patches70 wrote:Forget Merkel, it's the German people don't seem to keen on bailing anyone out (I don't blame them). Since they have the most money, it's Germany that it all eventually falls to to bank the never ending bailouts. Greece, how many times now? Are they on their third bailout now? Now Spain, Italy is asking for money*, Ireland will follow.
It just doesn't end, until it ends. The Central Banks will do what they always do when faced with this sort of thing, print money. It has never ended well every time it has been tried before. Visions of the old Germany during the hyperinflation days aren't even the worst case of hyperinflation recorded in history. Zimbabwe even doesn't have the absolute worst record of hyperinflation.** And it always falls upon the citizens to pay the bill until they finally say "enough is enough" and the knives come out.
No, even if Greece does form a government, even if Greece does somehow manage to renegotiate the terms of the loans from the ECB and the IMF, it won't matter. The problems aren't being addressed. This supposed coalition government is the same people from when it collapsed before! LMAO. You really think the hope and changy message is real?
It's a lie. More attempts to kick the can and eventually everyone will get tired of playing the game. It'll all be a big surprise to those who are buying into the government lines of propaganda of "It'll all be fine now".
Hey, I don't care really. If Germany doesn't mind bankrolling all the weak links in the monetary union then more power to them. Chaining yourself to a sinking ship is a sure way to sink yourself though. The IMF is pumping money in and the IMF gets it's money from the US. When Greece finally accepts the inevitable, the systemic risks on the US will come into play and it won't go over well with the US population when they realize that we are bailing out the PIGS as well.
Romney even said just the other day, if elected not one cent will go to bailouts of Europe. I laughed, he knows the US funds the IMF and the IMF funds the bailouts. No, the circle jerk that is the Eu debt crisis is a massive ponzi scheme. The sooner Greece bites the bullet the better it will be for them in the long run. It'll be a bitter medicine at first, but they'll actually start to have real recovery.
Money, it's a bitter wedge between supposed "friends". All this is doing is fueling certain resentments and before too long the Europeans will be back doing what they've been doing to each other for thousands of years. Getting seriously nationalistic and killing each other.
*On 6/18/12 Italy violated the IMF's definition of "solvency" by having the average cost of their debts surpass 680 basis points. Italy is going to push in a meeting this very week of euro zone finance ministers for a "semi-automatic mechanism involving the European Central Bank or the permanent bailout fund ESM to reduce spreads of euro zone bonds over Germany, Italy's European Affairs Minister Enzo Moavero said on Monday."
**Inflation hit it's monthly peak in Germany between 1920-23 at 29,525% inflation, Zimbabwe hit it's highest monthly inflation between 2007-09 at 2,600% inflation***. The highest ever recorded inflation was in Hungary, 1945-46 at 1.295x10^16 inflation (HOLY SHIT!!! See- "Hungarian pengo") Serbia 1992-94 hit a monthly high at a respectable 309,000,000% inflation.
***Zimbabwe actually stopped keeping track of inflation in July of 2008. The IMF estimates they hit around 489 million % inflation. Still no where close to Hungary's record inflation.
+1 bailout package
I wanted to add that when the knives come out, I hope it isn't all on the same night and I hope all the knives are not long.
As far as the whole debt/inflation scenario is concerned, this is a very normal thing when it comes to printed money that is not backed by anything, and even worse when money is based on debt (less than nothing!). All the paper currencies are in a race to zero value, but it's hard to notice when things seem okay as long as you can keep playing the shell game between currencies and boosting/reducing values against each other comparatively.
Paper money will always revert to it's intrinsic value; zero.
Greece is screwed though, no matter what they do. IMO they are next in line to experience a "lost decade"