Shock horror. Government listens to public opinion

Hows this for a twist. The Greek Government are listening to the public and going to hold a referendum on the Euro bailout. Other European Governments are horrified that they haven't ignored public opinion.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ected.html

Bloomin' 'ell what next?
Doing things they promised in their election campaign?
Doing things that benefit the public ....... without a "backhander"?

This could have a catastrophic effect on world politics ....... there will be nobody who wants a life in politics.

This is to get him off the hook of what is a very unpopular austerity plan for Greece. Basically, he is saying 'Bite the bullet, and knuckle down to pay off our debts; or default and become Zimbabwe'.

Not sure if the Greek public realise what would happen if the country refuses to accept austerity measures and defaults. Also, could wreck the eurozone.

Yes they now can vote to hang themselves and I think they will. Unfortunately Greece has to tighten their belts a lot to survive but the people are not willing to do it.

That's a good image of the financial web, but it is missing the direct links US institutions (including the Federal Reserve) have with the major economies. WHEN Greece goes Zimbabwe, the major European economies and Japan will follow; and the US will come crashing down like a house of cards in a Cat 5 storm. That will then cause a secondary reverberation which will make the first seem like a pleasant breeze.

Protect yourselves.

Trying to cut through the mass of spin and rhetoric, in my opinion the Greece crisis is about the following main points:

1. Internally:


a. A succession of corrupt governments.

b. A high proportion of (primarily wealthy) citizens evading / avoiding paying taxes.

c. Falsification of economic data on EEC application.
2. Externally:


a. EEC failing to undertake a thorough due diligence on the economic data on the Greek application.

b. Banks and financial institutions making loans without undertaking a thorough due diligence.

c. Banks and financial institutions making Credit Default Swaps (insurance) on the loans in “3” above without undertaking a thorough due diligence.
Note: A number of the citizens in “1.a” and “1.b” above are closely connected, e.g. “1.b” cannot happen without the active collaboration and collusion with “1.a”.

Added to the above is the relatively recent ratcheting up of investments (bets) by financial institutions on the outcome of the crisis – one of the increasing concerns in the markets revolves around these investments (bets) going wrong, e.g. what may or may not actually trigger a “credit event” and what actually is the precise definition of a “credit event”. An interesting parallel could be drawn here with what has just brought MF Global to its knees.

It does appear that we never learn as, once again, banks and financial institutions have made their investments (bets) relying on “too big to fail” which usually results in privatised profits and socialised losses.

There is always lots of talk about corrupt governments, but in reality it’s extremely hard to have a corrupt government sector without a corrupt private sector – it takes two to Tango!

At the end of the day, the money is gone and now it is all about who is going to bear the costs – and that is where it has been getting really interesting (and scary), no one appears to know what the paper chase will reveal when the complex series of investments (bets) are unwound all the way back to their sources and when that is revealed just who will end up bearing the losses, will they end up being privatised or socialised

complex series of investments (bets)

If that's ALL the problem is, why don't they just send for some Pakistani Cricketers, it'll be solved in no time

stattointhailand wrote:complex series of investments (bets)

.... why don't they just send for some Pakistani Cricketers, it'll be solved in no time

.... they have no balls, they get court and will probably now get lots of time

JimboPSM wrote:

stattointhailand wrote:complex series of investments (bets)

.... why don't they just send for some Pakistani Cricketers, it'll be solved in no time

.... they have no balls, they get court and will probably now get lots of time

They will be stumped if they don't get bail

deficit spending.. beg... borrow.. steal... No more money... EU cobbles up Greece bailout #2 to throw good money after bad to "save the EU." Greek PM uses PM authority to call for National Referendum on bailout plan.. Greek Parliament must vote on it this Friday evening. 300 members with 153 being PM's party (after some defections). No guarantee the referendum will be passed into law. Even if passed, the plan is to have it in January 2012 so what does that do to EU Bailout Plan #2 for the next two months??

Watch the volatile stock markets. Right now they're nose diving.. If the referendum fails then they'll knee jerk react and go back up until........

2,000 or so years ago the Greeks gave the world knowledge; they have spent the last 2,000 years trying to get it back.

Barstool wrote:2,000 or so years ago the Greeks gave the world knowledge; they have spent the last 2,000 years trying to get it back.

Fair do's barstool, without the Greeks all the Thai Ladyboys would be wearing trousers

A certain amount of care should be taken before being overly critical of Greece; there are other countries in Europe along with the US that, in terms of total indebtedness, are in a not dissimilar position.

The main difference between Greece and those other countries is their ability to keep on kicking the can down the road while digging themselves into even deeper holes while they continue to live on borrowed money.

For example, according to both Bill Gross (founder of PIMCO) and Laurence Kotlikoff (Professor of Economics, Boston University) the US may be in an even worse debt position to that of Greece.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/43378973/US_Is_i ... eece_Gross

http://articles.cnn.com/2011-09-19/opin ... PM:OPINION