Putin's opportunity

[Hermit]

So that's it then? The borrowers think they've got the lenders by the balls?
Lend us more, or you lose it?

In a way, yes. Old saying among financiers: Owe the bank a million dollars you can't repay and you got a problem. Owe the bank a billion dollars you can't repay and the bank has a problem. Greece obviously cannot repay, and it has just told the lenders that they won't get their money back by squeezing the havenots. The lenders know - or at least they ought to know - that they won't get their money back if they keep squeezing the living daylights out of the Greek economy. They'll have to help with its reconstruction or face getting a more radical haircut than they are facing already.

[mistermack]

All the other countries with money problems have had to cut down.
Ireland did, and we heard a load of bollocks about how it would lead to disaster. The same was said about Spain, and Italy. They have faced facts, and cut.

I think, if they do do a deal with Greece, it would be a mistake. There's no prospect of the toxic number coming down. It will get bigger and bigger.
If you've been lending carelessly in the past, that's done. It can't be undone, but at least you can stop making it worse.

The best thing the EU can do, is to withdraw the offer of any more lending.
Even the offer they have made is a mistake. They should bite the bullet, and lend no more to Greece at all. If the Greeks can't pay their debts, tip them out of the Euro and the EU.
It's called cutting your losses.

[klr]

The Greeks will see reason ... eventually. If they're not seeing it already, to judge by the latest Greek proposals.

Of course the Greeks need to be given a chance to grow their way out, but that's only part of the solution. Too often it's been used as an excuse by politicians the world over to kicking the spending cuts can down the road, and then down some more.

[faisal6309]

Russia should offer help to Greece. US will do something with their money to decrease Russian influence. Russia will win by creating better relations with Greece and saving its money.

[mistermack]

The Greeks will see reason ... eventually. If they're not seeing it already, to judge by the latest Greek proposals.

Of course the Greeks need to be given a chance to grow their way out, but that's only part of the solution. Too often it's been used as an excuse by politicians the world over to kicking the spending cuts can down the road, and then down some more.

I think that the finance ministers of the Eurozone are slowly slowly coming round to what I said.
That Greece can't be trusted, just on the basis of words of intent, or promises.
It's time to say no, and let Greece go. And face your voters, and explain why you have wasted their money on a bailout that should never have happened.
This is the only thing that is keeping Greece hanging on now. Politicians not wanting their voters to know how much of their money has been wasted.
On a purely financial basis, they should have said no ages ago.

Some countries are beginning to say it. Finland is now saying that there should be no bailout, even on the current terms. The Germans are now saying that they can only agree on terms that can't be fudged or cheated on.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Greece would have to do more than promise reforms if it wanted more money.
"We will definitely not be able to rely on promises," he said.

There simply isn't the trust in Greece. Nor should there be. Nothing that gets agreed is binding on a future Greek government. And the Greek people just proved in the referendum that a future election would be easily won by any party that decided it wasn't going to pay.

What's going to happen, when the measures start to bite? Unrest, followed by an election, followed by more bickering about bailout measures.
There's no way out, except exit.

If it doesn't happen now, it's just politicians trying to save their own reputations, by wasting more of their own voters money. Continuation of a real disgrace.