The markets are confident this morning that Greece's parliament will vote for austerity so apparently all is well with the world.
It shows the crass stupidity of these people that they can believe that. Even if Greek politicians vote for austerity there is no guarantee they can deliver it - any more than there is any sign Cameron and Osborne can in the UK. Nor is such a vote even an indication of willingness to deliver on the Greeks' part. And the fact that the Greek people are now saying no to reform (and I thought the leader of the Greek doctors explanation as to why they were doing so on Channel 4 news last night was first rate) makes it very clear that this crisis is far from over.
But the financial markets - surely the most naive of all institutions - are as willing to accept such a vote as a sign that the austerity is as good as done as a football manager is sometimes willing to believe that the chairman's vote of confidence is a sign that he will see the season out.
Neither is true.
When will financial markets get a bearing on reality? And when will all that supposed intelligence, guided as it is without any obvious sign of wisdom, be applied for the common good instead of personal, short term greed?
I can say for sure that the fat lady hasn't sung yet on Greece. Indeed, we may only be in the overture right now.
Thanks for reading this post.
You can share this post on social media of your choice by clicking these icons:
You can subscribe to this blog's daily email here.
And if you would like to support this blog you can, here:
So will you now admit that your post on March 7 2011, I think it was, that there was no Greek debt crisis was a load of rubbish?
Not at all!
My point then was that banks were over reacting
That’s been true on and off ever since
I think in all seriousness they point is the same now as then – markets persistently call this one wrong
The leader of the Greek doctors also made two other excellent points, Richard: debunking the myth of how overpaid public sector worker are in Greece (as is the case for the majority here and elsewhere) – 1500 euros a month for a doctor of 21 years standing; and that the tax justice argument has firmly taken hold in Greece (i.e. most evasion is by wealthy people).
However, I have to say I see a very bleak future for Greek society and democracy thanks to the myopic and obsesive approach of the EC and global capital. As Greek society breaks down – as it will unless some other more inclusive approach to solving their problems is put in place – so a vacuum will be created into which all manner of reactionary groups will step, and if history serves as a guide to the outcome, the ultimate result will be a return to authoritarian rule. Mind you, if I also remember my history correctly Fascism and its bedfellows was never that bad for the rich so I guess the puppetmasters of many governments across Europe (and globally) aren’t that concerned about such an outcome.
You hit the nail in the had with your last comments, I fear
One of the control mechanisms the Fascist governments of the 30’s used was a crackdown on Trade Unions and anti-strike laws, all under the pretence of maintaining civil order. I can’t imagine for a minute that a modern western European government would consider treating its trade union members in a similar way to prevent dissent…..
The markets seem to have calmed down not so much because of what happened in the Greek parliament, but on the news that some major French and German banks, after pressure from their respective governments, have accepted to roll over Greece’s debt next month wihtout using the market value of the bonds as a reference. Now the negociations are with the credit agencies, to make sure that this is not presented to the world as a partial default.