Comments on: Banks Not Interested In ‘Sharing The Pain’

By: Bryan

Bryan — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 22:57:30 +0000

The feeling I get is that some want to loot as much of Greece, including some islands, as is possible, before they admit that the Greeks can’t possibly handle the debt without restructuring.

The question is whether the Greeks will tell the French and Germans to sod off, and leave the Eurozone, before the bondholders admit they have to go for a real solution.

The Greek wealthy are famous for not paying taxes, just like everyone else’s elite. The government should freeze their assets and give them a stipend to live on.

By: Badtux

Badtux — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 18:41:51 +0000

Well, there’s also the fact that, like America’s wealthy, the Greek elite are a bunch of tax-evading scum who pay nowhere near the same percentage of their income as taxes as us working sods. (Last I heard, America’s wealthy paid less than 17% of their income as taxes — which, given that we need to tax 28% of America’s wealth as taxes to pay for the government we want, means they’re a bunch of deadbeats). So the Greeks would have fiscal problems regardless of their currency.

But the thing is, with their own currency, it’d be *their* monetary policies and they could go back to their old ways of inflating their currency to deal with their fiscal issues. Which terrifies the Frogs and Krauts, but (shrug). It’s what they did for decades prior to adopting the Euro, so it’s not as if it’s never been done before.

– Badtux the Monetary Penguin

By: Bryan

Bryan — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 02:23:31 +0000

They have over-played their hand because the Irish went along, and don’t understand that the Greeks have had the time to look at what is happening around them, and don’t like what they see.

Most of the major problems go back the Olympics. The Greek government should never have bid, because no one ever makes money from the Olympics. It was a financial disaster for them, even without looking at all of the corruption involved. If it hadn’t occurred during the asset bubble there is no way in hell anyone with half a brain would have loaned them the money.

Realistically bond holders should be hoping for their principal, not trying to get interest, because the money just isn’t there.

By: Badtux

Badtux — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 00:24:12 +0000

If they keep going this way , Greece is going to drop out of the Euro and pay off their debt in newly-devalued drachmas, and *then* what are they gonna do? This is a game of chicken, and I wouldn’t bet on the Frogs and Huns here.

– Badtux the N0-games Penguin