Greece warns on euro exit if bailout not signed, page 1

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Topic started on 3-1-2012 @ 03:05 PM by AnIntellectualRedneck

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Greece may have to leave the eurozone if it fails to secure its latest bailout from the EU, IMF and banks, a government spokesperson has warned.

This austerity is going to become nothing but a constant cycle of cuts that lead to further economic deterioration. At some point, it will be as painful to stay in the Euro as it would be to leave.

I think that Greece should just go back to the drachma and get it over with. At least when they're finally in charge of their own currency, they can get back their sovereignty and the rest of us can stop this endless dance of death.

The Euro is pretty much dead in the water, and it really is time to stop pretending otherwise and get this show on the road.

reply posted on 3-1-2012 @ 03:07 PM by newyorkee

actually common sentiment in Europe is that they will get kicked out if they don't get on the ball so they can threaten all they want....its a bluff....they need the EU....

.they probably will be kicked out so as to not drag the Euro down with them......

reply posted on 3-1-2012 @ 03:14 PM by Whipfather

Pretty sure that if Greece really were to leave the EU, it would hurt Greece more than the remaining countries.

So it seems like a rather crappy bluff to me.

reply posted on 3-1-2012 @ 03:20 PM by snewpers

.
They should exit so we can count our losses and
move on without the lazy bastards.
.

reply posted on 3-1-2012 @ 06:49 PM by burdman30ott6

Originally posted by snewpers
.
They should exit so we can count our losses and
move on without the lazy bastards.
.

Greeks, lazy?
Statistics disagree with that assessment.
www.cbc.ca...

Greeks are the 2nd hardest working nation on an hours worked per worker basis.

reply posted on 3-1-2012 @ 06:58 PM by Whipfather

Originally posted by burdman30ott6

Originally posted by snewpers
.
They should exit so we can count our losses and
move on without the lazy bastards.
.

Greeks, lazy?
Statistics disagree with that assessment.
www.cbc.ca...

Greeks are the 2nd hardest working nation on an hours worked per worker basis.

I was going to say, pretty sure it's not the Greek people that caused all this mess.
Pretty sure that if it was up to "the people," we'd have very few wars and economic problems.

reply posted on 3-1-2012 @ 07:53 PM by brill

The Greek government has struggled to improve tax collection. At first, officials were optimistic that they could capture at least a portion of an estimated $27 billion in unpaid taxes each year.

And the state seemed to make little progress in getting the scofflaws to pay. Some 70 percent of the tax collected came from salaried employees and retirees, who have little way to hide their income. Meanwhile, 7 out of 10 self-employed workers, including doctors, dentists, engineers, accountants, taxi drivers and small business owners, indicated on their tax forms that they had made less than $16,000 a year, a figure that most experts find laughable.

src

The average government job pays almost three times the average private-sector job. The national railroad has annual revenues of 100 million euros against an annual wage bill of 400 million, plus 300 million euros in other expenses. The average state railroad employee earns 65,000 euros a year.

The Greek public-school system is the site of breathtaking inefficiency: One of the lowest-ranked systems in Europe, it nonetheless employs four times as many teachers per pupil as the highest-ranked, Finland's. Greeks who send their children to public schools simply assume that they will need to hire private tutors.

The retirement age for Greek jobs classified as “arduous” is as early as 55 for men and 50 for women. As this is also the moment when the state begins to shovel out generous pensions, more than 600 Greek professions somehow managed to get themselves classified as arduous: hairdressers, radio announcers, waiters, musicians and on and on and on.

The Greek public health-care system spends far more on supplies than the European average – and it is not uncommon, several Greeks tell me, to see nurses and doctors leaving the job with their arms filled with paper towels and diapers and whatever else they can plunder from the supply closets.

src

Lazy? Maybe not, but certainly self righteous and beyond reproach.

Also Greece cannot simply leave the Euro as they are bound by the Maastricht Treaty. They may be able to apply for a leave of absence but if they do leave that nation will fold faster than superman on laundry day.

brill

reply posted on 5-1-2012 @ 03:37 PM by burdman30ott6

Originally posted by Whipfather
Pretty sure that if Greece really were to leave the EU, it would hurt Greece more than the remaining countries.

So it seems like a rather crappy bluff to me.

Not entirely. Greece could "withdraw" (though there really isn't an EU exit mechanism in place for any member nations) and subsequently separate itself from the rest of the EU in regards to the Iranian oil embargo. Being the only Eurozone nation that deals oil with Iran would have some pretty hefty advantages for Greece, including a potential 3rd party scenario in which the rest of Europe effectively bypass the embargo by buying Greek-refined Iranian-sourced fuel from Greece. It would be a short lived boom for Greece but, if their leaders have the sack to do it, could give them the abillity to quickly pull out of their economic crisis.

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