Thomsen, Troika – Greek Government Should Reduce Deficit “Without Wage & Pension Cuts”

A short but very telling video about the Troika and Thomsen’s view of the crisis that the Greek government is going through.

httpv

/p>

To paraphrase.

“The people in privileged positions in Greece will have to sacrifice and they will resist but it is possible for the Greek government to balance its books in a way that does not harm people (ie in a “socially responsible” way) IF the Greek government carries out the reforms necessary which means taking away privileges from the trade unions, taking privileges away from people in the public sector and taking away privileges from people in the private sector but who are protected by government. ”

And there is nothing ground breaking about this perspective. It is something that I have been highlighting over and over again.

The Greek government and the trade unions are doing everything they can to maintain their power even if it means pensions have to be cut and people have to take pay cuts.

It is the Greek government that is imposing the tax increases and pension cuts on the Greek people and not the Troika.

Sure you can blame the Troika for bailing out a government that is clearly so belligerent, in my opinion they should never have got involved but now they are they have put themselves into a very tough position.

Like it or not they are involved, they have propped up a regime which is actively extracting cash and savings from an economy at a unprecedented rate but the Greek government could stop this anytime they wish.

The Greek government simply has to balance its books and everything will return to normal. However they seem dead opposed to this logical course of action.

They could say to themselves “well times were good now we have to relinquish control of the economy back to the Greek people to keep the gains we have” but no, they would rather take the whole country down than lose their power.

It could be argued that the Troika is a predator. They are preying on the vulnerability of the Greek government.

The IMF has everything gain from this course of action because they are at the head of the queue when it comes to debt repayment, they never take a write down. Ever.

You could argue that the Troika is exploiting the weakness of the Greek government and it’s resistance to reform to extract money from the country and to profit from the bailout loans.

I suppose they can justify it to themselves because they look at it as being a self-inflicted wound by the Greek government and Greek trade unions and that the Greek government  and Greek trade unions deserve everything they get.

I suppose they can justify their actions because they look at the Greek people voting for the people carrying out these suicidal tax increases and they think the voters deserve what they get.

But again, the Greek government could end this exploitation anytime they want, they simply have to get the markets on their side by balancing their books but the fact is, to repeat, the Greek government and Greek trade unions are addicted to power and they are prepared to hold on to the bitter end no matter what the consequences for the Greek taxpayer.

I will leave you with an interesting article which goes some way to explaining the Greek political elite’s power addiction

Power has almost identical effects to cocaine and too much of it can produce too much dopamine leading to more negative effects such as arrogance and impatience.

Get the latest updates in your inbox