Greek Austerity Measures...

[SupremeSpod]

...have they gone too far?

Ok, in all seriousness, do we really want to see old people forced to raid litter bins for food?

Enough is enough, surely there is a better way out of this mess.

If this does turn into a contagion and spreads across Europe, I won't be robbing litter bins to feed my family!

It's probably a good job that we're pulling troops out of Afghanistan, because we're likely to need them on the streets here in the UK.

[BrilloPad]

As a few pro-Euro posters have pointed out, things can only get worse for the Greeks. When they leave the Euro its going to be tough. But the longer it takes, the worse it gets.

Personally I would like to see Merkel working in the soup kitchens in Athens. But then I feel like that towards anyone who EVER had a good word to say for the Euro. If you want to merge currencies then do it after political union.

We wont need soldiers on the streets here. Fortunately there are far too many sheep. The chavs wont riot except for self interest and can easily be placated.

[Old Hack]

Without Eurobonds, it's going to go tits up. The germans are either going to have to pay for years of feast, or the whole experiment is over. I think it's a collossal game of poker, myself, with the greeks threatening not to pay, and the ECB and Germans saying not to Eurobonds, pay your debts. It's now a case of who blinks first.

If they did bail out, contagion would see Spain and Portugal first, then maybe Italy bail too.

I think the Greeks should just go, just do it. It will simply not be good for a while, it just will not. But, it has to be better in the medium term.

I also now think all these external countries, like ours, saying this is a referendum, adds more to the game of poker.

Intriguing days ahead. Roll on June 10th....

[Mupps]

They need to default and start again. If they follow the austerity plan then a whole generation will suffer relative poverty and stagnation, and then they will still be back at square one with a wrongly valued currency and inefficient economy with nothing that they can make and export.

Far better to default, suffer a bit of a bad time while things readjust and then go back to being a cheap holiday destination. 30% of the economy is tourism and the sun will always shine on their lovely islands.

Bankruptcy is not nice, but it does allow you to rebuild again and have a second chance.

[BrilloPad]

So Greece is the articulated lorry that jack-knifes in the fog on the motorway, and then brings about a whole series of collisions which ends in the mangled remains of many vehicles, and finally the explosion of an oil tanker as it shunts into the rear. And that might just be Germany and France.

[Old Hack]

So Greece is the articulated lorry that jack-knifes in the fog on the motorway, and then brings about a whole series of collisions which ends in the mangled remains of many vehicles, and finally the explosion of an oil tanker as it shunts into the rear. And that might just be Germany and France.

Germany will be fine, but France would have issues.

Having bought a house in france, that I believed couldn't get cheaper, I may have been wrong.

Buying a pad in greece next year, when the dust settles might be another option. I can see a lot of people getting money into greece once they default, as it will become an awful lot mroe attractive than it is currently, with the houses over valued in Euros.

Argentina defaulted the manly way. Bank doors locked overnight, everyones money was kept. It didn't really turn into riots on the streets, as those savvy argies put armed forces on the streets, but they recovered.

[The Spartan]

Makes me laugh to be honest the Greeks have no one to blame but themselves, the Greek people like the Italians have made tax evasion a national sport. If they're not going to put money back into their country why should anyone else.

[BrilloPad]

Makes me laugh to be honest the Greeks have no one to blame but themselves, the Greek people like the Italians have made tax evasion a national sport. If they're not going to put money back into their country why should anyone else.

They are partly to blame. What about those stupid enough to lend them money? Or those who thought having a common currency a good idea? Or their leadewrs who told them it would all be okay?

[BigTime]

WGAS say the Greeks:
Greeks embrace some new myths about life with the euro | Reuters

[The_Equalizer]

Argentina defaulted the manly way. Bank doors locked overnight, everyones money was kept. It didn't really turn into riots on the streets, as those savvy argies put armed forces on the streets, but they recovered.

I am not sure that Argentina ever recovered properly. The current government are cooking the books regards inflation (official 10%/unofficial 30%), being chased for outstanding debts and nationalising large private companies (Respol) thereby frightening off investment.