Greece is DOOMED!

[alfred russel]

One of the primary drivers of a currency devaluation when a country runs into problems with its debt is that printing money (inflation) is the easiest way out of the crisis. Greece doesn't have that option.

[Admiral Yi]

I reread the article and Greece has debt/GDP of 110% and is paying something like 200 basis points of risk premium.  Those are hardly signs of imminent default.

[Neil]

I don't think there's anything the Greeks can do.  All the easy stuff is out of their reach, due to the fact that they're under the German currency.  All the hard stuff is politically impossible, due to the fact that they are Mediterranean.

Hopefully, the civilized world can keep the IMF from bailing the Greeks out, and the Greeks will finally meet the fate that their Soviet friends met two decades ago.

[MadImmortalMan]

"I don't care about my government, I don't care about my country," he added, conceding, however that he did care about soccer and women. While not always so vehement, such views are common in Greece, where the government is widely seen as corrupt, regardless of who is in power. Indeed, few people expect much from the state — except highly coveted public sector jobs. Today, one in four Greek workers is employed by the state, a result of decades of public hiring to stave off social unrest.

Well, there you have it. There is no economy there. It's degenerated into the framework of a state with a hollow cavity under it where the economy should be. It's removed the purpose of having the framework above at all.

[Barrister]

"I don't care about my government, I don't care about my country," he added, conceding, however that he did care about soccer and women. While not always so vehement, such views are common in Greece, where the government is widely seen as corrupt, regardless of who is in power. Indeed, few people expect much from the state — except highly coveted public sector jobs. Today, one in four Greek workers is employed by the state, a result of decades of public hiring to stave off social unrest.

Well, there you have it. There is no economy there. It's degenerated into the framework of a state with a hollow cavity under it where the economy should be. It's removed the purpose of having the framework above at all.

You don't want to know what proportion of Yukoners works for one of the levels of government (First Nation, municipal, territorial, Federal).   

[Richard Hakluyt]

Yeah, I'm not sure how shocking the "1-in-4" figure actually is.

The "public sector" in the UK is about 6m workers, ie about 1-in-5.

Not sure what it would be for other countries.

[Sheilbh]

Yeah, I'm not sure how shocking the "1-in-4" figure actually is.

The "public sector" in the UK is about 6m workers, ie about 1-in-5.

Not sure what it would be for other countries.

Yeah.  That won't just be functionaries but teachers, professors (and the school secretaries) as well as policemen, police admin, prosecutors and, in the UK, doctors, nurses etc.  I'm sure in the US if you added up Federal, State and Local employees you'd get a high figure.

[Admiral Yi]

At the height of the Marion Barry lunacy 1 in 3 adult DC residents were on the city payroll.

[Neil]

You don't want to know what proportion of Yukoners works for one of the levels of government (First Nation, municipal, territorial, Federal).   

Yeah, but the Yukon is subsidized by the real country.

[Barrister]

You don't want to know what proportion of Yukoners works for one of the levels of government (First Nation, municipal, territorial, Federal).   

Yeah, but the Yukon is subsidized by the real country.

Thanks. 

[Neil]

You don't want to know what proportion of Yukoners works for one of the levels of government (First Nation, municipal, territorial, Federal).   

Yeah, but the Yukon is subsidized by the real country.

Thanks. 

Not a problem.

[MadImmortalMan]

I told you so. 

[The Brain]

Send the Greeks to Madagascar and repopulate the country with humans. Southern Europeans are annoying leeches.