Greece's Solution - A Warning to the US

[CycloWizard]

As everyone here knows, Greece has been circling the drain for a while now. Reality has come to wake them from their dreams of suckling indefinitely at the government teat. The solution Greece has arrived at for their problems should surprise no one except those who really believe that government is capable of providing everything everyone needs with no ill effects: cut corporate taxes, deregulate, and open up government-monopolized services for private competition. As one small factory owner states in the article, "I am glad the prime minister is trying to cut red tape and improve competitiveness, but the truth is that in the case of Greece I think it is a case of too little too late." I hope that we will not make the same mistake in the US and will wake up to the fact that, while the rest of the world is moving away from big government, we are headed directly towards it.

Athens, Greece (CNN) -- As Greece backs away from the brink of bankruptcy, protesters lashed out against Prime Minister George Papandreou Saturday as he reaffirmed his drive to cut Greece's mounting deficit with new austerity measures.

"The battle we are waging is for the survival of Greece," said Papandreou. "This not a battle that the prime minister or his government will win or lose. This battle we will either we all win it together or we will all sink together," he said.

Tensions ran high as Papandreou delivered his much-anticipated speech in the northern city of Thessaloniki, where he outlined corporate tax cuts and a major overhaul of Greece's state-run rail company.
OSE, the rail company, is said to be bleeding money, with an estimated debt at around $13 billion, officials have said. If the changes are implemented, about 40 percent of OSE's 6,300 workers would be let go, but offered other public sector jobs. The rail service would face private competition, he added.

The embattled leader also pledged to deregulate the energy market, push forward with privatization plans and simplify business licensing procedures. He also said he would open up restricted professions in order for Greece to comply with European Union regulations. Accordingto Papandreou, these measures are important to make the Greek economy more competitive.
"Greece is not a poor country," Papandreou added.
"But what is keeping us pinned down? A deep, old, outdated view of our capabilities and our relations summarized into one phrase: 'It can't be done'.' We built a world of bureaucracy and lust for power. A world of corruption, of small and big privileges and interests for anyone who could take advantage of other people," he said.
Greece's labor unions are protesting the new measures and vowed to challenge the prime minister's position.
"Unions don't agree with the social and economic politics of the government," said Spyros Papaspyrou, leader of the large civil servants' union ADEDY.

The union of truck drivers, a restricted profession until now, has already called a nationwide strike for Monday.
A week-long strike this summer left Greece dry in the height of the tourist season, with large parts of the country running out of fuel supplies.
In Thessaloniki, police used tear gas against several hundred people trying to break through police lines protecting Papandreou.
Earlier on Saturday,a 49-year-old doctor was arrested for throwing a shoe at Papandreou in protest of the government's austerity measures.
An initial round of cutbacks was introduced in the spring in a bid to decrease Greece's budget deficit from around 14 percent of its gross domestic product to under the EU limit of 3 percent by 2014.
Greece was saved from default in May when the EU and the International Monetary Fund agreed to a 110- billion-euro, three-year loan bailout.
According to European Central Bank estimates, Greece's economy is expected to shrink by 4 percent in 2010 and some 2 and a half percent in 2011.

Earlier in May, analysts feared that Greece's sovereign debt crisis and increased public borrowing could trigger a financial contagion in other countries with large deficits such as Portugal, Ireland, Italy, and Spain.
Greek workers and businessmen are unsure the government's belt-tightening measures will have any effect.

After watching the televised speech, Yiannis Tsikouras, the owner of a tile factory in Thessaloniki, told CNN the measures are not sufficient to protect him from closing his business or moving it to neighboring Bulgaria.
"Construction has dropped severely and people do not renovate their houses the way they used to. All they think about is 'every cent' counts. And they are right. I do the same. But if no-one sells and no-one buys then even more businesses will close.

Many factories have already moved to Bulgaria where the terms are more favorable and the running costs are cheaper," Tsikouras said. " I am glad the prime minister is trying to cut red tape and improve competitiveness, but the truth is that in the case of Greece I think it is a case of too little too late."

In Athens, retired civil servant Maria Nikolopoulou, 67, whose pension was has been slashed by 12 percent, says she was expecting the prime minister to do more "for the people of Greece, not just businesses."
According to Nikolopoulou, the prime minister failed to propose any measures to improve conditions for those who have been most affected.
"I was hoping that he would give us some kind of bonus, or something to balance the fact that prices have gone up so much. But nothing. How are we to live? Fuel prices have been rising and they might go up again, and the health system is barely functioning so I have no choice but to go to private doctors. I can barely eat let alone warm the house and go to the doctor with my current pension," she said.

Source

 

[Moonbeam]

Stick to chemistry. Greece can't print money. It is a totally different situation than the one we are in. Anything is possible if you don't know what you're talking about.

 

[RbSX]

Stick to chemistry. Greece can't print money. It is a totally different situation than the one we are in. Anything is possible if you don't know what you're talking about.

It's not a totally different situation. It's where the USA will be eventually if you guys don't stop sucking ass and continue down the path you are on.

 

[Moonbeam]

It's not a totally different situation. It's where the USA will be eventually if you guys don't stop sucking ass and continue down the path you are on.

Thanks for your brain dead meaningless opinion backed up by nothing but the smoke coming out of your ass.

 

[Moonbeam]

http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/brin20100220

 

[bamacre]

Greece can't print money.

That's probably a good thing. Regardless, it's irrelevant. While the US can print it's own currency, there's still a limit it can print without causing a lot of inflation. Inflating your way out of debt isn't a trick up a sleeve, it's a solution of last resort, an act of desperation, and has many negative consequences.

 

[CycloWizard]

Stick to chemistry. Greece can't print money. It is a totally different situation than the one we are in. Anything is possible if you don't know what you're talking about.

So printing money with no intrinsic value will allow us to continue purchasing things which do have intrinsic value, like goods and services? Stick to hating yourself.

 

[Hacp]

So printing money with no intrinsic value will allow us to continue purchasing things which do have intrinsic value, like goods and services? Stick to hating yourself.

This is the liberal solution to everything. Print money! Outrageous. I say the only way to balance the budget is to fire all the federal employees. Then rehire them all at minimum wage.

 

[Amused]

Thanks for your brain dead meaningless opinion backed up by nothing but the smoke coming out of your ass.

You failed to note the smoke coming out of your own ass.

Printing money is pointless and a solution for nothing but runaway inflation. It merely devalues the dollar (the more you print, the more you have inflation) and you're right back where you started.

Greece is a perfect example of what happens when you have more people working for/dependent on the government than producing in the private sector. It's the poster-child for why socialism fails.

 

[Eagle1969]

Greece will never be economically developed.
Look at the map: Greece is almost an Arab country, they were mixed too many genes and it is bad for Greece, 'cause the Arabs can not do and they can not teach. They are only able to graze sheep. Do not compare with the U.S..

---

Thanks for yet more of you blatant bigotry and stupidity. Please enjoy yourself anywhere but here.

Good bye.

Harvey
Senior AnandTech Moderator/Administrator

 

[Balt]

This is the liberal solution to everything. Print money! Outrageous. I say the only way to balance the budget is to fire all the federal employees. Then rehire them all at minimum wage.

Minimum wage workers can barely get a fast food order right, and you want them running government services? :hmm:

 

[RbSX]

Thanks for your brain dead meaningless opinion backed up by nothing but the smoke coming out of your ass.

Right. Greece's biggest problem is lack of production and overwhelming debt, and an overwhelming sense of entitlement on the part of the populace.

Sounds like another country we all know.

 

[CPA]

According to Nikolopoulou, the prime minister failed to propose any measures to improve conditions for those who have been most affected.
"I was hoping that he would give us some kind of bonus, or something to balance the fact that prices have gone up so much. But nothing. How are we to live? Fuel prices have been rising and they might go up again, and the health system is barely functioning so I have no choice but to go to private doctors. I can barely eat let alone warm the house and go to the doctor with my current pension," she said.

This type of thinking has been creeping into the American psyche for the last 30 years and it's scary. When you put all of your eggs into a basket and that basket has a hole in it, what do you expect?

 

[RbSX]

Greece will never be economically developed.
Look at the map: Greece is almost an Arab country, they were mixed too many genes and it is bad for Greece, 'cause the Arabs can not do and they can not teach. They are only able to graze sheep. Do not compare with the U.S..

lol wut

 

[ShawnD1]

Many factories have already moved to Bulgaria where the terms are more favorable and the running costs are cheaper," Tsikouras said. " I am glad the prime minister is trying to cut red tape and improve competitiveness, but the truth is that in the case of Greece I think it is a case of too little too late."

It sucks the US didn't get the memo. According to ranks on how to do bid'ness, the US is a bit unfriendly in a lot of ways, especially taxes.

http://www.doingbusiness.org/economyrankings/

Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business, from 1 – 183, with first place being the best. A high ranking on the ease of doing business index means the regulatory environment is conducive to the operation of business. This index averages the country's percentile rankings on 10 topics, made up of a variety of indicators, giving equal weight to each topic. The rankings are from the Doing Business 2010 report, covering the period June 2008 through May 2009.

USA - 25th at construction permits, 61 at paying taxes,

 

[JSt0rm]

Greece will never be economically developed.
Look at the map: Greece is almost an Arab country, they were mixed too many genes and it is bad for Greece, 'cause the Arabs can not do and they can not teach. They are only able to graze sheep. Do not compare with the U.S..

welcome new crazy person. You will fit in well around here.

 

[Greenman]

Socialism promises a life of ease and comfort for everyone. But it's based on the premise of taking from those who produce and giving to those that don't. Stupidity and laziness are rewarded, planing, hard work and thrift are penalized. Who would ever think such a system would work? The only surprising thing about it is that it takes so long to fall apart.

 

[Moonbeam]

So printing money with no intrinsic value will allow us to continue purchasing things which do have intrinsic value, like goods and services? Stick to hating yourself.

What are you buying things with now, dunce.

 

[RbSX]

What are you buying things with now, dunce.

Oh boy.

 

[Moonbeam]

You failed to note the smoke coming out of your own ass.

Printing money is pointless and a solution for nothing but runaway inflation. It merely devalues the dollar (the more you print, the more you have inflation) and you're right back where you started.

Greece is a perfect example of what happens when you have more people working for/dependent on the government than producing in the private sector. It's the poster-child for why socialism fails.

Blabber on, friend, but nothing you say has any backing but your assertion as to it's factuality. You are a pianola rolling out your script, like a robot.

The link I gave say that most of the expert economic opinion supports demand side economics, not your crap. I don't give a shit one way or the other, I got mine, but you so called experts on economics are brain dead. You are stuffed full of party garbage and lack any credibility. Sorry, but you can all get fucked. You offer only your garbage as opinion.

 

[Moonbeam]

That's probably a good thing. Regardless, it's irrelevant. While the US can print it's own currency, there's still a limit it can print without causing a lot of inflation. Inflating your way out of debt isn't a trick up a sleeve, it's a solution of last resort, an act of desperation, and has many negative consequences.

Really, where did you get that shit? And isn't the economy in a really bad place?

 

[RbSX]

Blabber on, friend, but nothing you say has any backing but your assertion as to it's factuality. You are a pianola rolling out your script, like a robot.

The link I gave say that most of the expert economic opinion supports demand side economics, not your crap. I don't give a shit one way or the other, I got mine, but you so called experts on economics are brain dead. You are stuffed full of party garbage and lack any credibility. Sorry, but you can all get fucked. You offer only your garbage as opinion.

Someone that resorts to profane comments and insults to prove a point undermines the credibility of anything they say.

Good on you.

 

[Moonbeam]

This is the liberal solution to everything. Print money! Outrageous. I say the only way to balance the budget is to fire all the federal employees. Then rehire them all at minimum wage.

If they paid you what you are worth you'd owe them a lot of money.

 

[Moonbeam]

Someone that resorts to profane comments and insults to prove a point undermines the credibility of anything they say.

Good on you.

Good, fuck you! I am really really really concerned about my credibility, like what you think of it means shit to me. You suckers who hate yourselves are the ones with that problem. I don't know anything, but it makes me a real pro at spotting the pretentious.

 

[Amused]

Blabber on, friend, but nothing you say has any backing but your assertion as to it's factuality. You are a pianola rolling out your script, like a robot.

The link I gave say that most of the expert economic opinion supports demand side economics, not your crap. I don't give a shit one way or the other, I got mine, but you so called experts on economics are brain dead. You are stuffed full of party garbage and lack any credibility. Sorry, but you can all get fucked. You offer only your garbage as opinion.

Demand side OR supply side doesn't fucking matter, Moonfuck.

The simple fact is this: Value is created by rarity. The more there is of ANYTHING, including money, the less it's fucking worth. Print enough money and people will start using it for toilet paper.