Quite by coincidence on the eve of the announcement of the precise date for the general election to be held in Greece, Mme Lagarde announced that Greece still remained at great risk of bankruptcy, somewhat taking the wind out of the sails of the euphoria generated by the PSI.
Well, Mme Lagarde, we KNOW that. Everybody knows that. We also know that the hullaballou of the bond exchange being a great and resounding success was arrant nonsense too. And such a disaster that it really must not be repeated by anyone else! But we shall see about that.
Back to Greece and the terror aroused (for a change!) in the European directorate over what the result might be. After the man shot himself in front of Parliament, it seems they started wondering whether there might not be a backlash from the electorate after all.
So what do they want? Well, the ridiculously strict and impossible terms signed by the Greek government MUST be adhered to! How can that be achieved? Only by a government made up of the parties supporting the present government, preferably with the same appointed so called technocrat Prime Minister.
Yes, you might say, okay. Since they have signed on the dotted line, those are the ones who can be trusted to carry out the plan. However, the troika keep complaining that the problem with Greece is that the government has NOT carried out what it signed up to. And this is perfectly true. They haven’t. All they have done is repeatedly slash wages and pensions and slap exorbitant, crippling taxation on us.
Now the troika were perfectly happy with this in that they never complained and kept doling out the tranches of the loan. Despite the disastrous effects on the economy. Well of course. This money went through Greece, at the Greek tax payers expense, to prop up their zombie banks. The only time they did in fact stop the disbursement of a tranche from the loan was when Papandreou said he would call a referendum on the loan agreement.
Screams of anguish not only from the troika buy straight from Merkozy who summoned Papandreou to be publicly upbraided by them in Cannes. This terrific hero of course came back with his tail between his legs and called the referendum off.
Be that as it may. The troika themselves have made a mess of it all too. First, of all they have been wrong with every forecast. Second, they have engineered the complete collapse of the Greek economy with recession running at around 6% per annum for three years (and counting) while unemployment has soared to over 21% (and counting).
Nevertheless, it’s always easier to blame the other guy and even though the troika were quite happy to condone the Greek government’s inertia, remedied by across the board income slashes and taxation, they insist that the destruction of the Greek economy is entirely the fault of the Greek government.
So why, one has to ask, why are they so desperate that the very people who they claim made the bloody mess should be the ones to form the next government too???
I do not believe in conspiracy theories but this situation is making me paranoid. Why are they so desperate that Greece should continue to be governed by these utter failures? To carry out the plan imposed by them? But they know very well, as Lagarde herself confirmed, that if they do attempt to carry out the plan Greece will go bankrupt probably by the end of the year. (That is in the unlikely event that insurrections will be avoided.)
On the other hand they know from past painful experience that these wretched guys will not carry out the plan devised and imposed. Which means that Greece will again go bankrupt by the end of the year.
Is this all some dark conspiracy to destroy Greece for some sort of unfathomable gain? Or is this just another case of “collective denial”, (as the LSE Economists claimed when the Queen asked them why none of them had foreseen the crash*) or, more likely, collective pig headedness and refusal to admit their own complete and utter failure in dealing with the European Crisis?
* See 19th August 2009 http://parina.gr/blog/?m=200908 The Wisdom of a little Old Lady