How many times have we seen this movie over the last 5 years? While the EU complained about no specifics on Tuesday how much is this about simply not liking the specifics that the Greeks prefer?
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/07/what-concessions-is-eu-expecting-now.html
I mean what does the EU expect anyway? Surely they don't think that these 'specifics' are gong to be the same as what was in the referendum the Greeks voted no to. Do they think that at this point Tripas is just going to disregard the vote?
He had actually called that referendum to give himself political cover. However, he was as shocked as anyone else when the vote was no. Now if he does agree to what the Greeks rejected he has no political cover.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/d9c69bf8-258c-11e5-bd83-71cb60e8f08c.html#axzz3fOjADoqR
So we are now at an impasse where he simply has no cover to give away the store and the only thing that may please the EU is to: give away the store. Reportedly he has some new specifics:
"Greece is due to present "concrete" proposals to its international lenders on Thursday, which could include widespread tax hikes and a climb-down on pension reform."
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102820684
Oh goody! You know how much Eurocrats love chopping out the little people's pensions! Eurocrats are very similar to what we have here in American-Republicans."
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/07/tripas-vs-eu-as-obama-vs-gop-congress.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DiaryOfARepublicanHater+%28Diary+of+a+Republican+Hater%29
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/07/eu-greece-battle-is-battle-of-eurocrats.html
Ok, so pension cuts and tax hikes. The Greek government wants to hike the taxes of the rich preferably which makes sense though this is not exactly the time for tax hikes on anyone. I agree it's a lesser evil but depending on how it's done still an evil.
"It noted that these could include an increase in corporate tax to 28 percent from 26 percent and a rise in the sales tax paid for a number of different products and services."
"According to a Reuters report on Naftemporiki's article, the sales tax on luxury goods could be hiked from to 13 from 10 percent, while the sales tax on processed foods, restaurants, transport and some health services offered by the private sector could rise to 23 from 13 percent. It also said there could be a hike on hotel sales tax to 13 percent from 6.5 percent."
"If these figures are borne out in proposals on Thursday, they would signal the government's willingness to compromise, while not completely giving in to creditors' demands. Creditors wanted like to see the sales tax in both hotels and restaurants—a major part of the Greek economy given the importance of the country's tourism industry—raised to the highest rate of 23 percent."
"Right that makes sense. The creditors want to heavily tax the tourism industry one of the most important parts of the economy. Again, this makes perfect sense if your goal is to cripple the Greek economy. It's ironic that in Greece they want to raise the corporate tax rate but in the US we've been hearing for years that this needs to come down-thankfully with Obama's recent ascendancy we don't seem to be hearing about 'tax reform' anymore."
"Rania Antonopoulou, deputy minister of labor and social solidarity in Greece, told CNBC on Thursday that areas of society that hadn't contributed enough in the past, had to step up—seeming to confirm that tax rises were on the cards."
"The issue is to identify those taxes that would allow tax receipts to increase now," she told CNBC in Athens. "Whether the tax rate will be 23 percent or 27 percent on the private sector, that is a choice the government has to make."
"In terms of the measures we are willing to accept, we want social justice, in other words, those that have not carried enough of the burden that has fallen on our country, the time has come now to contribute," she added
You want social justice then leave the euro...
Of course, like Republicans, Eurocrats become particuarly animated and bloodthirsty about pensions. They just feel that there's something awesome about older people seeing promises that were made to them reneged on.
"Pensions cuts have been a sticking point for Greece and its lenders since negotiations started between Syriza and its partners five months ago. While lenders want to see the pension system reformed and pensions cut dramatically, Syriza has repeatedly refused to countenance the notion, saying it was a "red line" they would not cross."
"However, new Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalatos, who replaced the more bombastic Yanis Varoufakis earlier this week, signaled on Wednesday that Greece could be ready to change its tune on pensions."
"In a letter requesting a a three-year loan program from the European Stability Mechanism, Tsakalotos said that in return, the government would, "Implement a set of measures as early as the beginning of next week including: Tax reform-related measures; pension related measures."
Again, is there this equilibrium position where Tripas can give them less than was in the referendum but more than he would prefer that will please the EU? Can anything at this point please the EU short of ignoring the vote of the Greek people?
Reports seem to indicate that the Germans are already measuring the Greeks' bedroom over at the EU for drapes.
P.S. It seems to me that one of the most treacherous words used in political fights is serious. The trouble is the word is very loaded but totally subjective. What it comes down to is that those who you don't agree with 'aren't serious' ie, it's just a signifier of mood affiliation. A lot of the time Sumner seems to want nothing more than to be on the other side of Krugman's Very Serious People.
But then when he doesn't like what someone says he declares they aren't serious. He says this about the MMTers, about yours truly, and about Tripas and Varoufakis-though he made some openminded noises in a few posts he wrote yesterday.
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/07/what-concessions-is-eu-expecting-now.html
I mean what does the EU expect anyway? Surely they don't think that these 'specifics' are gong to be the same as what was in the referendum the Greeks voted no to. Do they think that at this point Tripas is just going to disregard the vote?
He had actually called that referendum to give himself political cover. However, he was as shocked as anyone else when the vote was no. Now if he does agree to what the Greeks rejected he has no political cover.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/d9c69bf8-258c-11e5-bd83-71cb60e8f08c.html#axzz3fOjADoqR
So we are now at an impasse where he simply has no cover to give away the store and the only thing that may please the EU is to: give away the store. Reportedly he has some new specifics:
"Greece is due to present "concrete" proposals to its international lenders on Thursday, which could include widespread tax hikes and a climb-down on pension reform."
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102820684
Oh goody! You know how much Eurocrats love chopping out the little people's pensions! Eurocrats are very similar to what we have here in American-Republicans."
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/07/tripas-vs-eu-as-obama-vs-gop-congress.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DiaryOfARepublicanHater+%28Diary+of+a+Republican+Hater%29
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/07/eu-greece-battle-is-battle-of-eurocrats.html
Ok, so pension cuts and tax hikes. The Greek government wants to hike the taxes of the rich preferably which makes sense though this is not exactly the time for tax hikes on anyone. I agree it's a lesser evil but depending on how it's done still an evil.
"It noted that these could include an increase in corporate tax to 28 percent from 26 percent and a rise in the sales tax paid for a number of different products and services."
"According to a Reuters report on Naftemporiki's article, the sales tax on luxury goods could be hiked from to 13 from 10 percent, while the sales tax on processed foods, restaurants, transport and some health services offered by the private sector could rise to 23 from 13 percent. It also said there could be a hike on hotel sales tax to 13 percent from 6.5 percent."
"If these figures are borne out in proposals on Thursday, they would signal the government's willingness to compromise, while not completely giving in to creditors' demands. Creditors wanted like to see the sales tax in both hotels and restaurants—a major part of the Greek economy given the importance of the country's tourism industry—raised to the highest rate of 23 percent."
"Right that makes sense. The creditors want to heavily tax the tourism industry one of the most important parts of the economy. Again, this makes perfect sense if your goal is to cripple the Greek economy. It's ironic that in Greece they want to raise the corporate tax rate but in the US we've been hearing for years that this needs to come down-thankfully with Obama's recent ascendancy we don't seem to be hearing about 'tax reform' anymore."
"Rania Antonopoulou, deputy minister of labor and social solidarity in Greece, told CNBC on Thursday that areas of society that hadn't contributed enough in the past, had to step up—seeming to confirm that tax rises were on the cards."
"The issue is to identify those taxes that would allow tax receipts to increase now," she told CNBC in Athens. "Whether the tax rate will be 23 percent or 27 percent on the private sector, that is a choice the government has to make."
"In terms of the measures we are willing to accept, we want social justice, in other words, those that have not carried enough of the burden that has fallen on our country, the time has come now to contribute," she added
You want social justice then leave the euro...
Of course, like Republicans, Eurocrats become particuarly animated and bloodthirsty about pensions. They just feel that there's something awesome about older people seeing promises that were made to them reneged on.
"Pensions cuts have been a sticking point for Greece and its lenders since negotiations started between Syriza and its partners five months ago. While lenders want to see the pension system reformed and pensions cut dramatically, Syriza has repeatedly refused to countenance the notion, saying it was a "red line" they would not cross."
"However, new Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalatos, who replaced the more bombastic Yanis Varoufakis earlier this week, signaled on Wednesday that Greece could be ready to change its tune on pensions."
"In a letter requesting a a three-year loan program from the European Stability Mechanism, Tsakalotos said that in return, the government would, "Implement a set of measures as early as the beginning of next week including: Tax reform-related measures; pension related measures."
Again, is there this equilibrium position where Tripas can give them less than was in the referendum but more than he would prefer that will please the EU? Can anything at this point please the EU short of ignoring the vote of the Greek people?
Reports seem to indicate that the Germans are already measuring the Greeks' bedroom over at the EU for drapes.
P.S. It seems to me that one of the most treacherous words used in political fights is serious. The trouble is the word is very loaded but totally subjective. What it comes down to is that those who you don't agree with 'aren't serious' ie, it's just a signifier of mood affiliation. A lot of the time Sumner seems to want nothing more than to be on the other side of Krugman's Very Serious People.
But then when he doesn't like what someone says he declares they aren't serious. He says this about the MMTers, about yours truly, and about Tripas and Varoufakis-though he made some openminded noises in a few posts he wrote yesterday.
No comments:
Post a Comment