Yet another General Strike in Greece

[Anna B]

According to the news, there is now starvation happening in Greece. What a terrible indictment of 21st century civilization. And you can bet the ones starving weren't the ones out buying speed boats....

[ECCOnoob]

Maybe if they got back to work rather than striking all the time they could afford to put food on the table.

 

They made their bed they can bloody lay in it. Our taxes are funding their bailout and they have a nerve to kick off about having to kerb their excessive spending. Tough. The world is in recesssion not just them. They all need to grow up.

 

That's goes for our union mobs as well.

[Ms Macbeth]

Their soaring public sector spending was nice (for some) while it lasted, but surely was a major contributor to their current problems:

 

Greece was living beyond its means even before it joined the euro. After it adopted the single currency, public spending soared.

 

Public sector wages, for example, rose 50% between 1999 and 2007 - far faster than in other eurozone countries.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13798000

 

This report from the BBC also suggest that a return to the Drachma would make the problems worse.

 

However, none of this helps those people who are suffering now. There isn't a bottomless pit of money, and regardless of whose fault it is, I'd rather accept some hardship for a few years than go down the road of Greece or Spain.

[Anna B]

There is a great deal of misreporting about Greece. For obvious reasons they are trying to show them in the worse possible light and are putting the blame on the people who are actually the victims.

 

I can't believe how little sympathy people have. Remember, it could be us next. We have a bigger debt than them and our's is still going up. Not being in the Euro won't necessarily save us...

[Saffy]

There is a great deal of misreporting about Greece. For obvious reasons they are trying to show them in the worse possible light and are putting the blame on the people who are actually the victims.

 

I can't believe how little sympathy people have. Remember, it could be us next. We have a bigger debt than them and our's is still going up. Not being in the Euro won't necessarily save us...

 

I agree here .. Having been over twice this year and spoken to staff who live in Athens for half the year and then come out to the islands the rest ...

[lizmachin]

Maybe if they got back to work rather than striking all the time they could afford to put food on the table.

 

They made their bed they can bloody lay in it. Our taxes are funding their bailout and they have a nerve to kick off about having to kerb their excessive spending. Tough. The world is in recesssion not just them. They all need to grow up.

 

That's goes for our union mobs as well.

 

Greece has 25% unemployment but is a small country. So a German company or two setting up manufacturing in Greece would make a massive difference. The problem is that Greek productivity and industrial relations means that it is better to pay German workers twice as much and make goods in Munich rather than Athens.

Greek businesses are about as productive at British Leyland in the 1970s, and about as likely to attract overseas investment.

 

There is a great deal of misreporting about Greece. For obvious reasons they are trying to show them in the worse possible light and are putting the blame on the people who are actually the victims.

 

I can't believe how little sympathy people have. Remember, it could be us next. We have a bigger debt than them and our's is still going up. Not being in the Euro won't necessarily save us...

 

The UK was threatened with losing its AAA credit rating in 2010 but implemented austerity measures to calm the nerves of the rating agencies. Since then UK bond returns have actually dropped so the cost of servicing UK debt stands at around 1.8%. Countries such as Greece have destroyed their credit worthyness by continuing to spend more than the country can afford. Their credit rating is "junk bond status". Even with EU intervention their debt is cosing up to 30% to service. That is the difference. And everytime the Greeks take to the streets to protest about repaying their debts market confidence is further reduced.

I'm rather please that Canada has virtually no exposure to Greek debt, because it is becoming increasingly obvious that there is no longer such a thing as a loan to Greece. It becomes a charity donation once the prospect of getting your money back reaches zero.

[Anna B]

Greece has 25% unemployment but is a small country. So a German company or two setting up manufacturing in Greece would make a massive difference. The problem is that Greek productivity and industrial relations means that it is better to pay German workers twice as much and make goods in Munich rather than Athens.

Greek businesses are about as productive at British Leyland in the 1970s, and about as likely to attract overseas investment.

 

 

 

The UK was threatened with losing its AAA credit rating in 2010 but implemented austerity measures to calm the nerves of the rating agencies. Since then UK bond returns have actually dropped so the cost of servicing UK debt stands at around 1.8%. Countries such as Greece have destroyed their credit worthyness by continuing to spend more than the country can afford. Their credit rating is "junk bond status". Even with EU intervention their debt is cosing up to 30% to service. That is the difference. And everytime the Greeks take to the streets to protest about repaying their debts market confidence is further reduced.

I'm rather please that Canada has virtually no exposure to Greek debt, because it is becoming increasingly obvious that there is no longer such a thing as a loan to Greece. It becomes a charity donation once the prospect of getting your money back reaches zero.

 

So you're saying they / we all have to lay down and take whatever soul / life destroying crap governments throw at us for issues that are largely the government's and the banks fault?

 

Make no mistake, this is largely the fault of bad government and greedy banks throwing money around to make vast profits. Ordinary people had very little to do with it, and those who warned against it before it was too late were ignored or sacked.

 

Governments continue to waste huge amounts of money on their own projects whilst pinching every penny they can from those who can least afford it.

 

I will never understand how we can owe money to the banks whilst at the same time bailing them out and giving them money to the tune of £700+ billion pounds.