Yesterday Strikes Back - Populism begets factionalism in Greece

Quote : It is not surprising that PASOK and, to a lesser extent, New Democracy paid the price for the austerity program, but such a large drop in their support was not expected. Now the time has come to test the theories of those who believe that Greece can set terms to our creditors and that we can make it on our own if our creditors pull out. This mindset has its roots in the behavior of Andreas Papandreou, who founded PASOK and dominated Greek politics in the 1980s. This populism has shaped our public debate since then. Now PASOK and New Democracy are its victims: although they exploited populism shamelessly, they were defenseless against it when others turned it on them.

Ominous news out of Greece, where the voters have elected a highly factional new government. A strong coalition seems unlikely, except on the matter of withdrawal from the EZ.

Did the exploitation of populism by previous governments really lead to this end, or can external forces bear more of the blame?

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi...012_440908

Will be interesting to watch how this one plays out.

Quote from burninator : A strong coalition seems unlikely, except on the matter of withdrawal from the EZ.

Well, at least the most important thing will be done. Viva la Greece!

coming to a state near you?

Hopefully we won't run out of torches and pitchforks ....

Just know that Greece partial downfall and economic collapse was thanks to a American runned corporation named Goldman Sachs...

Quote from Deusxmachina : Well, at least the most important thing will be done. Viva la Greece!

I'd think the most important thing would be not only planning an exit, but planning how and when to re-establish the drachma. There's a considerable amount of debt to be unwound.

Greece is toast in the short run.

-People will shy from its bonds
-External parties will shy from investing in Greece
-The comfort people have had (work week, generous pensions, generous days off), all funded by debt, will not return (even though people did not always use the benefits, the fact the benefit exist adds a cost structure to employers)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17155304

Sure Greeks work more, but the gov also provided a crap load more services per capita than other countries w/o having a tax base or population base to cover it. The Greeks are also much less efficient in work (mostly due to technology investment), and this increases the cost of manufacturing and agriculture. Add to that the gov employed 1/3 of the population, and many private employers were 100% dependent on gov contracts for work.

Your average Greek didn't do anything wrong. The Gov screwed it all up

I don't think I will be going to Greece anytime soon.

7% of the vote [theblaze.com]picked up by the Greek equivalent of the Nazi's...not good. I've seen it listed as high as 20% in some articles...not sure which is more accurate at this time.