The hard thing to do is for Greece to structure their economy so that their businesses are competitive enough to pay the debt that a smaller gov't in Greece runs up. That's hard and it's the prudent thing to do. The easy thing is to have a fiscal union, as you suggested, and not have to rely upon the generosity of Germans to hand over money to the Greeks, but rather have a mechanism where guns can be pointed at the Germans and their money taken away and given to the Greeks. That is what you want with a fiscal union, right?
Guns pointing at Germans? Stuck in WW2? What did the Germans do wrong to deserve such miserable treatment?
Sadly, I can't claim it. It's "Frederick Foresights" contribution! Happily, I can't think of a more appropriate recipient of the incorporated message than "fhl". Words can not express the pleasure I experienced in posting this 'dick-from the internet' cartoon right here in this Forum! (in response to fhl's asinine remark, of course!)
Piezoe is the one that wants the fiscal union to transfer money from the germans to the greeks. He didn't deny it did he? Of course he didn't. So I ask all of you. What happens if a citizen of Germany in a euro fiscal union tells the gov't that they aren't paying their taxes (which will be sent to greece) and the gov't can go get screwed? The same thing as would happen in the US. Go to jail even if it takes guns being pointed at you. In case anyone can't understand, I'm not for this process. But those who daydream about a fiscal union are. ( piezoe?) Of course piezoe would think anyone is a dick to think that taxes are mandatory. He probably agrees with George Stephanopolis that income taxes are a "contribution". LOL
And how is this related to this thread topic? Please remind us again... There is no fiscal union and none is planned for the time being hence your missing the actual point...
This sounds like the end-game is near... (source: FT) ‘Paperology’ continues, but mood darkens in Greece talks ©EPA Greece has submitted yet another last-minute economic reform proposal to its bailout creditors — and its creditors have once again dismissed it as lacking. The back-and-forth was the latest document exchange between Athens and Brussels as Greece tries to break a months-long impasse and gain access to desperately needed bailout cash. The process has become numbingly familiar in recent weeks — so much so that the European Commission has even given it a name: “paperology” But the most recent exchange differed in one vital respect: the mood of cautious optimism that has surrounded the talks in recent weeks is rapidly giving way to fear and suspicion. Gone this time were the private reassurances that a deal would ultimately be concluded, allowing the Greek government to receive an infusion of euros before its bailout expires at the end of the month. Instead, officials from various institutions involved in the talks now worry that Greece’s hard-left government is dangerously miscalculating. Athens, they believe, is intentionally prolonging the negotiations to the last minute in a belief that its creditors will eventually “blink” and agree to grant wholesale debt relief and new bailout cash with few strings attached. “They do not want a deal with us; they just want debt relief,” a senior official with one of Athens’ bailout monitors said after reviewing Greece’s latest offer. “I don’t think they will move. I think they’re waiting for us to blink, and we won’t,” the official added. “They don’t understand we’re not back in 2012 where the Europeans were willing to just throw money at the problem.” The darkening mood was evident at the European Commission, which has long been viewed as Athens’ best ally in the stand-off. According to officials briefed on Tuesday’s meeting of 29 commissioners in Strasbourg, Jean-Claude Juncker lit into the Greek government, saying Athens had “lost the European Commission”. “They failed to see the best friend of the small and medium-sized member states is the European Commission,” said one official, recounting the EU president’s remarks to his fellow commissioners. In depth Greece debt crisis The Syriza government is facing resistance to its plans to tackle the country’s massive debt burden Read more Greek officials insist that is not the case. One senior official said the proposal they submitted on Monday night had halved the difference between the budget surplus targets laid out by creditors in a proposal last week, and a counterproposal made by Athens. “The creditors should do the same,” the Greek official said. But creditor officials who have seen the document said that while there was a narrowing of the gap on the surplus targets, there was no discussion of how Athens intended to make up the difference — particularly in the disputed areas of raising value added tax on energy or on pension cuts. Instead, Athens submitted a second paper on debt relief. Creditors have repeatedly insisted the matter was off the table until an agreement on economic reforms that Greece would adopt to release the remaining €7.2bn in the bailout programme. In one sign of the pessimism surrounding the negotiations, several officials suggested that a meeting due to be held on Wednesday between Alexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, and his German and French counterparts — all of whom are scheduled to be in Brussels for a gathering of EU and Latin American leaders — might not take place. Mr Juncker told the commission he would not attend if Mr Tsipras “came with the same kind of attitude as he had last week”, officials said, and Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance minister who heads Greek negotiations on behalf of his fellow eurozone finance ministers, also suggested the meeting might be scrapped. Greek officials insisted they, too, did not want Mr Tsipras to participate in a meeting unless there were signs creditors were compromising. “My take is that [the Greeks] are marking time until the drop dead moment has arrived, and then [they believe] we should blink,” said another senior eurozone official involved in the talks. “I am worried that they have still not understood [when] the real drop dead moment is.”
Hilarious, Varoufakis flying Economy class. Now thats a good start!!! http://www.bild.de/bild-plus/politi...292166,var=a,view=conversionToLogin.bild.html