Greece May Really Be Selling the Country

When He Suggested That The Dismal POlitical Economist Did Not Think it Would Really Happen

Several weeks ago The Dismal Political Economist set forth a scenario in which it would be simply easier and less expensive for German, Europe' richest and most prosperous nation to simply buy Greece as opposed to spendng continually to bail out that nation.

Now comes the New York Times with this story,

Some Greeks Fear Government Is Selling Nation.

Apparently The Dismal Political Economist is viewed in Europe.

And here is part of that article.

They are the crown jewels of Greece’s socialist state, and they are now likely to go to the highest bidder: the ports of Piraeus and Thessaloniki; prime Mediterranean real estate; the national lottery; Greek Telecom; the postal bank and the national railway system.

(Not to worry about the National Railway System.  It has revenues of Euro100 million and expenses of arund Euro 700 million.  Nobody will buy it, you can keep it). 

So Greece is also going to go through another round of austerity.  Will it help?

The European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, known as the “troika,” say that is the only way out for a heavily indebted Greece, while some economists say the program resembles medieval bloodletting — a dose of pain highly unlikely to revive the patient.

Yes, you can count The Dismal Political Economist in the group of "some economists".

And How does the future look for Greece?

In fact many economists fear Greece has already entered a “debt trap,” where paying the interest on its mound of debt requires more and more loans. “The Greeks have been told to accept more of the medicine that has already failed to treat the disease,” said Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Center for European Reform in London.

The Greeks have already reduced their deficit by five percentage points of the gross domestic product, “unprecedented cuts in a modern economy,” Mr. Tilford said. “But the cuts have had a much stronger negative impact on the economy than the troika imagined, and fiscal austerity has pushed the economy deep into recession. Debt can only be paid out of income, and that means growth.”

Gosh, an Economists who actually knows what he is talking about.  Mr. Tilford, we need you here in the U. S, how soon can you get here?