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[–] Delusion_of_Adequacy 0 points 5 points (+5|-0) ago 

There are, of course, structural issues involved here as well. Greece didn't get into this bad a shape without some underlying reason. Greece hasn't had a budget surplus since 1973: essentially the governements have been overspending for more than 40 years. This means increased debt, to the point where Greece couldn't possibly meet their payment obligations. That on its own is enough to destroy an economy. Then add the outrageous austerity measures implemented because of EU and Trojka demands, which made everything even worse (if people can't spend money, the economy won't grow. It's a basic economy lesson many politicians seem to have missed).

So yes, Greece has had structural problems for over 4 decades, and something needed to be done. However, the foreignly imposed austerity measures have only aggravated the problem. Greece never should have been allowed to join the Euro until they had their affairs in order, and joining the Euro has meant they gave up sovereignty of their economic policy, which they now so sorely need.

I apologize for any typo's/grammar/weird sentence structure. English isn't my first language and I just got out of bed..