0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.
Germany, Not Greece, Should Exit the Euro
QuoteGreece should seize Germany's botched offer of a velvet GrexitThe Versailles terms imposed on Germany in 1919 were vindictive and narrow-minded, but not beyond reach. Greece is being told to do the impossible http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11744305/Greece-should-seize-Germanys-botched-offer-of-a-velvet-Grexit.html
Greece should seize Germany's botched offer of a velvet GrexitThe Versailles terms imposed on Germany in 1919 were vindictive and narrow-minded, but not beyond reach. Greece is being told to do the impossible
Greece debt crisis: Reforms 'going to fail' - VaroufakisIn a damning assessment, Mr Varoufakis told the BBC's Mark Lobel: "This programme is going to fail whoever undertakes its implementation."Asked how long that would take, he replied: "It has failed already."
Fit for an emperor, EU diplomats plan £2 million dinner serviceCrystal whisky glasses, silver candelabras and fine china decorated with gold EU flags to form glittering dinner service for Brussels' ascendant diplomatic corpsThe dinner service, which stands to be larger and nearly ten times the cost of one recently purchased for the White House...
Most Greeks want to stay in euro and reach a deal
It is idiocy to force Greece to raise taxes - it's terrible for economic growthPutting up taxes unthinkingly is bad for economic growth and often actually leads to lower tax revenues to government.If you raise the tax on business activity there is less incentive to expand and to make profit. Why work harder if the government is going to take more money? What is more, if you raise taxes carelessly it may act as an incentive to tax avoidance – legal measures to reduce your tax bill – or even outright tax evasion.This is a widely held view and one which has considerable merit. But apparently it does not apply to Greece. The eurozone has decided that to renew Greece’s economy and to boost tax revenues, the appropriate policy is to jack up taxes. And not just any taxes, but VAT on leisure activities and on holiday islands, Greece’s prime industry and its biggest source of outside income.This is quite simply idiocy. This entire issue has been poisoned by too much moralising and too much politics. The objectives appear to be either to punish Greeks for alleged fecklessness, or simply to make its position in the euro intolerable – forcing an exit.Whatever the failings of Greece in the past, they will not be rectified by these policies. In fact, convincing Greek business to stop dodging VAT and pay its fair share will not be helped by raising VAT rates.Greece’s politicians and its people need to use this period of calm to prepare for an orderly exit – and to default on their debts.
Greece debt crisis: Beware plausible stories - there are times when only statistics will do
Angela Merkel’s coalition split over Wolfgang Schaeuble’s Greece oppositionInfluential finance minister has threatened to resign if further Greece concessions made
Greek euro exit back on the agenda next year, economists sayThere’s still a danger that Greece will be forced out of the euro region by the end of 2016, according to 71 percent of respondents in a Bloomberg survey of 34 economists.