And the Greece shell game over implementing reform (or, since it’s Greece, “reform”) continues.
Greece’s finance minister Yanis Varoufakis (who’s evidently still doing the negotiating, reports to the contrary notwithstanding) has handed the Eurocrats a proposal that doesn’t match what was discussed in negotiations. It’s like a cheap farce, or a con game to see how long they can keep string Europe along without actually agreeing to anything.
Greece Syriza government has said to their creditors: Economic reality? We don’t need your stinking economic reality! “Greece defied its international creditors on Thursday, refusing to cut pensions or ease layoffs to meet their demands, dimming prospects of progress next week towards securing desperately needed financial aid.”
Greece’s government also rehired public sector employees they previously laid off. What’s giving the engine a little more gas when you’re headed for the wall at full speed?
Other Greek debt crisis tidbits:
Greece introduces mandatory surcharges on tax withdrawals above €1,000 Euros.
Plus an 18% hotel and restaurant tax. Extra bonus: It will hit some tourists who have already prepaid for vacations. “It’s catastrophic.”
Living life under the threat of default. “I’ve got a bad feeling we’re not going to get a good ending.”
European “Commission President Jean Claude Juncker said that if Greece left the single currency area, the ‘Anglo-Saxon world’ would try everything to break it up.” Hey Jean Claude: Reality is doing a great job breaking up the Eurozone all by itself, between its unsustainable welfare state, its aging population, and the insistence of Euroelites on cutting those filthy commoners from having any say in the matter. And as for the “Anglo-Saxon world” trying to break up the Eurozone, have you seen whose in charge of things these days?
Greece’s Blazing Saddles act is wearing thin. (I seem to remember having made this exact comparison before…)
Tags: Budget, European Central Bank, European Debt Crisis, Eurozone, Foreign Policy, Greece, Jean Claude Juncker, Syriza, Welfare State, Yanis Varoufakis
This entry was posted on Friday, May 8th, 2015 at 1:23 PM and is filed under Budget, Economics, Foreign Policy, Welfare State. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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