“People are scared that the government doesn’t know what the fuck it’s doing.”

8 Responses to “People are scared that the government doesn’t know what the fuck it’s doing.”

1. Art Stone says:

   August 2, 2011 at 9:20 pm

   The story discusses how banks are seeing people quietly withdrawing cash and stuffing it in metal boxes in their basements. Greece today is based on the Euro – giving up the Drachma was part of the price of joining the E.U.

   Should the European Central Bank say “No more Euros for you!” and close the Greek government’s access to keep borrowing more Euros, what are the options for Greece? Without a supply of Euros donated by Germany, the employees of Greece aren’t going to get paid. Government employees don’t like being told they have no job.

   Well, one option is that Greece could reintroduce their own currency again and withdraw from the EU economic zone. Based on similar events in the past, nobody in Greece will accept the New Drachma that the government employees are being paid with. Greece will make it illegal to do business in Euros. Greece will impose an “official” exchange rate for Euros, make it illegal to take Euros out of the country, and then force all bank accounts to be “converted” from Euros to New Drachmas.

   Greece will erect borders again for the purpose of making sure people are not taking paper euros out of the country. Smuggling and black markets will prosper – Greece is really more a bunch of islands than a country. Everyone owns a boat.

   Another option would be to give up – to dissolve the country of Greece and merge with a neighbor willing to assume its debt. That option is a non-starter – Greece’s only neighbors are Turkey, Albania, Macedonia and Bulgaria – in theory, maybe Italy, but Italy is broke, too and the long history of religious wars between Rome and the Byzantine empire suggest that may not work out well. “New Libya” is only about 250 miles away on the other side of the Mediterranean.

   So if you were living in Greece, what would you do? This might be a dress rehersal for other countries…

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   • foyle says:

     August 2, 2011 at 10:00 pm

     Based on their track record since World War II, if I was an ordinary Greek I would put a tremendous amount of energy into protesting/rioting etc to demand my “right” to benefits while expending little or no energy in discovering how to responsible create wealth and make my own living.

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2. Art Stone says:

   August 2, 2011 at 9:48 pm

   One of the things Greece did to incur this debt was build a bridge from the mainland to the Pelopennesia – the “almost an island” part of Greece at a cost of around $1 billion (still a bargain compared to the new San Francisco / Oakland Bay Bridge.)
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio%E2%80%93Antirrio_bridge

   The bridge is about 2 miles long, and has several engineering challenges – it crosses between tectonic plates that are moving several inches a year. There is no bedrock on which to put pilings.

   None of the pictures I see posted on the web suggest that anyone actually uses the bridge. The option is to take a ferry – the area is connected to Athens by land, which is probably where most people go to/from – Albania isn’t a big tourist destination.

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   • Art Stone says:

     August 2, 2011 at 9:53 pm

     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aQdaFd98NQ

     Youtube has everything….

     The toll has gone up as one of the revenue raising measures – the toll is now 12.9 Euros each way – about $18. For comparison, the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge toll is $6, and $4 during non-peak hours. $5 on weekends.

     If you wonder how people in Greece spend their leisure time, here is a video of 2,950 Harley Davidson motorcycles crossing the bridge

     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv1Y77TewkA&feature=related

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     • 3tooz says:

       August 3, 2011 at 8:19 am

       The SFOBB until recently was $ 3.00per vehicle, and for trucks it was $ 10.oo for 5 axle big rigs. this was cheap in comparison to the “Golden Gate” bridge which at the time was $ 6.oo for vehicles, so If the “state ” bridges have increased then the Golden Gate must have as well I would hate to imagine how much it is now. The reason the GG bridge was always more expensive to cross is because it wasn’t controlled by the State of California.

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       • 3tooz says:

         August 4, 2011 at 8:34 am

         I guess what I should have said was, maybe they should accept Euros ‘only’ to cross the Bay and Golden Gate bridges, after noticing the comparison of monetary value , and wasnt there suppose to be a bridge or hi-way “built to nowhere” somewhere here in the U.S not too long ago ? Sounds like a comparison in debt to Greece.

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         • Art Stone says:

           August 4, 2011 at 4:49 pm

           This isn’t directly related, but since I know you’re interested in transportation :)…. ReasonTV had something that showed up on Youtube yesterday making the case for having private companies build express “Toll Lanes” in the middle of existing highways. You can drive on the free road, or pay a toll and drive in the toll lanes.

           They seemed to be trying to make the case for the same thing in Chicago. One of the main reasons I remember for constant traffic delays in Chicago is all the toll plazas.

           There is a very old toll road that runs through South Chicago along Lake Michigan that is a shortcut to get into Chicago from Indiana, but it is almost completely empty and constantly broke. I think I drove on it one time just to see what it was like, and the entire toll plaza had 2 booths – one of which was empty.

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3. Parrott says:

   August 5, 2011 at 7:53 am

   well Italy and Spain are going down now. Ireland is on fire.
   Now US has QE3 and stock market in the tank.
   It was wild when the Margin calls were made. commodities were sold off. Oil on 86 bucks a barrel.
   Heck it should be $39 a barrel.
   Deflation man!

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