So Long, and Thanks for all the Drachmae
Greece has been bailed out to the tune of $146 billion — the priciest ever. But instead of a bailout, Europe ought to consider it a lovely parting gift. Greece, thanks for coming over, but the hour is late, and tomorrow’s hangover promises to be a nasty one.
Oh — and Portugal, Ireland, Italy, and Spain? Won’t you please grab your coats and hats and follow Greece outside?
The party was a fun one — at least for certain guests — but the time has come for the euro to go. Greece should be the first out, as a condition of the bailout — er, of the lovely parting gift. Then the rest of the PIIGS need to follow suit. And after that? Germany and France can turn out the lights on the eurozone.
The eurozone, as I’ve said from the start, was ill-conceived, and for a very simple reason. With few exceptions, a currency should only be as widespread as a labor force is mobile.
I can see this is going to take some explaining, but I’ll keep it short and simple.
The United States is a big country, in terms of area and population. But a single currency works just fine for 300-plus million people, spread out from sea to shining sea — and all the way out to Hawaii and to Alaska, too. And it works for us because anybody can be a Californian or a Texan or a North Carolinian or a South Dakotan. We’re all Americans, and there’s very little, apart from personal taste, to keep us from living anywhere we choose.
So if jobs disappear in California, for example, people can and will go to Texas.
And that means that a single monetary policy can and will work for the entire nation. Each state’s economy and employment don’t need to rise and fall together, because millions of people maintain the balance themselves — by moving around. And Americans move around a lot, more than any other people in the world.
The worst thing about the Greek bailout if you didn’t recognise it is that the agency providing the guarantees is primarily funded by guess who? Not the Germans, no, they only signed on after this agency committed. Nor the French, Brits, and so on… it is YOU, US taxpayer who will bear the burden of Greece’s debt problem if they bail…
Now, don’t you feel better?
How’s that? We’re not in the Eurozone.
The IMF. The IMF is helping to bail out Greece (first time the IMF has bailed out a country for reasons other than balance of payments).
Who helps fund the IMF and is, indeed, the largest single contributor?
Why, Uncle Sugar of course.
If it were only the EU bailing out Greece I wouldn’t mind so much. However I understand that the IMF took a much larger position than was previously discussed – something like 30% of the total. Since 40% of funding comes from the USA tax payer, we are donating approx. $18 Billion to help out the starving banks of Europe who currently hold the bulk of Greece sovereign debt……like we didn’t give them enough in the AIG debacle.
In addition this amount only tides Greece over until endish 2011 where they will have to return to normal capital markets – any takers of scenic Greek debt in the audience?
this will not end well.
To leave out England is a disservice. It should be Britain and the Piigs.
Pedro: Britain is not in the Euro, so can’t leave it. As for Leaving the EU… Oh, how dearly we would love to do so, if our political overlords would ever let us vote on it.
Which is precisely why they will never let you vote on it.
Democracy is fine and good, so long as the proles vote as they’re told.
Very interesting article and quite clearly explained. I would take exception to one thing though… Norway is not in the EU and maintains it’s own currency. Naturally they would be affected by the actions of their closest trading partners, but not as severely as other countries on the Euro. Just in the interest of clarity, some EU countries chose to keep their own currency, like the UK and Sweden, while others decided the whole project WAS a bad idea and stayed out all together, like Norway and Switzerland. Maybe Belgium is a better example. As the seat of the EU it would be psychologically disasterous.
Norway is one country that is not devaluing its currency. The Swiss are extricating themselves out of Greek Sovereign debt. These are good reasons why what is left of the countries, banks, insurers, hedge funds, pension plans, and anything else, as well as anyone else, (that is after their toxic assets go boom when the assets are revised downwards in worth from what the holders wanted them to be, to what they are truly worth) have to work together, and distance themselves from the micromanaging of Brussels as fast as light travels.
I can see the Scandinavian countries, Germany, Austria and the low countries (frankly let Belgium be divided between the Netherlands and France) being a free trade zone. The rest of Europe can be a free trade zone as well, and Great Britain can combine with the Anglosphere on the same basis.
Each group can be under the Alliance of Democracies to retire those kleptocrats who are more adept at lining their own pockets, rather than building an environment where businesses can succeed without having to be in a special relationship with whoever the chief kleptocrat is.
Lest we forget, Taipei, Tokyo and Seoul can do the same.
So, whether it is the Scando-Germanic amalgam, the Central-Med-Balto-Balkan amalgam, the Anglosphere and the Asian Tigers, if they want to have the same foreign policy and defense policy, they can do a world of good for those parts
of South America, Africa and Asia. For trusteeships can be put to good use to
see the kleptocrats of those areas retired.
The answer is not to devalue your currency; it’s to have a currency backed AND FREELY CONVERTIBLE to gold or some other precious metal. The gov’t must in that case run a balanced budget, can’t spend more money than it takes in, and can’t print more money than its physical gold or silver reserves.
Not only would this prevent issues like Greece’s and the US’s current woes, but the lives of their citizens would be much better once their gov’ts have to think long and hard before establishing a moneysink program that inevitably infringes on their liberty.
The only catch is, there isn’t enough gold in the world to provide enough liquidity for the entire world.
The only way to increase the world’s gold supply is to mine more of it, and there aren’t that many deposits to mine. A gold standard worked well for centuries because actual economic growth was slight, but now a gold standard and a modest growth rate of 2-3% would be a recipe for enduring deflation.
To be fair, years ago I had an excellent gyro late at night in Köln. I was the only guest until a trashed German man in his 30s literally fell in. He asked the proprietor for some smoke, I turned to look at him, his wife looked at me then gave him a silent “Don’t talk,” he looked at me, and told the German he was out but that they had beer, but he’d only get it if he promised to get up and stay off the floor.
I wish the issue of Greece would get more notice in the US. Kudos for doing what the msm has buried under stories deemed more newsworthy. Judging by the CNN front page at the moment, a bear stuck in a tree and a baseball fan getting tazed are considered more interesting than the possible sovereign default of a Eurozone country who has socialized itself into the poorhouse. What amazes me is that the Greeks still don’t get that the free lunch mobile is now requiring cash instead of a sly smile for payment; It is interesting to see a nation of Baghdad Bob’s take to the street to demand that the EU and IMF not bail them out and that they face no austerity measures. To top it all off, todays WSJ points out the obvious fact that this sum will still not be enough to keep Greece solvent in the long-run. There is no avoiding the painfully obvious; Greece will either restructure or default somewhere in the future. This is unavoidable.
I just can’t get the image out of my head of a proud, strong Greek warrior standing up and saying “THIS IS SPARTA! And, uh, could you spare a few hundred billion, cause, we, uh, aren’t going to get paid until Saturday and Amazon.com totally has a sale on.”
To go back to one point you made regarding free movement of people, this in Europe is unfortunately not the case. While there is an official declaration of the free movement of people, the reality is starkly different due to layers upon layers of labour market entanglement. Take Germany for example. I currently live in Hamburg and have done so for a bit over 3 and 1/2 years. I have a British MA and speak French, German, and English fluently, but because I obtained my MA outside of Germany, I am officially classified as “unskilled labour.” Germany’s guild system serves to lock many people, both natives as well as foreigners out of the job market. As a result, Germany has structural unemployment over 10% and is in no position to provide jobs for their southern neighbours. Even if they had better employment perspectives, it just isn’t possible to transfer qualifications from one country to the other. My neighbour is a Welsh medical doctor that had to work as an English teacher. Now, she is unemployed. My Wife has just completed her teachers training, which took her until she was 32. She can get her qualifications recognized in the US, but not in France. If she wanted to teach in France, she would be forced to repeat several years of training. The inflexibility of Europe’s national labour markets has put the kabosh on widespread immigration that is readily available in the US.
The Eurozone was first and foremost a political decision, and not a response to an economic union.
Excellent insight. The labor markets are too rigid and constricted by state registration requirements even in the US. E.g. there are fifty state bars, and even if one is admitted to the bar in one state, to practice law in any other state without a law license there is to invite “unauthorized practice of law.”
I don’t see the imminent demise of the Euro, but the next few years will be interesting.
I read an interesting article a few weeks ago in the WSJ. I wish I could take credit for this, but hey, I’m an honest guy. The author’s assessment was that this crisis wouldn’t kill the Euro, but the next one would. I think it is fair to say that this line of reasoning was probably quite accurate a few weeks ago, but now I’m not so sure. I would never predict the imminent demise of the common currency, but as things stand now, not only the common currency but the EU’s ability to manage its own state of affairs has lost substantial legitimacy in the eyes of investors.
I agree with you. Artificial barriers to competition may seem politically expedient, but as Europe’s economic prowess falters, it is clear that they have not been able to push the reforms necessary to provide their citizens with a vehicle for sustained economic growth. As cruel as this may seem, Europeans have only themselves to blame. They have consistently voted for governments that promised them limitless sweets without warning about cavities. Having lived in Europe for the past decade, my only wish has been that Europe’s problems would serve as a warning to Americans to avoid the same entitlement traps. On the tombstones of various EU nations, it should read “They socialized until they overdose-ualized.” I sincerely hope they are able to pull out of this slow government approved death spiral, but I don’t think EU citizens understand the gravity of the situation. As my father always said; “Your income can’t be consistently less than your outgo.” The Greeks still don’t get it. I hope we will.
Greece needs to get ride of the KKE(Communist Party)this party has destroyed the country…subsidies…why not work! stop complaining and work! The Greeks deserve it and the EURO is over valued by at least 40%! Germany should leave the EU and have all the Southern European countries devalue the Euro…and get ride of the stupit commies!Good for nothing!
When a business declares bankruptcy, it is pretty common to put some responsible person in charge in order to make sure that the second chance is managed responsibly and the opportunity is not squandered.
In the case of Greece, I propose the nation of Turkey for that role. That should serve as an incentive for the Greeks to do whatever it takes to reform their economy, pay back the loans and get out of their current mess as soon as possible.
You are down right evil. I love it.
I do not recommend Turkey. Frankly, why not have the Balkan countries work with the Baltic countries, Poland, the Czechs, Slovaks & Hungarians. That way lessons of lower tax rates can be applied.
Because, remember, the money is going to banks which hold Greek sovereign debt, because the banks are afraid that unless the money comes in, they can, at best, receive, 50 cents on the dollar when all the bones are picked over.
Well, that’s a funny idea! Put Turkey in charge of Greek financial affairs!
Shootin’ war within 48 hours. Guar-an-teed, mister!
You forget to mention the biggest reason why a Greek can’t move to Germany as easily as a Californian can move to Texas. The Greek doesn’t speak German. Labour is only as mobile as language barriers allow.
Also, Patrick, goldbuggery is, as usual, out to lunch. We have thousands of years of historical experience with gold- and silver-backed currency, and no proof whatsoever that it impedes spending. Plenty of nations with commodity currency have spent themselves into terrible debt over the centuries. Those debts are bigger now, because government is bigger and society is richer, but people who want to spend will spend until their creditors cut them off, whether it’s gold or paper they’re spending.
Language is a problem, but not the biggest. Many companies use English to a large extent as the official language, but government red tape prevents most of the movement of human capital. One good example of this, as mentioned is my wife who is trained to teach English and French in German schools. Not only can she not teach her native language German in a French school, many German “states” would not accept her qualifications as valid either. A German friend of mine did his BA in the Netherlands and his MA in Tel Aviv, yet when he came back to Germany he was labeled “unskilled” and had to take a job as a tour guide earning significantly less than welfare. This is because German businesses, even though they are obliged to accept certain foreign degrees, often refuse to do so. Additionally, in some exceptional cases, German authorities have forced businesses to fire workers without a German degree and then made them to hire “trained” Germans who had previously been on the dole.
I do agree though that a return to the gold standard will not help us to maintain debt. The central problem in many countries, Greece being somewhat ahead in the rush to socialized insolvency, is that people want the increase in standard of living that free markets bring, but they don’t want to implement policies that enable this. They want to have their cake, eat it, and then get someone else to pay for it.
I read a prescient quote recently that describes this mindset. “A communist is someone who has nothing and wants to share it with the rest of society.”
This is because German businesses, even though they are obliged to accept certain foreign degrees, often refuse to do so
I had a coworker whose sister had a physical therapy degree from Egypt which was not accepted in the US until she took a couple more courses at an American university to demonstrate her proficiency. The reason being that Egyptian professors had a reputation for being too easily bribed.
This is a bit different, but I see the point. In Europe, however, there is an EU wide agreement on accepting foreign certificates and diplomas. It is quite clear which universities provide acceptable training and which do not. This even covers countries outside of the EU, such as Israel. The examples I used are all of people with degrees that should be accepted EU wide, but often aren’t because it would provide “unfair competition.”
A similar issue has come up recently regarding Chinese research. Apparently, it is relatively culturally acceptable to plagiarize in Chinese academia, and as a result, people have started to trust it far less.
On a strange note, I took Arabic courses last year at a private school in Morocco, and I have had no trouble getting them recognized here; my British MA is another story.
The classic example of gold-based inflation was when the Spanish Empire plundered every ounce of gold they could dig up from the Americas. Prices in Europe went through the roof. As Churchill observed, it was the worst inflation seen before the 20th century.
The price of everything going up in the presence of more gold is perfectly reasonable and predictable.
Gold, as you mentioned, was suddenly and artificially inflated. The Spaniards stole it from somebody and brought it to Europe. More supply, less demand. Gold became less valuable because there was so much of it.
Same with our paper money. Print more of it, it becomes less valuable.
Today, however, it would be very difficult to inflate gold suddenly. There’s no one from which to plunder it.
Debt, though, can kill anyone.
Anyone can live in Texas. Not everyone can be a Texan. Other than that, well done.
Anybody that thinks the Greeks will stick to the austerity program are kidding themselves.
Greece’s problem IS a gold standard – or rather, a “Euro standard”.
Attempts to maintain a currency convertibility (whether a gold standard, a currency board, or a single currency) almost always fail – and even when they don’t, they impose such economic hardship it would better if they did. Argentina messed itself up good trying to maintain a dollar peg, then defaulted on it’s dollar debt and recovered nicely.
What most people don’t get is that government deficits are not generally the result of mismanagement – they are endogenous. An expanding economy will tend toward surplus, a contracting one toward deficit. And attempts to “cut the deficit” by raising taxes or cutting spending usually have the opposite effect, as they exacerbate the contraction of the economy.
It’s not their ability to “devalue the currency” that gives currency issuing countries their economic resilience – it’s, well, their ability to issue currency. The U.S. or the U.K. are not solvency constrained – since they spend by changing numbers in bank accounts, they can always write any size check without worrying about paying it back, or facing rising interest rates (they set the interest rate on their “debt”, which is more like a savings account offer by a bank than actual debt). A country like Greece, or a country on a gold standard, does face a solvency constraint (they have to get money before they can spend it). This puts them in the same position as U.S. states – and Greece has a debt load relative to GDP several times that of, say, California.
The US does not “set” the interest rate on it’s debt. Bonds are offered at auction. The interest rate that the US pays is the interest rates offered by those who buy the bonds.
True, it does not directly set the interest rate on it’s long term debt. But short term rates are set directly by the Fed, and long term rates are determined by the market based on what it thinks the Fed will do next. If the Fed and Treasury knew what they were doing, they could set any rate, over any time period at all. Or (my preferred solution) they could set all risk-free rates at 0% permanently by simply stopping the issue of Treasury securities and allowing reserve balances to accumulate at banks instead of interest paying t-bills.
The larger point is, there are no independent “funding” constraints on sovereign currency issuers. What looks like a “funding” operation (selling bonds) is in fact an “interest rate maintainance” operation.
How’s that Argentine recovery going lately?
@casey Proving Milton Friedman right ‘too much money (in this case Gold) chasing too few goods’.
The Gold standard is basically superfluous. If a country were disciplined (in a free market sense) enough to follow a gold standard, then they could be just as disciplined on a fiat currency.
If a country is not disciplined on a fiat currency – ie Greece, then why would they adopt a Gold standard? The whole point of adopting a Gold standard is to start being disciplined, which they don’t want to do.
At that point, the Gold standard is some sort of religious idea. We hope it has the power to turn an undisciplined country into a disciplined one – through some magical power. Unfortunately, countries know whether they want to be disciplined or not, and choose a Gold standard (or not) accordingly.
And at $146 billion, that’s one expensive lesson.
$146 billion is chicken feed. Our overlords gave as much to Govt. Motors’ union bosses, much more to an ex-president’s ex-aids at Freddie and Fannie. In 2008, our overlords doled out $780 billions that we didn’t have, In 2009, our overlords doled out another $780 billion that we borrowed from the Chinese.
If you think a measly 146 billion will end the problem, dream on. Money down a rat-hole. The Greeks can spend 20% more than any country with an actual working economy can afford to donate.
Dane-Geld
A.D. 980-1016
by RUDYARD KIPLING (1865 — 1936)
It is always a temptation to an armed and agile nation
To call upon a neighbour and to say: –
“We invaded you last night–we are quite prepared to fight,
Unless you pay us cash to go away.”
And that is called asking for Dane-geld,
And the people who ask it explain
That you’ve only to pay ‘em the Dane-geld
And then you’ll get rid of the Dane!
It is always a temptation for a rich and lazy nation,
To puff and look important and to say: –
“Though we know we should defeat you, we have not the time to meet you.
We will therefore pay you cash to go away.”
And that is called paying the Dane-geld;
But we’ve proved it again and again,
That if once you have paid him the Dane-geld
You never get rid of the Dane.
It is wrong to put temptation in the path of any nation,
For fear they should succumb and go astray;
So when you are requested to pay up or be molested,
You will find it better policy to say: –
“We never pay any-one Dane-geld,
No matter how trifling the cost;
For the end of that game is oppression and shame,
And the nation that pays it is lost!”
One would think that this would be a blow to the one world government crowd. But, no, they’ll keep marching in lockstep to oblivion.
Gig ‘em, Beowulf.
Great article, Mr Green.
A poor Turkish man was complaining to Allah on what to do with his Greek neighboor because they were always fighting…Please Allah help! so, Allah send another Greek.
Greeks suffer from a long problem problem, they can get along just like in Ancient times…so the idea of having a Turkish Managing their economic crisis would not be so bad as Mark in Texas says.That may unite them!
Hey look at us here in the US, we are under a non-American, Muslim and Commie President in charged and that is uniting the conservatives and the moderates at a very fast pace!
I’ve got Spain next in the Euro Dead Pool.
I am trying to figure out if it will be Spain or Portugal. Spain has 20% unemployment and a completely oblivious socialist at the helm of the country who even refused to utter the word crisis until recently; Portugal has lower unemployment and a more aware socialist at the helm of the country who also has to compete with a Maoist-Trotskyist party having won 10% of the vote last time that apposes, well, everything. Portugal’s main trading partner, is of course, neighbouring Spain whose citizens are in no position to consume much of anything but a shot of hooch to dull the pain. In this may be Britain, the dark horse, with a much stronger economy but mountains of sovereign debt and a burdensome unsustainable welfare system. It’s almost like watching all of the terminal national patients at the Lenin-Marx hospice home struggling to see who can pull the plug fastest on their own economy.
The only catch is, there isn’t enough gold in the world to provide enough liquidity for the entire world.
There will be when it is $50,000/ ounce.
Once you trust a currency is backed by gold, you don’t have to carry it around. We had that trust until the 1966 end of the great bull market. LBJ had the “spendies” and that gave us the trouble we have now. Or at least began it.
I say we create a new world currency known as the quatloo. We can sell debtor nations to the highest bidder and enslave entire populations for the gladiator ring.
That seems a bit harsh.
I think that a far more humane solution might be to hold a bankruptcy auction for the Greek islands. Germany and the Scandinavian countries would probably like to buy some nice sunny islands where their people could get out of the cold, gray, overcast, dreary weather. If the Germans taxpayers are going to be paying for the Greek debt, they ought to get something for their money.
And we’ll keep the brain of George Soros preserved in a bell jar to run the whole thing.
Germans don’t need to buy Greek islands. As EU citizens, they can enjoy them anytime they want; and by enjoy, I mean spend two weeks developing a nice melanoma patch on the tops of their pink, hairless noggins while pissing the gutters full of recycled Becks. Ironically, selling off islands has already been mentioned, but the only feasible buyer is Turkey. *Ouch*
If you literally have to hock parts of your country to pay off your debts, then that’s about what they deserve.
The thing is that the German taxpayers are going to be shelling out big bucks (big Euros?) to pay for Greek fecklessness and Goldman-Sacks cupidity in any event. A few nice islands would be, at best, a consolation prize. I am sure that everybody would be happier if the Greeks were fiscally responsible but that does not seem to be in the cards ever.
I am sure that there would be some German taxpayers who would prefer to vacation in a nice sunny place that is part of Germany and run by Germans. For the more adventurous vacationers, there are plenty of choices.
Super job by so many here, including Mr. Green. I do appreciate all the angles taken concerning this episode. Much like a sitcom getting ready to jump the shark it seems the EU just took one step closer to being canceled. But seeing all of those Greeks rioting makes me wonder why we aren’t seeing the same scenes in Portugal, Spain, Ireland & Italy.
Will this be the start of a double dip global recession? I have no idea how the US markets have held up and even increased for as long as they have but it seems the party may be over.
Silly capitalist. Don’t you realize that the Greece problem calls for more centralization and control than less!
Not much to quibble with in your piece, Stephen, except that it’s actually easy to find a decent gyro in Frankfurt, thanks to the plethora of Turks who live there. Now, try to find some decent dolmos or souvlaki…
I noticed one significant error: Unlike the author suggests, Norway is not in the Euro-zone. In fact, Norway is not even a member of the EU.
That’s right; they are however members of the European Economic Area, like Iceland and Liechtenstein. This allows them to take part in the economic union, and in exchange for some EU meddling, they don’t have to contribute to “Club Dead” down south. The Norwegians and Icelanders are also members of a Nordic Council allowing free movement from one country to the others. This effectively means that a Norwegian can move to Sweden or Great Britain as easily as Americans can move from Idaho to Montana; A Swede can move to Norway just as easily, but a British citizen has more bureaucratic hurdles to jump through when trying to relocate to Norway.
On another point, even though it is probably self-evident, I find the violence in Greece disgusting. Greeks are apparently prepared to kill in their haste to do away with the capitalist bugaboos they believe are haunting them. As Steve #27 saw it perfectly, these people view the failures of statism as a call for even more statism. They just can’t figure out that their draconian system means they are first in line to receive a full-on five-fingered slap in the face by Adam Smith’s “Invisible Hand.”
Try this on for size. The last time the Greeks had government which wasn’t elected was when the Generals ran the country in the 1970s. There are Greeks who view that time as most unpleasant. Seeing that the US was playing on both sides of the street (support for the Generals, but siding with Turkey over Cyprus), anything the US did later was viewed with suspicion. As well, those things which turned out to be successes, were explained away.
It doesn’t seem that long ago, but 40 years ago, Richard Nixon was in the White House, midway through his first term in office. With the benefit of that amount of time, we can see how we arrived at today, when we start back then.
For the point has been made. What the US will face in the next 50 years is what the British faced in the last 50 years.
A lot of countries in Europe (as well as the rest of the world) have sizable portions of anti-American sentiment that is still lingering with regards to America’s role in the cold war; that we took sides against the communists in the civil war should be no surprise to anyone. What amazes me is the disconnect from reality held by many who clearly profited by living in the American sphere of influence. Greece has overwhelmingly benefitted from EU membership and from being attached to the “American” side of Europe, but many on the continent are unable to see this. Each country has its own gripes; the French envy American influence they feel should be rightfully theirs, many Germans viewed America and Russia as equal evils while a large minority are upset that their side lost the cold war, and some just revile America due to socialist/communist leanings. This barely scratches the surface of an incredibly complex issue. The Greeks do certainly resent America for what they consider meddling in their affairs, but a lot of the present hatred has to do with Europe’s inability to adapt to the modern world. European citizens are fueled on a daily diet of anti-Americanism for problems both real and imagined and the Greeks are no exception. Unfortunately, there is too much communist and extreme left socialist support for Europe to be able to adapt to compete in the 21st century. This is one of Greece’s main problems. (Though it certainly isn’t the only one. A recent study I saw noted that since independence, the Greeks have been in sovereign default 50.6% of the time.)
What you see spilling out onto the streets in Greece is an overwhelmingly socialist inspired entitlement tantrum. They just don’t understand why their country cannot have high standards of living with 100% job security for everyone, free health care, early retirement, a second or third house for even the poorest; to top it all off, paying taxes in Greece is something only suckers do and bribes and graft are extremely commonplace. This was the communist dream. Everyone gets everything, the end, roll credits. But in the end, this system can only lead to everyone sharing an equal portion of nothing. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that if no one pays in, and everyone treats the state like their own personal genie in a lamp, eventually the well will dry up.
And that is what has happened. Violently.
The Greeks have a few options. Swallow a few years of bitter medicine, accept reform, and promote policies that permit growth. Or, they can continue to scapegoat everyone from America to the IMF to the ECB to the Germans to the Minotaurs, hold onto their unsustainable utopian dreams, and endure another century of insolvency and pain. Either way, you can’t find the invisible hand.
The Greek people rise up to demand more and heavier chains! The Germans cannot save them by looting German backs. They do not wish to be free. They will not learn from Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania. They want to be ruled by a massive Communist bureaucracy. The majority of subjects in the EU favored either Nazism or Communism and they hate the Jews, Capitalists, and Americans for defeating their dreams. This is their hour. Let those few Greeks who wish to be free take arms or flee. The people of the EU want to suffer; let them suffer. Let the EU be the EU.