The Greek People Will Revolt

With national elections likely in April/May and new tougher spending cuts due this summer, the Greek people, with an unployment rate already in excess of 20% and rising (the peak U.S. Great Depression unemployment rate was 25%) have had enough.

Their economy is spirling downward and they are likely to reject the new spending cuts forced on them by the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and their other major creditors. As a compassionate person, I understand the economic pain engulfing the Greek people and I also understand the demands of investors not to risk any more money, nor bear big losses on what they have already risked.

But loading down a country that already couldn't pay its current debts with more debt to maintain a fiction they would now be able to handle the debt load doesn't work. The severity of the spending cuts on the Greek people are going to lead to a political revolt and leave their creditors with a major default. That default is likely to be the first of several, as Portugal, Ireland, Italy and Spain are also hurting economically and unable to bear greater debts paired with huge spending cuts.

There must be a much more humanitarian approach, with a more gradual restructuring of debt and a facing of financial reality by the current creditors with write downs of much of their debt. Anything less will lead to defaults in any case, defaults whose impact will be felt throughtout the world.

Dick
To learn more, please see "Greece's Fringe Parties Surge Amid Bailout Ire," The Wall Street Journal http://blogs.wsj.com/eurocrisis/2012/03/28/greeces-fringe-parties-surge-amid-bailout-ire/?mod=google_news_blog