Agree completely. volpunter continues to get angry at the Greeks suggesting they won't repay - but this isn't a moral discussion. It's a practical one. They will default eventually. It's just a matter of when and how much money is lent to them before it occurs.
Agree totally. The debt will be restructured in some way. Been happening in South America for hundred years +.
that was never the point of this thread though I wholeheartedly agree that it will be restructured in one way or another.
Business lesson for volpunter: if you are a Greek restauranteur (guy who owns restaurant), you don't look in your economics 101 course, much of which is useless, to set prices in your restaurant. You'll set your prices on a number of factors the main one being what the MARKET i.e. customers will pay. He will charge $100 for a pizza if he thinks customers will pay it. He does not care about the Greek national debt, he only cares about making money. If biz is low, maybe he'll cut his prices, but otoh, if there are few tourists and no competition (hell, he may be in a cartel with other restaurant owners), he'll jack up the price to max out revenue (the poor Jarman tourists have nowhere else to go!)
Aha! Now I understand why Tsipras wants to ban all-in hotels. Greeks should have the possibility to rob tourists by overcharging the bills. That's probably what he meant when he said that "the local community should benefit from the tourists". ops: If it is all-in there are no possibilities to rob anymore.
"if the customer can pay". Sure, the only slight problem with your walk through is that customers are not paying those insane amounts and vacation elsewhere, or why do you think that despite the crisis people (at least in a normal world) would assume price decreases they are charged a many fold of what products should be priced at. Result -> Less customers, and the dummies instead charge more and more to make up for lost revenues. That I witnessed first hands and if I can dig out some of the photos taken then I will happily post them here to show what audacious prices are asked. And by the way, most every business outside of Greece charges less when demand slows not more. It is simple supply and demand econ 101. But maybe that somehow gets lost on you for whatever reason.
Now they piss off the Chinese as well. Good luck Greece, you will urgently need it. http://www.scmp.com/business/econom...ng-over-chinas-interest-piraeus-port-analysts
By the way, without further monetary support Greece will be bankrupt in a mere few months and exiting the euro is not even an option for them in the short-term unless they feel comfortable with causing a civil war (and let's pray all non Greek individuals will have left the country by then so Greeks can smash each others' heads without harming outsiders). Keep in mind most every Greek financial institution hinges on the daily financing function of the ECB, something the Greek central bank is absolutely incapable of replacing. Let's see where this takes us but I actually also look forward to that at this point because it means an end to Europeans pouring good money into a bottomless barrel. I would even feel comfortable to write off their entire debt if they were kicked out of the euro and most European institutions for good. They can foster a pact with Turkey and Russia if they like.