Trapped in the third year of deep recession and strangled by a public debt amounting to 162 percent of gross domestic product which few now believe can be paid back, Greece has sunk deeper into crisis, despite repeated doses of austerity.
It's perplexing in a way. Most economists have been saying that severe budget cuts in the face of a demand crisis are counter productive. Instead of recognizing failure, the politicians are just digging in deeper. I don't get that.
Well - I get why they've cut pensions and are savaging most people's economic standing. That's simply another way for the rich to get richer. You either get more wealthy yourself, or you remove wealth from other people. Both paths lead to the same thing.
The thing I don't get is that you have to let them eat cake at some point. If you push it too far, you risk the entire thing exploding and I think Greece is getting close to that point. The wealthy Greeks and Europeans should just call it a victory and back off a bit. If it explodes into violence, it's hard to enjoy your wealth when the nation is in smoldering ruins.
The correct path, of course, was for Greece to just default on the debt, tell the creditors to fuck off, and run some budget deficits until the economy recovers and then slowly start to balance the budgets.
And, of course, I'm still very perplexed by the right wingers who enjoy being indebted to the wealthy and continue to want to be subservient. It reminds me of a certain truck driver that wants wealthy people to have all the advantages, beyond the basic paradigm of already having the majority of the wealth.
I wonder why the Loon Brigade, in any particular nation, advocates against their own self interest. It's really strange.
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