His piece yesterday on how the EU is slouching towards a Grexit that neither it nor the Greeks want was a bombshell. If true it would strongly suggest that we are in a collision course with exactly that. Prtichard claims that Sunday's no vote was a shock to Tsipras and Syrzia as much at it shocked the EU.
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/07/was-sundays-no-vote-shock-to-tsipras-as.html
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-grexit-nobody-wanted.html
Again, as I suggested in my previous post, in some ways there is a real analogy between Tripas coming in with such big expectations in January, 2015 and the expectations of President Obama coming in January, 2009.
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/07/if-ambrose-pritchard-knows-whats.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DiaryOfARepublicanHater+%28Diary+of+a+Republican+Hater%29
Tripas like Obama greatly underestimated the determination and rigidity of his opposition. He thought he could convince the EU to compromise a bit just like Obama in 2009. We wouldn't be in this mess now had the EU not been determined to have Tsipras's hide.
He had basically agreed to what he thought was a bad deal. Then they suddenly demanded a lot more again,
"This ultimatum came as a shock to the Greek cabinet. They thought they were on the cusp of a deal, bad though it was. Mr Tsipras had already made the decision to acquiesce to austerity demands, recognizing that Syriza had failed to bring about a debtors' cartel of southern EMU states and had seriously misjudged the mood across the eurozone."
"Instead they were confronted with a text from the creditors that upped the ante, demanding a rise in VAT on tourist hotels from 7pc (de facto) to 23pc at a single stroke."
"Creditors insisted on further pension cuts of 1pc of GDP by next year and a phase out of welfare assistance (EKAS) for poorer pensioners, even though pensions have already been cut by 44pc."
"They insisted on fiscal tightening equal to 2pc of GDP in an economy reeling fromsix years of depression and devastating hysteresis. They offered no debt relief. The Europeans intervened behind the scenes to suppress a report by the International Monetary Fund validating Greece's claim that its debt is "unsustainable". The IMF concluded that the country not only needs a 30pc haircut to restore viability, but also €52bn of fresh money to claw its way out of crisis.?"
"This was done out of arrogance but mostly just to destroy Tsipras. This was when he called the referendum that he expected to pass but at least he would avoid the political responsibility for such a poison pill."
"Again, a clear analogy with 2009 when Mitch McConnell called the number one objective of the GOP not fixing the economy but 'Making Obama a one term President, a one term proposition.'"
"This is what will end up biting the EU in the you know where. Their unconscionable attempt to depose Greece's duly elected leader was a kind of unpardonable sin that ended the game."
"This fight should be understood primarily as a fight between democrats and Eurocrats-a Eurocrat is someone who views democracy with contempt; the Eurocratic version of democracy is what we will have on Sunday-the 28 EU heads-what this majority thinks is the Eurocrat version of democracy."
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/07/was-sundays-no-vote-shock-to-tsipras-as.html
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-grexit-nobody-wanted.html
Again, as I suggested in my previous post, in some ways there is a real analogy between Tripas coming in with such big expectations in January, 2015 and the expectations of President Obama coming in January, 2009.
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/07/if-ambrose-pritchard-knows-whats.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DiaryOfARepublicanHater+%28Diary+of+a+Republican+Hater%29
Tripas like Obama greatly underestimated the determination and rigidity of his opposition. He thought he could convince the EU to compromise a bit just like Obama in 2009. We wouldn't be in this mess now had the EU not been determined to have Tsipras's hide.
He had basically agreed to what he thought was a bad deal. Then they suddenly demanded a lot more again,
"This ultimatum came as a shock to the Greek cabinet. They thought they were on the cusp of a deal, bad though it was. Mr Tsipras had already made the decision to acquiesce to austerity demands, recognizing that Syriza had failed to bring about a debtors' cartel of southern EMU states and had seriously misjudged the mood across the eurozone."
"Instead they were confronted with a text from the creditors that upped the ante, demanding a rise in VAT on tourist hotels from 7pc (de facto) to 23pc at a single stroke."
"Creditors insisted on further pension cuts of 1pc of GDP by next year and a phase out of welfare assistance (EKAS) for poorer pensioners, even though pensions have already been cut by 44pc."
"They insisted on fiscal tightening equal to 2pc of GDP in an economy reeling fromsix years of depression and devastating hysteresis. They offered no debt relief. The Europeans intervened behind the scenes to suppress a report by the International Monetary Fund validating Greece's claim that its debt is "unsustainable". The IMF concluded that the country not only needs a 30pc haircut to restore viability, but also €52bn of fresh money to claw its way out of crisis.?"
"This was done out of arrogance but mostly just to destroy Tsipras. This was when he called the referendum that he expected to pass but at least he would avoid the political responsibility for such a poison pill."
"Again, a clear analogy with 2009 when Mitch McConnell called the number one objective of the GOP not fixing the economy but 'Making Obama a one term President, a one term proposition.'"
"This is what will end up biting the EU in the you know where. Their unconscionable attempt to depose Greece's duly elected leader was a kind of unpardonable sin that ended the game."
"This fight should be understood primarily as a fight between democrats and Eurocrats-a Eurocrat is someone who views democracy with contempt; the Eurocratic version of democracy is what we will have on Sunday-the 28 EU heads-what this majority thinks is the Eurocrat version of democracy."
In any case, Pritchard seems to have the goods. Varafoukis-the colorful, departing Greek finance minister-linked and quoted a piece he wrote about Syrzia's rise back in December of last year.
"In this powerful, balanced article, published today in conservative UK daily THE TELEGRAPH, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard makes important points on Greece and a prospective SYRIZA administration:"
"Events have rudely exposed the illusion that the Greek people will submit quietly to a decade of colonial treatment and debt servitude… Greece was sacrificed to buy time for the alliance, like the Spartans at Thermopylae. It was subjected to an unworkable economic experiment, in defiance of known economic science and principles. Europe’s leaders have betrayed their a special duty of care to Greece. They may at last have met their match in the ice-cool Mr Tsipras.
"To read the whole article, click here."
http://yanisvaroufakis.eu/2014/12/11/ambrose-evans-pritchard-on-greece-and-the-rise-of-syriza-from-telegraph/
Fundamentally, this has always been a battle of Eurocrats vs. democrats. Things look bleak for avoding a Grexit now and this may be the start of the unwinding of the entire EU. However, if so this may still be for the best as at its core is has been a fundamentally anti-democratic experiment.
Fundamentally, this has always been a battle of Eurocrats vs. democrats. Things look bleak for avoding a Grexit now and this may be the start of the unwinding of the entire EU. However, if so this may still be for the best as at its core is has been a fundamentally anti-democratic experiment.
No comments:
Post a Comment