Does Greece really want to try to go it outside of the EU?

[RB TexLa]

By Harry Papachristou and Yannis Behrakis

ATHENS | Sun Feb 12, 2012 2:58pm EST

(Reuters) - Historic cinemas, cafes and shops went up in flames in central Athens on Sunday as black-masked protesters fought Greek police outside parliament, while inside lawmakers looked set to defy the public rage by endorsing a new EU/IMF austerity deal.

As parliament prepared to vote on a new 130 billion euro bailout to save Greece from a messy bankruptcy, a Reuters photographer saw the buildings engulfed in flames and huge plumes of smoke rose in the night sky.

The air over Syntagma Square outside parliament was thick with tear gas as riot police fought running battles with youths who smashed marble balustrades and hurled stones and petrol bombs.



http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/12/us-greece-idUSTRE8120HI20120212

[nradisic]

1. Yes...

Austerity, upon more austerity for an economy that is in decline as is with unemployment over 20%, while at the same time the banks and EU want the Greeks to hand over more of the autonomy and sovereignty....what the hell do they have to loose? The current government may make a deal, but won't last. It will in the end be the will of the people. The Greeks are burning police cars & buildings, while tear gas permeates the air...here comes the Drachma!

[boppers]

2. Well, that looks productive.

If you burn the shops down, that will totally increase employment, how? In what way will it increase GDP?

[BelgianMadCow]

5. I agree violence is not the way

however, I read mainly international chains and banks are the target. That is a statement, like writing "German" instead of "Greek" on the national bank.

[amandabeech]

3. They may end up going back to the Drachma, but stay in the EU.

Britain, Denmark and Sweden, as well as some of the Eastern European countries, are within the European Union but retain their historic national currency.

They get the benefit of the inter-European free trade, but aren't completely harnessed to what now looks like draconian German economic policy.

[BelgianMadCow]

4. that is not what they are voting on, at all

they are voting whether to accept the terms of a bailout package (targeted at bailing out banks, not the people). These terms are incredibly harsh, things like minimum wage down 22% to 590 euro, 540 euro for people under 25 (who are 50% unemployed) and big cuts to supplementary pensions.

That is not a recipe for future growth, but for depression.

The IMF/ECB/EU have slyly also linked the ALREADY AGREED haircut (loss) of 50-70% negotiation with private creditors (banks) to the outcome of the vote. So - accept our terms or we renege on our promise to agree to being left with 30% - when in reality it should be 0. That would be another 100 billion through their nose.

If they vote no, they will default on their loans. That is not an exit from the EU currency block (17 states) and definitely not an exit from the larger 27-country Eurozone.
There is no mechanism to throw a country out of the EU currency or zone, I have read.

Of course, it may well lead to an exit from the currency block, a reintroduction of the drachma, which then could be devalued, stimulating tourism and export. The Argentinian way.

The politicians are being strong-armed, including the unelected ex-ECB technocrat leader Papademos conjuring up visions of 9/11 if they don't submit. The smallest party in Papademos' coalition has already quit, as have several ministers and MPs.
The Greek people, whose "threat" of a referendum on EU exit scared banksters shitless and led to the demise of the elected government, seem to have already decided that it can't possibly get worse. Question is, is Greece still a democracy.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/02/2012212114832570350.html
there you have it, "rioting" and "looters", where's Blackwater when you need them.

"Can't listen to the people, must save international banking!"

A grecian default, which they have been in for years now if you are honest, "cannot" be allowed because then the Credit Default Swaps, default insurance, become active. I hope nobody thinks Greece is an isolated problem, or Europe is a "worse" part of the West. They are just the canary in the coal mine - we are looking at our future, lest movements like Occupy provide a positive alternative, fast. Funny thing is, Greeks are quickly finding local solidarity and an informal economy are part of the solution. They are already poor (1/3) and starving, and this is already happening.

Since I too am paying for these bailouts - I say to the Greek people, I don't mind losing what we have paid so far - if it gives them back their sovereignty.

The bailout is just a soft landing for creditors, is all, in the process destroying wages and pensions, selling of all their utilities and 2 ports.

Disaster Capitalism at the behest of the IMF in it's finest hour - confirming that western countries are now third world targets.