Just because EU debt problems have not been headline news for a while does not mean that they have been resolved. It is doubtful that they will be properly resolved, ever. So much depends on the people of the EU being prepared to take the nasty tasting medicine being doled out to them.
Whist the technocrats and EU politicians sweat over bail out packages and deals which will benefit their own countries the people of Europe will be the ones tightening their belts. They can only tighten them so far. Soon they will be at their most extreme point.
You can understand the frustration of the German people. They already have a much older retirement age than the Greeks. The Greek people are fighting extending their retirement age, tooth and nail. All EU countries are having to increase the age of retirement but that offers a mixed bag. With unemployment high, a nation of mature workers continuing to work into old age is bad news.
Today confidence in Europe and the EU has begun to slip a little. Again it is mainly about Greece. The country may now have its unelected technocratic leader at the helm but as yet their financial problems are far from resolved.
The country's creditors have agreed to accept Greek losses. They have said that they are willing to accept 50% losses on the debt. In reality no doubt we will all pay for this. Greece is set to face another debt crisis any time now unless the next stage of financial deals are sorted out. What a mess. It must be time to give up the ghost?
Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos is hoping to have an outline for the 100 billion-euro ($127 billion) plan next week. Perhaps hoping is the wrong word. Without it Greece will be scuppered. Bloomberg have the full story.
So many countries have invested heavily into Greek debt and the EU. It may have been better to have called it a day sometime go. Now it seems that we are stumbling from one month and set of problems to another. The debts increase, economies wobble and it is hard to imagine economic stability being the order of the day again.
Whist the technocrats and EU politicians sweat over bail out packages and deals which will benefit their own countries the people of Europe will be the ones tightening their belts. They can only tighten them so far. Soon they will be at their most extreme point.
You can understand the frustration of the German people. They already have a much older retirement age than the Greeks. The Greek people are fighting extending their retirement age, tooth and nail. All EU countries are having to increase the age of retirement but that offers a mixed bag. With unemployment high, a nation of mature workers continuing to work into old age is bad news.
Today confidence in Europe and the EU has begun to slip a little. Again it is mainly about Greece. The country may now have its unelected technocratic leader at the helm but as yet their financial problems are far from resolved.
The country's creditors have agreed to accept Greek losses. They have said that they are willing to accept 50% losses on the debt. In reality no doubt we will all pay for this. Greece is set to face another debt crisis any time now unless the next stage of financial deals are sorted out. What a mess. It must be time to give up the ghost?
Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos is hoping to have an outline for the 100 billion-euro ($127 billion) plan next week. Perhaps hoping is the wrong word. Without it Greece will be scuppered. Bloomberg have the full story.
So many countries have invested heavily into Greek debt and the EU. It may have been better to have called it a day sometime go. Now it seems that we are stumbling from one month and set of problems to another. The debts increase, economies wobble and it is hard to imagine economic stability being the order of the day again.
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