– it would be a legal minefield. If I have a contract to be paid Euros, then will that be enforcable if one side is Greek?

– assuming?

There's a context to this. the last time the?

"The US dollar was a load of bollocks from day one, you can't have?

Isn't that what is happening in NZ at this time? Hugely different in scale but the same in principle?

James has a point, and there is every indication that the architects of?

That?s about labour productivity. German workers are much more productive than Greek workers, so they earn more, so they work less.

The US dollar was a load of bollocks from day one, you can?t have?

Why yes Ian, yes it is. And NZ (aka idiots inc.) just voted in the guy who promised to not only keep it up but cut deeper and make us even?

It's more that they don't work at the same jobs. And needless to say, but I'm going to say it anyway, having a lower productivity doesn't make you lazy?

But this ... conveniently overlooks the imbalances that this conduct causes elsewhere in the system, as well as that the strategy works ? to a point ? precisely because of these imbalances.

Unfortunately that point to which?

Thank you.

We Greeks are not blameless; heck, I'll go ahead and say that we brought this crap on ourselves, by over-borrowing for decades, electing politicians who never even tried to explain finance to the population instead opting again and again for borrowing?

I could not find the open letter on his page or on interest.co.nz. Probably did not know what I was looking for...

Ouch.

I didn?t even know there was a term ?optimal currency area? until a year ago, but even I know that this is silly. The US has a federal government.?

Ten Surprising Facts About the Greek Economy is quite ? surprising.

These two:

Fact #7. When you add private debt, Greece?s overall indebtedness is low in Europe. Everyone knows that Greece?s problem is debt. But it is, in fact, public?

Nationalistic pus? Germany's largest tabloid suggesting Germans?

China, Brazil and India are possibilities, but even an Italian communist might balk at the counter-intuitiveness of having some peasent in the Amazonian rainforest pay more tax so a Greek?

Bonus points – NZ, thank goodness we don't have any banks.

Especially when it's not your austerity, of course...

Edit: umm yeah, what Stewart said too...

Indeed. And, er, wow.

The degree to which shit is fucked up is really quite hard to grasp.

It's an option that is very much worth considering. You don't present any reasonable argument why not.

It could also work here. Big hat?

Are we allowed to start calling this a depression yet? It's quite an important psychological boundary, because it suddenly unlocks solutions that have been considered impossible since...well, the last depression. It's also very fucking important to?

Sure, there are jokes about towns in Greece who have the highest per-capita rate of?

The Germans really don't like it, their existential beliefs equate high inflation with very very bad things happening.

Yes, it is. Their economy went to shit because of the incredibly harsh Versailles terms that?

Exactly.

I might have to ask you to take it up – in a non-belligerent fashion – with the papers I cite in my article (which were two of many, but seemed the most?

How is that an argument? Firstly, they're wrong, high inflation is not always bad. Second, even if they're right, they don't have a viable alternative, because they can't/won't control the banks which?

It is a bail-out of the Greeks. Even if Greece defaults on all its debt, it still can't afford to run its government and its loss of?

Explains quite a bit, thanks.

I say this after living in Quebec, where car licence plates have the words 'Je me souviens' imprinted on?

Busted link – try this

That might happen. Or it might go a different way, that loss of credit would mean a?

It is a silly stat, although that conclusion isn't impossible (it just doesn't follow from the premises). It could well be that there's?

Understanding the causes of the crises is a?

I know. And there is a lot of research that suggests working less is a very good thing for the economy.

I'm sure some people are hailing it, but it was not without considerable social consequences. Former East Germans are still second class citizens, even now, 20 years later.?

That binary is based on the assumption is the Greeks want to borrow the money, which is the assumption Giovanni uses in his article. I'm pointing out that the Germans as the lender would have to?

Nah, I'll do so in a belligerant fashion and I'll do so here.

It they're?

Sorta. Some of those banks have been obliged to write off 50-75% of the Greek debt they own, courtesy of the bailout deals.

That's a very good point. German manufacturers would be particularly worried about Italy exiting the Euro.

Or you could look at the actual data and see that, yes, like I originally said, German workers are far more productive than?

Also, I don't think that if Greece exited the Euro, it would be able to do QE. The Greek government bonds are Euro denominated, so unilaterally converting them to "new Drachma" would be a default.?

Ae, like a mid-winter swim

What this should read is: Personally I think the Greeks should default and stiff the holders of Greek debt

This isn't always limited to the banks themselves, shareholders in the banks get done, funds (eg pension funds) that own?

The Greek economy was already behind the eight ball in 2000-2001 and they needed to show an improving economy in order to be welcomed by the EU. Golden Sachs offered?

Nice word coinage. And welcome.

Yeah I get that Danyl. But the way you phrased it implied that German workers work less because they are more productive. That isn?t proven?

Seconded. And nice to meet you finally, Ben.

Greece is the word, amen.

The particular aspect he highlights (for me) is that what is at stake is the question of sovereignty: who governs the Greek people? Their elected government (for better or?

I guess the point of it would be that it would have limited roles with lots/most things dealt with at regional levels. The thing would be, that the things?

I trust you'll all enjoy it.

I can see an end result but I can't see how to get there (like most Utopias). It would probably look much like the USA, a collection of formerly?

It was a pleasure. I usually jump up as?

geek is the word.. :)

Rid the place of the financial manipulators and then we might be able tosort the shit out.

It looks like 76 police officers with a chopper making arrests at the behest of a foreign law enforcement agency for the heinous crime of running a website.

It was a pleasure.

I'm looking forward to watching this.

The Euro was German?

Completely agree.

A small minority of NZers have migrated to the Sunshine Coast or the Outback for that very reason, and as far as we?re concerned, we?re not going to miss them in a hurry.?

classic