Garbatellamike

keep living the dream Eric - it isn't going to happen like that.

For starters, the Italians are never going to side with Syrizia. The PM's comment on the Greek election result was:
And with the greatest of respect, I have to say I think I may have a better idea of what the Italian government is likely to go than you do.

Interestingly this morning I had a coffee with a diplomat from a small western european country, which is in the Eurozone btw, and who has just returned from 2 weeks in Athens and he told me that Varoufakis is someone with whom the Eurozone could deal as he is highly intelligent and understands all the issues and the tensions; however, he also told me Varoufakis is actually answerable to some "old communists" (stress his words not mine) who keep refusing him permission to make the compromises he knows he needs to make and has actually negotiated in good faith - this he said was the reason that Varoufakis appears to be so erratic and explains the constant U-turns after meetings with a concomitant complete loss of trust in Greece by the other 18 finance ministers.

It was educational to hear it from someone who has been on the ground recently as I thought Varoufakis was a complete muppet and it appears I have been doing him a disservice! Sorry Mr V!

EMR

The German government has overwhelmingly voted for the extension of Greek debt.
It was apparently the largest majority in any EU related vote.
The euro responded by gaining a little ground against the £ and $.

Garbatellamike

Yes indeed. the German centre-left voted 100% in favour and centre-right had 22 dissenters and a handful of abstainers.

The Germans may not trust Greece but they aren't stupid either and can see what needs to be done.

The bailout kicks the proverbial can down the road for 4 months during which time we can only hope that they find a resolution to the intransigence from both sides and that common sense will eventually trump political nonsense and extreme ideology.

bigglesworth

Used to be "Timeo Danaos et dona ferentis"

Nowadays "Timeo Danaos et dona ferentis (et porcos fugiens)"

Garbatellamike

yep

Red Eric

So the down-market politically biased tabloid trumps the completely apolitical Murdoch spin-off business and financial markets website for accuracy.
Including the political ideology known as neoliberalism long practised in the Eurozone and elsewhere, which has caused the current situation?


Portugal definitely is not extracting itself from the mess - it's far deeper in it than it was 4 years ago. There is no chance of the debt ever being repaid at the current rate and all sorts of problems are being currently bottled up for the future. Not to mention the chaos that has reigned during the past few months in the Justice and Education Ministries, to name but two. And the Health Service where entire teams of doctors or administrators find themselves so compromised they resign en masse (a disturbingly frequent occurrence).

You're right that there isn't support for extreme parties here but there is a yawning gulf between the current government and the Socialists (even though they're not particularly left-wing). For starters, they'd never have a finance minister pleading with Schauble to be hard with the Greeks or disrupting a meeting to to try to prevent the Eurogroup reaching a proper consensus (as happened last week when she joined forces with the Spanish delegate).

A Socialist victory or a Socialist-led coalition will by no means yield a government much like the one it replaces - either at home or abroad. Costa is most definitely anti-austerity - he's practised contra-cyclical policies in Lisbon as much as has been allowed. What he says on debt renegotiation is that it isn't the necessary and only solution - which obviously doesn't mean thet he is opposed to it (as are the current incumbents, who are transfixed with paying everything in full and on time, no matter what the human cost or ongoing damage caused to the economy).

EMR

I found the article by Hugo Coelho. Life after the Troika a very interesting read.
It paints a different picture of the state of affairs in Portugal than that found in the local English Press which goes out of its way to denigrate Portugal and the Portuguese.
The option of Portugal following the example of Ireland is worth considering even if unlikely.
I do not expect to see any changes in the day to day life in Portugal.
It is one of the few Eurozone countries that is showing any signs of growth stuttering as it may be.
Tourism which accounts for around 15% of the economy is growing year on year.
Banks are now lending as can be seen not just in the rise in property sales but even in the domestic market with items such as new cars.
Portugal is as far from Greece economically as it is geographically.

Garbatellamike

comments in red

InVinoVeritas

Hey guys this is supposed to be a forum - not Mike in the red corner versus Mike in the bluecorner

Red Eric

Quite right IVV - apologies for my part in that. I have tried not to use political ideolgies in themselves part of the debate on this thread in previous posts but I'm getting a bit tired of reading that a government that wants to tackle some of the worst injustices in its society is "extreme" and "loony" - they're lazy labels and we should be judging the new government by its words and actions rather than preconceptions.

EMR

True, but all we have heard from the new government is Greece is words and accepting the latest conditions from the EU/ECB etc.
They have done nothing and on the street interviews with Greeks that I have seen on the news suggests that Greeks really do not expect radical change from then
Was the election more of a plague on all your houses reaction from the Greek electorate than a realsitic expectation of any positive changes.

bigglesworth

"a government that wants to tackle some of the worst injustices in its society"

But this of course is not a lazy label.

Red Eric

No, it's not.

Social justice is a widely used and very well understood term which encapsulates a range of concepts in a simple phrase.

Loony, on the other hand, is a pejorative term used to disparage, ridicule and demonise people, organisations or ideas (and of course, most famously used by the British press to vilify left wing politics).

Red Eric

They have been frantically busy since taking office - obviously under the circumstances the very first thing they had to do was get a loan agreement, which they have done under intense pressure. Without that they couldn't move on. The next phase is putting draft legislation to the vote in parliament and implementing it, which is scheduled to start next week.

These things take time and I'm sure the Greek people understand that but of course there will be positive changes. Radical, even - it'll be a radical change when people who currently have no income at all get access to some basic welfare and healthcare. The approval ratings for the government are enormous.

EMR

[QUOTE=Red Eric;11579762]They have been frantically busy since taking office - obviously under the circumstances the very first thing they had to do was get a loan agreement, which they have done under intense pressure. Without that they couldn't move on. The next phase is putting draft legislation to the vote in parliament and implementing it, which is scheduled to start next week.

These things take time and I'm sure the Greek people understand that but of course there will be positive changes. Radical, even - it'll be a radical change when people who currently have no income at all get access to some basic welfare and healthcare. The approval ratings for the government are enormous.[/QUO


TE]

Without the approval and additional loans from the EU how will he be able to do anything.

He is in the same position as the previous government.