News Stories

[Mentar]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

Yeah, well, if they default on their debts, we'll feel it more than if just Greece does.

Very true. However, that's what I meant with "deal with it themselves". Defaulting to me is "giving up dealing with it".

[aohige]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Another source of tensions between North Korea and China

Was like, ASKING for food just simply out of question as the first course of action?
I mean sure there's language barrier, but I can guarantee I could express my hunger and need for food to someone who only speaks Klingon with just gestures.

[AmeNoJaku]

California still uses dollars, despite defaulting on its debts, and regardless of currency still suffers the same structural issues that caused it to default.

Now on SYRIZA, it is not a communist party, its promised policies are more moderate than Sweden's back in the '70s. The same applies to parties calling themselves communist, like the Japanese. Many people also delibirately confuse stalinism, maoism, trotskism, with eurocommunism, the radical left and the progressive left. All accept the criticism of capitalism from Marx, among others, but offer very different economic and social models as alternatives.

As for the SNP the policies it has implemented are to the left of labour, and more radical than what SYRIZA promised, while in country part of an even stricter union, dominated by conservatives more ruthless than their German counterparts.

Finally, the European Union is the Germany ruled by conservatives. Even there the sizeable left wing of the Social-Democrats, the Greens and the Left were celebrating for the radical left election win in Greece and share most of their policies. In the European Parliament, which is the only supernational democratic institution within the EU, SYRIZA has a lot of support, but not yet a majority, thanks to the so called eurosceptics, that currently dominate it and oppose the left's policies of political integration.

[Ithekro]

California is also the most populous state in the Union with a sizable economy. Last I checked California has something like 12% of the countries population out of the 50 states.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by aohige

Was like, ASKING for food just simply out of question as the first course of action?
I mean sure there's language barrier, but I can guarantee I could express my hunger and need for food to someone who only speaks Klingon with just gestures.

I think the Klingon would have eaten or shot you first before feeding you.

Dutch Hacker Terrorist Takes Over TV News Channel

We live in interesting times.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by aohige

Was like, ASKING for food just simply out of question as the first course of action?
I mean sure there's language barrier, but I can guarantee I could express my hunger and need for food to someone who only speaks Klingon with just gestures.

The article mentions that many of the people living along the border are ethnic Koreans and have often shared their food with people crossing over. I'd guess some of them also speak the language.

Until recently, North Koreans scavenging for food have been treated kindly. Many of the Chinese along the border are ethnic Koreans who have been happy to give grain and meat, a luxury in North Korea, to the intruders, who then quietly returned home.

From the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, about 20,000 to 30,000 defectors settled in the Chinese provinces bordering North Korea, and they, too, have caused little disturbance.

[Mentar]

Originally Posted by AmeNoJaku

Now on SYRIZA, it is not a communist party, its promised policies are more moderate than Sweden's back in the '70s.

Well, it's only been a few days, but "promised policies" makes me chuckle already. Judging parties by general election manifesto is... let's just say "risky".

For example, Syriza promised to end nepotism and to make sure that the old elites (e.g. shipbuilding owners who are widely exempt from taxation) are tackled. What does Tsipras do on the very evening of his election victory? Forming a coalition with an ideologically totally incompatible right-wing xenophobe party with best connections to the old elite. Straaaange.

Let's give him the first 100 days to get set and start working, but the beginning was hardly encouraging.

As for the SNP the policies it has implemented are to the left of labour, and more radical than what SYRIZA promised, while in country part of an even stricter union, dominated by conservatives more ruthless than their German counterparts.

Er... what? What policies "left of labour" are you referring to? And I wonder what "ruthless German conservatives" you are talking about. What's so ruthless about them? Trying to balance the budget?

Finally, the European Union is the Germany ruled by conservatives.

Okay, let's talk about Germany first. It isn't ruled by conservatives, it has a centrist government. Merkel is no conservative. The majority party CDU (christdemocratic union) is very mildly conservative. The minority party in the coalition SPD (social democrats) are very mildly left. There is a vast and wide-spanning social-political consensus throughout Germany about most issues, so distinctions blur. What Germany almost does not have anymore are neoliberal hawks, they mostly went under with the demise of the FDP.

Even there the sizeable left wing of the Social-Democrats, the Greens and the Left were celebrating for the radical left election win in Greece and share most of their policies.

In your wet dreams, maybe. Vice chancellor Gabriel (SPD), Cem Özdemir (Greens) all have tempered their congratulations with remarks that Syriza should heed their obligations. Martin Schulz (left wing SPD, EU parliament president) was absolutely p*ssed at Syriza's behavior and made his annoyance clear.

No. The election victory was universally cheered by the Linke (Socialists), even though they were taken aback by Tsipras' choice of coalition partner. There _is_ a left wing in Germany who are exhilarated by Syriza's victory, but the vast political majority in Germany does not support it. Maybe 10% of the population, tops.

In the European Parliament, which is the only supernational democratic institution within the EU, SYRIZA has a lot of support, but not yet a majority, thanks to the so called eurosceptics, that currently dominate it and oppose the left's policies of political integration.

Er, no. Sorry

By far the biggest factions in the EP (751 MP) are the EVP (christian democrats, 220 MP) and S&D (social democrats, 191 MP), Liberals (ALDE, 67 MP) and the various Greens (GUE–NGL, EGP/EFA, 102 MP) - all staunchly pro-Europe. The Euroskeptics are (EKR, 71 MP) and Farage's (EFDD, 48 MP).

Sure there is some support for less austerity throughout many factions, but simply assuming that they would be SYRIZA-supporters is absurd. And the Euroskeptics don't dominate ANYTHING, they hold between 100 and 150 out of 751 seats (exact number unclear since many faction-less MPs cannot be clearly assigned). They primarily impress by missing in the parliament and pocketing money the most - exactly what they so decry about Europe.

No, the dominating block in the EP are the christian democrats, social democrats, liberals and greens, who are pro-Europe and fairly inter-cooperative.

[ganbaru]

Russian central bank makes surprise interest rate cut
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...0L311Q20150130

U.S. homeownership hits 20-year low, but new households growing
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...0L21UT20150129

Italy lawmakers fail again to elect a new president
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...0L30YQ20150130

[AmeNoJaku]

Originally Posted by Mentar

Well, it's only been a few days, but "promised policies" makes me chuckle already. Judging parties by general election manifesto is... let's just say "risky".

And that's the reason I added promised in policies.

Originally Posted by Mentar

For example, Syriza promised to end nepotism and to make sure that the old elites (e.g. shipbuilding owners who are widely exempt from taxation) are tackled. What does Tsipras do on the very evening of his election victory? Forming a coalition with an ideologically totally incompatible right-wing xenophobe party with best connections to the old elite. Straaaange.

The junior coalition partner doesn't control any ministries related to the financial policies, and given their past, I doubt that they have both the will and power to enforce their agenda.

Originally Posted by Mentar

Let's give him the first 100 days to get set and start working, but the beginning was hardly encouraging.

I agree with the first part, as for the second it is a matter of perspective. Should one support the insane unemployment percentages, rampant corruption and widening the GDP-to-debt ratio, which were the objectives past five years, that turned a very bad situation for Greece into an utter disaster, then yes, fixing these wouldn't seem encouraging.

Originally Posted by Mentar

Er... what? What policies "left of labour" are you referring to?

Unilateral nuclear disarmament, progressive personal taxation, building of affordable social housing, free higher education, opposition to the building of new nuclear power plants, investment in renewable energy, increased funds for public health.

Originally Posted by Mentar

And I wonder what "ruthless German conservatives" you are talking about. What's so ruthless about them? Trying to balance the budget?

Yes, by keeping wages stable, while profits increase; abusing immigrants to keep education/ health/ pension/ wages low, lowering taxes on huge wealth, not letting employees of their companies to stand on trial for corruption abroad, even within the EU. And the reward for all these is a balanced budget in Germany. These policies were enforced in Greece to, and obviously the country is far worse now than five years ago, but hey it has a balanced budget, let's rejoice.

Originally Posted by Mentar

Okay, let's talk about Germany first. It isn't ruled by conservatives, it has a centrist government. Merkel is no conservative. The majority party CDU (christdemocratic union) is very mildly conservative. The minority party in the coalition SPD (social democrats) are very mildly left. There is a vast and wide-spanning social-political consensus throughout Germany about most issues, so distinctions blur. What Germany almost does not have anymore are neoliberal hawks, they mostly went under with the demise of the FDP.

Above I mentioned a few examples of what policies Germany has followed and enforced across the EU. They are financially conservative. Of course you also have even more extreme factions within all three parties.

Originally Posted by Mentar

In your wet dreams, maybe. Vice chancellor Gabriel (SPD), Cem Özdemir (Greens) all have tempered their congratulations with remarks that Syriza should heed their obligations. Martin Schulz (left wing SPD, EU parliament president) was absolutely p*ssed at Syriza's behavior and made his annoyance clear.

No. The election victory was universally cheered by the Linke (Socialists), even though they were taken aback by Tsipras' choice of coalition partner. There _is_ a left wing in Germany who are exhilarated by Syriza's victory, but the vast political majority in Germany does not support it. Maybe 10% of the population, tops.

Don't be afraid to write that Die Linke is the continuation of the old Stalinist Party of East Germany with the addition of the tiny left wing of the Social Democratic Party 10 years ago. And both they and the Greens mentioned that the ECB program needs to be renegotiated on the basis of the new Greek government's policies.

As for Schulz, he was pissed off with the Russian sanctions fiasco, not the financial policies of the new government. Now that aspect of the new government is problematic, since all conservatives in the eurozone will put as much pressure as possible to make it fail to terrorise voters in other countries. Spanish conservatives say this openly, since they are the next in line to lose power.

Originally Posted by Mentar

Er, no. Sorry

By far the biggest factions in the EP (751 MP) are the EVP (christian democrats, 220 MP) and S&D (social democrats, 191 MP), Liberals (ALDE, 67 MP) and the various Greens (GUE–NGL, EGP/EFA, 102 MP) - all staunchly pro-Europe. The Euroskeptics are (EKR, 71 MP) and Farage's (EFDD, 48 MP).

Sure there is some support for less austerity throughout many factions, but simply assuming that they would be SYRIZA-supporters is absurd. And the Euroskeptics don't dominate ANYTHING, they hold between 100 and 150 out of 751 seats (exact number unclear since many faction-less MPs cannot be clearly assigned). They primarily impress by missing in the parliament and pocketing money the most - exactly what they so decry about Europe.

No, the dominating block in the EP are the christian democrats, social democrats, liberals and greens, who are pro-Europe and fairly inter-cooperative.

As I mentioned earlier, that is the perfect example of conservative perspective. Equating the EU with what the current German fiscal policies, that perpetuate if not worsening the financial crisis. EU has existed before that and I hope these policies won't destroy it. IMHO SYRIZA, Podemos, and all the parties I mentioned in my original post are not the solution, but are far better then what we have now.

[Lefteris_D]

Earlier today the meeting between Jeroen Dijsselbloem (president of the Eurogoup) and Varoufakis took place. I have no words to describe what I saw in front of the cameras after the meeting...... wow.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by Mentar

What does Tsipras do on the very evening of his election victory? Forming a coalition with an ideologically totally incompatible right-wing xenophobe party with best connections to the old elite. Straaaange.

It might be an example of William Riker's "size principle" based on game theory. In essence the theory predicts that only "minimal winning" coalitions will form, so that the spoils of victory will be spread across the smallest number of coalition members. ANEL and PASOK won the smallest number of seats, thirteen, but adding either party to the coalition created a majority for SYRIZA.

The applicability of the size principle has been debated over the fifty years since Riker first proposed it, in particular whether ideological orientation should influence the predictions. The evidence is mixed.

[Utsuro no Hako]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

It might be an example of William Riker's "size principle" based on game theory.

Poor Wesley was in tears for days after Riker explained the Size Principle to him.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by aohige

Was like, ASKING for food just simply out of question as the first course of action?
I mean sure there's language barrier, but I can guarantee I could express my hunger and need for food to someone who only speaks Klingon with just gestures.

There is no language barrier. The population that live in that area is a chinese/korean mix and most speak korean as a 2nd language. the guy never even ask, he just went in and killed that family.

i am going to give it 2 more political generation before China kick NK to the curb.

[Mentar]

Originally Posted by AmeNoJaku

The junior coalition partner doesn't control any ministries related to the financial policies, and given their past, I doubt that they have both the will and power to enforce their agenda.

And you don't think that picking a coalition partner with strong links to the old elites won't hamper efforts to break their nepotism? You don't think that inviting a shipbuilder to the coalition table won't have effect on making shipwrights pay taxes? Really?

Or are you saying here that you doubt that Tsipras will have the power to do that? I _must_ misunderstand you here. Please tell me I do.

I agree with the first part, as for the second it is a matter of perspective. Should one support the insane unemployment percentages, rampant corruption and widening the GDP-to-debt ratio, which were the objectives past five years, that turned a very bad situation for Greece into an utter disaster, then yes, fixing these wouldn't seem encouraging.

But you can't fix insane unemployment percentages by hiring thousands over thousands of unproductive state clerks. At least in the world I live in.

From the "other" side of Europe, I held hope that Syriza would at least try to crack down on corruption and waste. THIS is what really ails Greece. If they can get these holes plugged, things will improve for them, AND this is something they can do on their own.

Unilateral nuclear disarmament, progressive personal taxation, building of affordable social housing, free higher education, opposition to the building of new nuclear power plants, investment in renewable energy, increased funds for public health.

Amazing. All of that have been German policies for years, fully supported and in most cases implemented by German conservatives. If that is left of Labour, then German conservativism is de-facto less of Labor. Oookaaayy...

Yes, by keeping wages stable, while profits increase; [...]

The German government has no influence on that, the wages are negotiated between employers and employees. What may be unknown to you is that in Germany there tends to be a quick consensus between most employers and their respective unions. Strikes are usually rare and short. The unions agreed moderate wage increases (usually only barely above inflation rate) in return for employment guarantees.

So, you can't blame this on conservatives. That's a joint decision of left and right.

... abusing immigrants to keep education/ health/ pension/ wages low

What? "Abusing"? Germany allows immigration, and if those immigrants find work here, what's not to like about this? The government doesn't employ, the free market does. The EU treaty forbids us to deny EU citizens access anyway, so why should we?

Germany has free education, universal health care and high, state-guaranteed pensions. Immigration has no effect on that.

... lowering taxes on huge wealth ...

Not true. The latest tax cuts have been tuned so that the lower incomes are disproportionally favored.

... not letting employees of their companies to stand on trial for corruption abroad, even within the EU.

Partially true. No punishment without law, and bribery in many other countries is not automatically illegal.

Now compare this faulty list with the number of _real_ German policies which you attributed to the Scottish Nationalist Party. So German conservativism is left of Labor. Awesome

And the reward for all these is a balanced budget in Germany. These policies were enforced in Greece to, and obviously the country is far worse now than five years ago, but hey it has a balanced budget, let's rejoice.

Greece has no balanced budget, it had a slight surplus prior to debt service (possibly - Greek statistics are always...). I do believe however that in order to find a LASTING solution for unemployment and poverty, Greece needs to reform itself. A leaky bucket needs FIXING, not constant pouring of water via garden hose. Tax the super-rich and get at least half of the tax evaders to stop this sh*t, and Greece would have almost no budget problems anymore. Seriously, I'm not kidding.

Above I mentioned a few examples of what policies Germany has followed and enforced across the EU.

Not true. First of all, that wasn't Germany, it was a joint decision of EU countries. And no, we did NOT tell Greece what to do specifically, that was what GREECE THEMSELVES offered to do in return for bailout money. Bluntly put, the EU couldn't care less if you closed your budget gap by firing people or by convincing them to pay taxes. That's all up to Greece.

Don't be afraid to write that Die Linke is the continuation of the old Stalinist Party of East Germany with the addition of the tiny left wing of the Social Democratic Party 10 years ago. And both they and the Greens mentioned that the ECB program needs to be renegotiated on the basis of the new Greek government's policies.

Some Greens, not all of them, no. And you might be surprised, but I'm fine with Die Linke. I would never vote for them, but they still are a democratic party and should be respected as such.

As for Schulz, he was pissed off with the Russian sanctions fiasco, not the financial policies of the new government.

Wrong. Read up on it. He insists that Greece upholds the promises that the former Greek government made.

Now that aspect of the new government is problematic, since all conservatives in the eurozone will put as much pressure as possible to make it fail to terrorise voters in other countries. Spanish conservatives say this openly, since they are the next in line to lose power.

I suspect that once Spain elections come around, Syriza will have successfully ruined Greece enough. That's the "terror" I foresee.

As I mentioned earlier, that is the perfect example of conservative perspective. Equating the EU with what the current German fiscal policies, that perpetuate if not worsening the financial crisis. EU has existed before that and I hope these policies won't destroy it. IMHO SYRIZA, Podemos, and all the parties I mentioned in my original post are not the solution, but are far better then what we have now.

We can certainly debate whether less "austerity" might be beneficial now, and what results it would have had in the past - it's a complex issue. And I respect your view that SYRIZA, Podemos might be better, even though I disagree. We'll have to see.

Originally Posted by Lefteris_D

Earlier today the meeting between Jeroen Dijsselbloem (president of the Eurogoup) and Varoufakis took place. I have no words to describe what I saw in front of the cameras after the meeting...... wow.

It's amazing, really. From a neutral standpoint of a professional negotiator, what Varoufakis is doing here is insane. You cannot kick the same group out on the street that you want not only debt relief from, but to borrow you even new money. It would only make sense if he WANTED the talks to fail, and he WANTS to default Greece out of Europe.

No, I suspect that this is simply some more posturing. SYRIZA wants to p*ss on the hated Troika's feet because "that's what they promised to their voters". Just like they promised them to stay in the Eurozone. Unfortunately, acting like this, these promises are mutually exclusive.

This is juvenile politics from juvenile politicians for juvenile voters. Tomorrow I'll see my Syriza friend again. I'm curious what he will think. I expect him to feel very queasy.

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

It might be an example of William Riker's "size principle" based on game theory. In essence the theory predicts that only "minimal winning" coalitions will form, so that the spoils of victory will be spread across the smallest number of coalition members. ANEL and PASOK won the smallest number of seats, thirteen, but adding either party to the coalition created a majority for SYRIZA.

The applicability of the size principle has been debated over the fifty years since Riker first proposed it, in particular whether ideological orientation should influence the predictions. The evidence is mixed.

Sure. But I may raise the question if he shouldn't rather have chosen the coalition partners who share his primary goals? If so, then the conclusion can only be that he prioritizes blowing off Europe and especially Germany over achieving internal reform.

[AmeNoJaku]

@Newsweek: Will Syriza’s Victory in Greece Mean Easing Austerity?

...

2. Ultimately, Wolfgang Schauble poses a greater threat to the eurozone than Alexis Tsipras.

In the coming weeks, Alexis Tsipras will be identified as the cause of the eurozone’s troubles. However, for five years, Wolfgang Schauble, the German finance minister (and with the full support of Chancellor Angela Merkel), has imposed German economic orthodoxy on the eurozone—including austerity, structural reform in the periphery (although not in his own country), support for a contractionary monetary policy and the nationalization of banking debt.

The southern countries elected mainstream parties on a platform of changing this approach and he gave them virtually nothing. One by one, they are being discredited and populist hard-line parties are benefiting—Syriza, Podemos in Spain, Sinn Féin in Ireland and Front Nationale in France.

In the weeks to come, the German government will protest the irresponsibility of Syriza, but it is important to remember that they trampled over better partners when they had the chance.

...

But unfortunately, many prefer the populist rhetoric from the conservative parties, failing to realize that Greece is the symptom of the fiscal policies Germany has imposed across Europe.

Originally Posted by Mentar

And you don't think that picking a coalition partner with strong links to the old elites won't hamper efforts to break their nepotism? You don't think that inviting a shipbuilder to the coalition table won't have effect on making shipwrights pay taxes? Really?

Have you considered the alternatives? Potami has very strong connections to all the media magnets, PASOK and ND were ruling, and then there is the Stalinist and the Neo-Nazi parties... Pick a better one for them

Originally Posted by Mentar

But you can't fix insane unemployment percentages by hiring thousands over thousands of unproductive state clerks. At least in the world I live in.

Despite popular belief, Greece never had a large public sector compared to other European, rather it was large compared to its own private, which also has worsened the past five years. The main problem the Greek public sector has, is that it is inefficient for several reasons, including...

Originally Posted by Mentar

From the "other" side of Europe, I held hope that Syriza would at least try to crack down on corruption and waste. THIS is what really ails Greece. If they can get these holes plugged, things will improve for them, AND this is something they can do on their own.

I hope in that too, and have mentioned it several times in the previous posts. The problem is that this will be impossible under the pressure from current German government and the markets. Also the program enforced over the past five years ignored these problems completely.

Originally Posted by Mentar

Amazing. All of that have been German policies for years, fully supported and in most cases implemented by German conservatives. If that is left of Labour, then German conservativism is de-facto less of Labor. Oookaaayy...

There must be another Germany then, where I started a free-of-charge university and finished it having to pay each semester. Just one example

Originally Posted by Mentar

What? "Abusing"? Germany allows immigration, and if those immigrants find work here, what's not to like about this? The government doesn't employ, the free market does. The EU treaty forbids us to deny EU citizens access anyway, so why should we?

You misunderstand my point. Germany has all these, because it allows immigration. Immigrants on average are cheaper, are already educated, contribute equally with natives to taxes and is easy and popular to ship away when they are no more useful.

Originally Posted by Mentar

Germany has free education, universal health care and high, state-guaranteed pensions. Immigration has no effect on that.

Universal healcare that used to cost 15 euros to see a GP a few years back when Merkel first became chancellor. If this has change, good for you. As for the pensions, at an age that half the contributors would have died.

Originally Posted by Mentar

Not true. The latest tax cuts have been tuned so that the lower incomes are disproportionally favored.

I remember 42% for 50-250k soaring to the unimaginable 45% for the 250+k

Originally Posted by Mentar

I do believe however that in order to find a LASTING solution for unemployment and poverty, Greece needs to reform itself. A leaky bucket needs FIXING, not constant pouring of water via garden hose. Tax the super-rich and get at least half of the tax evaders to stop this sh*t, and Greece would have almost no budget problems anymore. Seriously, I'm not kidding.

Don't copy/paste the program of the new Greek government, that has angered the German government along with every conservative across Europe.

[Mentar]

Originally Posted by AmeNoJaku

There must be another Germany then, where I started a free-of-charge university and finished it having to pay each semester. Just one example

Bad example. Like I said, university education is _free_ (as long as you pass the high admission school exam, Abitur). Look here, and be aware that "keine" means "none".

For a few years, you had to pay a cover charge of a few hundred Euros per semester (to dissuade long-term pseudo-students), but it was abolished again. And it usually included stuff like free use of public transportation and the likes.

Sorry man, your view of Germany is completely warped.

You misunderstand my point. Germany has all these, because it allows immigration. Immigrants on average are cheaper, are already educated, contribute equally with natives to taxes and is easy and popular to ship away when they are no more useful.

What kind of BS is that? When did Germany ever "ship anyone away when they were no more useful"? If people immigrate to Germany to work here, they are welcome. If you have a problem with that, you seriously need to check your moral compass.

Universal healcare that used to cost 15 euros to see a GP a few years back when Merkel first became chancellor.

10 Euro, and only once for the first visit in a quarter. This was a reasonable method of discouraging that the same person didn't hop to a dozen doctors until he got what he wanted.

If this has change, good for you.

It has, under Merkel. It was abolished because it did cause too much bureaucratic overhead, and because the public health insurers had too much of a surplus. I tell you, these German conservatives are monsters.

As for the pensions, at an age that half the contributors would have died.

Current entry age for pensions is 67. You can opt-out earlier when you have paid into the public pension funds for enough years, or if you accept a reduction of payouts. So in your world, half of the people die before 67?

Aren't you embarrassed when you do that?

My goodness.

[AmeNoJaku]

Originally Posted by Mentar

...

Since I didn't have time to address all the points from your previous post, I don't see the point of trying again, also since...

You believe Germany to be a social paradise created by Merkel that does everything everything correct, and must dictate to everyone else what to do. This was the case for the majority of Germans during another historical period, and we know very well how that turned out.

Back on Greece, things are not that complicated. Before austerity the situation was bad, after 5 years of austerity it is an utter disaster (the debt continues to increase at the same rate as before, the economy shrunk by a quarter, hence the dept-to-GDP doubled, unemployment tripled, wages halved, corruption increased).

[SaintessHeart]

China Trumps U.S. for Foreign Investment

[AmeNoJaku]

Merkel's Unintended Creation: Could Tsipras' Win Upset Balance of Power in Europe?

I will also pick up the german print version with cover title: "The Phantom Driver: Alexis Tsipras Europe's Nightmare"

I find it fascinating how different they international and german versions sound.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by AmeNoJaku

Since I didn't have time to address all the points from your previous post, I don't see the point of trying again, also since...

You believe Germany to be a social paradise created by Merkel that does everything everything correct, and must dictate to everyone else what to do. This was the case for the majority of Germans during another historical period, and we know very well how that turned out.

You have "no time" to use actual arguments, so you pull a Godwin? Classy.

Back on Greece, things are not that complicated. Before austerity the situation was bad, after 5 years of austerity it is an utter disaster (the debt continues to increase at the same rate as before, the economy shrunk by a quarter, hence the dept-to-GDP doubled, unemployment tripled, wages halved, corruption increased).

Austerity may be bad, but how are they going to pay for anything else? How are they going to pay for anything? That's what it comes down to.

Nobody's putting a gun to Greece's head. They're just doing what they should have done before the crisis: telling them that if they want to borrow more money, they've got to pull their shit together. Don't they love to say their debts are the lender's fault for not paying enough attention to how much Greece could repay. Well, they're paying attention now, aren't they?