What price Austerity ?
As Greece implements austerity measures , its public healthcare system is on the verge of total collapse with operations being cancelled and medicines becoming short in supply.
So, is it right to implement such draconian measures and risk the lives of citizens just to stay in the EU ?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/greek-election-blog-2012/video/2012/jun/...
Borrow money and pay taxes! What a logic!
brit, it seems as if the countries involved aren't the ones who produced the mess alone. The tendency is to accuse the banks and the whole banking system as the culprit. As long as the banks are nationally controlled (more or less), they will rob the state (the people). It's a basic objective of banks! A common European banking system with the appropriate control will help. But it's hard to get that through.
perhaps some were given "free memberships" to the club without being told of the long term consequences.
The question is what "just to stay in the EU" means. If you don't analyze the consequences of being an EU member, you can hardly judge what it means!
I watched a documentary on Greece last night and one University Professor was tasked for devising a system to collect unpaid taxes which he did. He was then sued by the Tax Authorities in Greece to try and stop what he was doing!! He then concluded the only way government would work in Greece would be to abolish depts like the tax revenue and start again.
I feel sorry for the ordinary Greeks but they spent more money than they had, borrow far too much and didn't want to pay taxes. If you want to feel sorry for someone it should be the Germans as the Greeks are expecting them to pay for the mess.