After Greece Disenfranchises Itself, Will EU Even Hold Up its Side of the Bargain

     The Greek parliament basically voted to give up its own power last night.

     http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/07/they-voted-for-hiller-too.html

     Despite this, the best part may be that the EU today still has to decide whether to release new emergency funds. In other words, Tsipras may just have agreed to give away his nation's sovereignty and possibly destroyed his own political standing for nothing.

     Again showing that there is nothing lower than Eurocrats. They truly do nothing for their friends.

    http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/07/why-eurocrats-make-worst-friends.html

   "Attention now turns to the European Central Bank, which is expected to discuss at its governing council meeting on Thursday whether to increase its €89bn emergency liquidity lifeline to Greek banks, which have been closed for the past two weeks and limited daily cash withdrawals via ATMs to €60."

    "But in a sign that Greece’s recovery is far from assured, Wolfgang Schäuble, Germany’s hardline finance minister, said in a radio interview on Thursday that a temporary Grexit — a Greek exit from the eurozone — might still be the best way forward. He said that was the only way Athens would secure a debt haircut since “a debt haircut is incompatible with membership of the currency union”.

    "However, Mr Schäuble added that he would present with “full conviction” the plan to Germany’s parliament to reopen negotiations on the new bailout. The Bundestag is expected to convene on Friday to debate the issue>"

   http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/db4d2f04-2b05-11e5-8613-e7aedbb7bdb7.html#ixzz3g3hv7hs7

  It's actually too bad that Schauble doesn't take this to its logical conclusion and not present the plan with full conviction-as he clearly doesn't really have it.

  So with all the talk that the Greeks will renege, maybe the EU will renege here. Tsipras is arguing that he had no choice which is not true:

 "I was blackmailed, there were no good options and I chose the least bad. The MPs should recognise this and accept the same choice,” Mr Tsipras told lawmakers before the vote. “The government does not believe in these measures. We will do our best to protect people from measures we do not believe in but are forced to implement.”

   It's hard to argue that staying in the euro at all costs is now really the best option.

   http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=31357

   Incidentally, Bill Mitchell also had a post a few days ago that argued that the Left-Right distinction is still meaningful-tracing back the distinction itself to the final days of the French Monarchy where you're support for the Ancien Regime meant you sat to the King's right, if you opposed it then you were on his left.

   http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=31364

   I do agree that there is a meaningful distinction-that is the point behind my blog title-Diary of a Republican Hater. This blog is against the whole idea of the Very Serious People in the media who want to paper over differences where there are in fact important ones. So my title lets it be clear that I am not nonpartisan.

   However, I will make this comment regarding Mitchell. In Europe at least, I'd say an important distinction now is obviously not where you sit relative to the Monarch but where you sit vs. the Eurocrats and on this issue many on the Right-at least in Britain-have been on the right side of the issue and until recently many on the Left have been on the wrong side.


   Hopefully as British conservative Ambrose Pritchard suggests this will now change.

   http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/07/time-for-european-left-to-lexit.html

   "A specter is haunting Europe: eurosceptics of the world unite. Whether or not of the Left or the Right."

   Mitchell has a new piece that argues that a Grexit isn't enough for recovery-but he agrees it's the first step.

  http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=31373