morganist, I know all the usual criticisms... I am hopeful that the issues can be overcome, though. The goal is worth it, in my view.
perhaps my paper raises other issues. what are the criticisms you are ware of list them. i will fill in the others.
wow, wow, wake up body, are you complaining from Greece? If merely half of people in Greece are as hard working as Germany and paying their taxes in time same as people in Germany, or just as intelligent as Germany, they wouldn't in this shithole they are right now. Who would borrow 5+ Billions EURO against population of only 11M to host Olympic in Europe?
Many years ago I lived in Greece for a short stint. The man who lived in the apartment next door had just retired with a full pension after a career in government service. He was 47 years old and believed that the taxpayers should pay for everything for him until the day he dies. What was even more amazing was when he told me how wonderful their system was because, when he was working, he earned extra bonuses for "showing up to work on time" and those bonuses figured into giving him a higher pension. He was very adamant that people who didn't show up on time to work shouldn't get bonuses. When I told him that in the United States people who didn't show up on time to work got fired, he said it was "inhumane" to punish people for not coming to work. I was young and naive at the time, but even I could see that a system like that was destined to collapse.
further to your story is this mind boggling article below: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article7113941.ece They and other public sector workers are virtually unsackable, can retire as early as 45 and get bonuses for using a computer, speaking a foreign language and arriving at work on time. Some of them get as many as four extra monthsâ salary a year, compared with the 14 months that are paid to other Greek workers. One of the most generous bonuses is paid to unmarried daughters of dead employees in state-controlled banks: they can inherit their parentsâ pensions
It's a joke. The Greeks brought it on themselves. Just like the Americans, Canadians, and most of Europe brought on the impending debt crisis themselves. Everyone wanted to avoid pain. So they stacked up these record deficits for 30 years, paid themselves handsomely and lived high on the hog. Now we're all gonna suffer. For the sloth and ignorance of our forebearers.