The never-ending austerity that Europe is force-feeding the Greek people is simply not working. Now Greece has loudly said no more (Greece given 24-hour deadline, 7 July). As most of the world knew it would, the financial demands made by Europe have crushed the Greek economy, led to mass unemployment and a collapse of the banking system, and made the external debt crisis far worse, with the debt problem escalating to an unpayable 175% of GDP. The economy now lies broken, with tax receipts nosediving, output and employment depressed, and businesses starved of capital.The humanitarian impact has been colossal: 40% of children now live in poverty, infant mortality is sky-rocketing and youth unemployment is close to 50%. Corruption, tax evasion and bad accounting by previous Greek governments helped create the debt problem. The Greeks have complied with much of Angela Merkel’s call for austerity – cut salaries, cut government spending, slashed pensions, privatised and deregulated, and raised taxes. But in recent years the series of so-called adjustment programmes inflicted on Greece and others has served only to make a great depression the like of which has been unseen in Europe since 1929-33. The medicine prescribed by the German finance ministry and Brussels has bled the patient, not cured the disease. Continue reading...
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