Quote:
Originally Posted by Samurai Here is an interesting take... |
The sheer Germanophobia exhibited by Monsieur Piketty in that interview is very sad and alarming!
From his picture, Thomas Piketty does not look anything like a person who was born before or during World War II. Yet, almost every reply of his reeks of anti-German sentiment. It's one thing to hate the warmongering of Kaiser Wilhelm II & Adolf Hitler and the atrocities committed by the Nazi horde, but completely another to exhibit that kind of Germanophobia, and that too, in an interview to a German media outlet. Very sad.
The funny thing is Monsieur Piketty contradicts himself in the course of the interview. First, he claims Germany
never repaid its debts, and then he states that 60% of Germany's post-WW II debt was written off (which means they duly paid back the remaining 40% of that debt with interest).
Then, he goes on to state that France suffered immensely because of war reparations paid to Prussia after the Franco-Prussian war, but refuses to recognise the gross injustice and indignities heaped on Germany after WW I.
It was the attempt to pay back the enormous reparations that sent post-WW I Germany (the Weimar Republic) into terrible hyperinflation & economic collapse, and eventually paved the way for the rise of that diabolical megalomaniac (Hitler).
He also conveniently forgets the huge reparations post-WW II Germany has had to pay to almost everyone (including Greece) for the occupations, injustices & atrocities committed during WW II, while the Allies got away scot-free for literally reducing Germany to rubble, and rewarded themselves by splitting Germany into four zones and occupying one zone each. The former East Germany even continued to be under the occupation (till the fall of Berlin Wall) of the vile, bloodthirsty forces who committed just-as-terrible atrocities as the Nazis during WW II.
The poor West Germans had to slog away like beasts of burden for long decades to not only rebuild their country from total ruin & rubble, but also pay back everyone. Greece continued to get war reparations from Germany till long after WW II, and I think Germany continued to pay reparations to Israel even into the 21st century. On top of it, the extremely hard working & economically prudent West Germans have had to uplift their much poorer East German brethren after the latter were liberated (finally!) from the good-for-nothing forces of tyranny and totalitariansm.
It's a testament to the excellent maturity levels of Germans and the German media, that such an interview bursting at its seams with barely-concealed Germanophobia is published and read widely in Germany!
Quote:
Originally Posted by alpha1 I would being by saying Greece has been brought to its knees by the extremely populist and debt invoking measures by the Govt ever since it joined the Euro.
So being in the Euro means that it should've cut the expenses further.
Now that the public has voted no to cuts, it is imperative that Drachma is resurrected, otherwise how will Greek Govt operate?? |
I believe a country with the economic background of Greece should not have chosen to have the euro as its currency in the first place. The Greeks should have retained their own drachma, while remaining a full-fledged member of the EU. The United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark and some of the newer EU members successfully follow this model.
Given Greece's economic background, tax collection & spending habits, it was always going to be a huge uphill struggle to stick to the fiscal prudence norms followed by countries like Germany.
The advantages of being in the Eurozone is greatly outweighed by the disadvantages for a country like Greece. Until they can successfully change their politico-socio-economic model (which may take a long, long time), they should stay out of the Eurozone.