France and Greece say NO to austerity

[Herr Tubthumper]

Its not cheaper now though is it?

Quite. Classic British short-termism from Thatcher: throw your money abroad, loose an industry, have a benefits overhead and then ultimately loose out when the prices rice. Screw yourself four different ways......genius.

 

[Chicken Runner61]

it doesnt offer another choice for Greece. the two are very different kettles of fish. France has the clout to renegotiate and more importantly the funds to defer the costs, they can pay their way (though i read in all this their interest payments are the second largest government spend item). Greece was f***ed, they were bailed out on the proviso they overhaul their finances - so they are still f***ed. they have no choice, if they renaged on the deal there is no one else to turn to and fund them. 22.9% on the 10yr Greek government bonds, the only creditor willing to lend is the ECB. Both have broken all the rules on fiscal stabilitiy within the Euro, along with Portugal, Spain, Italy, Ireland and probably Belgium. The only reason they havent been expelled is because the creators of the Euro never anticipated anyone would leave so have no mechanism or system by which to seperate a nation from the currency.

Best thing for Greece is to leave and take the severe pain of bankruptcy for a few years rather than their projected long lingering illness, the banks have rolled over the Greek debt for 30 years already now, its effectivly writen off, so theres little knock on effect now.

Don't disagree except for the first bit. Greece can probably struggle through till July, Between then and now they have to either renegotiate the bail out or try and form a government that will agree the terms of the existing one. France could give them a door to open renegotiation.

If they can't form a government within the next few weeks they will have to go back to the polls to try again - that could happen as early as June. Also the IMF will probably bail out greece but obviously expects the ECB to do so first.

Its the elections across Europe that are prolonging the solutions

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Don't disagree except for the first bit. Greece can probably struggle through till July, Between then and now they have to either renegotiate the bail out or try and form a government that will agree the terms of the existing one. France could give them a door to open renegotiation.

If they can't form a government within the next few weeks they will have to go back to the polls to try again - that could happen as early as June. Also the IMF will probably bail out greece but obviously expects the ECB to do so first.

Its the elections across Europe that are prolonging the solutions

Bearing in mind the (relatively) recent history of Greece, is there a possibility that a military coup might occur again, backed by the finance institutions? Like 1967 - 1974?

Express.co.uk - Home of the Daily and Sunday Express | UK News :: Fears of army coup as Greece hits meltdown

 

[cunning fergus]

Amen. Good on France. Say what you like, f*** with a Frenchmen, and they'll kick back.

I agree, when the frites are down..........the one thing the lazy French fuckers can be relied on to do...........is kick back.

 

[Chicken Runner61]

It amazes me that some people don't realise that these austerity measures havent really started yet here or abroad.

Leaving the Euro and going for the drachma might cause a political and financial crisis but the greeks would be better off. With a devalued currency Greece would be very attractive as a tourist destination and its exports will look cheap too.

 

[Mutts Nuts]

Switzerland only gave women the right to vote in 1971

You would think they would have learnt from our mistakes, not copy them

 

[User removed 4]

Amen. Good on France. Say what you like, f*** with a Frenchmen, and they'll kick back.

except during wartime, whats the french national flag ? a white cross on a white background ?

 

[User removed 4]

The rate is 1.2 on Travelex. That's pretty good isn't it? It was 1.17 when I got some Euros a month back. Maybe there is confidence in the new French government?

Why would the euro weakening indicate confidence in the french government ?

 

[Stoo82]

I don't understand our integration with the EU, so far it has given us nothing but problems. We traded famously alone without the need to be in a club that we pay more to than we receive. I'm sure there are many political activists on here that will tell me I'm wrong, but do we really need Europe?

English/British foriegn policy in Europe has been about counter balancing the greatest power in Europe, be it Spain, France or Germany. BUt it has failled this time. Germnay is too powerful and the people of Europe are fighting/voting against Germany.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Bearing in mind the (relatively) recent history of Greece, is there a possibility that a military coup might occur again, backed by the finance institutions? Like 1967 - 1974?

Express.co.uk - Home of the Daily and Sunday Express | UK News :: Fears of army coup as Greece hits meltdown

Personally, I'm following the lead of the newspaper you've quoted in your post, and asked myself the simple question:

"What would Diana do?"

 

[34064 Fighter Command]

Is that really how you would characterise how Germany has behaved in European affairs since the end of WWII?

My take on it would be that they have been far too backward in coming forward and have let the French dominate proceedings, with the current hilarious consequences.

And Greece is not Germany, I dont think a Fourth Reich based from Athens is too likely.....

You seem to forget that Greece was ruled by a military Junta between 1967, and 1974. I wouldn't put it past some Greek military hard-liners to attempt it a second time. In that scenario I don't think that repaying their debt to other European financial institutions would come very high on the agenda.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Had Labour not had to make up 18 years of under/lack of investment in all manner of areas from dentists to leaky school roofs then they might have been able to save some money.

While I agree with the sentiments of your post, I do think dentists is a very bad example. Labour wrecked dentistry provision under the NHS meaning now that everyone pays more - private or NHS - and less people actually go now.

 

[Stoo82]

Why would Germany now let go of a European country, when they've worked so hard to gain control of the continent since 1939?

Since waaaaaaay before then my friend.

Remember, Hitler was the leader of the 3rd Riech. Is there a 4th?

 

[fork me]

Pathetic! EU Zone incl GB needs to reign in spending and reduce debt. All need to take their fair share of the burden.

FAIR, being the operative word. They now have small children being admitted to hospital in Athens with malnutrition because their parents can't afford to feed them. In one Greek city, 11% of the population are reduced to relying on soup kitchens.

In the UK we have mass reduncies in the public sector, new taxes and reduced pensions, while people in the top tax bracket get a tax cut.

Fair? My arse.

 

[DTES]

Bearing in mind the (relatively) recent history of Greece, is there a possibility that a military coup might occur again, backed by the finance institutions? Like 1967 - 1974?

Express.co.uk - Home of the Daily and Sunday Express | UK News :: Fears of army coup as Greece hits meltdown

About as likely as this Express headline?

 

[Jim D]

Personally, I'm following the lead of the newspaper you've quoted in your post, and asked myself the simple question:

"What would Diana do?"

Depends which Diana you mean...

Diana Mitford/Moseley would have said 'Go' to the Colonels.
Diana Ross would have said 'Stop (in the name of love)'
and the other Diana would have gone looking for landmines

 

[Westdene Seagull]

In the UK we have mass reduncies in the public sector, new taxes and reduced pensions, while people in the top tax bracket and the low to middle earners get a tax cut.

There, I've corrected your post to be factually correct and therefore slightly fairer.

 

[fork me]

No political activists have given me a reason why we should be in the EU then ... why the f*** don't we just get out of it?

Because, despite all the problems, the European market is the richest in the World. We can't afford to be out of it.

 

[fork me]

Would we lose those trades outside the EU?

We'd lose sufficient to cripple our economy. It not just simple buying/selling trade, it's massive co-operation in manufacture as well. Airbus being the most obvious example I can think of off the top of my head.

Our biggest trading partner was always the USA anyway.

Biggest single country maybe, but not as big as the countries in Europe combined.

It's also worth noting that the UK pushes laws through Europe giving beneficial deals to our partners in the Commonwealth (which the UK still has significant financial interests in) as well. Despite the negative publicity in our press, the bendy banana issue was one of them. We forced through a seemingly silly EU law which basically forced the EU to buy Jamaican bananas (which were long and straight) over Central America bananas (which were shorter, more bendy, and we had no financial interest in).

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

The rate is 1.2 on Travelex. That's pretty good isn't it? It was 1.17 when I got some Euros a month back. Maybe there is confidence in the new French government?

Sorry, don't understand what you are saying here?

The Euro is weakening against Sterling.