Comments on: Will Greece Break the Euro?

By: CO Independent

CO Independent — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:15:55 +0000

Demographics is destiny. An inverted population pyramid coupled to a welfare state is a financial death sentence. There are insufficient numbers of young, working people in Greece to finance the welfare state supporting retirees. Any attempt to do so would require tax rates so high that nobody will bother to work. Greece is screwed. This is payback for adopting Malthusian social policy and socialist economics.

Next up:
Spain
Italy
Most of Eastern Europe
Japan
Iran
China (circa 2030, as a result of the one-child policy)

Thank God for Hispanic immigration into America or we would be in the same boat.

By: DFL

DFL — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:46:04 +0000

Thank you for the fine analysis, Mr. Linardatos.

By: mlindroo

mlindroo — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:07:07 +0000

By the way, the “As the U.S. contemplates tbig increases in debt” argument is quite interesting since Ronald Reagan and Andreas Papandreou both favored budget deficits… Of course, the U.S. situation did improve in the 1990s once George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Congress decided to raise taxes and in some cases reduce government spending.

IMHO it was a mistake to abandon fiscal responsibility when the War on Terror started. George W. Bush was popular in 2001-03 so he could have called for personal sacrifice, i.e. domestic spending cuts and careful tax increases to pay for the war.

MARCU$

By: SpartacusIsNotDead

SpartacusIsNotDead — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 21:32:55 +0000

“As the U.S. contemplates the introduction of a new entitlement program, big increases in debt and new stifling regulations perhaps it should take a look at the small Mediterranean country, which in many things she considers her precursor. ”

You know, you’re right. The U.S. should reduce its taxes, roll back regulations (particularly financial regulations) and continue to let thousands of its citizens die and tens of thousands go bankrupt each year for lack of health insurance. That way, as proven by the last 8 years, the economy will grow, jobs and incomes will increase, the federal deficit will shrink and all those health-related deaths and bankruptcies will provide the creative destruction that all thriving economies need.

By: mlindroo

mlindroo — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:46:55 +0000

Sinz54 wrote:
> They’re also quite homogeneous societies compared to the U.S.
>How many illegal Hispanic immigrants do THEY have?

That’s a fair point (although some Scandinavian countries do have a huge foreign born population) — but I don’t see what this has to do with Greece, which nowadays has a sizable community of eastern European immigrants but overall is more homogeneous than Scandinavia.

MARCU$

By: Demosthenes

Demosthenes — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:43:16 +0000

Very scary situation. I have been to Greece six times, and the attitudes there are very depressing. The Greeks all think the “Germans” will bail them out, rather than taking responsibility for their own economy. Moreover, this excellent article really understates the outrageous corruption. Everything is for sale in Greece. Regarding the generous social programs, if Greece ran their government like the Scandinavians (little corruption and relatively modest waste), I think Greece would be okay. Of course, given the culture, I suspect only massive lobotomies would accomplish making Greece into a warm weather version of Norway . . .

By: sinz54

sinz54 — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:27:21 +0000

mlindroo:

If you mention Europe, why not cite e.g. Denmark or Finland instead? These are fairly successful economies that have managed to combine a strong public and private sector…

They're also quite homogeneous societies compared to the U.S. How many illegal Hispanic immigrants do THEY have?

By: LFC

LFC — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:49:43 +0000

Greece is one of 27 EU countries. The EU’s GDP was something like $16.5 trillion in 2009. Greece’s GDP was something like $350 billion.

I don’t understand the EU’s rules, but can that small an economy really have that big an impact?

By: mlindroo

mlindroo — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:38:43 +0000

> As the U.S. contemplates the introduction of a new entitlement program,
> big increases in debt and new stifling regulations perhaps it should take a
> look at the small Mediterranean country, which in many things she considers her precursor.

If you mention Europe, why not cite e.g. Denmark or Finland instead?
These are fairly successful economies that have managed to combine a strong public and private sector…

MARCU$