Posted on 01/26/2015 6:44:33 AM PST by Nextrush
The far-left Syriza party, the winner of Greece's election, has formed an anti-austerity coalition with a right-wing party, the Greek Independents.
Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras has taken the oath of office as the new prime minister.
He has vowed to renegotiate Greece's bailout, worth 240 bn euros (179 bn pounds, $268 bn).
European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker congratulated Mr. Tsipras while reminding him of the challenge of "ensuring fiscal responsibility."..........
With nearly all of the votes counted in Sunday's poll, Syriza looks set to have 149 seats, just two short of an absolute majority. The Greek Independents are projected to have 13 seats in the 300-seat parliament....
Sunday's result means that a majority of voters in Greece have essentially rejected a core policy for dealing with the Eurozone crisis as devised by Brussels and Germany, the BBC's Gavin Hewitt in Athens says.....
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
“Kinda like the Mexico of Europe, but without the oil!”
I think a better analogy would be: “Kinda like the Venezuela of Europe, but without the oil!”. As a group, Mexicans are quite industrious and hard workers when given an opportunity. Pretty much every manufactured good we consume in the U.S. is made in China or Mexico.
We are witnessing the rise of Nationalism in Europe again and the eventually breakup of the EU.
Could eventually witness Greece falling into the Russian orbit.
The reality is the rich are hording the world’s wealth through that symbiotic relationship. But you’re right about OWS. They’re guided by Marxist labor unions who just want to shore up their power over government. I think it was a reaction to a real populist Movent that threatened the merger between government and business.
While at first blush it doesn’t make sense, it does make sense for the right wing and left to have an “arrangement.”
Plainly put, Greece is hopelessly bankrupt.It’s not a question of “if” they repudiate their debt, its when and under what terms. Austerity is only a workable solution if there is some hope of coming out of it. There is none, and all this austerity over the past few years is just debtholders grabbing what they can as soon as they can.
...but with more ecomic sovereignty and freedom could they generate enough of an ecomomy to at least be happy? I mean, can they go on working like Mediterraneans and prosper in their own way?
Sure concentrate on their strengths: hospitality, great food, beautiful islands.
...A dynamic black market.
They are going to try to spend their way out of debt.
I wish them luck.
The problem is that the EU nations and the ECB loaned to Greece (practically from the first time Greece adopted the euro) knowing full well that it would be unable to pay them back under the given conditions.
At this point, Greece really has no other feasible option but to repudiate their debt. This will cut off their access to further credit, but is that really a bad thing?
LOL
Just consider what Syriza proposes: significant increases in government spending, a rise in the minimum wage and in pensions, and a splurge on entitlements. Most important, Tsipras intends to renegotiate and write off most of Greece’s massive debt obligations.Unfortunately for Greek voters, the world isn’t that simple. Syriza’s platform is, in fact, delusional.
The EU project, directed from Brussels, the Euro and European Central Bank are progressive/socialist social engineering projects (much like our own Federal Reserve)
What they have created in Greece over the last 15 years is the unavoidable price they will pay. And the EU masters in Brussels should pay it. Greece is beyond hope now - but maybe the rest of Europe (and the USA) can learn something.
“At this point, Greece really has no other feasible option but to repudiate their debt. This will cut off their access to further credit, but is that really a bad thing?”
Therein I think is why the right wing is embracing it. It’s obvious to any rational observer that they simply can’t service the debt. Once they repudiate the debt, they’re locked out of capital markets for about 5 years. Contrary to popular myth, they won’t be locked out forever. During that 5 years they’ll have to either balance their budget or run a surplus. Instant balanced budget anyone?
This is very analagous to the strategy in a corporate or personal bankruptcy where you try to keep your creditors at bay while preserving as many assets as possible.
So Greece will be forced to spend only the money they have coming in....GREAT! Please could we get that here?
I found your comment funny because the leftists and the statists are cheering this guy on.
“So Greece will be forced to spend only the money they have coming in....GREAT! Please could we get that here?”
We could but its economic equivalent of setting off a nuke. Greece has little choice, we still have some breathing room. FWIW, I think we’ll end up there in say 10-15 years.
The US has some time to change course, I just see no indication that we will.
A Balanced Budget Amendment would be a start.....cut back, and end all those GRANTS for people like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Climate Change fanatics, and studying weird stuff like monkeys smoking joints, and rats on treadmills.
“A Balanced Budget Amendment would be a start....”
It would, but unfortunately our uniparty would sooner chew off its own arm than do that.
SYRIZA is an extreme Left Marxist Party. Their name is an acronym in Greek for: Coalition of the Radical Left. Their party platform, includes these Gems:
- Renegotiate interest rates and suspend debt payments until the economy has revived.
- Hold referendums on treaties and other accords with Europe.
- Nationalize banks, and re-Nationalize privatized companies (railroads, airports, mail, water).
- Nationalize private hospitals. Outlaw private participation in the national health system. Eliminate payments by citizens for national health services.
- Increase funding for public health from 3% to 6% of GDP
- Raise income tax to 75% for all incomes over 500,000 euros.
- Increase taxes on big companies
- A tax on financial transactions
- A special tax on luxury goods.
- Prohibit speculative financial derivatives.
- Abolish financial privileges for the Church and shipbuilding industry.
- Use the buildings of the banks and the Church for the homeless.
- Combat the banks’ secret measures and the flight of capital abroad. (i.e. Impose capital controls)
- Drastically cut military expenditures.
- Close all foreign bases in Greece and withdraw from NATO.
- Withdraw Greek troops from Afghanistan and the Balkans. No Greek soldiers beyond our own borders.
- Abolish military cooperation with Israel. Support creation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.
- Negotiate a stable accord with Turkey.
- Raise the minimum wage to the pre-cut level of 750 euros per month (from 500).
- Guarantee human rights in immigrant detention centres.
- Facilitate the reunion of immigrant families.
- Open dining rooms in public schools to offer free breakfast and lunch to children.
- Free health benefits to the unemployed, homeless and those with low salaries.
- Subvention of up to 30% of mortgage payments for poor families who cannot meet payments.
- Increase of subsidies for the unemployed, for one-parent families, the aged, disabled, and families with no income.
- Price reductions for goods of primary necessity.
- Decriminalize consumption of drugs. Increase funding for drug rehab centres.
- Preference for renewable energy and defence of the environment.
- Change the election laws to a proportional system.
- Revise the Constitution to guarantee separation of church and state; and institute rights to education, health care and the environment.
- Abolish privileges for parliamentary deputies. Remove legal protection from ministers and permit the courts to proceed against members of the government.
- Demilitarize the Coast Guard and anti-insurrectional special troops. Prohibit police to wear masks or use fire arms during demonstrations. Change training courses for police so as to underline social themes such as immigration, drugs and social factors.
-Institute a right of conscientious objection in draft laws.
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