In answer to the revelation (well, revelation? Common knowledge rather) in the S?ddeutsche Zeitung, that there is a funding gap in the Greek so called bailout programme of 10 billion which must be addressed, Olli Rehn’s spokesperson, Simon O’Connor said:
We’ve known for a while, of course, that the sums in the Greek programme don’t quite add up.
Very British that (though the gentleman is probably Irish). “The sums don’t quite add up”. Just a little you know. Just a touch. Just a wee little bit that is… Nothing to worry about! Hmmm…
The Guardian also reported that: “Last week, Reuters got hold of the latest Troika report into Greece. It showed that Greece risked running up a deficit of up to 0.5% of GDP this year and in 2014 unless it met its tax collection reform plans.”
More attempts at black humour. The problem, they assume is the tax collection reform! Well it isn’t. The problem is that after a sharp and continuing recession of 25% so far and counting, with unemployment at 27% officially, and growing, there is not much left to suck up in taxes.
Greeks are being threatened with incarceration should they dare fail to pay their exorbitant, unfair and illogical taxes, with money they simply do not have.
So, what will happen since the Greek taxpayer has already been sucked dry? Well, quite simply we will go back to a dark age in our recent past. The age of political prisoners, lasting just about from the end of the Civil War (!949) to the end of the colonels’ junta (1974). (The island prisoner camps will have to be reopened.)
Only of course this time we won’t be political prisoners but economic prisoners. And since this will affect an ever growing number of the population, who is expected to fund this exercise? All those investors jostling at Mr Stournaras’ door to buy up Greek assets?
If there was a dearth of such mythical people, this last will positively make them run away in droves!
Not that there were any in the first place. Who is going to invest in a country with no consumers? With an idiotic taxation system that penalises business? With such an entangled bureaucratic mess you often cannot even cut through with bribes? And costs as high as the sky, in energy costs, transportation costs, financial costs, owing to the obsession with over taxation. Labour costs? Oh yes. They have gone down incredibly and are, we are told, very competitive.
Someone’s got a great big gap in their common sense if they think the slave labour imposed will do anything, anything at all to induce investment in the environment the troika and the inept Greek Quislings have created between them.