Wednesday, Feb 24, 2010
Greece paralysed by strike against austerity plan
BBC: Greece paralysed by strike against austerity plan
Hundreds of thousands of Greeks are on strike to protest at the imposition of austerity measures to save the economy.
Greece's airspace will be closed to all flights, trains and ferries will stand idle, and archaeological sites shut.
It is the second general strike in two weeks and coincides with growing anger at the EU's response to the crisis. Commuters will be left without most forms of public transport, while public schools, ministries, and municipal offices will be closed. Many hospitals will operate only with emergency staffing
Posted by cat and canary @ 12:46 PM (907 views) Add Comment
6 Comments
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1. freemanphil said...
This is reasonable, because austerity will only be used to maintain payments to the bankers. It will not result in tax cuts. But we should not support continued excesses of the welfare warfare state. What we need, is to default on debt, slash government and slash taxes.
2. drewster said...
freemanphil,
You make good points, but default brings risks too. A well-designed austerity package can bring the Greek deficit down slowly, from 12% to 0% (or even surplus) over a number of years. Default would mean no longer being able to borrow (at least for a few years) so the annual deficit would have to be cut from 12% to 0% instantly.
Also the interest payments don't just "maintain payments to the bankers". Lots of European banks have stashed people's savings in Greek bonds. If Greece defaults, German savers lose out.
3. shipbuilder said...
As freemanphil says, perfectly reasonable. The lie being sold here is that 'we all need to pull together' to sort out the financial crisis. People can see who is paying and who isn't, that those responsible for the crisis are doing just fine.
4. devo said...
The protesters were joined by the general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, John Monks, who said: "The European Union should do more to help Greece".
thanks for that, john
5. freemanphil said...
Drewster. This debt is all FAKE fiat money rung up in our name. Try telling third world nations with 70% of GDP going to the bankers. Try telling them that its a good idea to give up generations of development to pay off fake money to bankers. I HAVE NO DEBT infact, I have savings. I DO NOT WANT TO PAY.
6. David47 said...
It would appear that things are deteriorating in Greece with industrial (in)action and union militancy not helping. I saw an interesting report on a blog which covered some Barclays Capital reseach which showed how bad the situation actually is and concluded.
"Overall, it seems fair to say that within the OECD universe the primary fiscal adjustment Greece requires at this juncture has little historical precedent". Scary times indeed I think.