The Troika’s Policy in Greece: Rob the Greek people and give the money to private banks, the ECB, the IMF and the dominant States of the Eurozone
On
20 August 2018, the Greek government of Alexis Tsipras, the IMF and
the European leaders celebrated the end of the Third Memorandum.
On
this occasion, the major media and those in power spread the
following message: Greece has regained its freedom, its economy is
improving, unemployment is on the decline, Europe has lent Greece 300
billion and the Greeks will have to start repaying that debt in 2022
or in 2032.
The
main claims are completely unfounded as Greece remains under the
control of its creditors. In compliance with the accords that the
Alexis Tsipras government signed, the country must imperatively
achieve a primary budgetary surplus of 3.5% which will force it to
continue brutal policies of reduction of public spending in the
social sector and in investment. Contrary to the dominant message
that Greece will not begin to repay its debt until some time in the
future, it should be clearly understood that Greece has been repaying
considerable amounts constantly all along to the ECB, the IMF and to
private creditors, and this prevents it from responding to the needs
of its population.
by
Eric Toussaint
Part
4 - Responsibilities of the ECB and European leaders in preparing the
Greek crisis of 2010
European
leaders enthusiastically encouraged the expansion of the major
private European banks without giving any warning of the enormous
risks incurred. They encouraged the banks to spread beyond their
usual geographical perimeter and to indulge in ill-considered
acquisitions/mergers.
The
European authorities congratulated themselves on many occasions on
the significant financial flows that poured in in the form of loans
from the dominant countries of the Eurozone towards those of the
Periphery. Yet these massive injections of credit were the source of
speculative bubbles, especially in the property market, as happened
in Spain and Ireland on a very large scale, and also in Greece.
These
flows triggered a private credit crisis that finally broke out in
Greece, Spain, Ireland, Portugal and Cyprus. The same bubble hangs
over the heads of the Italians like the sword of Damocles.
Let us
not forget that the Greek crisis is the expression of a more general
trend that has to do with the structure of the Eurozone and the
policies conducted in the context of European treaties by the
governments of the different countries of the monetary zone,
affecting the weakest among them situated on the Periphery, such as
Greece.
We do
not propose to limit ourselves to criticizing the political decisions
made by the European governments with the connivance of the Greek
authorities after the crisis had begun, since in our view, the
structural causes of the Greek crisis are the result of policies
carried out in the context of the construction of Europe, of the
establishment of the Eurozone and of related treaties.
This by
no means excuses the Greek capitalists and Greece’s governments
which have led their country into this nightmare, but it does
exonerate the Greek people of the responsibilities that the dominant
media and European leaders lay upon them so unfairly.
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