We had the opposite right here in the USA with the carter interest rate economy and today's Obama stimulus waste.
Yes, Reagan did it! Not Greece's fault...Maybe Bush did it.... - - - Updated - - - They really, truly, honestly Believe in the free lunch. After all, they have received it for many years and all their politicians promised it. Why worry?
Austerity has not worked because it was a faux austerity. No new taxes were collected, government employees simply were moved about to pensions or other positions but no money was saved...One easy step would be to cut all pensions, public sector pay and benefits by 5%...That would produce billions in savings and everyone can survive a cut that small.
They do not want to see Greece fail. They want Greece to pay its debts. A better question is why do so many folk on this forum want to stiff the lenders?
The basis if leftism is not stealing from children, or adults, but is instead using that stolen wealth to buy votes...No one would vote left if they were not paid off in on form or another. - - - Updated - - - I note all the folk cheering the Greek defiance yesterday have gone silent today as those Greek politicians seem to have caved.
Austerity failing exactly as expected. And this is what these crazy people want in the U.S. Scary people.
Austerity existed so Greece could pay back its lenders in some kind of reasonable timeframe. Yes, it meant giving the populace the finger, but this isn't a (*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*) charity.
I guess, if you don't understand monetary systems and economics that makes sense. I happen to believe forcing a country to bankrupt themselves and go through a depression is kind of demented. Not that it matters to me, because I'm not in Greece or part of the EU, but if they tried this in the US because of these ridiculous failed and illogical ideologies I'd be scared. Luckily Obama has been able to keep our head above water. Took a lot of effort to avoid destruction by conservatives/libertarians. And the scary thing is, they still believe austerity in the US is needed. Yikes!!! What is clearly needed throughout the world, is education. I can't believe the IMF even considered the chance austerity wouldn't destroy these countries. That's embarrassing.
They destroyed themselves. The had to get a bailout in the first place in order to not tank - their choices were immediate economic collapse or severe austerity that would allow them to survive. No one is going to wait until later when their economy booms to have their loans paid back, because there's no guarantee that will happen and it would take too long, the point was to keep them from bankrupting themselves, and austerity is the price they pay for getting bailed out. Austerity isn't needed in the US, the US isn't going to go bankrupt if someone doesn't bail it out. Greece would have. Only problem now is that they're probably going to default, which would mean the bailout was a waste of money in the first place.
Wait, this is what you consider survival? Lmao! Austerity destroyed them. It's what it does. Great thing to advocate. All from some irrational hatred of government. Weird.
Austerity did not help Greece in any way except prevent it from going bankrupt, that's the point of getting bailed out: you don't go bankrupt. Your economic well-being was going to tank either way, but at least this way you aren't bankrupt. The economic depression? It's their own fault. They shouldn't have spent like France when they aren't France. This is the price they pay. Being suspicious of those who want to tell you what to do is not irrational. Letting your guard down in that regard allows for abuse.
I'm not saying they didn't have any fault in this. Just mentioning the fact austerity did not help them whatsoever. So it just confirms that when people talk austerity they are talking about destruction. Nothing that we haven't known for a century.
I have a simple question. What if zero aide would have been offered to Greece in the first place? Where would they be now?
Funny thing happens when you run out of money, be it your own or someone else's. Austerity. Cut backs become cut off. Conditions go from bad to worse. The liberal mind takes no blame in this. Liberals can't afford to face the facts, the problem must be blamed on those who have decided not to throw good money after bad. When liberals are forced to change their behavior, their entitlement attitude comes out. They have no solution. How could they? You can't expect the very people who created the mess to somehow get the brains to self correct. You can't expect an idiot who continually hits himself in the head with a frying pan, to be the one who teaches others not to hit their head continually with a frying pan. When a sane person steps in, grabs the pan away from the self abuser, he is the bad guy. That's liberal logic folks. They never learn. They are missing a thing called common sense.
We won't know until next week after the Greeks have voted who is actually caving but it looks more like the Germans and the IMF will offer some kind of deal instead of causing an even worse mess for the EU. Right now the market is at about 17,700 which is down about 60 points because investors are supposedly unhappy about weak hiring.
Greece is a mess with their maximum withdrawal cap of 60 euro a day. The rest of the EU is just fine.
The spending more euro's than earning them, that accumulated into a massive debt,.. is what destroyed them. They wouldn't be in such a huge mess, if Germany and the IDF were the only 2 IN THE ENTIRE WORLD who are still willing to help them out. The rest of the world doesn't trust the Greeks and won't lend them a thing unless against an astronomically high percentage. Currently the Greeks are not even able to repay the IMF. Other countries who can not repay the IMF are Mozambique, Sudan and Eritrea. And that is a very very awkward list to be part off.
I honestly do not care about Greece as a country, no offense to Greeks. It's just a perfect example of what austerity does. Would do the same thing to the U.S. It is an intentional destruction of an economy. Regardless of the reason.
Its going to be interesting watching Greece turn into Mogadishu when the criminal element takes hold. I hope the civilians have some guns to protect themselves or its going to be a slaughter. I will pray for the good people of Greece and I am not even a religious person. I will still pray though...as I did for those in Argentina during the during the collapse.
