Posted on 05/12/2011 12:24:19 AM PDT by bruinbirdman
“The impossible rescue,” leads Handelsblatt as Greece gets ready yet again to send out a distress call for more financial aid. Impossible, says the Düsseldorf daily, noting that the initiatives taken so far have failed one after the other, without any lessons having been drawn. In May 2010, 110 billion euros were allocated to Greece to stabilise its economy – “but stability hasn’t happened.” In March 2011 the loan repayments were extended from three years to seven and a half years to calm the markets – “but the markets haven’t lost the jitters.” On May 10, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced again, in a “gesture of despair”, that action must be taken “for a stronger Greece”. The Chancellor, however, seems deaf to “the fundamental experience of this past year. For the measures – in fact, credits worth billions – have not worked. The road for those who want to save the Greeks leads nowhere. [...] And yet the usual cavalry” – the IMF and the European Central Bank – “are already heading back to Athens” to discuss an extension of credit of approximately 60 billion euros and a new repayment deadline, which would stretch the seven and a half years to ten, the economic daily reports. “Once again, we want to stabilise Greece by combining a brutal austerity with billions in credits. This kind of help just deepens the crisis,” Handelsblatt concludes.
Better brace for that!
>> Chancellor Angela Merkel announced again, in a “gesture of despair”, that action must be taken “for a stronger Greece”.
Now if we can get the citizens of Greece to say the same thing...
I recall getting early exposure from a Brit regarding the EU. His criticism was related to France and Germany’s control of the banks. He more or less described a patriarchal order that would leave periphery nations in the dust should things go wrong. It seems things have advanced to the entitlement stage.
Two options seem to exist. Delay the inevitable or let the inevitable happen sooner. The time for taking steps to avoid the pesent state of affairs is long past. Now the only correction can be pain or more pain. The longer the correction is delayed the worse will be the pain, the more it will spread and the longer recovery will take. Sadly, the U.S. Is headed down the same path.
It kinda reminds you of a neighbor who had twelve credit cards....maxed them out at a total of $100k in debt with 19 percent interest. He stands around for a year...two years...maybe even three or four years, and then eventually admits he can’t pay the $2k in payments each month....then declares bankruptcy.
Later, you ask him what he spent the $100k on to start with...and he just grins, to admit...he doesn’t really remember.
It’s the same with Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Spain, the US, these California towns paying lifeguards $150k a year, etc, etc. We are simply delaying the inevitable....without doubt. Sadly, we will end up with $150k lifeguards who are unemployed and wondering how they will survive. For some reason, I can sense a reality series here.
Did Germany buy the NYSE yet?
yitbos
Who will bail out America? Not that a bail out would help as Greece is proving.
Reminds me of all the trillions of debt that obamma has created and we are still no better off for it, since when he first came into power. And don’t give me this bull that the US would be better off if we would not have borrowed trillions. There is no proof , except in obamma’s shallow mind, that would have happened.
Ireland and Portugal's problem was being in the euro zone when they are actually smaller, more competitive markets. Ireland's problem was different from Portugal in that the Irish freed their banks too much and then bailed them out instead of letting them sink.
The Irish govt has done A LOT to remedy this -- they took voluntary cuts, they cut spending drastically. Salaries in Ireland have gone down massively and they would have recovered now if it wasn't for the euro
Portugal's problems are different -- while not profligate like Greece, they have not much of a base to grow and they have truly been the victims of run-away speculation.
Spain is different from the other three -- the problem is the overheated building market and the socialist govt they've had for the past 8 years.
This is true...
hilarious video regarding Spain’s problem with la burocracia in Spain:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZGHPpEmH14
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