Iceland Compared with Greece against the Crisis: Why & How Greece was Led to Give Away Sovereign Rights

This just might be the most important post I will write on the Greek Outlook for some time, so pay attention.

Greek prime minister G.A.Papandreous hanging from a noose as a clown during protests in front of Parliament, 2011

"You can say with certainty that Iceland has the world record in remission households out of the crisis. The country has done everything needed in a crisis, following the book. Any economist would agree" said Lars Christensen, chief emerging markets economist at Danske Bank in Copenhagen.

The measures taken by Iceland to revive the crisis of 2008, when the banks went into bankruptcy for the amount of 85 billion dollars, were supremely effective resulting in freeing the burden of debt once and for all.
Of course, to do all these Iceland played very intelligently its geostrategic "ace": When it bankrupt and rioting began in the peaceful country, when none of its Western allies give any assistance (Iceland being in NATO) the country began "courting" with Russia for a month.
Once the Prime Minister of Russia V.Poutin announced a program of economic assistance worth tens of billions of dollars to rescue the Icelandic economy "within 24 hours Britain and Norway said they will directly aid Iceland " as they eventually did.


To transport the issue from Iceland to the Crisis in Greece and to compare how differently the crisis was purposefully handled here:

I am reminding you that Greece had flirted with Russia indeed, closing the deal of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis natural gas pipe line, during the administration of Kostas Karamanlis. The then prime minister was soon cut short of his 4-year-spanning elected administration by the sudden eruption of the Vatopedi scandal in spring 2008 (and which has been contested successfully as fabricated, as you can see for yourself in multiple-sides testimonies). The Vatopedi scandal was communicated in the Greek media as causing a tremendously large damage to state funds, an image that was then transplated as such to the international media, but the official investigators appointed by the Greek state have not discovered any real Greek state monetary loss in the transactions.

The administration of George Papandreou was forwarded, winning the elections in autumn 2009. I use "forwarded" purposefully: An article in the New York based Greek newspaper “Ethnikos Kirikas” (National Messenger) was claiming back then that the #3 in power at the US Whitehouse was in Athens in the summer prior to the 2009 federal elections to make sure that Papandreou won the election from the then prime minister of the ND party Kostas Karamanlis! Why were the US interested in securing Papandreou on the seat of prime-minister?
Karamanlis had already vetoed FYROM's entrance in NATO alliance on grounds of national name dispute and false ethnic minorities claim arising from it. He had also rejected the UN's proposal on the Cyrpus issue (a proposal that would arguably bear a heavy toll on the divided island for the price of closure in the almost 40-year long division; a Carthaginian peace, if you will). Karamanlis was not the most well liked man in Washington, let's just say. Even democratic elections can be swayed by the power of the media and the media, local and international, were opposing Karamanlis right & left during that eventful period, probably directed by some higher power in cahoots with political and financial nuclei. (Greeks were furious at the spending of state money by corrupt politicians. The subsequent trials and proceedings have since resulting in absolving then ministers of punible blame, even though I'm absolutely certain there has been corruption that hasn't been tackled yet; but in other areas than those brought out to the light, which I find -shall we say- telling...).

This autumn-2009-emerging G.A.Papandreou administration was already in communications with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout and financial aid, according to Dominique Strauss-Khan himself (then head of IMF), even before they had got hold of the economical figures, before the elections!! Strauss-Khan is quoted by a French reporter on French TV as saying that: “when I say that the IMF came to Greece and we wrapped things up in 15 days I am obviously exaggerating. We wrapped things up in 15 days because we worked for months before that with Greek authorities" (watch the admission video in its entirety here, putting the frame of the talks in autumn 2009). Coincidence?

Essentially Papandreou therefore flat out LIED to the Greek people telling them repeatedly "there IS money!" pre-electorally to win the popular vote in autumn 2009, while simultansously speeding up processes that led up to the open intervention of the IMF in Greece months after it was secretly agreed upon. Why? Several VERY intriguing questions pop up!

The whole business has always presented in the same tone: "we are going to help 'save" Greece'. To which Greeks mutter between themselves: "please, don't save us any more!" Finally the international press is seeing how there is truth in that, comparing the Greek bailout to the Afghan War: "In Greece as in Afghanistan, there are profound negative consequences associated with both action and inaction. It's not clear that a good solution exists, but everyone feels compelled to muddle on anyway. There's a suspicion that, at best, all our planning will only delay the inevitable to a more convenient time: don't let Afghanistan collapse until the Taliban are a bit weaker, don't let Greece collapse until the rest of Europe is in recovery and able to absorb it." Interestingly Afganistan and Greece are two territories where opposition is difficult to curb; the first due to terrain and intricasy of local leaders nuclei, the second due to a long tradition of resistance & disobediance amongst the people.

The Burgas-Alexandroupoli project was eventually dropped, for reasons that appear unrelated to political machinations at first sight, at the end of 2011 (The official reason is declared as Bulgarian opposition of environmentalists).Though a project that was in talks since the mid-1990s, and several deals & details were signed collaterally by all countries involved during the mid-2000s (when Karamanlis was prime-minister), the construction of the actual pipe-line was scheduled to begin in October 2009. Coincidence? 
G.A. Papandreous was always very opposed to it, despite it being a project that would generate thousands of jobs in Northern Greece and would boost the economy tremendously. Why then? What did he discuss with Putin when abandoning the project in a visit to Moscow in 2010? The data linked talk about offers of financial aid by Putin at interests as low as 2-3%, investments throughout the country and benefits arising from the use of Neorion shipbuilding yard on Syros island. All these were rejected by Papandreou! Obviously no association with Russia whatsoever was intended, sought or evaluated positively by the Papandreous administration, despite being the leader of the Greek Socialist party (PASOK) nonetheless.

Proposals by China and the Arab world regarding huge investements in Greece that would have resulted in a tangible boost in the economy have ALSO mysteriously been rejected by the G.A.Papandreous administration without further justification. Coincidence?

The words "high treason" are on many Greeks' lips regarding the people involved.

G.A Papandreou (bottom left) and A.Samaras (upper right), mates in the same band.

Let's see the revealing timeline for a clarification of my point:

September 2007: Winning the elections for the second time, means another term of Kostas Karamanlis as Greek prime minister (scheduled span of administration: till early autumn 2011, i.e. 4 years, as per Greek constitution).

Spring 2008: The Vatopedi scandal erupts. Agressive local media coverage on claims of state being at a loss & implication of ministers.This is tranmitted as such through the international media as well.

October 2009: Karamanlis announces elections just one year and a month after being elected, is defeated by PASOK leader George A. Papandreou and resigns from the leadership of his party after 12 years.

November 2009: Papandreou definitely in talks with Dominique Strauss-Khan over intervention of IMF in Greece (according to Strauss-Khan'sown admission on video as detailed above)

February 2010: The Greek people is told that intervention from the IMF must be sought at all costs: "we're sinking", the prime minister says. Assurances that the package will ensure getting out of the crisis by 2011 are given.

Spring 2010: The IMF and the Troika arrive in Athens. An unprecented in the Western world in its severity austerity measures package is proposed and immediately implemented by the government. This isn't the last one: two more follow, the latest in February 2012, dropping the quality of living by a steep 50% for most people, leaving 1:3 of Greek living below the limit of poverty.

October 2010: Visit of Papandreou to Moscow when every proposition of aid/investing is rejected. Abadonment of the gas pipeline project.

June 2011: Strauss-Khan, head of IMF, is abruptly charged with a rape charge in New York city; he's prosecuted and sent to trial. The reactions are spanning the whole spectrum. (The case is eventually dropped because of lack of evidence, as per his lawyer Ben Brafman: "What happened in that room, so long as we have now confirmed that it wasn't criminal, is really not something that needs to be discussed publicly." Is it a coincidence it happened in New York? To a poor hotel worker of coloured skin too? The Wikileaks creator is also charged with rape in Sweden? Coincidence? Is -a foregone conclusion- the feminist protestation regarding issues of such sensitive nature (and of coloured rights against discrimination) an assured means to press -and press hard!- on certain public figures?
Straus-Khan is let off all too late: He has already lost the leadership of the IMF and has been absent from the crucial late-July 2011 Greek bailout decisions, plus he has damaged every chance of filing for French presidency in the elections against Sarkzy. Strauss-Khan incidentally is a philleline.)

July 2011: Large protests in Athens, the Greek capital, oppose the augmented demands of the IMF and the EuroGroup resulting in significant "hair-cutting" part of the debt, thus meaning Greece won't be able to get out in the free market to borrow money any time soon. The measures are passed through a flood of Greek "indignandos" at Syntagma square in front of the Parliament, protesting peacefully from all walks of life, the size of which Greece hasn't seen since probably the re-establishment of democracy in 1974.
Officials insist the measures are necessary if painful and by 2014 Greece will be out in the markets again, if they're implemented.

November 2011: In an unprecedented confusion about what will happen about the continuation or not of the course already taken, Papandreou throws everyone off with a suggestion of a Referendum of the Greek people as to whether they will vote "Yes" to austerity measures & thus stay within the Eurozone or "No" and therefore exit the Eurozone (and effectively the European Union as well, a situation dreaded by at least 75% of Greeks) He retracts the proposition in a matter of 24 hours, claiming he proposed it fearing of a military coup in Greece. This weirdly coincides with the long-scheduled change of military heads in all Greek arms. Coincidence? Papandreou manages to be therefore hurriedly invited at the Cannes G20 meeting, where further actions are decided for the "saving" of Greece by the powerful of the world and he has personal meetings with Sarkozy and Merkel.

December 2011: A new coalition government is enstated, not out of elective processes, but thanks to Papandreou finally stepping down from prime-minister (absorbing the public anger) in favour of Europe-&-US-approved & assigned Lukas Papademos. Papademos is the banker of the National Bank who was cognizant (and some say complicit!) to the machinations of former prime-minister Kostas Simitis who ~assisted by Goldman Sachs~ "cooked" the national economic figures at the time in order to meet EU standards and enter the Eurozone in 2001. What do Papademos, Mario Draghi (of the European Central Bank) and Mario Monti (assigned Italy PM) have in common? A connection to Goldman Sachs, as reported by London correspondent Marc Roche in French paper Le Monde. Coincidence?
Is Greece serving as the Trojan Horse for Goldman Sachs to destroy the European countries' solidarity? (as reported by Russian Pravda). That would be poetic justice. Or just the canary in the coal mine?

February 2012: A 3rd severe austerity measures package is sanctioned by the EuroGroup, in attendance of the infamous PSI (the acceptance of losses by private creditors holding Greek debt) and implemented in Greece amidst angered protests with the threat of imminent bankruptcy and exit of the Eurozone: This is the second Memorandum and its text effectually forsakes sovereign rights to just about any income-producing sector of the country (state companies, land, oil reserves, rights to potential exploration of natural resources etc) for the forseeable future ~a special bank account to creditors is opened that will be paid first before the state meets ANY other of its own needs (i.e. pensions, salaries, state work, medical needs through social security etc). The Eurogroup Memorandum in February 2012 is estimating Greece's sovereign debt by 2020 to be equal to the amount of debt the country had in 2009!!! A more permanent position of European officials supervising measures implementation is effectuated and FOUR more such job positions are announced! [Rejoice European Brussells clerk, you too can take your holidays ad inifinitum in sunny, beautiful Greece and get paid for it!!]

Bottom-line: Greece is officially becoming a protectorate of the European powers and the USA through a scheme that is just now becoming quite evident.

Kostas Karamanlis is totally silent for every matter of the political life in Greece and Europe ever since and rumour has it that he has been threatened by external political forces (as of yet unknown) for his and his family's lives. Coincidence? This rumour is as yet unsubstantiated but sounds logical enough; a vast amount of Greeks consider it a very plausible train of events and an explanation to the whole situation: ousting the undesirable for the puppet. 

Interesting factoid for further thought: The opposition leader Antonis Samaras, leader of the New Democracy party and successor to Kostas Karamanlis, although severely opposing the memorandum, in the end voted for it in February 2012. Samaras and G.A Papandreou not only are both Harvard School alumni and friends at the time of their student days, they were also roommates at Amherst College. They also played in the same band, as attested by the photo above. Coincidence?

The conclusions, your own...

Anonymous: "As you Deploy Para-state Troops to Act as Provocateers in Peaceful Protests"

France & Germany Pressured Greece to Buy their Armaments Beyond the Country's Financial Means

"It is easily forgotten when Greece is criticised that there has been not very subtle pressure from France to buy six frigates," says Thanos Dokos, the director general of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy. [...]

Over much of the last decade, Greece – which has a population of 11 million people – has been one of the top five arms importers in the world. Most of the vastly expensive weapons, including submarines, tanks and combat aircraft, were made in Germany, France and the US.

The arms purchases were beyond Greece's capacity to absorb, even before the financial crisis struck in 2009. Several hundred Leopard battle tanks were bought from Germany, but there was no money to pay for ammunition for their guns. Even in 2010, when the extent of the financial disaster was apparent, Greece bought 223 howitzers and a submarine from Germany at a cost of €403m.[...]

The justification for Greece's large army – 156,000 men compared to 250,000 in the German army – is the perceived threat from Turkey, which requires the Greeks to keep some form of military parity with a nation with seven times as many people.

Mr Dokos says that fear of being labelled unpatriotic has prevented the opposition in parliament from seeking a in defence expenditure. There has never been a debate in parliament about how far a Turkish threat really exists."
~From an article in the Independent 

It seems to me the world is suffering from amnesia or gross ignorance. There can't be any other explanation.

To all those who say "it's the buyer to blame, not the vendor" and "Greeks are never accepting responsibility", just remember who was the prime ally of Turkey, a NATO member, very obviously and very flamboyantly till very recently: the USA. And just how far the USA is controlling arms dealings within Europe thanks to the NATO system.
And learn also that airborne "tresspassing" from Turkish aircrafts is a roughly DAILY phenomenon: air fights between Greek and Turkish pilots (who have lots of things in common and an enmity instigated by outside forces) every day in times of peace!!! Who orders those Turkish aircrafts to rise? Why? And how timely? As both nations are members of NATO the hypothesis is supremely interesting. Who's gaining from aircrafts that get destroyed in the process, unless it's the one who sells them to BOTH countries to begin with? Who's the warmonger?

At the height of the Cold War, both countries were encouraged by the US to keep themselves well armed - Piraeus, the port of Athens, was also the base for the American Sixth Fleet. However, when Turkey invaded Cyprus, the rest of the NATO countries kept mum and Greece was humiliated in the aftermath with hundreds of Greek Cypriots killed. Is it any wonder the Greeks spend money in arms?

Remember too that a very prominent Greek politician/former minister, prosecuted for usurping state money, is responsible for personally benefiting from importing German submarines, that still had technical glitches; deals that cannot now be cancelled by the state because of penalty clauses in the contracts! Who approved this on the German side? Why?

How about the telecommunications & transportation deal scandal between German Siemens and the Greek state, riddled with over-charges and kickbacks? Remember how EVERYONE was critizing how Athens might not be the safest place in the world for the summer Olympic Games of 2004 and they absolutely insisted on getting the Greek state to spend millions of euros into the highest possible security? (And in the end absolutely not a bleep on the radar happened....there was never any menace)
How many corrupted German officials were involved in this Siemenscandal? Where are they now? Why don't we hear anything about them? Why isn't money paid in German bribes returned to the Greek state?
Siemens is not beyond a shady past, after all...

And let's not forget: The Greek people have lived responsibly and frugally according to the IMF with household debt figures similar to Germany and much lower than the UK!!!

Who's leeching off the average Greek then?

cartoon from the Greek press: Reichenbach puppeteering Greek statesmen E.Venizelos and G.Papandreou via greekcrisis.net. Merkel & Sarkozy photo from the same source.

Keep Walking Greece!

We inspire each other...

"Only Greeks and Brits Were Left Standing": Why Europe Stands to Lose if Greece is Forced Out

Greek women & men from Greek People's Liberation Front during WWII

"there is also an ethical argument: modern Europe exists thanks to ancient Greece and modern Greece exists thanks to the European powers that guaranteed its independence in the early 19th century. Since then, Greeks have more than repaid their debt. They fought to defend western ideals and interests in every corner of the world – from the trenches of Europe, to the hills of Korea and the deserts of the Gulf. When Germans fell into the darkness of Nazism, when the empires of old (Belgium, Netherlands, France) surrendered within days, only Greeks and Brits were left standing. Ask those who were cowering from the pounding of Luftwaffe in the tube stations of London, during the long winter of 1940, and they will tell you that the only pieces of good news they were getting for months, were coming from the Greek mountains."

From an article on the Guardian on "What Europe Loses if Greece is Forced Out" mentioning several reasons beyond the ethical ones: Greece being the barrier to the tons of illegal immigration from Asia, the Nato efforts to assure stability in the Balkans, the undiminished geopolitical strategic point that Greece and Cyprus present in the area, betraying the sacrifices already made in the name of European directive.

"We should remember that those who sacrifice Greece on the altar of speculation, hoping that economic fascism will be satisfied with this small country and that they will escape ...those are the same ones who reliquinshed Czechoslovakia to Adolf Hitler in Munich in 1938, hoping that this new prey offered him would suffice, after they had already reliquinshed the democratic Spain."
from the Nantes announcement on "Je Suis Grec aussi, solidarité avec le peuple Grecque"

click to enlarge

The Dec. 1, 1940 New York Times editorial reported: “The hypnotism of gloom has become dangerous as the wishful thinking that preceded it in the prewar years. We can thank the people and soldiers of Greece for ridding our minds of a foul superstition…It will be the glory of modern Greece in history to have shattered the myth of invincibility of the Axis and to have given to all free men a new proof of the worth of courage.”

Further Reading:
"Heroes Fight Like Greeks, The Greek Resistance Against the Axis Powers in WWII" (Hardcover) by Ronald J. Drez
"Inside Hitler's Greece: The Experience of Occupation, 1941-44" [Paperback] by Mark Mazower


pics via the National Herald and absinthemakeyouawhore.tumblr.com

"I too am Greek!": Solidarity with the Greek People

Saturday 18th of February, International Mobilization Day: We are all Greeks! When one people is attacked, all people are attacked.

Thousands of people are coming out in the streets today all over the world (France, Portugal, Denmark, New York City) in solidarity to the Greeks, who are brought down to their knees by the demands of the Troika, the IMF, the European Central Bank and the leaders of the Eurozone by enforcing austerity measures the people cannot possibly meet.

A trilingual weblog called Je suis Grec/I too am Greek documents the solidarity idea of people against the powers that try to harness their sovereign rights and their free speech & right to protest. From the people who began a campaign for the symbolic claim for Greek nationality.

"I do not like violence. I do not think that very much is gained by burning banks and smashing windows. And yet I feel a surge of pleasure when I see the reaction in Athens and the other cities in Greece to the acceptance by the Greek parliament of the measures imposed by the European Union. [...] The joy is the joy of seeing the much-trodden worm turn and roar. The joy of seeing those whose cheeks have been slapped a thousand times slapping back. How can we ask of people that they accept meekly the ferocious cuts in living standards that the austerity measures imply? Do we want them to just agree that the massive creative potential of so many young people should be just eliminated, their talents trapped in a life of long-term unemployment? All that just so that the banks can be repaid, the rich made richer? All that, just to maintain a capitalist system that has long since passed its sell-by date, that now offers the world nothing but destruction. For the Greeks to accept the measures meekly would be to multiply depression by depression, the depression of a failed system compounded by the depression of lost dignity.The violence of the reaction in Greece is a cry that goes out to the world"

From a piece in the Guardian exploring the secret pleasure in seeing someone rebel against the "debtocracy system".

"Greece is at the cutting edge of the austerity measures that are being introduced across Europe. All the evidence shows that while these measures may protect the interests of the rich, they just make matters worse for the majority of the population. What happens in Greece today we will see in Portugal tomorrow and in Ireland the day after. In Britain, the coalition government is pursuing similar measures which will see workers' earnings reduced, see them working longer for a smaller pension, and the NHS dismantled, along with other public services."

From a piece in the Guardian on the solidary between European peoples.

pics via hellenesonline.com & xpolis.blogspot.com

Why & How Iceland Has Resurfaced After the Bankruptcy in 2008 (Example for Greece?)

Compare and contrast with the situation of the Greek crisis. Similar track? Terrifically different courses of actions, to be sure. Could it be because Iceland is not a geopolitical corner of utmost importance as a way to the Middle East? Or a prime holiday spot for the rich & powerful to own like Greece can be? Could it be because someone had a wonderful idea about transforming a society into one where everything and everyone could be working in transparency? Could Iceland have been left to remedy things their way while Greece won't be?

What happened  to Iceland?

2008. The country's main bank is nationalized. The currency collapses, the operation of the stock market stops. The country is bankrupt.
2009. The protests in front of the parliament succeed and early elections and declared, causing the resignation of the Prime Minister and the entire government. The plight of the economy continues. A proposed law regarding the debt to the UK and to the Netherlands suggests for it to be paid several millions, drawn from all Icelandic families monthly for 15 years with a 5.5% interest rate, should be amassed.

2010. The people come out on the streets asking for a referendum. In January 2010 the president refuses to put the law into effect and announces there is demand for popular verdict. March is the month for the referendum and 'no' to pay wins by 93% of the votes. The government is beginning research on judicial responsibility for the crisis. They begin the arrests of bankers and executives. The Interpol issues an order and all involved bankers responsible for the crisis leave the country.

Amidst the crisis, a body is elected by citizens in order to write the new constitution. 25 people are elected, with no political dependence out of the 522 that were presented as candidates. The application requirement was being adults and be recommended by 30 people.The law-making body begins its work in February 2011 and will present a Magna Carta taking into account the unanimous recommendations of different meetings that take place throughout the country. It must be approved by the current parliament and the next revisioary administrationg that will result from the next election.
This is the brief history of the Icelandic revolution: resignation of the entire government, nationalizing the bank, a referendum on crucial economic decisions, the crisis magnates put in prison and rewriting the Constitution by the citizens.

Watch the documentary.

Work Like the Bees

Time travel on the tiny wings of a bee...into the Greek Outlook.

The Minoan Bee was found in the Old Palace cemetery at Chrysolakkos, outside the Palace of Malia, the 3rd largest Minoan Palace on the island of Crete (after Knossos and Pheastos), in Greece. It dates back to the Bronze Age during the Protopalatial Period (1800 - 1700 BC). This is very detailed representation of two bees carrying a drop of honey to their honeycomb. The two bees flank the drop of honey at center in perfect symmetry.

The Myceneans continued well into the Homeric tradition the admiration for the bee.

Mycenean signet ring (Reynold Higgins, Minoan and Mycenaean Art, Thames and Hudson)

Beeswax candles represent the sobriety of Easter Week and the sense of community.

Greek Orthodox church beeswax candes

Greek brand Apivita Queen Bee night cream via NYTimes

The bee enters many a care. Skincare on this instance. Give Greece a chance.

Anonymous

And then you have Anonymous busy like little bees hacking Greek state sites and media, fascinated by how far this master plan of world terror is going to go.


pics via NYTimes, aeoluskephas.blogspot.com, paintingskiathos.wordpress

Rebranding Greece: What Greece Needs to Do

Peter Economides (responsible in part for probably the best EOT campaign ever) gives a marketing talk to end all marketing talks about rebranding Greece in this current smearing international campaign that has altered our core characteristics into the image projected to the world.




To quote him: "Greece is on the verge of bankrupcy. But we are not a bankrupt nation. We are Greeks. People with  the power to imagine. People with the intelligence to turn imagination into reality. We imagined democracy. We imagined the Acropolis. Now is time to imagine the future."

I couldn't have summarised it better. 

Live your Own Virtual Reality

George A. Papandreou (ΓΑΠ): "There is a need for radical changes and the Greek people want these changes, no matter how painful they are" (quote 13 October 2011)

Caption: Live your own virtual reality

The Chain-Saw Moussaka (Das Kettensägen-Moussaka)

Why Greece serves as an experiment into how far economic oppression from international money consortia and bankers will go.....

From Profil.at, Austrian online magazine, translated from the German (bold is mine).

"In the case of Greece every tax increase is a great idea, and any benefit is considered kürzenswert. [...]

When unemployment has reached a record high of 19.2 percent, when state hospitals lock operating rooms because they cannot get new staff, when the suicide rate rises sharply, when the Ministry of Education distributes food vouchers to student needs, because of the increasing numbers of children and adolescents suffering malnutrition, and when at the same time, the 90th national economic competitiveness in the international ranking of the seven places on the Rank has crashed: then everything is really okay so far! [...]

In the spirit of European solidarity, the starvation of the Greek population is quite reasonable, because the European taxpayer should be convinced to support a nation that has gone bankrupt, because they have lived beyond their means. Even the cold snap last week in Athens is welcomed as a case of a higher justice.

[...] The austerity rather combines the worst of all worlds - we call it sado-economics.

Oddly, nowhere outside of Greece is opposition stirring opposition, no matter what draconian measures are enacted. Conservative governments like the black and yellow in Berlin suddenly have no problem with solidarity levies, increases in income tax or a new property tax. Social Democrats and Chancellor of Austria Werner Faymann do not cry when the VAT rate increased verve and the budgets of Social Affairs and Health will be reformed with a chainsaw.
If it follows Greece, everything is permitted, especially as the European leaders need to present the austerity program themselves. It is not even clear whether they approve it in detail. A faceless triumvirate of delegates of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Commission and European Central Bank (ECB) uses a flying visit to Athens in order to explain what needs to be done. The Greeks therefore necessarily demonstrate with banners that say "Troika out"; but such a slogan is pretty abstract, and ultimately goes nowhere.

They are supported now, at least from the German economic expert Peter Bofinger. "With the cuts, the economy has stalled, which caused the deficits to rise, after which the troika demanded even harsher austerity measures," criticizes the economist.

Currently groaning are many EU member countries - including Austria - given the self-imposed"debt brake" laws. The saving and loading packages that are being discussed for this purpose would cause cheering in Greece, so harmless are they in comparison. Gustav Horn by the German Institute for Macroeconomic Research with respect to the ARD, commented on the highly controversial reform plans "Agenda 2010" of the former SPD-Green government of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder as a "Mickey Mouse program compared to what happened in Greece".

In Austria, a Greek austerity scale would mean the end of the republic, as we know it. [...]

The list of charges is long, and yet forever the same sentence at the end of each listing is as follows: "Greece has missed its savings targets'. [...]

Because now the Hellenic Republic unsurprisingly barely has any highly profitable companies in its portfolio, the fact  would be that privatization revenues remain at modest levels. [...] The former economics minister Stefanos Manos judged as soon as the publication of the plan was lacking for the ARD, "This is ridiculous. You want to sell the railroad company. But who in their right mind will buy it? It would be completely crazy to do that! "
A certain madness accompanies the whole process supposed to rescue Greece from the beginning. The three previous austerity bestowed the country with a recession that was worse every year - 2009, the economy shrank by 3.2 percent the following year there were already 3.5 percent and 5.5 percent last year. Corollary: The debt continues to rise.

The troika still has not reached the end of their wisdom. Now let's drop the minimum wage in the private sector, which is in Greece at 750 €. This is expected to be a more dynamic labor market. However, the business associations themselves speak out against such a measure, because they know that in private consumption it would continue to decline.

Poul Thomsen, head of the delegation of the IMF, demanded by Athens last week to accelerate structural reforms. He admitted that so far too much emphasis had been placed on new taxes. The next economy package should therefore lower the better wages. Both are of course long since done. Munter is rotated on all screws.

Greece is a field trial for schizophrenia become economists, expenditure and revenue side where all ideas can be tested simultaneously. [...] And if Greece collapses at the end, there's an alternative: Perhaps the same experiment will work out in Portugal." [see this]