So Greece has exited the bailout. Wonderful. Great. Fantastic. I guess this means that the Germans have squeezed all the blood they, and their French puppets, can from that stone. The numbers of Greeks that will have died as a direct result of the “austerity” that was imposed on Greece will never be known, but that number will be dwarfed by the numbers of Greeks that have had to flee their country in search of work, only to become the highly educated baristas and shop and factory workers of Europe.
We can argue that Greece should never have taken the loans, and that indeed they should be paid back. That’s what you do with loans.
A stronger argument is that those who made the loans should also be culpable, knowing as they did that Greece could never repay the loans, and knowing that they would push the default and pain onto others (the Greek people and/or European and international banks and through them to the shareholders of those banks). Equally culpable are the handful of Greece politicians and functionaries who aims to profit by continued electoral victory and control of the government, and by personal wealth from their part in the scamming of the Greek nation.
Just as there were those in the communities persecuted by the Nazis who collaborated for whatever reason, so there were Greek government officials and politicians who collaborated with the German and European banks to take loans that they knew could never be repaid.
Yet it is the behaviour of the various European players once the loans were made that shows the perfidy of the “European”, and their willingness to see other European children and elderly die for profit, and to see an entire generation without work.
Germany, the ECB, IMF and we cannot forget the French banks (and others) have acted as the loan-sharks of “Europe” happily destroying one of their own “family” for profit.
Further evidence of the impact on Greece from the austerity programme comes from a Bank of Greece report from 2016.
A January 1st, 2017 article in the Guardian makes the impact clear. “Figures released by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control recently revealed that about 10% of patients in Greece were at risk of developing potentially fatal hospital infections, with an estimated 3,000 deaths attributed to them.”
And so Germany profits from dead Greeks, and the French support their overlords, to ensure the security of their own banks.
Meanwhile, the rest of Europe bumbles along, hoping that one day the Germans will “share” some of the wealth that they continue to accumulate, to the detriment of the rest of Europe. On the German side, one wonders if they worry that one day the rest of Europe will say “enough is enough” and either leave the Eurozone or demand that Germany begin to contribute to the parts of Europe that pay for their current account surplus.
One chart shows clearly the situation in Europe today, and why the Eurozone is in such danger. It is not the debt of Greece, or the bailouts for German and French banks and the ECB, it is the current account surpluses and deficits across Europe.
Without Europe to and the Euro to “level” costs and prices across Europe, the German Deutschmark would be so overvalued as compared with other European currencies. The Euro ensures that Germany is “cheap” while removing the options or ability for European competitors to adjust their costs and pricing via free-floating currencies appropriate to their monetary policies.
Greece stands out in the chart, with the massive drain in the early years of the century, with artificially low prices for imports and easy credit, much of which is reflected in the net Current Account surplus in Germany.
Now that Greece is officially out of the bailout, it is time for Greece to regain control of its currency, and of its future. The New Drachma is needed, and a Grexit a must for the future of Greece. It may also be the only action that can save Europe from Germany, if only by showing Germany just how important it is that they "share the wealth" or risk their own economy.
We can argue that Greece should never have taken the loans, and that indeed they should be paid back. That’s what you do with loans.
A stronger argument is that those who made the loans should also be culpable, knowing as they did that Greece could never repay the loans, and knowing that they would push the default and pain onto others (the Greek people and/or European and international banks and through them to the shareholders of those banks). Equally culpable are the handful of Greece politicians and functionaries who aims to profit by continued electoral victory and control of the government, and by personal wealth from their part in the scamming of the Greek nation.
Just as there were those in the communities persecuted by the Nazis who collaborated for whatever reason, so there were Greek government officials and politicians who collaborated with the German and European banks to take loans that they knew could never be repaid.
Yet it is the behaviour of the various European players once the loans were made that shows the perfidy of the “European”, and their willingness to see other European children and elderly die for profit, and to see an entire generation without work.
Germany, the ECB, IMF and we cannot forget the French banks (and others) have acted as the loan-sharks of “Europe” happily destroying one of their own “family” for profit.
Further evidence of the impact on Greece from the austerity programme comes from a Bank of Greece report from 2016.
“The report of the Governor of the Bank of Greece reckons surveys conducted by Greek Statistic Authorities (ELSTAT) and according to which:Citing OECD data of 2013, the BoG underlines that 79% of the population in Greece was not covered with insurance and therefore without medical and medicine due to long-term unemployment, while self-employed could not afford to pay their social contributions.”
- a significant increase of 24.2% of people aged 15+ suffering from chronic health problem or chronic disease.
- increase of more than 15% of people who limited their activities due to health problems in 2014.
- percentage of low-weight (below 2.5 kg) births increased by 19% in 2008-2010, and that this is associated with long-term negative effects on the health and the development of children.
A January 1st, 2017 article in the Guardian makes the impact clear. “Figures released by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control recently revealed that about 10% of patients in Greece were at risk of developing potentially fatal hospital infections, with an estimated 3,000 deaths attributed to them.”
And so Germany profits from dead Greeks, and the French support their overlords, to ensure the security of their own banks.
Meanwhile, the rest of Europe bumbles along, hoping that one day the Germans will “share” some of the wealth that they continue to accumulate, to the detriment of the rest of Europe. On the German side, one wonders if they worry that one day the rest of Europe will say “enough is enough” and either leave the Eurozone or demand that Germany begin to contribute to the parts of Europe that pay for their current account surplus.
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| Source Wikipedia |
Without Europe to and the Euro to “level” costs and prices across Europe, the German Deutschmark would be so overvalued as compared with other European currencies. The Euro ensures that Germany is “cheap” while removing the options or ability for European competitors to adjust their costs and pricing via free-floating currencies appropriate to their monetary policies.
Greece stands out in the chart, with the massive drain in the early years of the century, with artificially low prices for imports and easy credit, much of which is reflected in the net Current Account surplus in Germany.
Now that Greece is officially out of the bailout, it is time for Greece to regain control of its currency, and of its future. The New Drachma is needed, and a Grexit a must for the future of Greece. It may also be the only action that can save Europe from Germany, if only by showing Germany just how important it is that they "share the wealth" or risk their own economy.
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