The Greek problem.

Posted on 6 July 2015 by Douglas Chadwick

There must be many people who like me feel that in the current financial crisis, the Greek people are being given the ‘rough end of the stick’. At the formation of Euroland in the sixties, and at various later stages, the desperation to produce a united European front meant that the totally inadequate economies of some of the Mediterranean countries, Greece in particular, were massaged in order that they could comply with the financial rules for entry and become members. The Germans were at the forefront of this deception. They realised then, as they do now, that the low exchange value put on the Euro would be mightily beneficial to the export trade of the German manufacturers. Think of cars and machinery going to China, The East and everywhere else in the world. Poor old Greece does not have a manufacturing base to take advantage of this Euro exchange rate gift. It is rumoured that during the Second World war the Germans made off with the Greek nation`s gold bullion, and it was never returned. Perhaps it is time for the German nation to correct this obvious oversight, and rescue Greece from its present predicament, as a thank you for these past demeanours. Of course it is hard to defend the Greek’s reluctance to pay their taxes, and their work ethic which says that retirement comes shortly after puberty. Watching and listening to the news, I cannot help but feel that Angela Merkel and the German race feel that as they are the financiers for Euroland, the Euro and its future destiny is theirs to decide, which maybe is a fair point. Following the ‘No’ vote this weekend, it will be a challenging week for the negotiators on both sides, and an uncertain time for the markets.