THE EUROPEAN MESS

There is never a shortage of fear mongers. Like last year's Scottish referendum, the fear-inspiring crowd rolled out the big dogs the closer and the more in doubt the outcome came.

The same holds true for the current mess called Greece. Greece is a country like others in the EU which has lived above its means. Hardly anything new here, except one might get an argument about who is better at it, the Italians or the Greeks.

And despite what Brussels bureaucrats might be saying now, they knew way back when the EU was being formed, but decided as is their want to look the other way.

The Greeks have been getting handouts from the Brussels' crowd for a long time, far more monies than they sent to  Brussels. All this ranting against the Germans for their fiscal probity, including references to the Marshal Plan after WWII, is blatant verbal legerdemain to cover up the real issue:

Brussels bureaucrats rolled the dice on a known economic half-stepper and the dice came up snake eyes. End of story. Man up and take a tip from Moses--let the Greeks go. The globe will be better off and so will an ill-conceived, poorly-thought-out and improperly-executed creation called the European Union.

Give them the benefit of their beloved drachma.



For once in your pathetic bureaucratic existences, be a group of good cupcakes, suck up the losses and move on. You might even gain a little respect in the process. And for that matter, a name change is also in order, EM--European Mess, you've created.

For the record here's a brief recap of Greece's and the EU's problems. Looks like there's enough blame to go around.

How did Greece and the EU get into this mess in the first place? The seeds were sown back in 2001, when Greece finally qualified to adopt the euro as its currency. Greece had been an EU member since 1981, but its annual budget deficit was never low enough to satisfy the eurozone's Maastricht Criteria.

All went well for the first several years. Like other eurozone countries, Greece benefited from the power of the euro, which meant lower interest rates and an inflow of investment capital and loans.
http://useconomy.about.com/od/Europe/p/What-Is-The-Greece-Debt-Crisis. 

However, in 2004, Greece announced it had lied to get around the Maastrict Criteria. Surprisingly, the EU imposed no sanctions! Why not? There were three reasons.

1. France and Germany were also spending above the limit at the time. They'd be hypocritical to sanction Greece until they imposed their own austerity measures first.
2. There was uncertainty on exactly what sanctions to apply. They could expel Greece, but that would be highly disruptive and possibly weaken the euro itself.
3. The EU wanted to strengthen, not weaken, the power of the euro in international currency markets. This would put pressure on other EU countries, like the UK, Denmark and Sweden, to adopt the euro. (Source:Bloomberg, Greece Cheated, May 26, 2011; BBC News, Greece Joins Eurozone, January 1, 2001; Greece to Join Euro, June 1, 2000).

As a result, Greek debt continued to rise until the crisis erupted. Now, the EU must stand behind its member or face the consequences of either Greece leaving the eurozone, or even worse, a Greek default.

http://useconomy.about.com/od/Europe/p/What-Is-The-Greece-Debt-Crisis.