How To Explain Greece To A Complete Idiot / Politician

[Ares]

From Simon Black of Sovereign Man

How To Explain Greece To A Complete Idiot/Politician

Let’s pretend for a moment that Greece is a human being. I’ll call him George.

George is a hairdresser and makes $40,000 per year. George has limited assets. He has zero savings, no precious metals, and is way underwater on his mortgage. His credit card debt is over $100,000, and his bare minimum living expenses are $45,000 annually, over 10% more than he makes. George’s credit is pitiful, and he cannot obtain any more new loans.

George’s neighbor Hans has a big family. All the kids work hard and contribute to the family savings. Hans sees George’s plight and decides the neighborhood has to stick together; he starts loaning George some money out of his family’s savings, and eventually begins to take on more and more of George’s personal debts.

Many of the other neighbors– Luciano, Seamus, and Juan– are in the same boat as George: drowning in debt with massive personal expenses and no hope to pay them back.

Everyone is looking to Hans for help. He’s the responsible one in the neighborhood. Now, Hans doesn’t want them all to go bust because he knows it would be bad for the neighborhood property values… but Hans’s children are balking at the prospect of working hard on their newspaper routes just so that George can keep his plasma screen TV.

Very soon, George is going to run out of options and will have to have a difficult conversation with his credit card companies. In the real world, there is no other choice.

In the pretend world of politics, however, European leaders have been able to convince everyone that it’s all under control. Never mind that the whole situation has completely fractured capital markets; traditional valuation metrics have taken a back seat to rumors of secret meetings and loud talk of bailout plans.

Think about it: Dexia passed summer bank stress tests with flying colors. A couple of months later it’s going bust. How can markets function without confidence in balance sheet accuracy? Or whether a government will even be around tomorrow? This is kind of a problem when sovereign debt is the cornerstone of the financial system…

And yet, stock markets worldwide surged today on the news of a European ‘pledge’ to help banks.

Do yourself a favor and stop watching their lips move. These ‘plans’ are nothing more than lies and misdirection. Just like our friend George, a Greek default has to happen. Politicians can pretend whatever they want, but in the real world where we live, financial deadbeats have no other options.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/guest-post-how-explain-greece-complete-idiot-politician

[vacuum]

I've noticed that lately, every 3, 4, or 5 weeks we have a 'crisis' then we have a 'big solution' and the markets come back. When are people going to catch on that each solution only lasts for a couple weeks? The oscillations are speeding up until a catastrophic event occurs.

[Joe King]

I've noticed that lately, every 3, 4, or 5 weeks we have a 'crisis' then we have a 'big solution' and the markets come back. When are people going to catch on that each solution only lasts for a couple weeks? The oscillations are speeding up until a catastrophic event occurs.Yep. The "ride" is about to jerk to a stop, we'll disboard and go buy a new ticket for a new ride and start all over again.

Disclaimer: The disboarding of rides may include pain, suffering and much gnashing of teeth. Please plan accordingly.

[Twisted Titan]

If you believe politicians we have been in recovery for the last three years reminds me of a jingle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkNn4WUwtCA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[gunDriller]

i feel like, in order to explain Greece, you have to mention things like Souvlaki, and beaches on the Mediterranean, and decaying stone ruins where tourist parents read plaques while their children catch the lizards that live on the ruins.

when they finally officially default - will it really be that bad ?

the government will be downsized. they will try to tax a BUNCH and will get some of people's wealth.

there may be a time when it gets downright Mad Max.

but some people will adapt. for example, a tourist hotel might have to take payment in Gold - one half sovereign per night - or per week - depending on the how nice it is.


it seems like the big problem is the government feels compelled to pay their debt, and they are squeezing the Greek people to do it.

and some of the Greek people are expecting a paycheck from a government that lacks the ability to pay the pay-check.

meanwhile, they have a marketable culture & land, that appeals to German tourists, for example.

they have a big American air force base - Greece gets some money for pandering to the US/Israeli war machine. Greece is across the Mediterranean from Israel - meaning that it is a strategic location for Israel. If somebody was going to attack Israel from the ocean, Greece is a logical staging point, as is Cyprus. so maybe Greece can squeeze some money from the US & Israel.

moving on to less obnoxious revenue sources, they also have sheep and sheepherders. there are forests in the north of Greece ... pine forests ... at least there used to be.


i think they can survive and sort of follow Iceland - unless they go too far down the Chimp-out route. Then they lose the tourist income. Italy has nice beaches too. heck, Gaza would have a nice beach if they didn't have Israel breathing down their neck.

[Neuro]

so maybe Greece can squeeze some money from the US & Israel.:o
Surely you are jesting!;D;D;D

[chad]

i've been all over europe but never to greece. i have a friend who is from greece though (his whole family still lives there), and to hear him tell it, it's a culture that is on vacation 6 weeks of the year, every weekend, and about 3 out 5 days of the workweek. that may be part of the problem.

[mamboni]

The only ones really hurt by debt defaults are the ones holding the paper, the ones that encouraged the debtors to borrow more than they could posssibly pay back: the bloodsucking parasitic bankers, their stockholders and bond owners. Yes, if the Greeks default nothing material changes and life goes on in the real world; but the bankers get screwed out of their imaginary virtual ill-gotten paper wealth and they may not stand for it. They may demand Greek soveriegn assets, or more taxes or worse, a war. But the Greeks will show the Western world the way to freedom: fuck the debt!!!! The debt is illusory, like the elephant raised from youth chained to an anchor. When the chain is removed in adult life, the elephant will not move beyond the anchor, convinced that it is there for all time. The debtors of the world, the Greeks and the other PIIGS have been financially irresponsible to be sure. But the bankers enabled that irresponsible conspicuous consumption out of pure selfish greed; and sovereign government permitted and endorsed this loan-sharkian lending, greedy for tax revenues and voter approval. The Greeks will show the way forward when they cry: fuck the debt, this is Sparta!!!!

[Joe King]

i've been all over europe but never to greece. i have a friend who is from greece though (his whole family still lives there), and to hear him tell it, it's a culture that is on vacation 6 weeks of the year, every weekend, and about 3 out 5 days of the workweek. that may be part of the problem.So how do the Germans get away with stuff like that? They get more time off than anybody, yet they produce alot.


"No other European country allows its employees as much vacation as Germany," the president of the German Federation of Chambers of Commerce, Ludwig George Braun, told the Freie Presse newspaper on Friday. He said the relationship between work and leisure has become skewed and that employees' would do the economy a favor by working longer and more flexible hours. He wants a forty hour week to become the norm, instead of the 37 hours that Germans, on average, work in five days.
It might sound decadent to much of the world, but in Germany, eight weeks off work are the norm.
Germans enjoy amounts of leisure time that the rest of the world can only envy.
Workers in the U.S. work on average 1,884 hours a year, and in France they clock 1,545 hours. In Germany, the world's third largest economy, workers only put in an average of 1,444 hours.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,969498,00.html

[joboo]

Does Greece actually produce anything?

[chad]

So how do the Germans get away with stuff like that? They get more time off than anybody, yet they produce alot.


"No other European country allows its employees as much vacation as Germany," the president of the German Federation of Chambers of Commerce, Ludwig George Braun, told the Freie Presse newspaper on Friday. He said the relationship between work and leisure has become skewed and that employees' would do the economy a favor by working longer and more flexible hours. He wants a forty hour week to become the norm, instead of the 37 hours that Germans, on average, work in five days.
It might sound decadent to much of the world, but in Germany, eight weeks off work are the norm.
Germans enjoy amounts of leisure time that the rest of the world can only envy.
Workers in the U.S. work on average 1,884 hours a year, and in France they clock 1,545 hours. In Germany, the world's third largest economy, workers only put in an average of 1,444 hours.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,969498,00.html

i'm not talking about official vacation. my friend says that even during the week when they are "at work," no one does any really hard work. he likened it to working around your house on the weekend. you have some 3 hour project that you draw out to last the whole day and fit 3 or 4 beers in there as well.

[Joe King]

Does Greece actually produce anything?The people there do go to work, right? I was assuming they engage in some type of productive endeavors while there. Are you saying they don't?

[Joe King]

i'm not talking about official vacation. my friend says that even during the week when they are "at work," no one does any really hard work. he likened it to working around your house on the weekend. you have some 3 hour project that you draw out to last the whole day and fit 3 or 4 beers in there as well.
Ok. I didn't realize they were lazy. I just assumed that when they went to work, they actually did something. Well, other than drinking on the job, anyways.

I'll bet when the economy was clickin', they enjoyed the heck outta that crap. Oh well, now it's time to pay the tab I suppose. lol

[joboo]

The people there do go to work, right? I was assuming they engage in some type of productive endeavors while there. Are you saying they don't?

I always considered the place a tourist industry. Do they manufacture anything of substance? I can't recall ever buying anything made in Greece.

[MAGNES]

Does Greece actually produce anything?

A lot of the lower technology factories were outsourced, not to mention
Greece was a main exporter of amazing food, Greece has all industries,
but not enough, you won't find the cutting edge high tech industries.

Greece has a massive current account deficit, open source for 2009 it was
believe it or not $60 Billion USD, this is huge money outflow going to Germany
and France for imported manufactured goods, if you added up all the current
account deficits it would most likely total close to the debt. Just like the USA
which has a huge one as well with China being a part banker.

Broke? Buy a few warships, France tells Greece | Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/03/23/us-eurozone-greece-warships-analysis-idUSTRE62M1Q520100323)

The current account deficit is the biggest problem actually, that is how you address
a real problem, first you identify the problem, and nobody is doing that, nobody in
power, not even those owed money , not the article, non of the posters except for you.
Not having a currency to devalue to address this problem, this will result in EUSSR breakdown,
Greece is not the only country with this imbalance. It is just more pronounced. Peter Schiff
does an excellent job on this, Greeks need to watch his interviews on production.

[Joe King]

I always considered the place a tourist industry. Do they manufacture anything of substance? I can't recall ever buying anything made in Greece.Well, even the tourism industry produces something....even if it's just service for the guests.