Greek election - January 25th 2015

[ingemann]

Personally I hope fora a Syriza majority, so that they have the full responsibility for the "re-negotiations" with EU. It's better that there is a clear mandate behind it, and no one else can be blamed for the effects.

[ingemann]

Personally I hope fora a Syriza majority, so that they have the full responsibility for the "re-negotiations" with EU. It's better that there is a clear mandate behind it, and no one else can be blamed for the effects.

Grow up. If the greek people are so bovine as to vote for soggy Euro-communists, then they will both deserve and need to have the colonels back to teach them a lesson.

Nice to have our own little wannabe fascist here. Personal I think people like you who support military dictatorships, only deserve to live in one.

[ingemann]

smh

Please do elaborate on how past Greek governments created a sound footing for the country's economy.

Beezer this is a very complicated issue, but I do agree with SYRIZA that without a stimulus plan that will aim at developing new industries, Greece will never be able to increase its productivity and the debt will always be an issue.  Also the fact that austerity measures have affected the lower and middle income class who are not responsible for the situation the country is in, while the oligarchs who are the true tax evaders are doing just fine, tells us that something was wrong with the current system.

While there's some truth to that, the problem here is that while the process Greece have been through have been and still is painful, they have really gotten a good deal from the rest of EU nad IMF (ask Argentina whether they wanted what Greece got instead of what they got), also you can not increase productivity without hurting people, and when it was as low as the Greek one, it hurts a lot of people. You usual increase productivity by lowering wages, increase the labour supply and lower taxes (impossible in the Greek case). The first two is more or less what Greece have done, while they had to raise taxes because... well people know the story, and I don't really feel like finding the numbers for the real tax percent once more.

[ingemann]

Obviously Greece didn't get as good of a deal as West Germany in 1953. Half their debt cancelled! And for good reason - with the need to repair after the war and commies just to the east. What Tsipras demands is less generous than that.

You know maybe we should burn Greece down to the ground, depopulate Greek Thrace and Macedonia, kill 10% of the population, sending the population of the north to refuge camps in southern Greece, split the rump up in two, push all the plunder most of the surviving industry and all Greek patents, increase the Greek debt several times, when we could maybe talk about it.

Greece is not in the position as FRG was in 1953, and the comparison is deeply dishonest and just serve as a excuse for Greece to continue the deeply irresponsable governance which have resulted in situation they are.

[ingemann]

The only way Greece can have a functional economy is if they focus on raising productivity instead of austerity, which can't happen if bankruptcy is constantly looming. Which is why I made the point that some debt cancellation should be on the table.

Okay so explain to me how you plan to increase Greek productivity, and afterward you may also explain how the Syriza's policies will increase Greek productivity.

[ingemann]

When it comes to reducing unemployment, new spending is justified. With 26% unemployment a large chunk of what should be their tax base is missing. In the long-term spending to boost private sector employment now reduces the debt in the long-term. The previous government hasn't done nearly enough to address that. SYRIZA is generally more trusted when it comes to addressing tax evasion and corruption than the traditional parties. They promise higher taxes and military cuts too so they're not promising money for jobs out of thin air.
Now, I'm not going to defend SYRIZA's platform because it goes further than what I want, but I'm supporting them as an agent of change.

Okay how will you spend the money to increase productivity?

[ingemann]

When it comes to reducing unemployment, new spending is justified. With 26% unemployment a large chunk of what should be their tax base is missing. In the long-term spending to boost private sector employment now reduces the debt in the long-term. The previous government hasn't done nearly enough to address that. SYRIZA is generally more trusted when it comes to addressing tax evasion and corruption than the traditional parties. They promise higher taxes and military cuts too so they're not promising money for jobs out of thin air.
Now, I'm not going to defend SYRIZA's platform because it goes further than what I want, but I'm supporting them as an agent of change.

Okay how will you spend the money to increase productivity?

With the current state of the environment, why would anyone want to do that ?

Because he said that Greece needed to use money to increase productivity, so wanted to know how he would do this.

[ingemann]

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Do what exactly?

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Whichever type of stimulus is the most effective at reducing unemployment, really. I don't have a platform of my own.

Sarcasm: So you suggest death camps for the unemployed?