I must say I am sad to see the news about the EU ministers refusing the rest of the bailout money previously promised. There will be no winners in this situation. In true democratic fashion, the Greeks will hold a referendum.
Do the EU not see the strategic importance of this area? I am shocked at the shortsighteness of it all.
Sunday, 28 June 2015
Wednesday, 24 June 2015
Greece again
I have been reading some of the open source material about Greece's woes, and cannot fathom why it's creditors persist with the view that it's woes are due to the pension schemes they have. Worse still demanding cuts from a country facing severe depression. Have they not noted the flood of refugees the Greeks are having to deal with, probably in as great a numbers as Italy has. One hopes that reason will prevail at some point in the next six days. The economic hardships endured as a result of absorbing so many refugees must add to a worsening situation.
Greece is where democracy was founded, let's not bring it to a point of humiliation, where it is forced to go cap in hand to Russia!
Doing away with their hidden economy will put it on the right course, but that only works when there is a safe banking system, and people are not desperate.
Greece is where democracy was founded, let's not bring it to a point of humiliation, where it is forced to go cap in hand to Russia!
Doing away with their hidden economy will put it on the right course, but that only works when there is a safe banking system, and people are not desperate.
Friday, 19 June 2015
Turkey, six weeks later.
Well time has passed since I was there, it is difficult to find too much on the news about Turkey. I was delighted to see their elections were clearly free and fair. This was what a lot of Turks feared would not be the case. The outcome means the constitution remains as is. This is good for Turkey from what I can see.
Turkey is a country that should be admired, the people are not wealthy, they have many hostile neighbours, and yet they still manage to accommodate 1.7 million refugee Syrians. This is huge for a country of around 78 million, I think close to 2% of their population. I believe this shows the hospitable nature of the Turkish people. I would think the refugees are way better treated in Turkey than the ones in Lebanon who are herded into camps under appalling conditions. Turkey has taken far more Syrian refugees than anywhere else, how would we cope if we took on 90,000 refugees? I think NZ would really struggle to assimilate that many people, both economically and culturally. Or imagine the US with its 200m people , that would be like them taking in 4m people. The great thing about theses refugees going into Turkey is that culturally I think Turkey would be very close to Syria (before Assad and ISIS) and probably where the refugees would feel most comfortable apart from the harsh economic conditions no social welfare there! I think they are ordinary people who are trying to get on with their lives.
There Are a lot of media in N Z saying we should be taking more refugees here. Notice a lot of the people are from Islamic countries, leaving many wanting to help from a humanitarian point of view, but fearful that allowing refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, and the likes of Somalia would be risking importing radical cells into their country. Some of the Somali people who have come here have been appearing in our judicial system, not ideal.
Wouldn't it be better to support genuine refugees from war torn countries in similarly cultural counties rather than transplanting them to other places?
I do know the Turks show wonderful hospitality, and wonder if they shouldn't be supported taking on all these extra people in need.
It is also great to think that a stable Turkey will be around for the likes of NZ's to visit for some time to come.
I definitely would like to see Ephesus, Canakkele and Cappadocia again as well as their Mediterranean coast, and I am sure many other wonderful places. There is way more to Turkey than just Istanbul.
Turkey is a country that should be admired, the people are not wealthy, they have many hostile neighbours, and yet they still manage to accommodate 1.7 million refugee Syrians. This is huge for a country of around 78 million, I think close to 2% of their population. I believe this shows the hospitable nature of the Turkish people. I would think the refugees are way better treated in Turkey than the ones in Lebanon who are herded into camps under appalling conditions. Turkey has taken far more Syrian refugees than anywhere else, how would we cope if we took on 90,000 refugees? I think NZ would really struggle to assimilate that many people, both economically and culturally. Or imagine the US with its 200m people , that would be like them taking in 4m people. The great thing about theses refugees going into Turkey is that culturally I think Turkey would be very close to Syria (before Assad and ISIS) and probably where the refugees would feel most comfortable apart from the harsh economic conditions no social welfare there! I think they are ordinary people who are trying to get on with their lives.
There Are a lot of media in N Z saying we should be taking more refugees here. Notice a lot of the people are from Islamic countries, leaving many wanting to help from a humanitarian point of view, but fearful that allowing refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, and the likes of Somalia would be risking importing radical cells into their country. Some of the Somali people who have come here have been appearing in our judicial system, not ideal.
Wouldn't it be better to support genuine refugees from war torn countries in similarly cultural counties rather than transplanting them to other places?
I do know the Turks show wonderful hospitality, and wonder if they shouldn't be supported taking on all these extra people in need.
It is also great to think that a stable Turkey will be around for the likes of NZ's to visit for some time to come.
I definitely would like to see Ephesus, Canakkele and Cappadocia again as well as their Mediterranean coast, and I am sure many other wonderful places. There is way more to Turkey than just Istanbul.
Greece, two months later
I have watched with interest what is going on in Greece since we were there. (Or what I can see since very little filters through to us.) , it is sad to see every euro being squeezed out of Greece from places that it shouldn't, t be such as schools and hospitals. That is how they made the last 2 payments in May.
Before I went to Greece, I swallowed the Northern European line that Greeks were lazy, they only work for 20 years and then they sit in cafés drinking coffee and talking. It is true that they believe in taking a long time over their morning coffee, but even old men were working even if only to drag passers by into a resturant for a euro per person. From what I can see everyone does something.
There are two things that have brought Greece to its knees, one is national pride. The reason I say this, is Greece embarked upon many ambitious projects when it hosted the 2004 Olympics. New roads were built to provide infrastructure, tunnels drilled through mountains, the iron bridge built across the Corinth gulf (to enable better transportation to Athens), many wonderful stadiums and other ambitious projects.
While these are wonderful, the cost of hosting the Olympics has left the country seriously in debt. I don't imagine they were in anyway compensated for providing such wonderful amenities. Since Greece's main income now is tourism, the additional tourism from the games nowhere near compensated the huge outlay. For a country of 11 million people this was a huge burden they are unlikely to recover from any time soon if ever. Other Olympic hosts have also struggled to recover after hosting the games, often at least a decade before they financially recover. It was recently suggested NZ consider applying to host the Olympics, for a country of 4.5 million it would be an economic disaster.
However returning to Greece, when the first bailout package was promised, along with austerity measures, they agreed. Now Northern Europe has decided to force the Greek government to cut pensions or they will not provide the remaining 7.1 billion promised, which is needed to repay debt. So the money is withheld and after squeezing dry all their reserves, it looks like they may default on June 30th.
The other reason this is such an issue is that their main source of income after tourism is the export of food items. Food in Greece is wonderful local produce of a wonderfully high standard. Northern Europe could help a lot by importing thir wonderful produce, but as it stands one of their main markets was the old soviet bloc, and that market is now closed to them because of sanctions, therefore depriving the Greeks of any chance of trading their way out of their problems. (This also has the effect of depriving the Russians of fresh fruit and vegetables. )
With 30th June looming more and more Greeks are withdrawing their euros from the banks, fearing a finanail haircut. The Greeks suffered hugely when salaries of public servants were cut in half and many lost their jobs altogether. The ordinary Greek has suffered financially over the past 7 years. An exit from the euro would see huge econonic suffering by the ordinary people.
All this austerity has the effect when gone too far of encouraging the black market, it is considered 30% of its economy or more is under the table. An early exit from the euro, and a run on the banks will exacerbate this.
I believe this will not only hurt the Greeks but the rest of Europe also. However the threats will continue until the last minute from the remainder of Europe before any help (if any) is offered. This will be a dad state of affairs and who knows they may choose to throw thir lot in with the Russians should this occur. The rest of Europe needs to consider carefully just what position it is forcing Greece into. Also the strategic importance of just where Greece is. I shudder to think what could happen if the threats are not just sabre rattling, and are actually carried out. It will be a no win situation for anyone.
Before I went to Greece, I swallowed the Northern European line that Greeks were lazy, they only work for 20 years and then they sit in cafés drinking coffee and talking. It is true that they believe in taking a long time over their morning coffee, but even old men were working even if only to drag passers by into a resturant for a euro per person. From what I can see everyone does something.
There are two things that have brought Greece to its knees, one is national pride. The reason I say this, is Greece embarked upon many ambitious projects when it hosted the 2004 Olympics. New roads were built to provide infrastructure, tunnels drilled through mountains, the iron bridge built across the Corinth gulf (to enable better transportation to Athens), many wonderful stadiums and other ambitious projects.
While these are wonderful, the cost of hosting the Olympics has left the country seriously in debt. I don't imagine they were in anyway compensated for providing such wonderful amenities. Since Greece's main income now is tourism, the additional tourism from the games nowhere near compensated the huge outlay. For a country of 11 million people this was a huge burden they are unlikely to recover from any time soon if ever. Other Olympic hosts have also struggled to recover after hosting the games, often at least a decade before they financially recover. It was recently suggested NZ consider applying to host the Olympics, for a country of 4.5 million it would be an economic disaster.
However returning to Greece, when the first bailout package was promised, along with austerity measures, they agreed. Now Northern Europe has decided to force the Greek government to cut pensions or they will not provide the remaining 7.1 billion promised, which is needed to repay debt. So the money is withheld and after squeezing dry all their reserves, it looks like they may default on June 30th.
The other reason this is such an issue is that their main source of income after tourism is the export of food items. Food in Greece is wonderful local produce of a wonderfully high standard. Northern Europe could help a lot by importing thir wonderful produce, but as it stands one of their main markets was the old soviet bloc, and that market is now closed to them because of sanctions, therefore depriving the Greeks of any chance of trading their way out of their problems. (This also has the effect of depriving the Russians of fresh fruit and vegetables. )
With 30th June looming more and more Greeks are withdrawing their euros from the banks, fearing a finanail haircut. The Greeks suffered hugely when salaries of public servants were cut in half and many lost their jobs altogether. The ordinary Greek has suffered financially over the past 7 years. An exit from the euro would see huge econonic suffering by the ordinary people.
All this austerity has the effect when gone too far of encouraging the black market, it is considered 30% of its economy or more is under the table. An early exit from the euro, and a run on the banks will exacerbate this.
I believe this will not only hurt the Greeks but the rest of Europe also. However the threats will continue until the last minute from the remainder of Europe before any help (if any) is offered. This will be a dad state of affairs and who knows they may choose to throw thir lot in with the Russians should this occur. The rest of Europe needs to consider carefully just what position it is forcing Greece into. Also the strategic importance of just where Greece is. I shudder to think what could happen if the threats are not just sabre rattling, and are actually carried out. It will be a no win situation for anyone.
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