuff FROM GERMANY and other EU countries with Greek decision-makers decisions being "incentivized" to do so. Ordinary people did not see much of this money. And the money spent on bailouts since 2010 was just bailing out private banks and saddling euro taxpayers with the bill. By the way, Germany is not exactly a stranger to corruption (compared to other northern states in Europe): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_in_Germany https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_in_Germany

MagnumOpus 11y ago
Greece functioned "OK" if a low standard of living, rampant inflation and pervasive lack of access to credit for businesses or individuals is "OK". Of course is better than blowing up a giant credit bubble and then popping it when it goes wrong, but it's not very nice. > debt spent mostly on buying military equipment and other unnecessary stuff FROM GERMANY I hope you realise how ludicrous this sounds. Granting them victim status because they just couldn't resist those submarines and tanks despite not being able to pay... If you are looking for large unnecessary contributors for Greek debt, why don't you start at the $15bn Olympic Games (no doubt they were forced on Greeks by the German manufacturing firms, too). > Germany is not exactly a stranger to corruption Sometimes orders of magnitude matters. It does matter whether the rate of tax payment non-compliance is 5% or 50%, even if it does not fit the narrative of moral equivalence.
- jazzyk 11y ago
  >Greece functioned "OK" if a low standard of living, rampant inflation and pervasive lack of access to credit for businesses or individuals is "OK". They still have all of these things. Plus 25% unemployment (50% for young people), and debt equal to 180% GDP (soon to be 200%). It takes two to tango. I was not trying to grant them victim status, I was just pointing out that German (and other EU businesses/banks) are not exactly blameless (ever heard of predatory lending?)

by jazzyk 11y ago

MagnumOpus 11y ago

Greece functioned "OK" if a low standard of living, rampant inflation and pervasive lack of access to credit for businesses or individuals is "OK". Of course is better than blowing up a giant credit bubble and then popping it when it goes wrong, but it's not very nice. > debt spent mostly on buying military equipment and other unnecessary stuff FROM GERMANY I hope you realise how ludicrous this sounds. Granting them victim status because they just couldn't resist those submarines and tanks despite not being able to pay... If you are looking for large unnecessary contributors for Greek debt, why don't you start at the $15bn Olympic Games (no doubt they were forced on Greeks by the German manufacturing firms, too). > Germany is not exactly a stranger to corruption Sometimes orders of magnitude matters. It does matter whether the rate of tax payment non-compliance is 5% or 50%, even if it does not fit the narrative of moral equivalence.

jazzyk 11y ago
>Greece functioned "OK" if a low standard of living, rampant inflation and pervasive lack of access to credit for businesses or individuals is "OK". They still have all of these things. Plus 25% unemployment (50% for young people), and debt equal to 180% GDP (soon to be 200%). It takes two to tango. I was not trying to grant them victim status, I was just pointing out that German (and other EU businesses/banks) are not exactly blameless (ever heard of predatory lending?)