Meanwhile, in Greece
With the retirement age set shortly after college and free healthcare, the little utopia was chugging along nicely. Then, the bill came due. And instead of paying and budgeting better, they borrowed more money to pay the bills and kept chugging along, unaware that the bill would come due again and, apparently, of the realities of basic economic principles.
And a funny thing happened. The exact same thing. Now, we enter round 2 as, on the news this morning, I hear there’s another series of loans and bailouts scheduled pending austerity measures. If the powers-that-be keep tossing around money like it’s nothing to bail out people who make bad decisions, eventually people are going to realize that the money actually is, you know, nothing.
Meanwhile, the Greek citizens are gathering their xiphos and taking to the street. Ok, really, they’re gathering yogurt and firebombs. Because that will help them keep their benefits.
Funny things happen when folks realize it’s not free.
June 29th, 2011 at 10:03 am
Markie Marxist sez: “Ha! Ha! Socialism is too big to fail! When our mad Marxists get too mad with the mad money, they just get a bailout! Socialist overspending must be rewarded with free money! It’s nice to see that the world’s ruling class agrees with us. They used to be capitalists, but they’re on our side now. Ask Hillary! Ha! Ha! We Marxists are running the world! All your Hillary is belong to us! And your bailouts too! And your Obama! And your UN! And your Government Motors! And your media! And your academia! It’s a long list, but we pretty much control everything now.”
June 29th, 2011 at 10:19 am
I wonder how many of these riots they’ll have before the police stop showing up and the firemen stop putting out fires, because nobody is paying them. Throwing yogurt and setting fires seems like a good idea when it won’t spread to your house, because the system that’s in place will handle the mess you’ve made before it becomes your problem. When that system is gone, who do these idiots think will be willing to clean up? I hope they like the smell of rotting yogurt all summer long.
June 29th, 2011 at 11:06 am
Hey, don’t sweat it. The Dow is Up because the IMF borrowed more Free Money from the Feds so they could Bail Out Greece. Wait until the IMF uses more Free Money to Bail out Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Iceland, half of Eastern Europe, etc. The Stock Market will go through the Roof, and the Anointed One will Declare that the “Horrible Economy he Inherited from Bush is Fixed”, just like he Fixed Health Care.
Meanwhile, the Man whose job it is to control the Purse Strings in the House is practicing his Drive for the next time he’s able to get 9 holes in with Barry.
June 29th, 2011 at 1:43 pm
Greece is the definition of insanity. Here is a country so in debt, that all the experts admit, they will never be able to repay it. Yet lets loan them even more money?
The Greeks have two options, call it quits default and suffer the consequences.
Or keep taking more money and becoming slaves to the world bankers for an eternity. Which will probably be just as bad as defaulting.
The PTB have a whole lot riding on keeping Greece within the fold, they have worked way to hard to get where they are at now, (think the EU etc). Greece goes then the whole “global Governance, we will rule the world” thing starts to fall apart.
June 29th, 2011 at 2:55 pm
So what happens if they just default? Seriously?
Argentina went this route a few years ago and it seems to have saved them from much of the debt slavery that Greece seems destined.
June 29th, 2011 at 3:17 pm
Jim, Argentina is having trouble financing its government budgets since it has little access to outside financing. I think I saw where they started confiscating pension funds.
June 29th, 2011 at 3:31 pm
There always comes a point where everyone knows the public trough is drying up, and everyone wants to be that last person to receive that last bit of free pig slop.
June 29th, 2011 at 4:27 pm
The Greeks are not getting bailed out. The French and German bankers are getting bailed out.
June 29th, 2011 at 5:26 pm
Jim, “what if they forfeit?”
Then Greece will have to pay through the nose if they ever want any open market credit (national bonds), and many financial institutions will plain and simply refuse to do business with them, including refusing to invest in the *private* Greek economy; forcing the industry to take their business to other countries. The Greek population has no more large industries to employ them and become sweat shop workers or migrate to other countries.
June 29th, 2011 at 5:42 pm
8.al Says:
June 29th, 2011 at 4:27 pm
The Greeks are not getting bailed out. The French and German bankers are getting bailed out.
THIS!
June 29th, 2011 at 7:51 pm
Bailouts are the last thing they need. Bailouts just increase the debt burden. Its as if the idiots in international finance don’t know the difference between a liquidity problem and a solvency problem.
June 29th, 2011 at 9:36 pm
When they start liquiddating assets, I’ll give $50 for the Isle of Kos!
Bert
June 29th, 2011 at 10:33 pm
Burning down the house will not save it.
But that is lost on the welfare class.
June 29th, 2011 at 10:37 pm
Those people will fight until the ship goes down with them on it. Sounds like a union, but on a larger scale.
June 29th, 2011 at 10:50 pm
Name Redacted,
These international finaciers are not idiots. This is being done by design to put the people in bondage to them.
There is an true quotation which says something like: “History proves that we learn nothing from history”. It’s worse than that, what is happening in Greece proves that we are learning nothing from what is happening NOW! We keep allowing the powers-that-be to put us under their rule through the creation of massive debt.
June 29th, 2011 at 11:25 pm
Do governments with the power to mint currency really need national debt?
I thought it unnecessary to mention that if Greece defaults, they must leave the Euro Zone. That single act will free up their national finances in ways that no amount of foreign cash can.
They can still meet their internal debt needs with devalued funny Greek money. This quiets the protestors to a degree. Focus the people on external enemies.
Then re negotiate their external debt. Don’t totally stiff the bankers. Pay them 30-40 percent of the total debt and make them cut their onerous interest rates. The bankers will be back for some more Greek bonds in a few years. They are the ones that truly can’t learn from their mistakes.
If their hand is played properly(ie: no crazy tariffs, excessive cap gains taxes, or corporate taxes) then Greece can become a shipping and manufacturing hub for southern Europe. Their devalued dollars will make labor inexpensive compared to the rest of the Euro Zone. Then they can go about rebuilding Greece through the catharsis of bankruptcy.
June 30th, 2011 at 10:29 am
If a lender cannot determine the credit worthiness of a borrower and makes bad loans, then screw them.
This is just like the US housing collapse BS blaming buyers. Who were the idiots who happily gave them the money?