Greek referendum

[Cricko]

What the hell is going on with them....firstly they get the EU to half their debt and they now want a referendum about it?

Oh and lets take our time and have it in January, WTF ?....this is sending the world markets plummeting once more.


http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/01/markets/world_markets/index.htm

 

[Neil_F]

They need to exit the Eurozone, default and depreciate the New Drachma.

Debt hasn't been reduced by 50% as only foreign private sector debt holders are being asked to voluntarily take a 50% loss. Only about 40% of Greek debt is held by foreign private institutions (the rest is either domestic i.e. Greek banks, or in the hands of the Eurozone). The debt reduction is therefore only about 20% and there is no assurance that the private sector companies will agree because of the way it has been structured.

All hell is going to break loose at some point. The only question is when it will be and how much damage is caused.

I don't have a problem with this going to a referendum. If I were a Greek citizen I'd rather liked to be asked on the future of my country, especially as social and economic policy is being dictated by Brussels without any democratic mandate whatsoever.

 

[Cricko]

Perhaps if we opt out of the EU to and save the 14 billion a year we put in,we could wipe our deficit out in a few years?

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

They need to exit the Eurozone, default and depreciate the New Drachma.

Debt hasn't been reduced by 50% as only foreign private sector debt holders are being asked to voluntarily take a 50% loss. Only about 40% of Greek debt is held by foreign private institutions (the rest is either domestic i.e. Greek banks, or in the hands of the Eurozone). The debt reduction is therefore only about 20% and there is no assurance that the private sector companies will agree because of the way it has been structured.

All hell is going to break loose at some point. The only question is when it will be and how much damage is caused.

I don't have a problem with this going to a referendum. If I were a Greek citizen I'd rather liked to be asked on the future of my country, especially as social and economic policy is being dictated by Brussels without any democratic mandate whatsoever.

Not true.

The democratic deficit is as much a problem with our own systems as the way Europe is set up. Our elected government takes decisions for us in Europe, they appoint commissioners etc. It's as much the fault of our system that we can't or are unwilling to hold them accountable for it. Instead Europe is used as the scapegoat. Things are regularly blamed on "Europe", when our own government has agreed to it.

In anycase, I don't see much difference between a Scottish MP voting on a decision effecting me and say the MEP for Frankfurt voting on it: ultimately I can't vote out either.

 

[Neil_F]

in anycase, I don't see much difference between a Scottish MP voting on a decision effecting me and say the MEP for Frankfurt voting on it: ultimately I can't vote out either.

I don't disagree, YB.

In this example, I think the democratic deficit is advanced that bit further because the conditions of the bailout have serious consequences on the social fabric of a nation. That isn't to trivialise the thousands of other consequences that a lack of democratic accountability has, but I can understand why it has gone to a referendum.

It might not even make it that far as the Greek government faces a confidence vote this week.

 

[Holy Joe]

I'm hearing Greek government has already effectively fallen as 2 MP's have left the ruling the party today. This will force an election. I doubt the referendum will happen.

 

[Swiss Tony]

What the hell is going on with them....firstly they get the EU to half their debt and they now want a referendum about it?

Oh and lets take our time and have it in January, WTF ?....this is sending the world markets plummeting once more.


http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/01/markets/world_markets/index.htm

Carpet bomb Athens for 24 hours,job done.

 

[Dick Bate's Protege]

Carpet bomb Athens for 24 hours,job done.

Irony is we couldn't afford anything more than mildly worded letter.

 

[Pubey]

as usual, The Mash does it best...

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/international/greeks-punch-gift-horse-in-the-face-201111014490/

 

[Beefy]

Fair play to the Greeks. It's alright saying that this will half their debt and they should be grateful but it will also have massive repercussions on policy and democracy not just in that country but every one of the Eurozone nations including the one that I live in.

Greece should never have been in the Euro in the first place. Locking them in further doesn't seem like a good idea to me. It seems like a desperate gamble in the hope that it stops a default which is likely going to happen sooner or later anyway.