To be fair, the banks making the loans were perfectly happy to do so, despite knowing the Greeks were the very definition of a bad risk.
Too big to fail and all that, ya know. And the German and other governments let them do it.
Plenty of blame to spread around.
It’s an epic book waiting to be written.
Nazis come...demand a loan (they could have stolen the money)...write up the paperwork...insert ‘zero’ percent interest so today...it’s still 14-billion Euro (not that 100-billion Euro that the Greeks talk about).
The Greeks? They had a nice small economy all the way through the 1950s. Nothing to hand out because there’s nothing much coming in. Then, tourism arrives.
1960s and 1970s...French, Germans, Brits and Americans arrive. Hotels get built. Airports enlarge. Cash flow within Greece (all islands) is great. Tax revenue is looking fantastic.
By late 1970s...political parties are promising fringe benefits from the tax revenue (schools, universities, nation-wide healthcare, pensions for government workers expanding, social security expanding). At some point, they are spending more than they take in...thus requiring the help of the Greek national bank structure. Loans occur and the interest starts to rise.
1980s are great because more infrastructure occurs...bridges and better roads...all dependent on tax revenue and more bank loans to carry the government.
1990s are fantastic...more resorts built...pay-raises kick in for gov’t workers....Greek gov’t departments expand out...and all dependent on tax revenue and more bank loans to carry the government. The EU is talk about this new currency deal...but only for legit countries. To get into the EURO...the Greeks can’t pass the test unless they use a fraudulent finance picture. The Greeks decide to sign up for the Olympics and the European National Soccer championship...costing the central gov’t billions...all structured around more loans.
After 2000, the Cyprus folks get into the Greek banking structure. Cyprus has figured out a way for Russian billionaires to enter into Cyprus and hide their money. After a while, there’s no profitable deals left for the Russian money sitting there...so they get the idea to buy into Greek bonds. Billions floated into the system. All a money-laundering deal but the EU won’t step up and say it in public.
2008 arrives and the Greek bank is unable to sustain this loan process...nor is Greece able to pay on the interest now. For forty years, the Greek have been forward-spending and never understood where the money came from. Even today, they don’t understand how they got to this point.
As for the 14-billion Euro of the Nazi loan? Here’s the curious thing...the Greeks rebuilt the national bank decades ago, and they limited Greek gov’t ownership to 35-percent. The vast majority of the Greek National Bank is privately held. So, EVEN if the Germans pay them the 14-billion...the government or the public can only lay claim to roughly five billion Euro (enough to sustain the country for about a week or two). The rest of the 14-billion belongs to the bank and it’s private owners. No one in the Greek media talks of this situation and the naive nature of the Greeks makes them look foolish.
You can feel sorry for the Greeks...they shouldn’t be in this position. But they were manipulated by political parties for decades and simply can’t believe they were royally screwed...even more so by elements of democracy.