From The Economist article:
Obviously, no. Duh!
"When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic. " - Ben Franklin
Is there a decent-sized, mature democracy which isn't spending itself into a hole, in the long run?
Quick, lets kick California out of the Union too!
What, you're going to change your mind?
I haven't read the thread to see if this has been posted, but Wall Street and Goldmans Sachs are in it:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/business/global/14debt.html
Greece is invoking Godwin's Law in their search for money. Except it holds a different meaning when used against Germans.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...puty-prime-minister-attacks-Nazi-Germany.html
The escalating dispute came as a general strike in Greece spilled over into violent clashes between hooded youths and riot police in Athens. Chants of "burn the banks" are a foretaste of tensions once austerity measures bite in earnest later this year.
Public and private sector unions joined forces to bring the country to a standstill for 24 hours, halting flights, trains, and shipping, and shutting schools and hospitals.
Some Greek dude on NPR (but was in gov so who knows if he's honest or not) said he thought most Greeks are ok with the austerity measures and know they have to be done. However, 1M of people in the workforce are government employees. They represent 25% of the entire workforce and have already taken a 5% pay cut and this may double. I think they should be happy it's not a 25% pay cut considering the state of the country.The country teeters on the brink of insolvency, and all these protesters can do is throw a tantrum like a spoiled child who, when told Daddy lost his job, only cares that his allowance will be cut! Just amazing.
To be fair, the monarchies before us spent themselves into the ground as well (French revolution anyone? Let them eat cake!). And so did the communists (Russia and China too though people don't know it yet). And so do authoritarian governments (Chavez, Mugabe).
Nobody can control spending it seems.
Banks Bet Greece Defaults on Debt They Helped Hide
Well, legislatures can't control spending by themselves, but if they're forced to do so, they usually can. Many states (Virginia, for example), have specific constitutional amendments limiting the type and amount of debt the state can incur. Something similar is needed on the federal level. Without a constitutional amendment, we as a people simply can't control our own impulse to spend now, pay later (or never). IMHO, it's profoundly immoral to leave heaps of debt for future generations, especially where those generations never had a say in the matter.
LOL. You've worked here 8 years? Well you're fired. Here is your YEAR of severance.Massive joblessness could further slow Spain's climb out of debt. Even in good times, unemployment never got below about 8%. Now the rate is nudging 20% overall and close to 45% among young people -- statistics that reveal to economists a deeply flawed employment market.
Wages are set through a complicated system of bargaining with trade unions that imposes wage increases on firms even if their business can't afford it. Because wages are inflexible, Spanish companies can cut labor costs only by firing workers. Yet some workers, hired on so-called indefinite contracts, are deeply entrenched, not least because they are entitled to 45 days' severance pay per year of service.
This is quite funny to me:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/35580694/
Via CDS. Where have we heard this before? It nearly sank AIG, now they're moving up to countries.
Fed to examine:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/35581471
Any country with 25% of its work force employed by government is going to have massive problems. The only way that could ever work is if it is communist (and okay with almost everyone being dirt poor) or a huge tourist destination. Greece has a lot of tourism, but not THAT much.Some Greek dude on NPR (but was in gov so who knows if he's honest or not) said he thought most Greeks are ok with the austerity measures and know they have to be done. However, 1M of people in the workforce are government employees. They represent 25% of the entire workforce and have already taken a 5% pay cut and this may double. I think they should be happy it's not a 25% pay cut considering the state of the country.
Yep, they sold that debt to their investors, now they are going to short that same debt down with CDS, make money on both ends.
Austerity measures suck though. They cause huge unemployment and a substantial reduction in production.
Long article on Spain. http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-bu...Jvc25leHQ-?sec=topStories&pos=6&asset=&ccode=
Sure sounds after reading that how risky having a currency that you don't control is. The US for example literally owes nothing but some ink and trees. It could, at the expense of its reputation, mint a new Trillion bill and print a few off. Debtors would hate that but the point is it can do something, what can Spain do? It literally cannot get its hands on more Euros without either earning them or borrowing them.LOL. You've worked here 8 years? Well you're fired. Here is your YEAR of severance.
Explain.The Greek people collectively decided to betray the European Union and now want a bailout.
They are well suited to be a Theme Park.Greece doesn't really produce anything worth exporting...
Watching that video just makes me think it sucks to be Greek.Greeks are rioting about cuts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXr0A9MB83w&feature=player_embedded
Course Germans will bail them out feeling guilt about WW2. Just like they bailed out Israel, East Germans, the Euro, and will the PIGS too.
The difference between Japan and the US is that almost all of Japan's debt is held domestically. Their debt is still terrible, obviously, but the debt being held domestically lets them teeter on the edge longer than they would have otherwise.