Greece

[Chris]

First ever developed nation to default on the IMF.  2nd bailout has expired.  Banks are closed.  ATM's limited to $66 a day.  Unemployment 25%.  Referendum this Sunday on following the austerity terms of the bailout.  If Greek voters vote "No" Europe is considering no 3rd bailout and Greece exiting the Euro and returning to the Greek Drachma.

 

 

Good times.

[TobiasFunke]

They'll bail them out

[nate]

F'n Tank

[Chris]

I'll do my part to help out.  I'll eat a gyro.

[gotbeer]

ISIS will bail them out.

[Tank]

I'm having lunch with Greece tomorrow. I'll see what I can find out.

Looks like I'll be paying, too.

[Amazing Larry]

They'll bail them out

With terms they can never live up to. The IMF is a criminal syndicate.

[arch stanton]

They should cut back on border security and let all those Syrians flood into the rest of Europe.

[halobob]

If I were to invade Djibouti would Greece help?

[arch stanton]

We already have a base in Djibouti

[nate]

We already have a base in Djibouti

With the recent SCOTUS ruling I think we can put whatever we want in Djibouti.

[arch stanton]

You always could. It's just that now Dji can sign your DNR order.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

I got an offer today in e-mail for a nine day tour of Greece. As much as I would like to see it, there is no way that I would risk being there when everything caves in. That will be supremely ugly.

[Amazing Larry]

Greece IMF bailout results are in:

 

61.3% No

38.7% Yes

 

 

It will be interesting to see how Germany reacts. 

[Blarg]

They will invade by going through France.

[AngelsLongBall]

From:

 

http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-greece-resignation-20150706-story.html

 

There were mixed signals over whether a deal could be struck quickly, with some German and other Northern European officials digging in their heels over what they deem to be Greek irresponsibility and officials from Southern European countries such as France and Italy sounding more conciliatory.

[Blarg]

And Italy.

[fan_since79]

They have only themselves to blame. A country with many workers who get to retire at 55 and enjoy a full pension for the rest of their lives has run out of other people's money.

[arch stanton]

Does that money disappear once it's paid out? Probably not. Plenty of blame to go around. Greece has the oldest population in Europe, 25% unemployment, and a large percentage of self-employed people which makes it hard to collect taxes. The creditors knew all this when they gave them the money. I see they aren't going after the oligarchs who have all the cash but as usual after the ones who have enough to survive. Now that they've stood up to the big boys maybe they can come to an agreement that doesn't cripple the country.

[Amazing Larry]

They have only themselves to blame. A country with many workers who get to retire at 55 and enjoy a full pension for the rest of their lives has run out of other people's money.

LOL @ Americans lecturing other countries about their finances.

[fan_since79]

LOL @ Americans lecturing other countries about their finances.

 

Americans who receive Social Security (at age 66) get far less than the Greek workers who have hefty pensions in their 50's. The money has run out, though. There's nothing left, so the IMF has to bail them out.

 

Our Social Security program is in trouble, but it's nothing like the Greek disaster. Now if you want to talk about the evils of the Federal Reserve and their ability to print unlimited amounts of money, I won't argue with you.

[Blarg]

This is the silly part. The F-35 Fighter jet has run up a $400 billion dollar debt and instead of buying another toy we didn't really need we could have bought Greece, for less.

[TobiasFunke]

I wonder what Fan thinks about our defense budget and items like the F-35

[Catwhoshatinthehat]

As much as the US needs to get it's financial house in order and will have to make tough choices right now compared to Greece we're the prom queen or Laura Diaz for those of you who own a house 2 blocks from the beach along with multiple sports cars.  As of 2012 their debt as a percent of GDP was over 160% and for the last 5+ years they've seen negative growth rates in GDP.  Greece needs to be the lesson to the rest of the world of what can happen if you don't get your financial house in order and go broke paying your own citizens because of promises made you can't afford.    

[halobob]

According to this chart (not sure on its accuracy) our current debt as a percentage of GDP is 102.6%.  Looks like we had lows around 30% in 1975 and 1982.  We were at around 62% in 2008 and it has exploded from there.

 

https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/GFDEGDQ188S