Exit Polls Suggest Syriza Has Won Greek Election

[pchang]

I'm sure any of her pregnancies were complication free.

[Fake Boris]

[N35t0r]

I'm sure any of her pregnancies were complication free.

[OneFootInTheGrave]

back on topic:

Yanis in his own words:

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-31111905

On Margaret Thatcher's legacy

"All that sprang out of Thatcherism were the spivs, extreme financialisation, the triumph of the shopping mall over the corner store, the fetishisation of housing and… Tony Blair."

Before the financial crash, Greeks thought the party would never end

"The average Greek had convinced herself that Greece was superb. Uber alles. A cut above the rest. That we had made it into Europe's hard core but that we were even better than the austere Germans, the snobbish French, the bubbly Italians, the stiff-upper-lip Brits. Due to our exceptional 'cunning', Greece was managing to combine fun, sun, xenychti (late nights) and the highest GDP growth in Europe."

And after the crash?

"Self-immolation followed self-congratulation, but left self-importance in the driving seat."
.
On worries about his elevation from university professor to politician

"I know that I run the risk of, surreptitiously... indulging a feeling of having become 'agreeable' to the circles of 'polite society'. The sense of self-satisfaction from being feted by the high and mighty did begin, on occasion, to creep up on me. And what a non-radical, ugly, corruptive and corrosive sense it was!"

And when did he first notice that "corruptive" influence?

"My personal nadir came at an airport. Some moneyed outfit had invited me to give a keynote on the European crisis and had forked out the ludicrous sum necessary to buy me a first class ticket. On my way back home, tired and already with several flights under my belt, I was making my way past the long queue of economy passengers, to get to my gate. Suddenly I noticed, with considerable horror, how easy it was for my mind to be infected with the sense that I was 'entitled' to bypass the hoi polloi. I realised how readily I could forget that which my left-wing mind had always known: that nothing succeeds in reproducing itself better than a false sense of entitlement."

today, slogging it out with Berlin, with ECB turning on the screw in the background.

It could well be that the ECB is turning on the screw on itself.

edit:
another surprise "alliance"

http://www.cityam.com/208691/yanis-varoufakis-expresses-surprise-free-market-endorsement-here-s-why-adam-smith-institute

[Dinner]

Has that been shown to reduce pregnancy complications too?

I thought it was women swallowing semen that reduced complications.

[Sava]

Oh Oerdin

[Dinner]

They are already signaling that Greece is going to get pushed out if it keeps doing what it is doing.

Greek government debt is no longer acceptable as collateral by the ECB and Greek banks can no longer borrow cheaply from the ECB. If the dumb asses in Greece don't heed the warnings then they will get shoved out kicking and screaming.

[Sava]

They are already signaling that Greece is going to get pushed out if it keeps doing what it is doing.

Why would you think this is a good thing?

Are your opinions on Greece the result of your own, uhm, thinking? Or are you parroting someone's perspective?

[Imran Siddiqui]

Everything indicates that Germany desperately does NOT want Greece to leave the Eurozone. It appears that their entire Greece policy has that in mind. For Germany the unraveling of Eurozone would be disastrous and Greece leaving (forcibly or not) may just be the first domino. It seems that Spain is going the way of Greece as Podemos appears likely to head to victory in elections later this year.

[Sava]

Everything indicates that Germany desperately does NOT want Greece to leave the Eurozone. It appears that their entire Greece policy has that in mind. For Germany the unraveling of Eurozone would be disastrous and Greece leaving (forcibly or not) may just be the first domino. It seems that Spain is going to be going the way of Greece as Podemos appears likely to head to victory in elections later this year.

I'm not sure if anyone actually wants Greece to leave the Eurozone... except maybe fascist nutters... and Oerdin... for some strange reason.

[pchang]

Haha. Sava just called Cockney and FakeBoris Fascist nutters.

[Dinner]

Why would you think this is a good thing?

Are your opinions on Greece the result of your own, uhm, thinking? Or are you parroting someone's perspective?

It means they have a choice. Either they have to give up the retarded policies of the new government t or get kicked out. In the long run getting kicked out might be a good thing because it will allow them to have control over their own monitory policy again but in the short to medium term they are going to be screwed economically; much more than in the last five years. Eventually, they really will have to reform their corrupt political culture and protected inefficient economy filled with rent seeking special interest groups.

[Dinner]

Everything indicates that Germany desperately does NOT want Greece to leave the Eurozone. It appears that their entire Greece policy has that in mind. For Germany the unraveling of Eurozone would be disastrous and Greece leaving (forcibly or not) may just be the first domino. It seems that Spain is going the way of Greece as Podemos appears likely to head to victory in elections later this year.

No, the Germans have made a bunch of changes to prevent contagion and make sure Greece's exit doesn't pose a systemic risk like it did in 2009. The current Greek government miscalculated because they thought they could blackmail Germany into just continually giving them billions of Euros in free money, like what happened five years ago but the situation has changed now and the Germans are no longer willing to play that game.

Sure, they would prefer Greece to stay if it lives up to its obligations but they don't want Greece to stay at any price. They are prepared to let them go if they continue to refuse to honor their obligations. Further more Spain isn't going to want to follow Greece out after they see what happens in Greece with the default and exit. Greece will become a warning to other countries about what not to do.

[Imran Siddiqui]

You know except for when Finance Minister Varoufakis has consistently said that they don't want the next tranche of loan money. And that the Germans are terrified of a domino scenario, with Spain right on Greece's heels (if you don't think Podemos will be energized if Greece gets kicked out of Eurozone you are insane), and how it may unravel the Euro. And publications from The Guardian to Bloomberg are saying that Varoufakis and the Greek government actually is making good points and should be listened to (at least on the 'bridge' part). But feel free to parrot out silly talking points.

And it does appear that Syriza has at least one person in power speaking out for them: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...programme.html

[C0ckney]

You know except for when Finance Minister Varoufakis has consistently said that they don't want the next tranche of loan money. And that the Germans are terrified of a domino scenario, with Spain right on Greece's heels (if you don't think Podemos will be energized if Greece gets kicked out of Eurozone you are insane), and how it may unravel the Euro. And publications from The Guardian to Bloomberg are saying that Varoufakis and the Greek government actually is making good points and should be listened to (at least on the 'bridge' part). But feel free to parrot out silly talking points.

And it does appear that Syriza has at least one person in power speaking out for them: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...programme.html

quite. greece's debt is actually now held mostly by the eurozone countries, so it's rather unlikely that they'll want to push greece towards default. i doubt this will convince oredin though, who has shown (once again) in this thread that he's completely immune to both facts and reason.

podemos are an interesting phenomenon, they're gaining in strength and the seemingly never ending corruption scandals will certainly help their cause. i'm not sure they can win the election, although they should be able to do enough to prevent either of the two main parties from getting a majority. this could lead to a grand PP-PSOE coalition (sort of an anti-anti-corruption coalition), but as this would be suicide for PSOE in particular, it is unlikely to happen; the more likely scenario being a three way hung parliament.