What are the Greek austerity measures?

[UglyCasanova]

Thousands are protesting and violence erupts daily in Athens over austerity measures taken by the government in Greece. What are they and why do they hurt so bad? Is a large percentage of the population government employees and they are getting laid off or wages cut? Was a government sponsored healthcare cut for everyone? No more mail on Saturdays?

I think it would be beneficial for the rest of the world looking on to the situation to have someone spell it out in plain english how they are hurting, what are they rioting over, what do the daily finances of the average Greek look like then and now? I haven't seen this. All I see on the news is riots on the so called austerity measures.

 

[Fear No Evil]

Its all greek to me.

 

[halik]

Thousands are protesting and violence erupts daily in Athens over austerity measures taken by the government in Greece. What are they and why do they hurt so bad? Is a large percentage of the population government employees and they are getting laid off or wages cut? Was a government sponsored healthcare cut for everyone? No more mail on Saturdays?

I think it would be beneficial for the rest of the world looking on to the situation to have someone spell it out in plain english how they are hurting, what are they rioting over, what do the daily finances of the average Greek look like then and now? I haven't seen this. All I see on the news is riots on the so called austerity measures.

Cutting minimum wage, retirement age raise from 55 to 63, layoffs in the public sector etc.

It looks like the prefer inflation and shit economy along with the same cuts a la Argentina
http://www.google.com/publicdata/ex...ry:ARG&dl=en&hl=en&q=argentina+gdp+per+capita
inflation

 

[Bateluer]

Cutting minimum wage, retirement age raise from 55 to 63, layoffs in the public sector etc.

Translation: Things that needed to be done years ago. They're getting loans and bailouts from countries with retirement ages 10-15 years older than theirs.

 

[shira]

Its all greek to me.

Apparently you thought this was witty.

 

[Fear No Evil]

Apparently you thought this was witty.

Who's witty?

 

[shira]

Who's witty?

The really sad part is that almost everything is Greek to you, and Δεν ξέρετε σκατά από Shinola.

 

[bfdd]

They're basically a bunch of babies. IMO the Germans could spend less feeding more people in Africa and would probably get more out of it.

 

[Spikesoldier]

they got their food stamps section8 and social security taken away

 

[Macamus Prime]

Its all greek to me.

1599 called - it wants it's joke back.

 

[CPA]

When you have 50% of the population under union contract and the countries Constitution basically sets you up for cradle to grave nannyism, this is what's going to happen when you start pulling things away.

What I found hysterical is that today Greek citizens weren't hurling rocks at the cops, but at each other. Seems the anarchists and the communists aren't seeing eye to eye on things.

 

[Darwin333]

Cutting minimum wage, retirement age raise from 55 to 63, layoffs in the public sector etc.

It looks like the prefer inflation and shit economy along with the same cuts a la Argentina
http://www.google.com/publicdata/ex...ry:ARG&dl=en&hl=en&q=argentina+gdp+per+capita
inflation

I am not familiar with what Argentina has done or is doing but the first link shows that GDP per capita in US dollars has risen at a sharp rate bringing them back to previous levels. Regardless of inflation rates, isn't that a good thing?

 

[Jhhnn]

Throw out a little troll bait, and they're all over it like white on rice, asserting their moral superiority attitude.

Which doesn't mean that I understand Greece any better than they do, but that I do know how to use Google-

http://livingingreece.gr/2010/05/02/greece-new-austerity-measures/

Not to worry, though- all the right people made a lot of money, and they'll just beat the rest of it out of the Greeks...

The Argentines had the advantage of their own currency, and told their creditors to go piss up a rope, kinda like Iceland. The European bankers are trying to drive a really hard bargain, because after their losses in the Ownership Society flimflam, Iceland, Ireland & the rest, it looks like Greek default would sink 'em...

 

[halik]

I am not familiar with what Argentina has done or is doing but the first link shows that GDP per capita in US dollars has risen at a sharp rate bringing them back to previous levels. Regardless of inflation rates, isn't that a good thing?

Well the point is it took them the better part of the decade to get back where they were before the default... and that's without having the whole country working in the public sector and being notorious tax evaders.

Their inflation rate is still pretty ridiculous, so it's obvious they're still working out some of that debt, 10 years later.

 

[DucatiMonster696]

Throw out a little troll bait, and they're all over it like white on rice, asserting their moral superiority attitude.

Which doesn't mean that I understand Greece any better than they do, but that I do know how to use Google-

http://livingingreece.gr/2010/05/02/greece-new-austerity-measures/

Not to worry, though- all the right people made a lot of money, and they'll just beat the rest of it out of the Greeks...

The Argentines had the advantage of their own currency, and told their creditors to go piss up a rope, kinda like Iceland.

Iceland has not defaulted on their national debt. All Iceland did was to not bail out their private sector banks who were mired in toxic loans.

The European bankers are trying to drive a really hard bargain, because after their losses in the Ownership Society flimflam, Iceland, Ireland & the rest, it looks like Greek default would sink 'em...

Hello!! Greece joined the EU under false pretenses (i.e. that they had their economic house in order) and accepted the Euro as their currency along with the rules in place to prevent such shenanigans like currency manipulation through devaluation.

It's their own fault they gave up their shitty hyper-inflated Drachma currency in favor of the Euro which now ironically prevents them from using their past gimmicks to attempt to solve their lack of self-control.

 

[Ronstang]

Translation: Things that needed to be done years ago. They're getting loans and bailouts from countries with retirement ages 10-15 years older than theirs.

They should simply be cut off like a cancerous wart.

 

[Jhhnn]

Iceland has not defaulted on their national debt. All Iceland did was to not bail out their private sector banks who were mired in toxic loans.

I said kinda like Iceland, remember? The Irish, otoh, assumed their bankers' debts as their own, made it part of their national debt for all functional purposes. The Argentines' creditors settled for less, although there are still holdouts.

Hello!! Greece joined the EU under false pretenses (i.e. that they had their economic house in order) and accepted the Euro as their currency along with the rules in place to prevent such shenanigans like currency manipulation through devaluation.

It's their own fault they gave up their shitty hyper-inflated Drachma currency in favor of the Euro which now ironically prevents them from using their past gimmicks to attempt to solve their lack of self-control.

Hello! If you think that the European bankers didn't know that, or that GS didn't know it, you're delusional. They helped the Greeks look good so as to be able to lend them more money, take a cut off the top, sell securities to limit their own liability. As with the collapse of the ownership society, they just got caught in the middle with greek debt they couldn't securitize, and are now choking on it.

The reality of it all is that the Greeks can't pay, even if they found the political will to do so. The German banks & others are trying to receive full value for that debt, which simply won't happen, and they're unwilling/ unable to engage in debt renegotiation/ writeoffs or to inflate the euro to obtain partial value.

The collapse of the ownership society already hurt them worse than they'll admit- they're on the verge of insolvency, anyway, and it's unlikely that their govt will bail them out rather than nationalize their greedy asses ala Sweden in 1992-

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/business/worldbusiness/23krona.html

The average Greek in the street goes down no matter what, and given who they are, they won't be shy about taking bankers with them, as it should be.

 

[Fern]

Thousands are protesting and violence erupts daily in Athens over austerity measures taken by the government in Greece. What are they and why do they hurt so bad? Is a large percentage of the population government employees and they are getting laid off or wages cut? Was a government sponsored healthcare cut for everyone? No more mail on Saturdays?

I think it would be beneficial for the rest of the world looking on to the situation to have someone spell it out in plain english how they are hurting, what are they rioting over, what do the daily finances of the average Greek look like then and now? I haven't seen this. All I see on the news is riots on the so called austerity measures.

Your thread here got me thinking about Greece too.

Jhhnn's link in post #13 was interesting. Actually too much information to give it much consideration. Too many programs to fully comprehend the impact of each. Actually, IMO too many programs for any rational country to have

Anyhoo, I saw some info about Greece last night. What struck is that it seems the whole country is mad as hell. The Left is mad because every dang program is being cut. The Right is mad because taxes are being raised.

Aside from that shared anger, each person interviewed, Left or Right, felt completely hopeless. They all felt there was no answer or solution, and that they were screwed as a country.

Fern

 

[MiniDoom]

1599 called - it wants it's joke back.

you should be the last one to call out people for lame jokes.