Quote of the day 15th July 2015

"It is the fecklessness of the Greek government’s negotiating strategy and their utter separation from reality which have been the primary causes of a deal far worse for Greece than it should have been. It is the Greek people, above all the poor, who will suffer most from the game-playing of this supposedly left-wing government.

"In a makeshift alliance of charlatans and lunatics, Tsipras deserves only limited credit for deciding at the last minute that he was just a charlatan after all."



(Kevin Feeney, a Labour party member, in an article on "Labour Uncut" called

"Look at Syriza, look at Greece: that's what Jeremy Corbyn would do for Labour and Britain.")

Comments

Jim said…
He was calling a clear bluff from the start. He never had a hand to play. Come on, the Economy is less than that of Volkswagon, its not going to crash the Euro, it never was.

The Colleagues had a far stronger hand than Tsipras ever did, they knew it, and he did too. Thats why he was always going to fold, always.

We know they dont want to leave the Euro, more than the Eurozone want to keep them, this means he would fold his hand and Greece would remain in the Euro at a heavy price. I told you that a while ago, come on Chris, Keep up.
6:53 pm
Chris Whiteside said…
You did say you thought Greece would stay in the Euro, and I did say that I certainly would not rule out the possibility that you were right. And it looks that way for now - until the next crisis which might well be before the end of the year.

Mind you, if I had Syriza's views on the right economic policies for Greece (or for that matter the ones I actually do have) I would be trying to negotiate a "friendly divorce" managed exit deal. Most of the German government and the ECB actually want the Greeks out, they just don't want to be seen to push them out. Consequently the terms available for a "friendly divorce" might well be less punitive than the eye-wateringly painful deal the Greeks have signed up to today.

Although that is relative. Greece had no good options - it was a choice between bad (managed and agreed exit from the Euro), terrible (swallowing the painful deal imposed by the creditors) or catastrophic (no deal and the country's banking system goes under or they get a non-managed exit).
12:58 am
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