The Greek Tragedy

Greek Freefall
Simon Novoprudsky
Gazeta.ru
When such a small economy has a budget deficit of hundreds of billions of euros, it can’t be interpreted simply as evidence of an irresponsible parliament. In Greece, governments change frequently – the actively working population is responsible for this. And when the European Union extends a hand of help to the country – albeit, in part to maintain global financial security – this should be graciously accepted, under the proposed terms, without rallies that don’t have the slightest chance of achieving the organisers’ objectives. Greece, with its long-history of civilization, should ideally react differently to the current circumstances than, say, Kyrgyzstan. However, at least according to the video footage from both countries, the differences don’t seem that great.

To throw out greece, and take estonia into the eurozone?
Anna Kaledina
KP.ru
On the same day the Eurocommission approved a measure to unify the economic policies of its member states, it recommended accepting Estonia as a full member from January 1 of next year.
It seems that in order to stabilise the currency, it would be better to proceed under the logo “no one in, no one out”. I can only guess that the Eurocommission’s logic is as follows: the Eurozone’s bosses want to show that in Baghdad, excuse me, Brussels, everything is calm. There are, as they said in the USSR, isolated weaknesses, but they are local. And they are being dealt with. The bailout alone cost 750m euros. Therefore, life – apparently – goes on and the door to the Eurozone is open to countries meeting the strict Maastricht requirements.

Lessons from the Greek Revolt
Maxim Artemyev
Vedomosti
The Greeks, having missed a period of “true socialism” thanks to a US-backed victory in their civil war (1946-49), were left with the illusion of a missed opportunity. Greek Stalinists and communists are viewed not as a group dedicated to instilling an authoritarian regime, but as antifascist democrats who were fighting for the downtrodden. It’s not a coincidence that the national parliament recently passed a measure requiring veterans’ pension payments to be made to those who fought on the side of the Reds.
As a consequence, today’s belief in state paternalism – and animosity toward severe fiscal cuts, culture of revolutionary violence and blossoming of anarchistic and other extreme elements – is the price the Greeks are paying for their ignorance of a different reality.
The obstinate position of a significant portion of the Greek population (“let capitalism pay”) and the infantile hope that the crisis can be overcome without losses, and that anyone is responsible for it except the Greeks, are the result of the comfortable life enjoyed based on falsified economic data.

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