Patterico's Pontifications

5/2/2010

Greece Bailout

Filed under: International — DRJ @ 4:43 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

Euro nations have agreed to a $146B bailout for Greece:

“Euro-region ministers agreed to a 110 billion-euro ($146 billion) rescue package for Greece to prevent a default and stop the worst crisis in the currency’s 11-year history from spreading through the rest of the bloc.

The first payment will be made before Greece’s next bond redemption on May 19, said Jean-Claude Juncker after chairing a meeting of euro-region finance ministers in Brussels yesterday. The 16-nation bloc will pay 80 billion euros at a rate of around 5 percent and the International Monetary Fund contributes the rest. Greece agreed to budget measures worth 13 percent of gross domestic product.

“It’s an ambitious program, it’s austere but it’s absolutely necessary,” Juncker told reporters. European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet, speaking at the same press conference, said Greece’s plan will “help to restore confidence and safeguard financial stability in the euro area.”

Who’s next?

— DRJ

17 Responses to “Greece Bailout”

  1. Sigh.

    nk (db4a41)

  2. As many Greeks live outside Greece as live inside it. But if not for that, where would we find something decent to eat?

    nk (db4a41)

  3. The young people of Greece are not taking kindly to the negotiations which include strict austerity measures in return for the bailout and celebrated May Day with violence and rioting. Greece: A classic cautionary tale.

    Economists regard the bloated civil service with its jobs for life and generous pensions as a cancer consuming the country’s resources. The older generation, the experts grimly concur, turned the state into a giant cash machine to be plundered at will.

    They and other public sector workers are virtually unsackable, can retire as early as 45 and get bonuses for using a computer, speaking a foreign language and arriving at work on time.

    Some of them get as many as four extra months’ salary a year, compared with the 14 months that are paid to other Greek workers. One of the most generous bonuses is paid to unmarried daughters of dead employees in state-controlled banks: they can inherit their parents’ pensions.

    Dana (1e5ad4)

  4. Okay, so the rest of Europe holds out the branch, do the Greeks have the courage to reach out and grab it? Given how effective general strikes seem to be in Europe I don’t give Greece much of a chance of actually meeting these obligations. The government now can say they will but I don’t think the government has the leverage needed to make it stick.

    Soronel Haetir (27507e)

  5. Apparently the EU thinks the Germans have an unlimited supply of money and an unlimited willingness to spend it bailing out their neighbors. I doubt either of those premises is correct.

    DRJ (d43dcd)

  6. I think Ireland may be next on the list – extreme housing bubble (even worse than here regarding the top 20 US markets) and poor economic management.

    Dmac (21311c)

  7. I’ve my doubts that the Greeks actually implement the agreed austerity measures either.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  8. They won’t. They’re gypsies. They won’t work until they’re starving and cannot beg, borrow or steal. All the Greeks with any worth live outside Greece.

    nk (db4a41)

  9. A housing bubble in Ireland???
    Perhaps they can get Sen.Chris Dodd (D-Countrywide, & erstwhile Irish resident) to help them straighten-out this problem – wouldn’t want him to lose any value on his “modest” Irish cottage.

    AD - RtR/OS! (45c403)

  10. This money will only resolve the current crisis. Greece will not need the market for 3 years. After 2014, Greece is getting truely greeked, the nation will be in worse shape as a percentage of debt to GDP.

    Had our leaders allowed bad banks to fail and car companies to go broke we could challenge Greece to default.

    Uncle ben and his printing machines can fix anything.

    Silver, gold, lead, and a safe water source.

    highpockets (8e41b7)

  11. A lesson should be learned. When the entitlements reach a certain point, the house of cards falls. Is anyone paying any attention. Time to pull our heads out or our -ss.

    Jonny B Good (159383)

  12. Actually, I think Ireland is in in a much better position. Yes they are hurting, but they actually seem willing to make the required cuts.

    Soronel Haetir (27507e)

  13. Does Greece have ObamaCare? That’s supposed to reduce deficits I heard somewhere.

    daleyrocks (1d0d98)

  14. the ultimate source of wealth is the land [ food, minerals,lumber,ect.] and the sea [food,minerals,ect.].govt. bureaucrats do not produce any of this real wealth.they do not even add value to these things by processing them eg cotton into cloth,ore into metal items.they supposedly provide services but inefficiently and at high cost.the cost can not exceed the real wealth produced indefinitely or you get greece or cal. or harrisburg,pa.

    clyde (9e51f9)

  15. I read a related article regarding the people’s reactions. The youth are angry at their parents (see US in 20 years), while the union leaders reject any reductions yet offer no solutions other than raising taxes on the wealthy (see US right now).

    Robert C. J. Parry (6fe4b2)

  16. Greece is more comparable to Cuba than the U.S., I think.

    nk (db4a41)

  17. Note that at $146 billion, the Greek bailout is about $13,000 per capita, nearly five times the US “stimulus” and TARP giveaways.

    MTGlass (cc84d4)


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