tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882645467378797266.post7341882841064723897..comments2023-07-17T11:55:51.363+02:00Comments on ObservingGreece: George Papandreou - Modern Day Greece's New Sun Good?kleinguthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12491174042954678023noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882645467378797266.post-48962929732626544992013-06-08T23:14:55.630+02:002013-06-08T23:14:55.630+02:00My whole point is that no one other than the Greek...My whole point is that no one other than the Greek parliament can fire a Greek PM. G20, Merkozy & Co. can only threaten him to send Greece back to the stone age unless he withdraws the referendum and/or resigns. That's one bluff. The other bluff is that Papandreou says 'ok, do that but I will not withdraw the referendum until I get from you this!'. <br /><br />And then one will quickly find out which side blinks first. Personally, I think Merkozy & Co. would have basically done anything just to get Papandreou to withdraw the referendum, but that's only a guess of mine. I just don't think that anyone among the arrogant EU-elites would have had the balls to chance that Greece causes havoc to the Euro-system.kleinguthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12491174042954678023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882645467378797266.post-12502265983796059982013-06-08T22:39:51.189+02:002013-06-08T22:39:51.189+02:00Mr Papandreou was fired (there is no other word fo... Mr Papandreou was fired (there is no other word for it) by the G20, when he proposed the referendum. The blatant way this was carried out, in front of the whole world, indicates that a) the referendum threat was real ie he was preparing an exit. A Greek exit from Euro would take lots of time and be very obvious(think of the necessity of changing ATM's) making a run on Greek banks certain.Any plot to take Greece out of the Euro must take account of this fact. The referendum was apparently a plot to do the work while pretending that nothing will really happen, thus avoiding the bank run. b) There are serious global political reasons that necessitate the Greek presence in the euro.theAthensdognoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882645467378797266.post-68135387809982818822013-06-08T12:11:20.359+02:002013-06-08T12:11:20.359+02:00One most interesting question in the interview (af...One most interesting question in the interview (after 9'):<br /><br />"Did you feel in Greece that you were maikng those decisions to try to get back to daylight or was it more of a sense of the outside world imposing this on all of us and we don't really have an option here"?<br /><br />Papandreou's response was wishy-washy, but the question related to probably his greatest failure.<br /><br />Whenever a country gets into external payment crises triggering difficult consequences for its people/voters, the most important thing for the government and/or Prime Minister is to visibly call the shots. Bill Rhodes had advised Mr. Papandreou that he could under no circumstances leave the impression as though he is only doigg all of this to make the outside world happy; because Greece doesn't have an option.<br /><br />Mr. Papandreou never called the shots and the result was that the outside world ended up telling Greece what it should and had to do. <br /><br />One sure way to lose the support of one's people/electorate!kleinguthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12491174042954678023noreply@blogger.com