Dude, casually glancing over this thread, casually watching Greek evening news where you see Nazi and Hitler images and clips, casually re-checking your statements that denounced Germany repaid any debt nor war reparations and then come back and again ask us what it is with the perception Germans are milked and scapegoated. There are valid reasons that Germans are fed up, tired, and exhausted from the constant demand that some of the laziest and sneakiest in the world are making. As if being productive and manufacturing products of high quality and in high demand is a crime and must be taxed with the iHateGermansSpecialTax. [the Euro level is not an excuse to punish Germany, everyone knows and understands ECON101 that strong countries benefit from a relatively cheap Euro and nations in Europe with low productivity and output suffer from a relatively strong Euro]. I personally will continue to counter lies and false statements with facts as I have done in this thread.
The demand by Greece for hair cuts IS EXTREME and here is why:
a) Greece has received numerous haircuts via interest rate reductions, in fact Greece pays on some of the debt lower rates than Italy or other major European nations. Greece has received debt maturity extensions that are more onerous than what any other European country received. No other EU country in need for bailouts and/or supports has been treated more generously than Greece has.
b) Greece has tricked and lied itself into the EU. We can be like dumb kids and pretend that the person who was lied at on the receiving end is at fault. Most wise and educated, especially grown up, adults concede that the liar and cheater is at fault, always.
c) Greece is asking for favors and thus it is the responsibility of Greece to move forward with compromises. Instead they angered and hit everyone on the forehead by suddenly pulling out and announcing a national referendum. In effect the last reform offer on the table by Greece is virtually identical with what the creditors are demanding.
d) Again, most intelligent people realize that when someone defaults on debt then it is their one-sided fault. They need to face the consequences. Sub prime borrowers were 100% at fault. Not the creditors, not Goldman Sachs, not Fed Chairman Greenspan, not any politician. The borrower is signing an agreement that he/she understands what he/she is doing and agrees to repay debt. So, there is not one single question who is at fault here, Greece ALONE, nobody else. They acted irresponsibly and now use debt as a means to negotiate to milk more money out of the EU, ECB, and IMF. We can talk about whether it was light headed and maybe even outright naive to lend so much money to Greece and not assessing risk more thoroughly. Fair. We can do that. But this is not related to the question of fault and responsibility. Just because I give you money without checking your credit history and ability to repay DOES NOT make me complicit in your decision to default and violate agreements. You will be at fault and you go to jail or are forced to declare personal bankruptcy, not I. Same with Greece and its Creditors. Greece has to deliver and if they want hair cuts then THEY NEED TO MOVE AND OFFER SOMETHING IN EXCHANGE. Austerity WILL NOT BE OFF THE TABLE, that I am absolutely sure because without austerity things will NEVER change in Greece.
