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Yanis Varoufakis opens up about his five month battle to save Greece

newstatesman.com

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Re: Yanis Varoufakis opens up about his five month battle to save Greece

#31

Post by RobertoG »

johnsea wrote: post #24

Egoistical showman. Not able to listen. Not able to compromise. Using inapropriate language (waterboarding, terrorist - insulting people who endure real waterboarding and/or are hurt by terrorist). Doesn't stop shooting at Schäuble (Germany), but in truth he was opposed by 19 European countries. External pressure is needed. Stoneage lefties like to discuss, well, preach, all day long while spending other (EU) citizen…

Sure, not able to listen and not able to compromise define the Greek side in all this.

Where have you been?

The policies imposed to Greece don't make more sense this time that they did the last time, and the last, and the last. But yes, we should all listen to the wise neoliberal policymakers, including the humble Herr Schäuble.

Re: Yanis Varoufakis opens up about his five month battle to save Greece

#32

Post by [deleted] »

stewbrew wrote: post #22
theseatoms wrote: post #19

For those who are just catching up, I found the following article enlightening on the Greece situation: http://www.pragcap.com/greece ..especially the following line: - The EMU is a single currency system just like the USA is. The reason the USA works and the EMU doesn’t is because the USA has a system of rebalancing whereby poor states get more federal funding than wealthy states.

In the EU poorer states get more funding too. One line explanations for a fictive problem are most likely wrong.

[deleted]

Re: Yanis Varoufakis opens up about his five month battle to save Greece

#33

Post by agd »

johnsea wrote: post #24

Egoistical showman. Not able to listen. Not able to compromise. Using inapropriate language (waterboarding, terrorist - insulting people who endure real waterboarding and/or are hurt by terrorist). Doesn't stop shooting at Schäuble (Germany), but in truth he was opposed by 19 European countries. External pressure is needed. Stoneage lefties like to discuss, well, preach, all day long while spending other (EU) citizen…

Unfortunately it is the Eurogroup who are not willing to listen or compromise. The IMF reports (including one leaked today http://news.forexlive.com/!/imf-finally-says-what-they-think...) shows that Varoufakis was right all along and the debt is unsustainable, yet the Eurogroup does not listen and won't consider debt restructuring but wants to continue with the same failed and discredited policies.

Re: Yanis Varoufakis opens up about his five month battle to save Greece

#34

Post by roel_v »

adamc wrote: post #8

I wonder what effect the current EU "offer" to Greece will have on Britain's vote down the line, or on other states that may now have second thoughts about joining the euro. From my (American) perspective, it looks like being part of the Euro means giving Germany an awful lot of influence over your fiscal policy.

Of course, that's why the Greeks so desperately wanted to get out of the Euro, and why new countries have to be added to the Euro by beating them until they join.

Oh wait, no.

Despite all the 'omg the Germans are holding poor pplz hostage!', the Euro has massively lifted the economic prospects of tens if not hundreds of millions of people in a measly 10 or 15 years. Ask the Polish how bad the Euro has been for them, for example. The fact of the matter is - if you want to play, you have to abide by the rules. And I for one am glad that at least the Germans have the spine to say 'this is what we agreed on, no you're not special and we're not going to give you special treatment that we wouldn't give to many other countries that are in much worse shape' (like in Africa or Asia). Ffs, even some of those countries are less corrupt than Greece.

So, just because the Germans have gotten so much flak over the last few weeks, here's another sound: thank you, you guys do what others talk about but fail to uphold. (much like how the US is the only one with enough spine to actually go to war when it's necessary, but that's another topic...)

Re: Yanis Varoufakis opens up about his five month battle to save Greece

#35

Post by Mikeb85 »

johnsea wrote: post #24

Egoistical showman. Not able to listen. Not able to compromise. Using inapropriate language (waterboarding, terrorist - insulting people who endure real waterboarding and/or are hurt by terrorist). Doesn't stop shooting at Schäuble (Germany), but in truth he was opposed by 19 European countries. External pressure is needed. Stoneage lefties like to discuss, well, preach, all day long while spending other (EU) citizen…

And this response shows that you know nothing about economics or finance.

> do something again the blatant corruption, burocratie and tax evasion

Corruption and tax evasion are an economic problem, not a moral one. People decide whether or not to pay taxes based on many factors - convenience, value, habit, punishment, etc... In a 'developing' economy, like Greece, if there's a history of not paying taxes, you need to provide incentive to pay taxes. Because if you all of a sudden raise taxes and enforce it hard, you don't get tax evasion - you get capital flight, which is much, much worse for the economy. And it's all too easy to move around in the Eurozone.

> Stoneage lefties like to discuss, well, preach, all day long while spending other (EU) citizen's money.

Greece did not spend other EU citizen's money. They sold bonds at the market rate to banks and investors that BOUGHT them, and their debt spending was entirely sustainable up to the financial crisis (not sure if you've heard about it) which rocked the whole world. The troika bailed out those banks, with the vast majority of the "EU citizens' money" going to those banks and only a fraction of this money ever made its way to Greece.

> instead of hindering startups, business and innovative people

You know what hinders startups, business, and innovative people? A repressive tax regime. Like the one the troika imposed on Greece...

Re: Yanis Varoufakis opens up about his five month battle to save Greece

#38

Post by justaaron »

johnsea wrote: post #24

Egoistical showman. Not able to listen. Not able to compromise. Using inapropriate language (waterboarding, terrorist - insulting people who endure real waterboarding and/or are hurt by terrorist). Doesn't stop shooting at Schäuble (Germany), but in truth he was opposed by 19 European countries. External pressure is needed. Stoneage lefties like to discuss, well, preach, all day long while spending other (EU) citizen…

I disagree vehemently. The austerity and bailouts so far have been a punitive process that has achieved either an undesired effect or the specific goal of: 1) destroying the economy. no growth. no way to achieve the surplus targets mandated. no way to exit debt.

now, it's a set up. that's the premise of his statements in this article. you disagree or character assassinate, either or, but you don't propose an alternative except the tired lines about Greeks spending other peoples money. Go. learn something. come back when you know something about international finance, the Eurogroup, the ECB, the last 5 years of austerity, the last 2 Greek governments, the German Sub deal (anecdotal, not endemic, but representative of the nature of such transactions) and the macro economics of how +-5 million people shall fare over the next 20-50 years. You come across as a jerk, mean-spirited, and ignorant. Your comment was troll bait and more insulting than any of the articles rhetoric. You use the term "leftie" to describe folks of any political persuasion who make take umbrage at the blatant mafia structure at the core of the euro (currency) laid bare over the last weeks. Please DO go study a bit before you show your face around here again. Thanks Aaron

Re: Yanis Varoufakis opens up about his five month battle to save Greece

#39

Post by danieltillett »

vamur wrote: post #27
danieltillett wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually Greece has a printing press for Euros (apparently you can tell which euro notes are printed in Greece by the serial number). I have been half expecting Greece to solve all its problems by just printing.

They need authorization from ECB and the printer prints only 10 euros. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/06/return-drachma...

I think if you are going to run the biggest heist in history you are not going to ask permission :)

Re: Yanis Varoufakis opens up about his five month battle to save Greece

#40

Post by [deleted] »

pfg wrote: post #9
vixen99 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm just wondering what the heck Greece has done with the some half trillion Euros it's sucked in over the years and which hard-pressed taxpayers across Europe, many with standards of living below that of the average Greek, will now be helping to offset?

> Less than 10% of the bailout money was left to be used by the government for reforming its economy and safeguarding weaker members of society. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/29/where-did-the-g...

[deleted]
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