Small Businesses in Greece Are Being Devastated

[alp227]

The tiny jewelry shop in the working-class Athens neighborhood was open for business — barely.

The shop’s proprietor, Tasos (he preferred not to disclose his last name), has not had a sale in more than three months. Because he cannot afford to pay his electricity bills, there was no light to illuminate his storefront display of jewels.

Like most shell-shocked Greeks here, he has, over the past few months, spent more time watching television than conducting commerce as Greek politicians veered from one political crisis to another. His senses have been battered with all possibilities of a disaster, not least the prospect that Greece might leave the euro.

The effect on his small business — which he says may have to close — has been devastating. His regular customers, whom he rarely sees these days, owe him €14,000, or $19,300, and those that he does see are looking to pawn their family heirlooms to get by.

full: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/07/business/global/small-businesses-in-greece-are-being-devastated.html

[Vincardog]

1. That is what the economic royalists want. They want to buy our assets for pennies on the dollar

and have us digging thru their trash for our next meals

[formercia]

2. The Jewelry gets sent to the Refiner and cast into Bars.

that get squirreled away.

[applegrove]

3. I'm reading "Boomerang" by Michael Lewis and the people of Greece and their government were fleecing

the country and the EU. Perhaps this guy was not part of it. But many, many people were doing criminal things. Not fair to blame europe's financial institutions in this case. It wasn't a subprime mortgage situation in greece.

[pmorlan1]

4. Coming Soon To Your State

This will be coming to all of our towns soon.

[midnight]

5. I'm sure there was a time that this would of been considered a ridiculous

response, but I think with the state of the banksters.....It's not far off...