Im surprised to see there isnt a thread discussing the events on Greece given it could end up having huge repercussions on Europe.

Right now nobody knows how this will end. Syriza and its smaller partner ANEL are against paying the debt and the creditors are not having any of that. How will this end? Will they reach an agreement or will this end with Greece leaving the Euro?

The latest events here: http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...erity-policies

It's in PU

oh ok I missed that.

I dont know if its gonna turn out all that bad. They just decided to QE a trillion euros to buy govt bonds. I guess that means the greeks are gonna have their loans replaced by very low interest loans.

I think they are going to negotiate about that now, trying to make Syriza the new economical slack that this provides in a way that really supports economic growth rather than just give it away to make the voters happy.

If that succeeds, i think the future doesnt look all that bad for the eurozone. And im not even much of a Keynesian really, i am surprising myself by my positive view on this.

It is important though that we (northern europe) dont push the greeks too much. History has repeatedly proven that pushing people deeper in debt will not help you get your money back, it will only worsen the situation for everyone. The rise of nazi germany after the crisis in the 30s being the best example of this. But the history of greece itself also. Exactly the same thing happened a little more than a century before. Noone got better of the austerity they tried to enforce back then.

New Greek Government Has Deep, Long-Standing Ties With Russian Nazi Dugin
http://www.rferl.org/content/greek-s.../26818523.html

My bad I misread your post.

Greece ain't Germany.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31016261

Tsipras puts up a bold front.

Doubt if that is possible.

I'd be astonished if Greece didn't leave/get ejected from the eurozone.

They aren't going to get any QE money while their bonds are junk and their bonds are staying junk as they have already reneged on undertakings given in the last bailout.

Anyone got a view on how the government could best manage the transition to the "greek euro"? Could they just pass a law stating we are leaving the common currency? Do they then just start printing money? Do they start paying interest/redeem bonds in that currency?

Greek bonds have been pretty much the best performing asset around since the last bailout, better than US stocks etc. Seems like that could happen again, though who knows how high yields will go in the mean time though. My guess is that this is somewhat like the US debt downgrade, lack of faith in politicians who will eventually do what moneyed interests want, rather than a massive default scenario where they just flat out can't pay.

Yeah they were on track before the lunatics took over the asylum.

They have now abandoned privatisations, abandoned the planned civil service job cuts and increased the minimum wage. The IMF/ECB are simply going to tell them to gtfo.

They will run out of money next month.

I'm fine with an elected government doing what it wants, but it simply can't expect to borrow money in a reserve currency and behave like a banana republic.

Let Greece leave the Euro. It'll be better for it.

Hello people...I see none of u is Greek...I am.Born and raised in Athens.
Do u think the issue in Greece (and not only in Greece...but WORLDWIDE...) is only economical?Also,when we,as humanity,say politics...what do we mean????Why do we only try to aproach the issue through economics and bonds and etc...Aren't politics supposed to be something greater than that,and economics either something different than politics,that ofcource is connected to it in soooo many ways,either it is just a part of it,and indeed a biiiig one.....?In order to see what is actually happening in Greece shouldn't we try to see other aspects of politics in general and not only the economic ones???
As long as the media saying about this Dugin guy and the Syriza connections to him...u should hear what the reality is...u'd just LUAO... don't give so much credit to media...
If u would like to see the issue in all of its aspects and only the economic one, I'would love to jump in the conversation.If the rest feell the same,please say so and I will.

Have fun everybody.

We welcome your input.

Greece or the Euro will be better?

I was shocked to learn that the average wage in Greece is $600 a month. That has to be like a third of the average wage in the advanced European countries, right? Seems insane to employ the same fiscal policies for such different economies.

Impose 1930s-style debt obligations, get 1930s-style politics.

Perhaps surprisingly the fascist party hasn't seen a huge swelling of support the way Syriza has.

One currency for all of Europe makes no economic sense. Greece should peg their own currency to the EURO.

It seems like the Eurozone is more about faith then economic sense.

Edit: does anyone who doesn't have a vested interest in the Eurozone think it's a good idea? I'd be curious what Krugman thinks of it.

He did a good for once article saying what a bad idea it was, given his views its easy to predict he would not be a fan of it.

Where did you get that number from?

Yea that's gotta be low. Though, they certainly have 1/3 the monthly income of countries like Norway/Switzerland.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30982932
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30914039

My mistake, it's 600 Euro. About $677.

The EU government is a farce of a democracy, dedicated to protecting criminal bankers like Christine Lagarde, Rodrigo Rato and Levi Strauss Kahn from the rule of law. Greece is just the tip of the iceberg. It's the best thing that can happen, because democratically elected leaders who stop the oligarchic criminality are the only hope we have to prevent revolution. People are really pissed off at politicians and the ruling rich.

so, two american greeks are talking. one says "I'm thinking about going back to Greece," and they other says, "nah, I'm sticking with vasoline."

Here's a perhaps novel approach for Greece to solve its debt crisis: Demand WWII Reparations from Germany