When the Greek Parliament last voted for austerity.....
I have been all over the internet since I got up, after turning on the TV to hear nothing but horrors happening for Greece, even the running out of fuel in areas. (Something I had warned my son about - since he is on an island, if the ferries can't run, there will be no food to buy).
As to how I would vote - for now I am in the undecided column. There are no easy answers here. If I vote yes on the referendum on July 5th, for me that means it's all over for now. Austerity rules. Greece remains under the boots of the troika, perhaps with much worst consequences than ever.
But perhaps if an overwhelming number of Greeks voted to accept, there would not be an avalanche of strikes and demonstrations, which would otherwise happen and at the very height of the tourist season for Greece. This all comes down at the worst possible time for a country that earns most of its money from tourism in July and August.
If I vote no, does that mean not only the end of Greece being in the euro zone, but being kicked out of the European Union also? Many Greeks are in EU countries working now that wouldn't be able to if Greece is out of the EU. More trauma there, as there are no jobs for them if they are forced to go back home to a country with no jobs, businesses failing.
There is no way that Greece is going to be able to repay the debt payments due tomorrow, nor the ones coming up quickly thereafter, since for now there are no deals on the table. There is only chaos now and to come.
The euro group for now is only interested in damage control, in case "everything goes horribly wrong." Well, since the European Central Bank shut down aid to Greek banks over the week-end, it is, all gone horribly wrong. One could blame the leftist government, as the head of the European Commission did in a press conference today, but that would not be the truth......
Greece debt talks: EU chief feels 'betrayed'
European Commission chief, Jean-Claude Juncker, It's not my fault. I did everything I could. It was those egotiscal Greeks, playing tactical games, populist games. After all my efforts I feel betrayed.
He urges Greek citizens to vote yes in the referendum.
Greeks do not take kindly to outsiders telling them what to do and there seems to be a full court press out telling the Greeks, (and some planning on going to Greece to attempt to sway voters), pretty much if they want to stay in the euro, to vote yes, which may turn many would be yes votes into no votes, in my opinion.
Huge pro-government show of support in Greece going on now.....
http://www.bbc.com/...
I think as I write this, I am leaning on the side of No. There has to be better to offer the Greeks. And I think the eurogroup acted very badly, in bad faith. To see them so defensive now, is showing that. They attempted their take it or leave it dealing seeing nothing but success in their approach to what they saw as a battered, beaten down nation, too weakened by all the imposed austerity - and such obviously has not been the case.
A kinder, gentler European Union it is not
Joseph Stiglitz: how I would vote in the Greek referendum
The rising crescendo of bickering and acrimony within Europe might seem to outsiders to be the inevitable result of the bitter endgame playing out between Greece and its creditors. In fact, European leaders are finally beginning to reveal the true nature of the ongoing debt dispute, and the answer is not pleasant: it is about power and democracy much more than money and economics.
Of course, the economics behind the programme that the “troika” (the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund) foisted on Greece five years ago has been abysmal, resulting in a 25% decline in the country’s GDP. I can think of no depression, ever, that has been so deliberate and had such catastrophic consequences: Greece’s rate of youth unemployment, for example, now exceeds 60%.
It is startling that the troika has refused to accept responsibility for any of this or admit how bad its forecasts and models have been. But what is even more surprising is that Europe’s leaders have not even learned. The troika is still demanding that Greece achieve a primary budget surplus (excluding interest payments) of 3.5% of GDP by 2018.