For Greece, Panic Is The Word
A little over a year ago, I was having a discussion with some liberal friends about various issues. At that time, the US dollar was being battered in the global market and was at an all-time low against the Euro. What a difference a year makes. Thanks to European debt crisis and its epicenter Greece, the Euro is headed very fast in the other direction. The euro, fell Friday below $1.24, an 18-month low against the greenback.The European Union is facing a massive sovereign debt crisis precipitated by Greece, whose welfare state spending is finally breaking. The Greek sovereign debt rating was recently downgraded by Moody's and will quite possibly face a second downgrade. The EU in cooperation with the International Monetary Fund unveiled a temporary lifeline with a $1 trillion rescue package which may just be a short term fix. Greece is still saddled with a crippling business climate, slow economic growth and huge entitlement spending. The sad reality is that Greece is just the squeaky wheel when it comes to the EU debt crisis. Spain, Portugal Ireland could soon follow.
In order to qualify for the bailout, Greece must implement painful austerity measures such as a reduction in entitlement spending which has not gone over well on the streets of Athens. Clashes between police and protesters have gone on for over a week, bankers have been kidnapped and so far three people have lost their lives. Memo to the US government: What is it going to take for you to realize that welfare states with out of control entitlement spending are doomed to failure? If our government doesn't get our own spending under control, We will all become Greece.
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