Take a look at this development: incapable and corrupt Greek politicians on one side, and harsh austerity without growth perspective enforced by EU and IMF on the other side, could push Greeks to chant “We want default” at the end of the day…
Less than 48 hours after the general elections in Greece, President of European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso warned the debt-ridden voters who casted majority vote against the bailout programme: austerity or default.
Barroso warns Greece austerity or default only choice
European Union countries who have received international bailouts have “no alternative” but to implement austerity measures alongside their efforts to relaunch growth, the president of the bloc‘s executive said Tuesday.
“The programme countries, they have no alternative – except disorderly default, which I think is not an alternative – than to pursue courageous fiscal consolidation measures,” Jose Manuel Barroso told reporters in Brussels. “Growth and consolidation, we need both.”
His comments came in the wake of elections in Greece, that saw a big swing towards anti-austerity parties.
He insisted that it would be “irresponsible” for the European Commission to recommend a further increase in sky-high national deficits for the sake of achieving growth – which has emerged as the new mantra in the face of growing public anger over austerity.
But some observers have suggested that the commission could instead help by giving struggling countries such as Spain more leeway in meeting the bloc‘s strict debt and deficit reduction targets.
Meanwhile, European Union leaders will meet in Brussels on May 23 for a special summit to discuss pro-growth measures, diplomats in the Belgian capital said Tuesday (Further Reading Europe Online Magazine)
Let us bear in mind that a default will be more destructive to the EU and mostly the banks than it will to Greece. I am not sure that the politician who is getting together a second choice government now is incapable. His plan to take away political immunity from the people who have robbed us blind is worth voting him in for! The EU are only worried about their own banks and pockets.
The people who are slagging off the politician who came second in the Greek DEMOCRATIC voting( who is now trying to form a government)…..are really ticking me off and have got me spitting feathers……did they all want a yes man who lines his own pocket, builds luxury villas for his cronies and has an offshore bank account???? Guess you did…..as he has already indicated he is going to name and shame the culprits…….I hope he gets together a government then I am going to sit back and watch the shi* hit the fan…worldwide!!!!!
Default then! Bring back the drachmas the one dollar beer and Souflaki in Glyfada.
No, but seriously, if Greece went to Drachmas again, would the cost of living for tourists visiting Greece be less expensive or not? Any ideas?
I do remember seriously the one dollar souflaki and beer in Glyfada and remarkably it was much tastier in the earlier 1980s then now.
one dollar beer & souvlaki in Glyfada??? Hm, this reminds me of some other guys who used to claim that. To tell you the truth, if Gr went to Drachma with all consequenses for the Greeks, I would hardly care on cost of living for tourists.
Great minds think alike? I want a Greek party that will guarantee Souflaki, Tzadziki and beer all for one dollar.
That i would vote for!
as a foreign amerikanaki-a are not eligible to vote anyway.
Sunday vote has a message: WE WANT OUT!!!!!better starving and free than starving and slaves…..We want out E.U. and it will happen.
Let me put it this way: As we say here in Greece, “the one who’s already wet does not afraid of the rain”.
Look at them all. The minute we chose a party they didn’t like, they started screaming and kicking. But, unfortunately for them, we simply don’t care anymore. Cause our biggest problem is not the money. It’s our dignity and the future of the country itself.
Let me ask your opinion on s/thing. Imagine that you live in a nice village with a big square in the middle. One fine day, a foreign company comes, builds, against the laws of the land, a mall in the square, pays no taxes and decides that he also needs a big parking lot. In order to get it, the villagers must make it by bringing down their houses, pay for it and have absolutely no right to address their own justice system.
What do you think about that?
What would you do?
Because, my friends, this is only one of the conditions our famous bail-out is based on. Our politicians singed and accepted exactly this condition. All the public property of Greece, the one now and also the future one (if we find oil for example), goes to the lenders. And a country with no public property has nothing to give to it’s citizens, not only for now but for the future.