And a reader in a limey newspaper commented that this is a failure of capitalism.  Socialists aren’t very bright.

Ah, but they do have a bust, a big one at the end.
The Greeks seem to think that if their government would just go ahead and stiff the North European bankers everything would be OK. And in one sense they know more than their masters. Sooner or later Greece defaults, the longer the EU tries to prop it up the more painful that default will be.

Also isn’t Obama talking about bailing them out? Kind of funny how the Europeans always talk like they’re so superior to the US, yet who has bailed out whom twice now? I say let the suckers fall flat on their asses. The fact that most of us have a European heritage shouldn’t influence us. Our forefathers left that hellhole for a reason.

Wait a minute. You say they want Greece to default and go back to its own currency because they can get cheap imports and vacation there cheaper. Yet, they need this because Turkey hasn’t joined the EU yet? So they want Turkey to join because of cheap imports and vacations, but they want Greece to default and go back to their own currency for the same reasons? Sweden and Norway aren’t socialist countries in the sense that they have a Marxist economy, they have some degree of private property rights and venture capital and business investment. They probably also have a great deal of government subsidies of business to make business investment more palatable,, and profitable. They also have socialist social policies with a sky-high tax rate. Enjoy the ride while it lasts, because when it comes crashing down its going to be painful.

We supply bailout money via the IMF who apparently just tell us how much our share is and we pay it. I do not recall hearing much about congress debating these sums and I wonder if these transactions are done directly from Treasury to IMF, bypassing congress. While no one can prove it I’ve no doubt the Fed has financed various bailouts to European central and private banks on the QT.

Germany only yielded under pressure to grant this deal to Greece because of the heavy losses German banks would suffer on a default.  All the major European banks are at risk here, or we wouldn’t be talking bailout at all.

As we can see, the Greeks (who incidentally haven’t practiced anything close to capitalism in the last half-century or so) are rioting AGAINST the deal which will save them from default, because austerity means fewer government benefits and more taxes.  It cannot end well.

And if you like Greece’s financial position, you’re gonna LOVE Spain’s, because they heavily “invested” in this “green technology” Obama loves so much, and are closing in on the day the bills come due, too.  Portugal and Italy are right behind, and Ireland is teetering on joining the party.

There’s a certain degree of schadenfreude here, since those who pushed so hard for Euro=peon Union are getting what they asked for, good and hard, but the global fallout will hurt us all.

Nations and multinational banks would do well to heed my late father’s advice to me on finance:  never borrow money you aren’t absolutely sure you can repay even if things go badly, and never lend money without security worth more than the loan amount.

Maybe soon it will be like the good old days when the European economy was in such a shambles you could buy more with a Hershey bar or a pair of nylons IYKWIMAITYD

Great business model: loan money to one country and expect other countries to pay the money back so that the “system” doesn’t collapse.

Remember, that was their justification for all the big government schemes under FDR, so of course they’re going to blame capitalism for what’s gone wrong — just like Obama insists on blaming Bush for everything, including when the ash falls off the end of one of his cigarettes.

The longer this process continues the more Greek debt is owned by central banks who are steadily buying Greek dept from private institutions.

Perhaps we’re heading towards a European-wide Weimar situation.  We know what followed that.  If this stands a chance of happening, it is even more imperative that we gain control here in America so we can be ready to fight it.

I was thinking today:  what if we hadn’t spent the second half of the TARP money on auto unions, hadn’t spent the stimulus money, and hadn’t debased our currency with all this inflating, I mean “quantitative easing”?

We would likely be enjoying the benefits of a strong dollar instead of suffering with a weakened one.