Greek Austerity

150506-greek-austerityLast week Greece defaulted on its debt to the IMF. On Sunday Greek voters said “no” to more austerity from the IMF.

Surging socialist candidate Bernie Sanders applauds the Greeks for rejecting austerity from the Euro ruling class. Economics writer Stephen Moore says Greece needs less socialism and more privitization. The banks are shutting down and withdrawals are restricted. He says what’s happening in Greece is the usual outcome of socialism – economic collapse.

Roger Cohen in the NYT says the euro zone isn’t all that much into democracy anyway: “A vote cannot undo a debt or obscure colossal Greek irresponsibility.”

The IMF had demanded more taxes on Greek businesses. Moore says the country is already overtaxed. His solution is a Detroit style bankruptcy where pensioners and Wall Street investors all take a “haircut”.

Robert Samuelson says the Greek economy accounts for only 1.8% of the euro zone and its collapse might not have much effect on the rest of us. Greece only has a population of 11 million. Hell, we have 94 million out of work.

But this WSJ analysis says if Greece does leave the Eurozone the risk of contagion to more important economies is high.

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