Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Krugman's Wrap Of Greek Elections

Krugman's perspective sees "Greece as Victim". There is much substance in this short op‑ed, which takes the position that Greece's fundamental problems are not primarily internal and stem rather from attitudes in the economically powerful nations in the euro zone: major failures in the framing of the currency itself, failures not soluble by any amount of Greek austerity. Here's a sample:
...

On the other hand, many things you hear about Greece just aren’t true. The Greeks aren’t lazy — on the contrary, they work longer hours than almost anyone else in Europe, and much longer hours than the Germans in particular. Nor does Greece have a runaway welfare state, as conservatives like to claim; social expenditure as a percentage of G.D.P., the standard measure of the size of the welfare state, is substantially lower in Greece than in, say, Sweden or Germany, countries that have so far weathered the European crisis pretty well.

So how did Greece get into so much trouble? Blame the euro.

...
As so often happens here in America, the banksters in Europe are flinging poo like a great ape. Don't let it hit you! Use some judgment in how much credence you give to the self-interested emissions of northern European leaders.

2 comments:

  1. I sincerely am not able to remember if I have already sent this:

    In Pictures: The World's Hardest-Working Countries

    http://www.forbes.com/2008/05/21/labor-market-workforce-lead-citizen-cx_po_0521countries_slide_2.html?thisSpeed=undefined

    ReplyDelete
  2. Enfant - wow. Greece is #2 in the whole world in hours worked per year. Even the US, where employers don't give a good damn about their workers (for the most part), is #10.

    Thanks for letting us know. Now GO GET SOME REST!

    ReplyDelete

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