EU Tells Tsipras the Party’s Over as Euro Exit Door Swings Open

Lol, what a headline. Dramatic as usual coming from Bloomberg.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rEsVp5tiDQ

Nicely summarized.

Nice title, but could anyone have expected anything else?

The EU dignitaries & ministers have made it plainly clear that a "no" vote will not be welcomed with a re-negotiation of debt payment plans in favor of Greece. Their statements to the media were uncharacteristically biting and blunt.

Strictly speaking, Greece has defaulted around what, five times since its creation during 1820s? In addition to that, they cooked their own books and lied about how ABYSSMAL their economy was when they joined the EU. The EU ended up paying for the "newfound" debt. And in 2010, Greece had to be bailed out by its European compatriots.....again.

And so we come to 2015, where the Greeks have yet again asked for more money. Granted, it was primarily the previous corrupt administrations of Greece who wasted the money on embezzlement, bribery, excessive pensions, and etc.

Syriza may be a newcomer party, but when it came to power in Greece, it accepted the liabilities and responsibilities of its predecessors in Greece.

You can't just wish away that debt, ESPECIALLY when you have a history of filing bankruptcies.

If this was a normal civilian case, whatever bank/financial institution that was dealing with said person would've probably kicked him out and simply repo the remains of his assets.

It's primarily the issue regarding the fallout from a country leaving the EU (which was never planned out when the EU was first created). The symbolism of a European country leaving the EU is opaque in terms of actual consequences, but what most scholars will acknowledge is that the Greeks are the weakest hand not simply because the EU is bigger, but because Greece's honor is practically nonexistant in terms of upholding international financial agreements.

The EU as a whole is NOT in a good shape. It's current recovery is only temporary and largely due to the ECB's 1.2 trillion quantitative easing, as well as other short term stimulus lending packages & programs. Europe as a whole hasn't solved the core of their economic troubles, which is why they're sensitive about lending Greece even more money. They need that money as well.

The EU did not ask to give Greece their bailout (and the dreaded austerity). Greece PLEADED for it. The strict payment plans that the EU put into place may be cruel, but it's not without merits considering Greece's lack of.....financial reliability.

Honestly, ask yourself this: would you continue lending a significant portion of your income to a neighbor, who has a history of NOT paying his debts and instead wastes all his funds on excessive partying?

The EU is no saint (I have a laundry list of my problems with them), but they're not the evil bankers that many of the ignorant mass media are trying to portray them as.

All in all, it's more so 60:40 in terms of responsibility, with 60% for Greece and 40% for the EU. Probably closer to 70:30 if you discount international politics regarding European unity, since Greece REALLY fucked up the way they managed their finances, time and time again.

Can't believe this irresponsible and disrespectful act. if he' was dead serious in asking EU's assistance for a bailout from the dire financial crisis that Greece is in and the Greek people suffering, he won't have come empty handed.

Well the state dept did say their only goal this year was for the euro to be below the US $ ....so far it seems to be on track.....

Read up on your history.
Greece is not the biggest defaulter in Europe and their bankruptcies were always due to war
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/01/greece-germany-bankruptcy-_n_7707620.html

Wait.

the civil ones or are you trying to say just I & II?

Matter of time before the people of Greece slam into a wall, a wall they thought was not there...

"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples money."

Margaret Thatcher

Does it matter?
All wars are devastating.

Here here

Yes as the debts are not all war related

Please, let this show end, asap !

Greece will be saved, because this is the only solution for the EU, Europe, ECB and SNB. Prepare yourself for going LONG... GREECE WILL STAY IN THE EU, this is for sure.

Tsipras , LIKE ANy LIFTIEST, should be thrown in the nearest basket. they are animals, not humans.

eur will bpush up to 1.6000 if Tsipras is kicked out!

I am more confident now that the European Parliament is involved. There are many there who are not happy with their unelected managers in the ECB and EC, for many reasons, including their handling of the Greece crisis.

You do realize that's less defaults than Germany over the same time period.

The rest of you numbnutz do realize that it was following EU/IMF demands that drove the unemployment rate from 9% to 25%. You get that right? Guess not.

If they couldn't make ends meet when 16% more of the population was working, why was there any expectation that the situation would resolve itself with 16% less people to tax? Boggles the mind.

The Iron Lady!

Actually most of the bribes were traced back to German Corporations like Siemens making deposits to various Greek Ministers bank accounts in Switzerland in the 10's of millions of euros. It's hard to get an average of 400% profit over market value on public works contracts any other way, not to mention exclusive military supply contracts at the same egregious levels of profit margin. Of course Greece didn't have that kind of money, so I wonder why so much Greek debt was bought up by France to keep the German contracts getting paid. Surely nobody on that side of the equation was accepting bribes. Surely.

This is quite a wrong perspective mainly presented by UK and leftist European media. In pure economic terms - this employment and GDP that is now "missing" was superficial and with no solid ground (manufacturing or exports).

This "fake" employment and GDP was due to insane public spending and consumer spree. Once the public spending had to stop (due to indebtation) - this part of the "fake" Greece economy vanished.

But from the people's perspective it is the result from the "bad EU" policies. I honestly don't blame them to think like that - it is the easiest way to simplify the problem for the masses.

Only society with solid moral and responsive political class would accept the realities. But on the other hand - such society don't go into such economic mess in the first place...

The hard thing to acknowledge is that Europe shit the bed together on this one. The easy way is to point the finger at a country that represents less than 5% of EU GDP for the woes of the other 95%'s. No shame heaped on the hypocrites yet.

I supported an immediate default a year before the crisis of Germany needing a cheaper euro (er I mean the national debt of a country that represents 5% of EU gdp) broke in the headlines. If you have a drinking problem the best thing to do is stop drinking. If you have a debt problem, the rules don't change.

well said, (clap)

The problem with capitalism is similar. The profits are private, the debt is public.

Could it not be that no one has a chance of getting public work in Greece without paying hefty bribes?
As often mentionned before, decades ago that way to canvass for work has been outlawed in Germany and you face prison, certainly hefty fines if you are found out.
certainly, government officilas accepting bribes are treated similarly harsh.
Does Greece has comparable measures? What about people demanding and accepting bribes in Greece? They still go untouched?

1: Yes & for a descent bribe you can arrange a public service job common practice......

you are in fact talking about the envelopes practice, @ least they'll tell you what they want up front

2: Yes...........

It is right to ensure that a people is not allowed to forget the "sins of the fathers", but it not right to continue to heap the blame for these sins on their daughters and sons and expect them to perennially bear the consequences. Germany should know this better than most.

Greece has been judged to be still the most corrupt state in Europe (taken to mean the EU), but perhaps Greek culture has changed in a way that suggests it is on a knife edge:

“It’s a vicious circle. Nothing gets done any more because it’s so much more difficult to bribe civil servants,” complained one octogenarian, who admitted he found himself hankering for the bad old days. “In the past, bribes ensured a degree of efficiency. Now nothing works.”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/03/greece-corruption-alive-and-well

I say, give them breathing space within which to re-establish (they lost a lot of commercial infrastructure and capability due to austerity) and grow anew, instead of basing one's attitudes and policy on a past that no longer exists.