Greece - A New Hope

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Spent my holiday last summer in Greece. All in all, their beaches and sea are absolutely beautiful. And it was very cheap as is, wonder how much cheaper it'll get. Definitely the best bang-for-buck in Europe, as far as summer vacations go.
 

Palum

what Suineg set it to
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But but... This time they promise to not vote themselves unaccountable!
 

Running Dog_sl

shitlord
1,199
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They really shouldn't get it.
If they don't get a bailout
The Greek banks will collapse at the weekend. The chances are they will then need some kind of humanitarian aid because a good proportion of the population will be unable to feed themselves, and the hospitals will run out of medicine. Denied access to the Euro, the government would probably be forced to start it's own currency just to keep a semblance of economic activity.

What might then happen is the Greeks effectively devalue their own currency, and thereby at a stroke devalue their debts too. That 30% debt relief they are asking for could become 80% if their economy crashes and they revert to the drachma. In the long run this is probably the best option for Greece but for years it will be hell.

If they do get a bailout
There's no guarantee they will follow through on any of the reforms they've agreed to. Greece is still Greece after all. Things would tick over until the next crisis occurred, with the Greek economy unable to grow because they can't even pay the interest on what they owe. This is the best short term option, but there's no real answers to their problems from it.

So there's no good choices here for either side.

As many have pointed out already, the money that the Greeks have already been given is gone and the chances of getting much of it back are slim. The IMF thinks that, the US thinks that and most of the rest of the world thinks that. The only people who refuse to admit it are the EU.
 

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In a geopolitical scheme, Greece's location is very important, which is why these negotiations have been going for as long as they have. The Western/Northern Europeans know how the Greeks are and they have always known it, but, at the end of the day, they've always put up with them, because they had to in order to keep them on their side. The West, and more importantly the US, isn't going to waste so many resources poking into the Russians in so many locations only to let Greece go. Greece is a NATO member, Greece buys Western military equipment, etc. etc. etc. This is why Tsipras is on the phone with both Obama and Putin. Because he knows that if Merkel, Juncker et al. have the capacity to let them go, Obama doesn't, and so he uses Putin as leverage.

Realistically, there are two possible outcomes to this Greek drama. Either Tsipras finds the middle ground with the Europeans, because he is ultimately told to do so, as are the Europeans, or, in the case that he continues defying the will of the powerful, he's ousted and the Greeks accept whatever measures they're given. There's no doomsday scenario of an utter Greek collapse, not so long as the Russians and the Americans are beefing.
 

Chanur

Shit Posting Professional
<Gold Donor>
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Now would be a good time for the Greeks to Blitzkrieg Ze Germans.
 

Abefroman

Naxxramas 1.0 Raider
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Now would be a good time for the Greeks to Blitzkrieg Ze Germans.
greek+army.png
 

Gavinmad

Mr. Poopybutthole
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It's either bail them out again or write off their debts, and Ze Germanz don't want to write anything off (the massive fucking hypocrites that they are).
and in a couple years, the decision will be 'bail them out again or write off their even larger debts'.