IKN

Take physic, pomp

IKN’s two drachmas on Greece

A short segment from yesterday’s intro to IKN320:

From
the outside looking in (my viewpoint South of the Equator is as close to
detached as they come in capitalist terms) I see Greece and Syriza playing a very
big game of chicken with ECB/Troika/IMF. And Syriza is playing it well too, the
snap call for a referendum is populist yes, it’s cheap yes, it’s a handing off
of responsibility when the Euro exit hammer comes down yes, but it’s also a reasonably
astute chessmove that must have shaken its opposites hard. You have to wonder
just how much Merkel, to name but one, is prepared to gamble (because it’s now
just that, it’s very very high stakes gambling) on Greece today. And I repeat, the big
gamble isn’t whether Greece
goes through a couple of tough years because that’s a given whatever happens in
the days ahead, austerity pill or Drachma pill. The big one is whether Greece follows the pattern of Argentina and Iceland and emerges economically
robust and dynamic after a modest rough seas period. Whatever course be taken, Greece
does not die tomorrow, nor next week. That’s also true for the Euro tomorrow
and next week. The acid test, the Euro and its potential to unravel, will be
the economic progress of Greece
if it’s allowed to leave the Eurozone because the second any other Southern
Eurozone member starts to feel jealous of Greece‘s lot, the game is over. 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Hello, you are not in a chatroom, you are in my living room. Opposing views and criticisms welcome, insults or urinating on furniture unwelcome. Please refrain from swearing if possible, it is not needed.