The Samaras Government by stupendous, sagacious, and painful efforts, and by using “conventional economic weapons,” is pulling Greece out of its economic crisis. For the first time after four years, Greece this week will be able to borrow funds on the international financial markets.
I’m republishing this short reply that took place early in 2012, for the readers of this blog.
By Con George-Kotzabasis
A reply to Bruce Wilder, suggesting default for Greece and Italy as the remedy for their economic crisis.
In serious discussion it is wise to enter it carrying a sieve in one’s hands to separate the wheat from the chaff.
In your crystal clear “efficient calculating machine” that would implement your proposal of default, would be no other than a wise, brave, imaginative, and humane technocrat. So what exactly you have against technocrats? They are OK if they adopt your plan and only transported to Hades in toto for their ‘mortal sins’, if they don’t! Default was and is always an option. The distinguished economist Deepak Lal and exponent of the Austrian School of economics, long ago suggested such a schema. Lucas Papademos and Mario Monti, Prime Ministers of Greece and Italy respectively, both presumably have this option in their arsenal to be used as a last resort if everything else fails. But before they use this ‘nuclear’ option, they must try, and be given the right by all objective analysts and commentators, to resolve this economic crisis by ‘conventional’ means that could avoid a default which would open a big hole in their countries GDP and throw their people into pauperization for decades to come.