Everyone knew it, but everyone wanted a stronger/larger EU

10/3/2012 12:07:30 PM

Quote :

"I've been looking around for evidence that the PIGS countries are lazy, or deserve what they are getting but I just haven't found anything convincing"

Hmm, the only measure that is relevant is the ratio of debt to revenue, and by that measure they absolutely deserve what they are getting. This has nothing to do with laziness or productivity or anything other than spending more than they took in. If Germany let spending run away then they too would eventually find themselves in crisis, no matter what other statistics say.

10/3/2012 1:19:08 PM

and yet other opinions I have read, including those from the EU attempt to paint the greeks as lazy and reaping what they sow, just look at the first page of this thread as evidence of this attitude.

instead I see their problems as two fold:

a) Their government wasn't properly transparent. Previous administrations hid deficits which made their current situation more dire (partly thanks to Goldman Sachs)

b)they are victims of the trade imbalances occurring within the EU. I have seen people blame this both on German mercantilism as well as it just being a natural occurrence of complicated large scale capitalist systems. That is: capital, investment, productivity and wealth tend to aggregate toward those areas where they already exist.


Don't get me wrong here, I'm not absolving the greek government, and to a degree the greek people, of some blame. However, like everything involving modern "economics" the situation is complex and after just a bit of looking around I'm not as eager to throw Greeks under the bus as those that write them off as lazy assholes

10/3/2012 8:07:36 PM

But all they do is grow olives and whatnot.

10/3/2012 8:10:39 PM

I don't like them going under the bus either. The Greek government should have defaulted years ago. They would have been in recovery by now, I suspect.

10/6/2012 3:04:29 PM

Just going to drop this here. don't make any judgments.

10/7/2012 10:09:49 PM

Enough with the videos, post writing

10/7/2012 10:44:49 PM

Enough with you being a lazy ass.

10/7/2012 11:22:01 PM

jeebus - greek unemployment hits 25.4%

11/8/2012 8:46:07 AM

Heard a lectures yesterday from a member of the World Bank. In his personal opinion (and not that of the World Bank), with the level of youth unemployment and dismal economic numbers, it's a surprise that the Spanish government hasn't been outright overthrown at this point. Had this been any other country outside the European Union, you would be seeing open, armed rebellion. The strength of Spanish institutions will buy them some time, but eventually, that goodwill will erode and all hell will break loose.

Or, they continue to say, "Yes, we suck, but at least we're not Greece." Not sure where that leaves the Greeks however.

[Edited on November 8, 2012 at 2:07 PM. Reason : .]

11/8/2012 2:07:13 PM

They should all move here and open those shitty "family dining" restaurants.

...and/or a bunch of "fish camps."

It's what they're good for.

11/8/2012 5:38:27 PM

Not going to start another thread but Europe is rioting right now





Police clash with demonstrators during a protest against Italian Government austerity measures in Rome, Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2012

11/14/2012 12:45:39 PM

Its pretty bad over there, people committing suicide as authorities are coming to evict them and shit.

and you people think our economy is in shambles.

11/14/2012 1:58:35 PM

Quote :

"and you people think our economy is in shambles."

Actually, our economic situation is even worse. Americans believe everything is okay because that's what the TV tells them.

11/14/2012 2:10:03 PM