When times are tough, mess around
That is the Greek attitude it seems.
They need to default, leave the Euro zone so that they can have their own currency (and the huge corresponding real wage cut). Surely it is obvious that the politicians, and the people, don’t have the will to actually sort out their problems.
I want to know what the protesters want. How do the tax collectors think that not collecting tax is going to help Greece pay its bills? With the level of corruption and tax evasion in Greece prior to the crisis, it appears that their “social contract” was never really adhered too.
I will give them one point though – they may think the distribution of the burden is “not fair”. However, not collecting tax on current policies (not the new austerity ones) appears to be an overstep – and a signal that people are just generally unwilling to pay their bills. Pro-tip: If you elect a government who is going to spend lots of money, its your money they’re spending – you will have to pay for it at some point. Contrary to popular belief government doesn’t pull goods and services out of thin air.
Matt,
You have to remember Greece should never have been in the Euro. To paraphrase Otmar Issing, “Greece and Italy will be in the Euro over my dead body”. The Euro was, and ever is, a political project with economic benefits (hopefully). The Greeks and the Italians fudged their numbers (as did others) and locked themselves in at unattractive currency rates which have worsened over time.
So although it’s obvious that they should leave the Euro, the political fallout, for now, is too much to handle. So the game of musical chairs will continue until there are no more seats left. Either there is full fiscal integration or they leave. Everything else is a fudge, which, going by past experience, makes that the likely policy response 🙂
I predict the way this will end is that Greece will offer to collect other countries’ garbage for a fee, until its own landfills are so overloaded that garbage starts to erupt from the floor of the Acropolis. Then they’ll put the whole country on trucks and move it five miles down the road.
Everyone predict what will happen to them but they were not able to see it. The big problem is, they are incompatible with what they do. Watch what they do with EU money:
According to information of the “Hellenic Defence & Technology” magazine, the U.S. authorities approved to grant 400 M1A1 Abrams tanks to the Greek Army, which will include options between simple refurbishment – worth tens of millions dollars for all the tanks- and upgrading to a higher level of operational capability, with a higher corresponding cost. The relative Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) is expected soon.