Posts
Wall Street Journal article
Extract:
"Another objection is that a writedown will take the pressure off Athens to reform the Greek economy. This fear is well-founded. Yet if Greece's government isn't willing to fulfill its euro obligations even after bailouts, then the real issue is whether Greece belongs in the currency union. Better to face that now than put Athens on a 50-year bailout IV drip...
The tragedy is that Europe's politicians prefer the status quo of eternal, rolling bailouts because it serves their purposes. They never have to present their taxpayers with a bill for the Greek rescue. And while Greece's economy never really recovers, it might avoid any new crisis. The political bet is that the follies of the last five years will slowly be forgotten".
Kathimerini coverage, in Greek
Postscript on Structural Change, Kathimerini
"The one structural change that has been put forward by the government does little to ignite growth or give relief to the poor. Authorities have introduced a number of taxes on farmland, buildings without electricity, and ruins – i.e. on assets that generate no profit for their owners.
The government is not exactly slashing wages and pensions here. Rather, it has chosen to punish anyone who owns some form of property – in other words every Greek. Too bad for anyone who borrowed money to build a house, too bad for anyone who inherited some dilapidated shed back in the village of his forefathers, too bad for anyone who inherited a bunch of olive trees or fallow fields once cultivated by some distant relative. The structural changes will bring them to their knees, even if their wages or pensions stay the same".
The tragedy is that Europe's politicians prefer the status quo of eternal, rolling bailouts because it serves their purposes. They never have to present their taxpayers with a bill for the Greek rescue. And while Greece's economy never really recovers, it might avoid any new crisis. The political bet is that the follies of the last five years will slowly be forgotten".
Kathimerini coverage, in Greek
Postscript on Structural Change, Kathimerini
"The one structural change that has been put forward by the government does little to ignite growth or give relief to the poor. Authorities have introduced a number of taxes on farmland, buildings without electricity, and ruins – i.e. on assets that generate no profit for their owners.
The government is not exactly slashing wages and pensions here. Rather, it has chosen to punish anyone who owns some form of property – in other words every Greek. Too bad for anyone who borrowed money to build a house, too bad for anyone who inherited some dilapidated shed back in the village of his forefathers, too bad for anyone who inherited a bunch of olive trees or fallow fields once cultivated by some distant relative. The structural changes will bring them to their knees, even if their wages or pensions stay the same".
No comments:
Post a Comment