May 4, 2010

But the Greek bailout won’t work, says Cassandra

Perhaps it’s because of our fond memories of childhood school days, when we learned about Homer’s Iliad and the beloved heroes and legends of the Trojan War, that, in the present days of economic turmoil, when you say Greece you say Cassandra, the prophetess of doom. It’s almost inevitable, or that’s what seems to be the case. However, if you are an incurable optimist, just keep away from stuff like this

3 comments:

  1. The loan should be interest free, to make it work, but it can't be, because nothing is free, and even less so- the euro, thanks to the undying support of Trichet and his 'trusty bundesbankers'. But the good news is that Greece and the 'euro pigs' are dragging the euro value down to its proper level. This will be good for European trade, exports and the stock-exchanges but it might not make a great deal of difference to an over indebted Greece.

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  2. This is really all a farce, Greece will default and the markets know it. The likelyhood of any Greek government being able to both make and sustain the required cuts is minimal. The chances of Germany actually picking-up the tab is far fetched. The chances of Spain, Portugal or Ireland being able to take advantage of the Greek 'model' is almost non-existant.

    The interesting thing will be to see just how quickly this whole package unravels and the consequences of that.

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  3. I believe the rescue package signals a coming of age for the eurozone. "One of the problems with EMU is that it has a monetary policy without a fiscal policy. That was always going to be unsustainable. With the Greek bailout, it seems the penny has finally dropped. I see it as the first step towards having an EU fiscal policy." (Will Hopper, a former director of investment bank Morgan Grenfell, now Deutsche Bank)

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