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Old 10-28-2011, 12:18 AM
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bhunter bhunter is offline
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EU Problems and Solutions

The EU bail out plan doesn't seem like it is tenable over the long term. It is notable that even if everything goes as planned, doubtful, that Greece will still be at 120 percent of GDP. I can't see where the EU is going to get the money to cover the ravenous Greeks. The numbers from Italy and Spain are also bad IMHO.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europ.../Warning-signs


http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europ.../Warning-signs

The history of all the schemes and bail outs in the second link above is quite telling. It's fairly obvious that they need to roll back their expenditures, but alas, that brings the pro-largesse folks out in protest. Perhaps there is some way to blame this on others rather than themselves with sufficient circuitous reasoning.
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Last edited by bhunter; 10-28-2011 at 12:35 AM.
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Old 10-28-2011, 08:14 AM
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merrylander merrylander is offline
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One possible reason that the workers are striking and protesting in Greece is that most of the cuts are aimed at the middle and lower class. Payment of taxes by wealthy Greeks is notoriously low to none.
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Old 10-28-2011, 01:27 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by merrylander View Post
One possible reason that the workers are striking and protesting in Greece is that most of the cuts are aimed at the middle and lower class. Payment of taxes by wealthy Greeks is notoriously low to none.
The various austerity measures seem to be reasonable given the economic situation in Greece and they were required to get more funding. I still think the country will fail, but its demise delayed given the recent moves by the EU. Are there even enough wealthy Greeks to keep the Greek welfare state even at, say, 100 percent taxation? The cost of the Greek largesse will ultimately be paid for by consumers and taxpayers of other countries.
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Old 10-28-2011, 01:33 PM
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merrylander merrylander is offline
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This was so easy to find it was child's play.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...OlJ3crPAzJXBoQ
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Old 10-28-2011, 06:25 PM
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Originally Posted by merrylander View Post
This was so easy to find it was child's play.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...OlJ3crPAzJXBoQ
That still can't keep Greece's welfare state afloat. One of these days the people will realize that if you do not produce anything of value your lifestyle might be hampered. It is just like here, people were and are living beyond their means and expect that to continue. This has been quite obvious for at least the last couple of decades. It will be much more problematic when a larger EU member falters, like Italy or Spain.
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Last edited by bhunter; 10-28-2011 at 06:35 PM.
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Old 10-28-2011, 08:51 PM
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Dondilion Dondilion is offline
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Some interesting points of view: check also the Stephanomics discussion.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15470350
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  #7  
Old 10-29-2011, 06:33 AM
Charles Charles is offline
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Mr Soros actually compared the Eurozone crisis to the collapse of the USSR - he said both cases had the same air of disintegration. He also said that the "plan", as we understand it, might get the single currency through the next three months, but it would not tackle the underlying problems. Growth was a massive problem. And they were going to have to write off a lot more Greek sovereign debt - not just the bonds held by private investors.

Look who get screwed first...the private investor.

Same game we play in the US, no wonder there is a shrinking middle class.

Chas
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