Greece Politicians Vote for Bankers over People

Greek politicians had the choice today. They could act in the best interests of their people or they could vote in the interest of banks. The chose the later

Lets look at the choices as they were given by PASOK.

If we vote no then Greece will be controlled by the military because there will be anarchy

If you vote yes Greece will have a sound foundation for future growth.

Okay, let me take the second point first. The austerity measures have already been going for a year and the economy has shrunk around 3-4%. Unemployment has increased by nearly 50% and tax revenues have actually fallen despite higher taxes

The goal for the whole year stands at 59.36 billion.

However, the sum is 500 million euros or 8.3 percent less than January 2010 revenues, when the figure came in at 6.025 billion.

So going back to the second point, these new measures which were voted on today are even more extreme than before, yet they are supposed to give Greece a future. On what evidence? The evidence of the past year suggests the EXACT opposite.

So the second point I believe is completely false.

To address the first point, military on the streets. This shows how clueless PASOK is. What makes PASOK so sure there will not be a default in the future. I mean, what exactly are they basing their figures on? The Greek govenrment deficit actually increased in 2010, not the opposite.

So I say, how can PASOK be so confident that Greece will not default in the future? What gives them cause for hope? I see nothing.

Not to mention you have the ECB chairman Trichett indicating interest rates will rise. Greece cannot service it’s debt at the moment and the only thing on the horizon are rate increases and a massive increase in debt.

So I say again, what does PASOK believe is going to happen in the future, what is going to improve Greece’s position?

To summarise, the Greeks have gone along with Papandreou’s plan for a prosperous future for a year now and these are the results
1. Increasing taxes have led to a reduction in tax revenue
2. GDP has shrunk
3. Unemployment has increased by nearly 50%
4. Interest rates forecast to increase in the short and long term
5. Government deficit increased

So if you look at these figures and agree with me that it is not if but when Greece defaults the question becomes when is a default desirable.

In my opinion Greece will default anyway so the sooner it is done the better

You want the economy to be as liquid as possible with cash when the default comes. You do not want to run the economy into the ground and then default when there is a shortage of currency, that would be a recipe for hardship

Greece should default as soon as possible, there is no future for Greece with such a massive debt burden.

There is no reason for a prolonging of the current situation, I repeat there is NO reason to continue this policy NONE.

If the Greek politicians will not vote for a default the Greek people and induce one. They could withdraw their money from the banks and they could reduce their working hours so they pay less income tax.

Of course it takes a strength to be able to stand by your convictions, to stand by a forecast which could be wrong, but there is no evidence to show the current strategy will work and there is no evidence that the future global economic environment will be friendlier to Greece than it is now

The only people gain from continuing on this road are people who get interest from these massive debts, from people who would like to buy the country’s assets at the lowest price and those who want to destroy all contracts made by the government.

Unfortunately the government contract will be void no matter what but the first 2 points are still under the control of Greeks but they need to seize the opportunity while they still can.

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