Very interesting .. and refreshing to hear what a politician honestly thinks rather than towing the government line all the time - "lessons will be learnt" etc. Nothing I've read in that interview challenges my intention to vote No in the EU referendum.
Greece Elections
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Very interesting .. and refreshing to hear what a politician honestly thinks rather than towing the government line all the time - "lessons will be learnt" etc. Nothing I've read in that interview challenges my intention to vote No in the EU referendum.
Soldato
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Wait, no? Has the question been decided yet?
But yes, that was a very interesting interview. The one thing i don't really get in all of this is Germany's position. They stand to lose the most from a Greek default and they're heavily dependent on the continued success of the Euro. So why are they seemingly completely unwilling to let Greece's economy start to grow? Or do anything other than effectively push them away and make them not want to remain in the Eurozone? It just doesn't make sense to me.
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Admittedly i know nothing about economics but wouldn't cost less rather than to keep bailing out Greece. Too simply pay off all your countrymans debts and shore up the economy that way rather than just keep giving Greece money and hope they pay it back?
Why is it country's are allowed to get in ridiculous amounts of debt and people still give them more.
Why is it country's are allowed to get in ridiculous amounts of debt and people still give them more.
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I know, it's ridiculous isn't it, Greece has a national debt of 320 billion, thank god the UK only owes 1.56 Trillion (along with another 300 billion of off books PFI debt) I'm glad people only continue to lend to those without debt....oh wait
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Because national economics do not work in a way that makes sense in the real world. But the fact of the matter is that these levels of debt and even running a deficit are entirely sustainable as long as both remain a reasonable percentage of GDP. The specific issue with Greece is that the constant austerity has stifled any growth the country might have seen and so GDP is lower than it should be.
As for Germany, i don't see how it could possibly cost less to say goodbye to the billions they have invested in Greece?
As for Germany, i don't see how it could possibly cost less to say goodbye to the billions they have invested in Greece?
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I know, it's ridiculous isn't it, Greece has a national debt of 320 billion, thank god the UK only owes 1.56 Trillion (along with another 300 billion of off books PFI debt) I'm glad people only continue to lend to those without debt....oh wait
I agree. No country should be allowed too imo. Great example for the young generations teaching fiscal responsibility and all.
It does make me wonder. Everybody goes around blaming the banks for the last financial crisis but people shouldn't borrow what they can't afford and this goes equally for any country afaiac
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http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/f908...inks/rss/brussels/feed//product#axzz3flt2uoG6
This is crazy. High tensions and little sleep are not the way to solve this. They should absolutely have done this issue by issue from the start rather then trying to get it over in one go and end up in this ridiculous situation with everyone stressing over the "deadlines".
This is crazy. High tensions and little sleep are not the way to solve this. They should absolutely have done this issue by issue from the start rather then trying to get it over in one go and end up in this ridiculous situation with everyone stressing over the "deadlines".
You mean like a lot of the Americans last Christmas or so taking out payday loans to purchase their new iPhone 5/6's? This has become a culture.
They just summarised the deal done as agreeing to a general principle of reform but to have further discussions to hammer out the details at a later date and to put the issue of national debt on the back burner.....awesome, sounds like the typical fudge of kicking the can down the road 
because, contrary to some of the posters' opinions on here, we didn't elect a bunch of clowns
we've got a government working towards reducing the deficit, we've got our own currency (which we have devalued a bit) and we've got a much less corrupt society... our debt to GDP ratio is seen as manageable, the govt is seen as competent and doing the right thing and as a result the interest rates on UK debt are low.. institutions are happy to invest in UK gilts because we're seen as low risk
Because investors don't believe the UK, US ($18 trillion national debt) etc are going to go bust any time soon. Therefore their borrowing rates are very very low and it makes sense in terms of growth to keep the deficit. In the long term it could likely spell trouble but the consequences of the US trying to shave chunks of that debt off would be large for growth and that's not something any government wants to do.
Oh how quickly you've forgotten all the U turns last Parliament.
That's debatable
Historical greek debt to GDP ratio though high, isn't that different to what we are running now. And theirs has only increased dramatically due to the reduction in GDP through austerity rather than dramatic increase in debt, whereas ours has grown while we're having growth.
And historically Greece has had lower debt to GDP than Italy, who we can guarantee are just as financially crooked as the Greeks
That's due to relative risk and they have nowhere else to put their money. Germany issued negative interest bonds and they flew off the shelves...
How exactly are we managing our debt... Even Andrew Neil has went over this many times.
bottom line is.. we've got a competent govt that has implemented sensible policies and the markets are happy to carry on lending to us at low rates as a result
unlike some eurozone countries that required funding