It is not by me, but it deserves to be read by as many people as possible.
Indeed, entire generations are currently being sacrificed at the altar of ensuring Merkel a smoother election.
This is by George Stathakis, a professor of economics at the University of Crete. The original article, The Greek Issue and the Imagination of German Politicians, is actually in Greek so you may or may not want to follow the link. Here is a translation (thanks to talos at the European Tribune) of the main points.
I would just add that point 4 is true when the said economy is in depression. An economy with a debt problem but in a boom can address it. An economy in depression, with or without a debt problem, needs deficits. Depressingly, we've known that for 80 years at least, but Germany demands that you forget it.
Oh, and please remember points 1 and 3 next time you hear that Germans are sick of picking the tab. Germany has not paid a single euro, on the contrary, they greatly gained (€10 billions already in 2012, estimated to reach around 67 billions from the crisis episode -and that is with the optimistic scenarios in terms of duration of the crisis, that have consistently been met with disappointment when confronted to reality) from the lowering of their interest payments.
Indeed, entire generations are currently being sacrificed at the altar of ensuring Merkel a smoother election.
This is by George Stathakis, a professor of economics at the University of Crete. The original article, The Greek Issue and the Imagination of German Politicians, is actually in Greek so you may or may not want to follow the link. Here is a translation (thanks to talos at the European Tribune) of the main points.
I would just add that point 4 is true when the said economy is in depression. An economy with a debt problem but in a boom can address it. An economy in depression, with or without a debt problem, needs deficits. Depressingly, we've known that for 80 years at least, but Germany demands that you forget it.
Oh, and please remember points 1 and 3 next time you hear that Germans are sick of picking the tab. Germany has not paid a single euro, on the contrary, they greatly gained (€10 billions already in 2012, estimated to reach around 67 billions from the crisis episode -and that is with the optimistic scenarios in terms of duration of the crisis, that have consistently been met with disappointment when confronted to reality) from the lowering of their interest payments.
