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February 13, 2012
"Counteracting declines" in the EU: Greece's austerity measures prompt some world markets gains. But...
We must show that Greeks, when they are called on to choose between the bad and the worst, choose the bad to avoid the worst.
--Greece Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos
But will that do it? Yesterday in Athens, while being guarded by riot police, the Greek Parliament passed its austerity legislation for a nation edging toward fiscal collapse. The passage was tied to Greece's request for a second bailout for 130 billion-euro ($172 billion). See, via the San Francisco Chronicle at the consistently just-the-facts Bloomberg News, "Greek Parliament Passes Austerity Bill as Rioters Burn Buildings."
Above: Northern Ireland.
Posted by JD Hull at February 13, 2012 07:09 PM
Comments
Such a mess
Greek governments borrows to buy votes/pledges made in elections... French and German banks lend them more money than they can ever pay back....world economy sinks in a debt mess and enters recessionmageddon and France and Germany, who crowed and shook their heads at the UK and US banking problems (well done bailing out AIG so it could bail out the European banks that didn't need instantly nationalising the US taxpayer), find that they can't afford to bailout their banks if greece defaults.
So Greece ends up trying to pay back a debt it will never be able to pay back and struggles on being a black hole of doom.
Utter bluddy madness!
Posted by: Duncan King at February 13, 2012 02:25 PM